Sorrel and Constance

Mum in law Sorrel has rather refined sensibilities. She copes generally very well with the over activity of a house load of terriers but I suspected quite rightly that the rather robust farting, belching, snoring and throat clearing of an asthmatic sounding bulldog , would be just a little too much for her to cope with.
Their first meeting didn't go too well!



a face a mother-in-law couldn't love

 Sorrel sat on the couch demurely as Constance bulldozed her way through the throng to give the newcomer the once over with eager little piggy eyes and a somewhat sputum filled smile. She sniffed loudly and with the loudest of grunts  belched then cleared a mouthful of goo from a mouth the size of a gin trap.

Sorrel  looked faintly nauseous by this performance and her face was a picture....as she looked exactly like Maggie Smith's Dowager Countess from Downton Abby. (you know her famous "There's a bad smell under my nose" kind of expression used in most of her latter day movies)

The meeting therefore was a bit of a standoff.

Sorrel continued with her tea and with a bored fart of defiance Constance stalked off to the kitchen alone

Something makes me think that they are not going to be the best of friends

Mother and Son

This morning Chris and Sorrel are off shopping in the historic city of Chester which is only a short train ride over the English border. Clothes shopping leaves me rather cold, so I have passed on the traditional troll through Brown's of Chester and will spend the morning  digging and weeding

Sorrel does country

My mother in law doesn't "do" the country....well you can't can you? with designer jeans that you could eat your dinner off, two inch heels and a beautiful green coat (complete with sun glasses!!!)......she is just not slummy enough to be pottering around the allotment and field.
Bless...she was game enough though!
She tottered down the muddy paths, fed the pigs with some bananas that she had brought all the way from Kent as a treat for them, then braved her phobias by looking at the chickens and turkeys

It was all a bit like watching an episode of The Good Life when Margo braves the elements to help save the piglets!

This morning she and Chris have gone to Chester....shopping!

Mother in law plans

Sorrel, my mother in law is coming to visit on Thursday. It is her birthday at the weekend, so I have been left to organise some treats for her! SO.........!
I think that we will have lunch at Osborn House in Llandudno on Saturday.....then in the evening we will either go to the theatre or Prestatyn's Scala cinema.....then on Sunday I want to book us in for tea at the lovely Bodysgallen Hall (see all photos including a snap of the house's famous tea table yum)
http://www.bodysgallen.com/

I will sort the weekend out tomorrow, in between vets visits, fixing the spare tyre on the old berlingo, collecting spare parts for the wood burner stove, oh and disinfecting the first set of chicken coops........the dreaded red mite is returning!

Off to bed now......I am so tired I am losing my ability to co ordinate and I have dribbled my diet coke all over my pullover!

Four Scruffy hens & Sorrel kicks some ass!

The chap that wanted to get rid of some unwanted hens didn't turn up today, so after a bit of ringing around I went to see him! He was friendly enough, but some of his girls were, shall we say, a "little below par" and most had seen better days! After a long time checking each bird (I found one cockerel with scaly leg mite which he knew nothing about) I chose 3 underweight black rocks and a shy bullied brown hybrid which were housed in a tiny dirt run and said I would take a pair of guinea fowl off his hands too, The guinea fowl were out in his back yard, and would not be caught, so I asked him to keep them safe until I could collect them at another time.

Many of his old hens and bantams, needed some TLC, and I had to draw the line in accepting any of the obviously frail birds, but at least I could give six birds a good home.

When I got the girls home, I bathed each one in a tea tree bath, treated them all for mites and worms and placed them in their own green run with plenty of water and feed. The corn was finished off in seconds, and it was lovely to see them pecking excitedly at grass(I don't think they have ever experienced grass before) and some melon seeds that I put out for them. Hopefully they will make buxom, happy hens.

Sorrel and Chris have enjoyed a day's shopping but Sorrel was completely exhausted on her return home. This was not just due to some over excited retail therapy, but was a result of a battle she had with a tenacious horse fly in the middle of the night!

This might not sound too interesting, but I must admit, it was a little shocking as the level of noise and violence was considerable! First there was a succession of loud TWACKS with a paperback,,, followed by a few muffled cries , then a brief silence before what could only be described as ten murderous slaps of a slipper accompanied with some triumphant "arrrhhh haaaaas!!!". Not being content with merely flattening the fly, she followed all this up with a final set of bangs with her glasses case, pulverizing it into the carpet.

suffice to say, Sorrel doesn't "do" pests of any sort....I sometimes think that the countryside holds too many horrors for her to relax completely in it.......worries that Albert would sneak into her room with the body of a small dead mouse, meant that her bedroom door was always very firmly locked!

We have enjoyed having her!

Margot Leadbetter

I was doing an extra shift this morning, so completed all the chores at 6am, before driving to work at 7am. As it turned out, I was not needed, so by 7.45 I was back home again, and caught William snoring UNDER the duvet, with his head on my pillow!
Anyhow, we have all spent the day at home as we have been waiting for a friend of Chris' to collect the five junior runner ducks (including Wellington).
Chris has spent the time dozing in the chair on the field and Sorrel has tried manfully to look interested in the livestock, but if the truth be known, she is generally terrified of hen,turkey and pig and she does remind me so of Margo Leadbetter in "The Good Life" , especially when she was almost pushed into clambering over the pig fencing to say "hello" to Gladys and Nora!
She came along with me to check Belle on her eggs, and bravely kept the bile down, when we found a blown, discarded and badly infected egg. Belle abandoned her nest and remaining three eggs soon after this, so Sorrel and I dashed the eggs back into the kitchen to check if they were still alive. We bobbed the eggs in some warm water and two of the three "jumped" in reaction so these two we placed in the hastily set up incubator in the kitchen. The ever broody Blanche is again sitting on some eggs, so if and when my promised turkey eggs arrive, then perhaps Blanche will take charge of any little ones that come along!.
By teatime I am sure she had totally been overdosed with animals , so after making them a nice tea, she has gone with Chris and Janet to their ballroom dance class-----not a chicken insight
I am definitely working all day tomorrow! The whole animal shebang will be in Chris and Sorrel's hands....gulp!

Sorrel arrives and Ann's open day!

Sorrel arrived this evening, by train, so after we picked her up we had a bit of an indulgent "fish and chip" supper, before coming home for the obligatory dog mauling (above)
We have a lot planned, over the next few days, and as always it is lovely to have her up and visiting

Before we met Sorrel at the station in Prestatyn, we called around to Ann's co-operative allotment to support her open evening. She has a brief open "night", once a year, and sends any money she receives to Charity.

Her allotment is tended by around 8 0r 9 people and looks professional, well organised and comprehensive...I am so jealous! (above Janet with Jess and Chris with a shorn William)

Ann giving a guided tour