Want to feel inspired?

First, in case you were worried, Laverne is FINE. We had a bit of a messy egg incident this morning, but she is in good working form and seems to be back to herself. Someone suggested she might have been spooked by something and this seems plausible. I am sad to suggest it might have been me picking her up and putting her in the run as she refused to go in herself. But don't fret, she is okay. Laverne is fine. Phew!

A while back my good friend recommended Animal Vegetable Miracle to me as a good read. And a good read it is! It was on my to read list for a long time and it finally arrived in the mail. Martin and I have recently been inspired to live like conscious consumers and so have begun a quest to eat only locally grown produce and meat (not for me! for martin!)(movie that inspired us...The Age of Stupid) It kills me to think I'll never have another avocado or pineapple again but I do think it is time people start consuming like the seasonal animals they are. This would be way easier to do in California, and way more enjoyable, but there you are. Anyway, just as we started this adventure I began the book above. The author, who is well known for numerous novels, many of which I have read, decides to do a year of sustainable living on the farm she lives on with her family. She takes my motto to eat local but takes it to the extreme. Something I can't quite yet do but hope to one day. The book goes through the months of her seasonal eating and gives good advice and information about why it is important people change the way they consume. It has truly inspired me. So much so that I think Martin worries about what new idea I will have next. Like today when I came home and told him I wanted to make my own cheese. If I only I had my own cow I might just be able to call home heaven! I really recommend it. I think people are afraid to admit that the change we need needs to start at home. If people stop eating all the crap that is being produced for us, that crap will eventually stop being produced. Think about it. Aren't you just a little bit worried about our planet and the way we live?

A bit flooded and a dirt bath

One of my favourite things to do is to walk down the tow path along the Thames into Richmond. Richmond looks like an ideal English village and straight out of a Jane Austin novel. Last weekend Martin and I set off, and when we go to Richmond we were dismayed to find this...


Where I am standing is usually the concrete path and you can see a set of benches right behind me. There is also usually a grassy field to my left. Luckily we had our wellies, although we did have to wait a brief while for the tide to go out and the water level to drop enough for us to finish our walk. That aside Spring has finally arrived in England and the planting has begun. The boxes have been dug up and the trees are finally turning green. I won't get to see any of our tulips come up, the chicks dug them all out, but it is nice to see signs of spring around us.

I would like to say or chicks are well and happy but one of them has suddenly turn poorly! She was fine when we left for a walk this afternoon but when we got home she was definitely acting strange. She didn't bound out of the run when we opened it or run after the pile of greens I threw out. She is kind of just moping in her cage. Most distressful. I sat and stared at her for a long while hoping she would perk up but she just turned her back to me and turned into a statue. Is she mad we went for a walk? I am hoping she just ate something in the garden that didn't agree with her and will be back to her old self soon. Please don't die Laverne!

Below you can see her in happier times, taking a dirt bath with Shirley (the darker one) We have pretty much just given this area over to the chickens. They eat everything and the only remaining plant left is a heather plant which they have recently developed a taste for...

Martin is in the process of coming up with a way to keep the chicks out of the vegi garden. I think fencing the whole area off is the only solution. He is slowly coming around to this idea, but I don't think that solution is at esthetically pleasing as he would like.