I have booked a weeks holiday...

In Cornwall, I am sooooo excited even though Mr P will be staying home... all due to not being able to let go and not go to work... that's the joys of being a contractor and it is his demon to fight.

If I force him to come he will fret and be miserable at the money he isn't earning by being off work... so instead I will be taking my good friend Joanne along with her 3 children to a 400 year old cottage in St Levan, Penzance.... I will miss having Mr P there to chat with and I do feel guilty for going without him, but we have never taken the children on holiday... and I feel such a failure when I fill out that form they sometimes send home from school asking what your children did over the summer break...


A very dear friend owns the property and I didn't realise she rented it out... she has a week free at the end of August so we will be travelling down in our very own little convoy... lol

You cannot believe the excitement bubbling up inside me.... I fear I may fall deeply in love with Cornwall and not wish to return...

I have been sussing out the area and there are at least 2 lovely beaches that I would like to visit, I am looking forward to the odd pub lunch and picnics on the beach... and lazy days collecting shells and snapping tons of pictures... of course I will be taking some crochet and I have been brightening up my picnic ware...

As Mr P does tend to suggest a trip to the beach at the drop of a hat I have now gathered the necessary bits and bobs for a family trip for tea at the coast so I am ready in an instant...
However I bought a stainless steel flask that does not fit into cool bag or basket and I thought I might want to take it with me if I just went out for a wander on my own.. (like that ever happens! lol)

So using some fabulous yarn sent over to me by my wonderful friend in America...
thank you Jenn! of yarn addicts anonymous
and I must confess to not showing this wonderful gift that she posted to me, I cannot recall the reasons at the time that I was so disorganised to not have taken a photo... I will have to show you my fabulous slippers to that she knitted and felted for me... anyway I digress the yarn has crocheted up beautifully to make a lovely string bag just for my flask...
hot chocolate at the beach.... mmmm yummy!

well I had better get on Daniel wants my attention and Jamie has just dragged her almost teenage backside out of bed....
Mid morning snacks will be required or breakfast in Jamie's case...

big hugs
take care
Alex
x

Awww Taz... have you missed me?

That's so sweet of you and your lovely comment has prompted me to post again...
I have been doing the usual "racing around like a blue arsed fly" thang that I do so well...
and yes it has been for everyone else....
at the end of last month I could be found face painting at Queen Camel school fete which then led to me face painting at the Queen Camel Paloozu, which is basically a village and local council play day where lots of activities are put on like circus skills and birds of prey etc for children to have a go at for free....

Then we have been having fun and games with the family hunter.... after way too many shrews, mice, frogs and the topper was returning home Sunday night to find a sparrow flying around the kitchen the cat known as "Louie" has now had the cat flap switched to outgoing traffic only....
the smelliest find was a shrew slowly roasting under the fridge, who would have thunk that a shrew could make such an awful smell! lol

Who me?

Yes you!

after the Saturday face painting at the Paloozu, Sunday morning found Daniel and I heading off to the village hall at Queen camel to help run a children's crafting morning as part of the Village weekend that was also running that weekend... we only had about 10 children turn up but we did our bit.... its not very well organised or publicised....
I drew Daniel a picture to colour in and then I had to help him colour it in too... lazy boy! ;D
he just wanted to do the glitter...
I wondered whether to do a colouring in book at the pre-school where the children tell me what they want on their page... then perhaps sell it to the parents to fund raise... what do you think?

The kitchen makeover is still slowly getting done... we are down to the last little bit... that being the plumbing and the new sink... which I might talk Mr P into picking up this afternoon as we are heading to Bristol to collect a filing cabinet... it would be rude not to pop into Ikea too! lol

My heart collection is growing the latest addition was from Pinkmilk I love the rosie heart...

Last Saturday was spent renovating Mum's friends garden and removing an overgrown border to replace it with weed membrane and gravel and planting up some drought tolerant plants... ready for it to be entered into a front garden competition the following week... we spent the whole day there while watching the airplane display teams circling overhead as it was Yeovilton Air day... and I returned Monday to weed and deadhead the rest of the floral borders, which Daniel found particularly dull... lol

This Saturday gone was spent clearing out the master bedroom... major de-cluttering... I donated 4 items of furniture to the YMCA they were very happy and we sorted, re-arranged and packed away clothes.... I loaded 4 black bags of clothes and coat hangers into the boot of the car ready for taking to the recycling center on Sunday....

Sunday afternoon we decided to go to the seaside for tea...
Mr P chose Lulworth Cove and off we headed (via the recycling center) to the seaside...

Mr P and the children were up for walking up the coastal path....
I however was not! lol

Down at the cove the children paddled

We all ate ice creams....

Mr P and the guys went for a walk up over the grass bank while I sat and daydreamed about the last time Mr P and I came here....

It must have been 14 years ago when we first met and I think it was our first date....that little boat shed was a lovely little cafe... we had a bite to eat in there...
its just an ice cream shop now...

After that we decided to head along the coast to Weymouth to find ourselves some tea...

after we had eaten at Daniels choice of establishment... lets just say it has golden arches!
we headed for the deserted beach to have a run around in the sand...

Its getting darker... the sun is setting so off home we pootle to deal with the sparrow as mentioned previously...

Mr P's niece has had a little baby boy so I am crocheting a blanket in the colour scheme of "Humphrey" which I think is a nursery collection by Mothercare....

I am not sure if I have enough yarn to do the size of blanket that I hoped for so I am completing each row and it will be as big as I can make it...lol

Do you like my lovely rose fridge magnets from Pinkmilk?

Saturday finds me dropping the children off at mum and dads so that they can go to watch football at Yeovil football ground... apparently there is a big team Liverpool or something coming down to play a game organised because of someone who had an accident and can't play anymore...
Saturday evening we are off to Stourhead picnic and firework display with a couple of friends...
fingers crossed it doesn't rain...!

well I had better get on....
I will try and not leave it so long next time
Honest!
;D

hugs and stuff
Alex
x

Fledgling Nightmare.....

Why oh why are Blackbirds such a pain in the arse?

As soon as they started nesting in our open shed I knew we were in for a noisy old time of it when these chicks finally fledged.... we used an old fire guard to block the shed door to stop small people and the cat from investigating and knocking over the stack of wood that the parents had built their precarious nest on top of....

Yesterday evening the Blackbirds were making there usual racket to warn off a predator and I dashed outside to see what our cat had gotten herself into this time...

after the cat had dashed inside Mr P investigated the shed and we found that a blackbird fledgling was sat on the floor so we removed the fire guard and retreated to the kitchen window to watch .... low and behold the fledgling was ushered out and headed for the hedge.... we assumed that it was all done and dusted but no.... this morning we first of all found Louie's hunting on the kitchen floor.... it was a small (dead) sparrow... I think....
but the blackbirds were kicking up a stink out in the yard again and the dog was very interested in an area by the garage....

Low and behold another fledgling.....

So I have surrounded him with the fireguard and waited to see if the parents know where he is ...

Mum has been down and fed him so they know where he is but they have made no attempt to move him somewhere safer...
I even removed the guard so that they could usher him off to somewhere safer...

so I have given him a broken pot to hid under and I considered stuffing some hay in there so that he can hide away... they look so daft sat staring at you...

I even took a book outside and sat reading...while on guard... how daft am I! lol

Just popped out to open up the pen so that mum can get in and get baby out...
the cat is (I think) upstairs asleep along with Jamie who came home from school yesterday complaining of feeling ill....
plus Daniel had me up in the night too... so I didn't bother waking either this morning
Daniel eventually came downstairs at 8:20am and Jamie is still sound asleep...

Well the parents have returned while I have been typing and they have tempted the fledgling away.... he's hopped down towards the flat roof shed and now its up to them to protect their baby... Daniel came out and had a look to see the little bird and I explained all about camouflage and why the chick was hiding on things the same colour as he was...

nature is an amazing thing but sometimes you wonder how they can survive putting themselves at such risk...

I noticed dad feeding the first fledgling at the bottom of the garden... now the teaching will begin and they will soon be feeding themselves.... fingers crossed the many cats around here do not find them...

Now I have many thanks some belated and some more recent to give....
and I will today take photo's to show you the lovely gifts that I have received...
but just to say to Suzie over at itch2stitch thank you for the beginners guide to chicken keeping book that you so kindly sent and I love the felt button flower... It will be superb at keeping my place as I learn about breeds and keeping them happy and sound..

big hugs to you all
Alex
x