Being Pickled

I am never adverse to being "pickled", but instead of a vinegar, I prefer a nice crispy Chardonnay!
The first of my onions and beetroot have now been preserved for posterity.
Dug up 16 kilos of salad potatoes, which I have already sold at work and froze a ton of broad beans, so it has been a joy working outside all day in the sun.

Plan to go over to Sheffield for Mike's birthday next week and Jane and Micky will be playing out too , which will be nice. Planning to take Kathryn out for Lunch too. Might take them a few pickled shallots!

A lesson learnt and a pickling marathon

Having a haircut takes it out of Meg and she has spent the evening curled up fast asleep dreaming of matted hair and blow dryers. In between sorting her out ( an hour's round trip to the dog "salon") I went down to Janet's to help her with her old cat Hattie, who she was having put down at home after a long illness. The vet and animal nurse that carried out the euthanasia were the epitome of professionalism and could have taught many medical doctors and nurses how to deal with patients with sympathy and thoughtfulness but even so Janet was awfully upset. I was very glad to help,though I am afraid that it did remind me of loosing Finlay a great deal.


Picked my shallots this afternoon and in the next 24 hours I hope to pickle at least 5 pans full!!! Chris is a picked onion fiend, so I am preparing to hide jam jars all over the house. My award winning Beetroot will be pickled later this week and ,my second large crop of potatoes need pulling too as the girls at work are desperate!

Chris had a session of hypnotism this afternoon to help with the dreaded ciggies! I am not sure that he actually felt the benefit of the session, but I think going was a very positive move in itself

Little April Shower (English)

The song is being shown on a telephone advert I think and it reminded me of the original quite charming!

Lunch out

La Brasserie at Chester's Grosvenor Hotel was a lovely place to meet up with Nu and Jim and have lunch. As in the nice eating places in Wales, a lot of the staff are Polish and very attentive and polite in their service. We had a good neb at their wedding photos , which looked great



The food was fab, as was the weather! had a good time setting up the new hen house when I got home. Tomorrow I am taking Meg to get her hair cut and sadly helping with my sister's elderly cat who is probably being put down tomorrow, oh and working too! yeap an exciting life
ps take a look at this link to youtube
what an enterance!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWEbL133hP8

Killer chickens

We moved the chickens into their new run this afternoon, and it was an education watching the girls racing around their new enclosure like little boys racing around a sweet shop! They bounced around eating every thing in sight, and in a matter of minutes had unearthed several small frogs which they dispatched with disgusting "popping" sounds. (yerch) William (Pic) nearly wet himself with the excitement of it all.
This morning we went to the second day of the flower show, and had our usual large salmon sarnies and weak tea at the tea tent while listening to the band which were very good! Tried to be a bit arty and took a pic of the band framed with bunting (below), but for the most part we just people watched.
Nephew Chris turned up unexpectedly with his new and very attractive girlfriend in tow ( a Rosamund Pike lookalike)







Mybasket was an obvious hit with the flower show committee, and they were all very amused and intrigued that a man had entered and WON a predominately female category! Collected my winning certificates wich now have been pinned on the kitchen wall

Chris still doing well ! no fags!!!!

"Someone to do nothing with"

Sometimes a phrase from a conversation or book sticks in your mind for a long time. I heard a poignant statement last night during a conversation I had with an elderly lady from the village. She lost her husband last year and is still having problems adjusting to widowhood. She said rather sadly
"The thing I miss the most is not having someone to do nothing with"
On the surface the statement sounds awkward and clumsy, but on reflection I think it quite moving and eloquent , as the strength of a relationship often lies in those quiet moments that do not seem as important as bigger noisier gestures.
Living with someone, makes you dovetail into someone Else's existence and although I had been single for many years before "living over the brush", and very happily so,I just can't imagine being on my own again.

I can understand completely what this lady shared with me.

Prestatyn Flower Show

My Vegetable trug was not placed which was very disappointing but I did win two first places (in the 3 Roses and Granny's basket categories) and one second ( for my beetroot!). So three prizes out of 6 entries isn't too bad. Hazel got a second for her granny basket! and two seconds for her baking, so she was pleased as punch

The rain kept off for most of the day, and George enjoyed himself being the centre of attention from the score of terrier loving old ladies that lurk around these things. Ann won best in show for her floral art,Janet got a second for her cut flowers and Tim a second for his herbaceous cut flowers, so the family did fairly well

My new hen house has arrived this afternoon in 18 separate pieces and I have been very hands on by erecting it from scratch, which is all a bit masculine for me! Even managed to wood stain it too. The structure isn't the most robust of hen houses, so I suspect I may have to reinforce it before the hens are installed. A fox could break into the base of it fairly easily, that's the problem with cheaper materials. Hummm message to self, do not buy hen houses from e bay!

Top dog?

William and George have been flexing their testosterone paws this morning, and true to form it was over something barely edible (this time suet in a bird feeder) Neither will back down over food as both are terribly food led, so the fight was fierce and very bloody! Usually I try and leave them to it but they had to be separated as although he was loosing the battle, George was the one that was inflicting the damage as Scotties have a terribly powerful bite. The kitchen looked like something out of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre! with blood and suet spread everywhere. Meg got all excited by the melee and jumped in and out biting each protagonist whenever she got the chance. Maddie just ran and hid in the lounge!
I am booking George in to be castrated fairly soon, which may or may not help Poor sod!