Sunday, 25 October 2009
House
Just quickly , the house has had a massive jump forwards ! As of tonight , all the rooms are painted at least once - DS#3's room has had 2 coats , my study has had 2 coats ... the kitchen has been delivered , the doors and windows have glass, the back door / front door ( depending on your point of view) is hung ; and miracle of miracles ,DH is talking about how soon I can get carpets chosen and laid so he can start to move furniture ... must go and lie down in a darkened room to get over the shock !!
so much to tell ...
Life has been really busy , so busy that I haven't had the time or energy to blog about it , and as the days have rolled past it has become something of a daunting prospect , but finally I have time so here goes ...
Finally I have 2 pigs back from the butcher , and boy are they delicious ! The first one sold out immediately , bar a few sausages I kept for us , and the second arrived yesterday with lincolnshire sausages for a change . Haven't had time to sample them yet , but we had a joint for dinner and it was fab! My new butcher is doing a great job , such an improvement , everything comes back bagged and labelled , not just nameless joints in very large plastic bags ( I kid you not ) so it is so much easier to deal with !
Last weekend we had our ever helpful friends to stay . Lyn and I got the polytunnel in order for the winter , while the men built a plinth for the AGA to go on in the new kitchen . They love concrete , and did a great job , even if they did leave the hosepipe on and drained the ( already low ) water tank - you didn't think I knew about that did you M !Anyway , the weather was great and so everyone , except DS#4 and I , went for a fab walk along the ridge behind the house , apparently it was lovely , but longer and cooler than anticipated , so there were several cold kiddies when they got home ! We have learned from our past disaster not to let the guests near the animals ( see blog about broken hip ) and so just admired from afar . L & M have helped with injections and the like before , and I was tempted to get the Vit A D & E done , but resisted ( wish I had now ) . As always , we had a great weekend .
This week I have had my shoulder treated , a steroid injection into the joint has done the trick beautifully and I have had some good nights sleep for the first time in months !
I have also been to London with the eldest 3 boys to see Oliver ! Honestly the best musical we have seen , even better than the Lion King , but only just . The boys loved it , adn so did I! Thanks to their godmother for the tickets and the lovely couple of days we spent with her - wish she lived nearer!
Now we are all recovering from flu/ swine flu/ severe illness , take your pick!
The alpaca are behaving very well , Berlioz has even taken a bottle from DH 2 feeds in a row ! He is looking really lovely now and is full of life ! I still find it odd that his mother pays little attention to him , sometimes she is with him and other times he sleeps with another mum , Veronica , who is not known for her tolerance , and is fiercely protective of her baby , but she will let him snuggle up on the other side to her cria . I wish I could get a photo , but of course its dark and I don't want to freak them out with a flash !
I am intending to get some of the Vit A D & E injections done this week , really wish I 'd let friends help , the change in the hour has meant that it is too dark to do with DH when he gets in from work , so will have to try and fit some in before other excitement this week . A couple of the mums are looking a little bit thin , and so I am going to start supplementing them with hard feed now that the goodness has almost gone from the grass.
Anyway , still loads to tell , but enough for one night!
Finally I have 2 pigs back from the butcher , and boy are they delicious ! The first one sold out immediately , bar a few sausages I kept for us , and the second arrived yesterday with lincolnshire sausages for a change . Haven't had time to sample them yet , but we had a joint for dinner and it was fab! My new butcher is doing a great job , such an improvement , everything comes back bagged and labelled , not just nameless joints in very large plastic bags ( I kid you not ) so it is so much easier to deal with !
Last weekend we had our ever helpful friends to stay . Lyn and I got the polytunnel in order for the winter , while the men built a plinth for the AGA to go on in the new kitchen . They love concrete , and did a great job , even if they did leave the hosepipe on and drained the ( already low ) water tank - you didn't think I knew about that did you M !Anyway , the weather was great and so everyone , except DS#4 and I , went for a fab walk along the ridge behind the house , apparently it was lovely , but longer and cooler than anticipated , so there were several cold kiddies when they got home ! We have learned from our past disaster not to let the guests near the animals ( see blog about broken hip ) and so just admired from afar . L & M have helped with injections and the like before , and I was tempted to get the Vit A D & E done , but resisted ( wish I had now ) . As always , we had a great weekend .
This week I have had my shoulder treated , a steroid injection into the joint has done the trick beautifully and I have had some good nights sleep for the first time in months !
I have also been to London with the eldest 3 boys to see Oliver ! Honestly the best musical we have seen , even better than the Lion King , but only just . The boys loved it , adn so did I! Thanks to their godmother for the tickets and the lovely couple of days we spent with her - wish she lived nearer!
Now we are all recovering from flu/ swine flu/ severe illness , take your pick!
The alpaca are behaving very well , Berlioz has even taken a bottle from DH 2 feeds in a row ! He is looking really lovely now and is full of life ! I still find it odd that his mother pays little attention to him , sometimes she is with him and other times he sleeps with another mum , Veronica , who is not known for her tolerance , and is fiercely protective of her baby , but she will let him snuggle up on the other side to her cria . I wish I could get a photo , but of course its dark and I don't want to freak them out with a flash !
I am intending to get some of the Vit A D & E injections done this week , really wish I 'd let friends help , the change in the hour has meant that it is too dark to do with DH when he gets in from work , so will have to try and fit some in before other excitement this week . A couple of the mums are looking a little bit thin , and so I am going to start supplementing them with hard feed now that the goodness has almost gone from the grass.
Anyway , still loads to tell , but enough for one night!
Saturday, 10 October 2009
what a difference a week makes
Life has been pretty steady at the moment - certainly as far as the animals are concerned . Berlioz is starting to put on weight , he was not overly keen to take a bottle , even though he clearly needed it and was hungry . A bit of stern talking , and we are away. I finally worked out that he is only happy to feed if he is in a small pen with as many other alpacas present as is possible- it must be a security thing , the more animals present the better he feeds. Mind you the rest of the herd started to get a bit stroppy about being rounded up three times a day, and I have gradually reduced the numbers so that it was only his direct family ( Riva and Artemis) and Athena , yesterday they all flatly refused to be rounded up at lunchtime , and since I have a cold and therefore a very short fuse , I started to leave the field without feeding Berlioz , at which point he followed me and fed out in the open , now that is progress ! I guess he is just a home bird who likes to be home ! Funnily enough , his mother is paying less attention to him than when they first came back , but he has been adopted by last year's maidens ( Athena , Artemis and Acantha ) who seem happy to mother him and keep him company . Pictures tomorrow I promise.
Also , last Sunday I went to a poultry auction . Not much to crow about ( excuse the pun) but I did manage to buy 1 bird - a very sweet youngish Brahma , she is not in great condition- missing a few tail feathers and with a deformed foot , but she has settled well and tonight put herself to bed in the main chicken house - also progress! She is the spitting image of Pepper , who was a tasty meal for the fox , but she is currently called Brahma !!
Otherwise , our house is very nearly finished - we have all the exterior done , all the bedrooms upstairs are painted with at least one coat , and yesterday the underfloor heating was laid in the kitchen and family room . WE WILL BE IN BY CHRISTMAS! and the kitchen is due next week!!!
Also , last Sunday I went to a poultry auction . Not much to crow about ( excuse the pun) but I did manage to buy 1 bird - a very sweet youngish Brahma , she is not in great condition- missing a few tail feathers and with a deformed foot , but she has settled well and tonight put herself to bed in the main chicken house - also progress! She is the spitting image of Pepper , who was a tasty meal for the fox , but she is currently called Brahma !!
Otherwise , our house is very nearly finished - we have all the exterior done , all the bedrooms upstairs are painted with at least one coat , and yesterday the underfloor heating was laid in the kitchen and family room . WE WILL BE IN BY CHRISTMAS! and the kitchen is due next week!!!
Saturday, 3 October 2009
Home sweet home
A busy couple of days !
Yesterday I had a visit from some delightful American alpaca owners who were in this part of the world visiting relatives and came to visit the alpacas and me . We had a jolly nice couple of hours exchanging alpaca'stuff' over a cuppa , so nice to meet nice people who have the same interests as oneself!
Today I went to collect West , Riva and little Berlioz from Sue .It's always great to visit , we have such a laugh , but always I learn something useful , another great person to sit and talk' alpaca' with. And , for those of you of a weak disposition this might be a good time to sit down , I have shifted a fleece !!!! I met a fab spinner ( in all senses) who thought West was fantastic and wanted his fleece - don't say I'm not a dedicated business woman in the alpaca world now - stud fees and a fleece in the same month! Anyway , I took Mischief and DC back and collected my 3 . They are all looking great , and Riva is pregnant ( fingers crossed) , Berlioz is doing fine , he is a little on the small side at the moment , but he has taken a couple of bottles totalling 1200 ml since we got home, so hopefully he will start to catch up with his peers soon - honestly Riva , can't you try harder ?!
But great to have them home, even if it does mean the return of soggy jeans at 7pm every night !
Yesterday I had a visit from some delightful American alpaca owners who were in this part of the world visiting relatives and came to visit the alpacas and me . We had a jolly nice couple of hours exchanging alpaca'stuff' over a cuppa , so nice to meet nice people who have the same interests as oneself!
Today I went to collect West , Riva and little Berlioz from Sue .It's always great to visit , we have such a laugh , but always I learn something useful , another great person to sit and talk' alpaca' with. And , for those of you of a weak disposition this might be a good time to sit down , I have shifted a fleece !!!! I met a fab spinner ( in all senses) who thought West was fantastic and wanted his fleece - don't say I'm not a dedicated business woman in the alpaca world now - stud fees and a fleece in the same month! Anyway , I took Mischief and DC back and collected my 3 . They are all looking great , and Riva is pregnant ( fingers crossed) , Berlioz is doing fine , he is a little on the small side at the moment , but he has taken a couple of bottles totalling 1200 ml since we got home, so hopefully he will start to catch up with his peers soon - honestly Riva , can't you try harder ?!
But great to have them home, even if it does mean the return of soggy jeans at 7pm every night !
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