On balance

Many things in this life seem to exist purely to fill people with horror and dread: disease, natural disasters, bad hair days… Spiders and thunderstorms I’m learning to cope with – stop sniggering at the back – but there is one little thing that never fails to send shivers down my spine and my stomach contents almost up my throat; so guess what I should find crawling all over my good luck almost the second it appeared?

You couldn’t make it up. I’m not wholly convinced of the clover’s powers as yet; I don’t consider it particularly fortunate to find an earwig in my kitchen, an impulsive purchase of 2 scratchcards yielded zilch, and having a drunk stumble hand-first through my front window at 2am was definitely an experience I could have lived without. He should be thinking himself lucky that my hubby was out at the time. Although the clumsy local has been round to apologise to me – yeah, I was surprised too – I don’t think he meant it when he said he’d be back to speak to him. Curiously, there was no mention of coughing up anything towards the repair cost; I guess I’m hoping for too much.

One thing that has me convinced I am the luckiest girl alive is the anniversary gift hubby has in store for me. Patience may be a virtue, but it’s also a pain in the arse; I have to be good for a few more days yet. I’m so excited. At least I have some cute new shoes to look at while I tap my feet impatiently – and they were in the sale. How fortuitous.

Going one better

So I was just minding my own business, going through the usual morning routine: kettle on, chickens out, bunnies fed, picking through the weeds to get Pie his leafy breakfast. And there it was, staring me in the face – one little 4-leaf clover.

I have to admit, Pie probably wasn’t very impressed that I went skipping off indoors with it and temporarily forgot about his rumbling stomach. However, after hubby came outside to see where I’d found it, it took just 30 seconds for us to gather 5 more of the things! He kept insisting that they are rare, but it was getting a bit silly…

Not wanting to have my special find outshone by a whole bunch of 4-leaf clovers, I had to go one better, of course:

According to that font of universal knowledge (ahem), WikiAnswers, 4-leaf clover brings luck and 5-leaf clover brings money. Bring it on! Of course, after Linda Woods‘ experience of the kind of luck a 4-leaf clover can bring, I can’t help but feel a little cautious. If everything goes pear-shaped from today, they’re coming out of the flower press and into the compost bin.

Blame it on the button

It seems that at the moment, our household’s destiny is to keep Baytril manufacturers in business. Dolly will be on antibiotics for a month; apparently at least one of the pets in the garden has to be… Although she’s not yet quite back to normal, I’m tentatively hopeful that she’ll make a full recovery. It’s my job to get the syringe in her beak each morning – no mean feat – so I’m making sure she gets the best chance.

After I posted my much loved toadstool bag on here, I remembered that it wasn’t the only recent acquisition in the accessory department. Being something of a hoody-jeans-All Stars girl, pretty little evening bags don’t often make their way into my handbag-greedy paws; but when circumstances dictate it, who am I to argue!? It was a last-minute panic to find something to stash my essentials in, and after dismissing rails of plain, tiny, satin purses, I was starting to despair – then a dinky blue clutch bag saved me. It’s from Nica; I hadn’t heard of them until I stumbled on this one. They have a few cute bags on their website – some are more my sort of thing than others – but really I was just pleased to find something for the evening that was me, pretty and all. I blame the button. Gotta love a big button, even a fake one.

Irresistible

Garden activities have taken something of a back seat lately, as I haven’t yet found the dedication to weed flowerbeds and dig soil over in the pouring rain – and don’t intend to, actually. Fortunately, it was bright, sunny and warm on Saturday when a group of us headed off to the seaside for Rachel’s birthday; and predictably – despite our best efforts – came home rather sunburnt. This is why the good weather so often stays away: we just can’t be trusted with it.

Accompanying me at the moment, come rain or shine, is my favourite new bag. I’ve had it a few weeks now so it’s time I showed it off. It’s a rather more smart and grown-up style than some of my other satchels (I’m looking at you, Tokidoki goodness!), but I couldn’t resist the toadstools. Damn them. Oh, and it’s a polkadot print lining too, so – yeah. Smitten.

It’s probably only me that gets overly excited about almost-meaningless numbers, but I couldn’t resist snapping this shot of my car’s dashboard when I was out on Sunday. Me and Inky have been on the road together for 4 years now, and covered 27 thousand miles… I figured this was kind of like a birthday for him. Wonder where I can get a Smart car cake?

In less cheerful news, Dolly has been quite ill lately. The poor chick has picked up a lung infection, and was looking really sorry for herself on Friday. She seems to be responding well to the antibiotics, so fingers crossed she’ll pull through and be back to her usual self in no time. After poor Tairrie, it gave me a hell of a scare though; I’d really be lost without her now.

Chillin’

Had a lovely week getting back into the swing of things. Naturally, we didn’t want to work too hard (best not to over-do things!), so took Thursday off to go to the Suffolk Show. Alas, no photos were taken of our adventures with chickens, rabbits, cows etc, but it was a perfect day out; just warm enough and very relaxing – perhaps thanks to the cider. We returned home with a couple of chilli pepper plants which seem to have almost doubled in size already. With a bit of luck we’ll be munching the chillies off them by the end of the summer.

Perhaps it’s the (surprisingly) good weather that’s done it – as I’m loving being outside at the moment – but from somewhere we have found the motivation and energy to sort the garden out. Currently it’s mostly a case of tearing up weeds and cutting back out of control herbs, shrubs and who-knows-what, but I’m busy formulating ideas for a whole new layout. Being pretty much a total novice in the gardening department (sunflowers aside), there’s an awful lot of information to take in; I’m arming myself with many books and having fun drawing plans and tracking down the prettiest plants. In the meantime, we’re having a go at growing some vegetables. I was lucky to snaffle some free packets of seeds from the BBC and their Dig In campaign – if all goes well, we’ll be having our own tomatoes, carrots, beetroot, lollo rossa lettuce and butternut squash for dinner this year. And if it doesn’t go well, it’s only a short walk to Sainsbury’s.

Endings

I’m sure it’s a cliché that people return from holiday declaring that they need another one to get over it, but maybe things become clichés because they’re true! Without wishing to sound ungrateful for my trip to the Caribbean (courtesy of the in-laws!), I wouldn’t have chosen to go somewhere so hot; I think I sweated out all of my energy. It was pretty special though: the (glorious) pale sandy beach on our doorstep, picture perfect turquoise sea, and – if we were lucky – just enough breeze to stop us from melting entirely.

The days leading up to the break weren’t so idyllic, sadly. Tairrie chicken is no longer with us. Having woken full of beans on the Sunday morning, she was just sitting quietly in the evening and didn’t seem her usual self at all. When Lloyd fed them all early next morning, just before we had to go, he said he knew she wasn’t going to make it. Our poor petsitter got sent round early to take her to the vet, but it was already too late. He kindly buried her for us; in a way it made it easier to go away without worrying about her the whole time, and Lloyd was glad he got to say goodbye. The 3 hens are starting to look like a bit of a small brood up there now – I have a feeling it won’t be long before we’re looking for some more friends to introduce to them…

Tairrie in the middle, with Dolly & Aimee

It could be that time when good things come to an end. Possibly I wore it out with all the photos I took on holiday, but my faithful little camera appears to be kaput. Thankfully it held out until the last whole day – when I’d already filled up the memory – otherwise there would have been tears before bedtime. I can’t pretend it’s not quite old, by current standards, or that I haven’t had a lifetime’s use from it… I’m just oddly attached to it. But here’s to the next Ixus, and all the pretty photos it may give me.

No maypoles here

This year’s village May Day fair was a lot chillier than the last, but at least had the usual temptations – namely cake, a coconut shy, and of course, the duck race. All washed down with Pimms & lemonade and a few sneaky chips. What more can you ask from a bank holiday!?

Chocolate -2 days and counting

It’s nice to have a couple of peaceful days after the somewhat stressful events in recent weeks. Pie seems to be doing well now; his daily routine involves warm baths and plenty of basking under the sun heat lamp and UV tube, with spells outside if the weather’s up to scratch. He’s very happy romping around in the grass, we’re all looking forward to the warmer months when he can be outside all of the time. Lloyd has made it his daily duty to go out foraging for dandelions, which tempt Pie to eat when all else fails. It’s great to see him tucking in with enthusiasm.

I’ve joined the party and snaffled myself an iPhone, which I’m enjoying getting familiar with. For some reason I didn’t get to grips with (or bother trying?) getting on the net with my old mobile, but I’m having trouble putting this favourite new gadget down. It’s definitely helpful to pick up my email when I’m miles from home (I now fully understand the meaning behind CrackBerry). Despite searching the iTunes Store carefully for the “Perfect cup of tea, anytime, anywhere” app, I’ve not yet found it…but judging from the plentiful array on offer, it’s only a matter of time.

In other retail therapy news, I got a cute bunch of goodies from Nut and Bee the other day. My fridge has been suitably brightened by the presence of 4 shiny new magnets, and my stationery compulsion has been temporarily appeased by a variety of rubber stamp designs – no paper surface shall remain un-stamped. I also bought the “Giddy-up Caterpillar!” Sketchbook Sweeties print, so now I’m on the hunt for a nice chunky frame. Since I’m also quite tempted by Bunnylump, Hot Tea Tortoise, Candysaurus and my so-far all-time favourite design from Nut and Bee, Rainbows, maybe I should buy one with lots of apertures… They’ll look great up on the wall of that room I’ve been painting for the past year… eek.

Mash

Mash wasn’t meant to make it through the winter; I found him dead this morning. It looks like he was just too weak. The weather hasn’t been warm enough for him to want to eat, and he went back to sleep for a bit, like Pie. It got sunny and warmer yesterday and today, so I thought he’d be up and about in it, but it’s come too late for him. My poor little dinosaur creature. Of course, I’m now feeling horribly guilty and wondering what I could have done to help him – which is all totally pointless now. We’re going to bury him with all the other past pets – a sadly growing group – up the top of the garden.

I really thought he’d made it.

Warm fuzzies

Two good things this month brings are flowers and pancakes; really, what more do you need!? A huge bouquet was sheepishly carried in to the house by my hubby on the friday evening before Valentine’s day, and the flowers are still going strong now. They are thirsty little blossoms, but very pretty – he chose them all himself, I’m told, and include a few sticks of these fuzzy bobbles. I think they’re catkins or pussy willow or..? No, I don’t know at all, but I love them – they’re so cute.

Tonight is pancake flipping time, and we had to buy eggs to make them with! The chickens can’t be bothered to pop any out lately, so it’s shop eggs for us for the time being. Next to the teeny ones our teeny hens lay, they look frighteningly huge. Still, I’m sure they’ll make great pancakes. I’m toying with the idea of making some thick squadgy American style ones instead of my usual crepes, so perhaps we’ll skip dinner and move straight on to dessert. Oh, and we can watch our tv from its new position on the wall above our treasured Gordon Russell sideboard while we eat them – yay! It almost looks like an actual living room in here. The dining table and benches are yet to come, but it’s progress.

After the cold weather recently, I didn’t expect Pie & Mash to surface for quite some time, but they surprised me by waking up already. They got their usual bath to clean off the mud and warm them through, but Pie has since decided the temperatures aren’t worth sticking around above ground for. Mash keeps falling asleep on the grass and isn’t eating yet, but at the moment I’m just happy they made it through the long winter.