Monday, January 30, 2012

Snowing!



Not that you can tell from this picture, but we had our first snowfall today. I took this from our guest bedroom and think it is a nice ariel shot of where our pigs hang out. There was also actual snow falling, from the sky, but it didn't show up. And it wasn't cold enough to stick. But it did snow.

Friday, January 27, 2012

FIVE Eggs!

Yesterday I was going to write about how egg production has increased to FOUR eggs, yet there was still one lazy, although clever chicken who was yet to produce. I like to call her smartie pants chicken, (that isn't her official name of course, she isn't allowed to have one because of poopy pants Martin) as she is a tough one to catch and is a bit more switched on than the other chickens.



For instance, I typically whistle and throw food into their run when I want to lock them up, as they will typically run right in and I can close the door quickly. Well, smartie pants chicken knows this is what I am up to and won't come near the door and instead tries to drag the food with her beak from the holes on the outside to where she can get it. She won't let me pick her up so a chase usually ensues and I have to get Martin to help me so we can kind of herd her into the chicken coop. I have a very funny image in my head of Martin's dad having to do this one time, and how he has cursed smartie pants chicken ever since for making him look a fool, chasing her around the yard, trying to get her into the coop. (He thinks she was laughing at him all the while and I had to explain, she's a chicken, she can't laugh)

I was starting to get concerned she was never going to lay any eggs and I would have to have another sit down with her, but then I opened up the hen box and found FIVE EGGS!



I'm so proud of my little chickens. Well done ladies, you can all lay eggs. Martin won't have to have any of you for supper.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Pot of Gold

Not so long ago Simon came to visit us and we went on a nice walk to the pub and back. On the way home, rain clouds closed in on us and produced the most magnificent rainbow ever. Better than the one that was over my house. It was so big you couldn't photograph it and we could see both ends. I mean just look at Simon and Martin in this picture, even they couldn't believe it!



AND THEN, we turned around and saw THE VERY PLACE where the rainbow ended. It was in some bushes and I KNOW there was a pot of gold waiting there for us. But Martin wouldn't look for me and neither would Simon (I think as a guest to the country he should have done whatever I demanded but he clearly did not agree)



Should Martin and I ever have money problems I will be sure to remind him that all of our troubles could have been avoided if he would have just gone and got the pot of gold like I asked him. And when he says, huh, what, what pot of gold? I can then refer him to this post for the photographic evidence.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Sunrise

As much as I detest being woken up by an alarm clock, one perk of having to feed the pigs in the morning is being able to see the sky change from a dusty grey to a beautiful pink. It is quite magical and I love the few minutes of the morning watching the sky change colours.



Another amazing thing about the country is the moon. It is very bright out here, so much so Martin woke up confused one night about who put in the new street light outside, wishing they would turn it off. (there are no street lights out here and last night Janice laughed at me while I wound up my wind up torch light. It did make a funny sound) It was simply the moon shining in our room, lighting up the night sky. Here is a picture of it in the morning, when it was still large and bright, although this picture doesn't really capture it fully.

Friday, January 06, 2012

Three Eggs!

Our chickens haven't been laying as much lately. It is said to be because the days are shorter and the lack of sunlight effects their laying patterns.

However, after a full month of one egg a day, ON A GOOD DAY, I have had enough so I had a little talk with the chickens.

"Look, chickens, if you don't start laying soon, heads are going to roll. I won't eat you, but Martin will. You are expendable."

And lo and behold, three eggs today!



You can tell who lays what egg by the colour and shape of the egg, and interestingly, these eggs come from ginger, white and grey chicken. Black chicken has gone off laying and hasn't been playing with the other chickens lately. I think she might be a little upset as ginger and white chicken have been spending more time together and perhaps she feels left out. I have tried to get her to hang out with grey chicken but so far no dice. Stay tuned.

Been a little windy lately...

Pictures taken on my running trail after a big storm and on a very windy day. We didn't have power all day!



Wednesday, January 04, 2012

The Next Big Thing

Last week Martin, Janice, Andy and I hopped onto a mini bus with some of our other neighbours and headed into South Hampton to see our local (and by local I mean I can see his house from mine) boy Ben Goddard and his band play in their last performance of the year.

Andy has been going on about Ben ever since they moved to Horsebridge. I saw him play at a party I went to, and he was good, so I was pretty excited about going. Some of this excitement faltered when Ben's mom asked me to hold loo roll in my purse cause the bathrooms were DISGUSTING where we were going and sometimes didn't have lights and the place was "a little bit rough".

Well, all those things were totally true but it didn't matter cause Ben and his band were AMAZING. When I saw Ben he and his band mate (whose name escapes me cause I am rubbish with names but he is very talented) they were doing cover songs, which were all very good. When we saw them, along with their drummer and base, they were playing original songs and they were awesome. I often get bored when I listen to new music, but not so with these guys. It was the most fun I have had in a long long time. So watch for Ben, and his bandmates, they are going places.



PS-I would also like to add that Ben is probably the nicest person I have ever met. (I had typed boy as that is what he seems to me, but Martin keeps reminding me he is 23 and not a boy anymore so I replaced boy with person ) You just want to give him a big cuddle for being so sweet.

Christopher and the New Years Day Parade

One would think that having family living in Hawaii I might be limited in the number of times I could expect to see them. It would turn out that is nothing a high school marching band couldn't fix.

My nephew, and his high school marching band, were asked to come to London and perform in the London New Years Day Parade. My brother and his wife Wendy joined him and we spent a lovely few days together, although I only saw Christopher once. Apparently they take this marching band stuff very very seriously and he was holed up in conference rooms practicing the few days they had available before the parade. And all that practice certainly paid off!

Here is Christopher leading the pack into the stage area. He is the centre drum major.



We lucked out and were given grand stand tickets by a very kind woman at Christopher's school so we got the best seats in the house. Sadly this TV blocked most of our view, but it was cool seeing them walk in live and on TV, AT THE SAME TIME.



Here is Christopher conducting. Again, hard to see. I had to jump over a row of people and nudge my way over to even get this shot. But you get the idea.



The parade itself was pretty entertaining, although I am fairly positive the Americans were a bit disappointed. I think they were expecting something like the Rose Parade. What they got instead was the marching bands and dinky little floats made by the local boroughs, as well as donkeys, clowns and several bike clubs. Martin and I found the marching bands very entertaining, although Martin was a little embarrassed as an Englishman by the rest of it. As he should be.