Monday 9 August 2010

Saturday is not a good day to travel...!



Friday night the children went to my Mum and Dads and don't tell anyone but Mr P and I nipped down the pub... shhhh its a secret just between you me and the gate post.. OK?


To be honest our little jolly almost backfired...
its usually a lovely quiet country pub and when 2 people who to be honest don't go out very often get a night to themselves we do like a nice evening, not a rowdy town pub experience... been there done that and now I am all growd up its not my preferred choice for an evening out any more..... however it would appear with the town pubs failing and closing fast the country pubs are getting busier and noisier...

Now this particular pub has it written up everywhere that children are permitted if they are well behaved and bad language and rowdy behaviour will not be tolerated and you will be asked to leave...

However I think in this economic downturn they are willing to waiver this rule in return for taking your cash... therefore our tranquil pub visit was in fact hindered by a table of 6 middle aged ladies who had been there since 6pm and we arrived at 9pm and where mostly bladdered... they were just getting there main courses when we arrived and the evening consisted of them talking about ex's and how the bar'stewards weren't worth crying over and there was the odd loud announcements of how much they loved each other.... half a larger was spilt over the most sober person in the party... I think she may have been driving ... however she did not look fabulously amused... and when they started talking about ordering coffee the 2 drunkest ladies demanded larger and whiskey...

we ate our starters and main meals and made hastily for the bar to finish our drinks and watch from a safe distance.... when they did eventually leave, the rest of the table abandoned the lady that was the drunkest... she was left to stagger to the door on her own and nearly ended up on her arse... once outside Mr P (who was having a cigarette) watched in horror as she was snatched from near death as she almost stumbled into the main road....

After our evening with the added bonus of a side show we strolled home again and turned in for the night...

In the morning we left for South Wales and headed for Bristol and the bridge clutching the £5.50 for the toll gate....
we hit a really bad downpour at Bristol and pulled into a service station for a bathroom break and a coffee... giving the surface water a chance to drain off as people were not altering their speed to match the conditions and you could not see very far at all...

back on our way again we eventually crossed the bridge and made it to Llanelli...

The lady I purchased the Eglu from was very nice and her husband helped Mr P load it all into the back of the car and it only just fitted into the back of the Volvo estate... that's a lot of Eglu...

on the Welsh side of the bridge the traffic wasn't too bad... some road works near Newport had an average speed limit in place and this did seem to keep the traffic moving on the whole...


Through the tunnel...


and over the bridge... with another sudden downpour to spoil the view....

The other bridge was shut for repairs...
On the English side as we skirted around Bristol the rain hadn't happened and yet the traffic was horrible...


Eventually we managed to get off the motorway at Bridgewater and get home without too much trouble....

Mr P chilled out for the rest of the afternoon... but I was too excited to sit still, I had stuff to do and my back and shoulder were stiff from the trip so I did some gardening and weeding...

Sunday morning Mr P popped out to help a friend with some mechanics and when he got back I had managed to cut half the hedge and mow the lawn... he kindly finished off the rest of the hedge...(shoulder and back not good!) and then we built the Eglu... which grew and got scarily bigger until eventually we had finished...

ta da!


Its nearly as wide as our garden....

and now I am so excited...!

The hedge has stock fencing in it and its pegged down with barbed wire along the bottom... the previous owners had a basset hound and use to keep chickens too...

So once I have the chickens I will let them have the run of the whole area for an hour or 2 before bedtime....they can help me with my gardening! lol

Daniel wants a white one... but we'll have to wait and see...

My cousin breeds and shows chickens so I might see if she has 4 or so suitable birds... but definitely no cockerel... no early morning crowing for me or the neighbours! lol

If you made it to the end
well done!

thank you for popping by its been lovely chatting to you...
I had better get on with some chores
See you all again soon
take care
Alex
x


17 comments:

Sarah said...

Gosh, sounds like a hectic weekend, but worthwhile in the end! Looking forward to seeing your new brood!
x

Pink Milk said...

Oh Alex, your poor lovely pub evening! Those women sound foul but I guess most of us have been part of the p***ed noisy party at one time or another. Just a shame it was while you were there.

One of our fave pubs has announced that it is now 'children tolerant' as opposed to 'family friendly' which really tees me off. They have stopped serving straws with drinks in order to discourage children - I ask you?!!

Can't wait to see piccies of your chickens in situ!

Hx

Marigold Jam said...

Glad you are pleased with your purchase and look forward to hearing about the hens in due course. Our neighbours have hens and a cockerel but he is not a nuisance at all and we rarely hear him but when we do it's a lovely country sound! Maybe he is well trained?

Jane

lisa ridgeon said...

What a very productive weekend. Loving the eglu.

X X

menopausalmusing said...

Glad you still had time out with each other, even though your "company" could have been better. Eglu is looking good. We actually do have a cockrel, a little bantam one and people rather like the noise.... luckily!

carole johnston said...

Hi Alex, I really enjoyed your blog as i knew where you were travelling and have been on the bridge on my trip to your country, we stayed at a place called Almodsbury not far from bristol,so I was so excited as we travelled along. We are just making a new home for our chickens also so i know how much fun that is,can't wait to see what hens you choose ,we used to have a little rooster names Luciano and unfortunately he lived up to his name so we had to fins a new hoem for him on a farm,one neighbour like us loved him the other one wanted to wring his neck! lol but he did crow a lot so it is jusy girls for us now too. Carlole

Rose H (UK) said...

Just found your blog from a comment left at Curlew Country. I'm so jealous of the Eglu and the expected hens - my TINY garden is too small for one:o(
I went on a half day course earlier this year for keeping chickens with a friend and really enjoyed it. They call it a 'Hen Party for beginners' here's a link if you're interested..
http://www.omlet.co.uk/courses/courses.php?page=course_view&course_id=5685&course_type=Chicken%20Keeping%20-%20Beginner
They run classes all over the UK.
(I have nothing to do with this company - just a satisfied customer)
Hope you enjoy your chooks :o)
Rose H

Unknown said...

Gosh I am tired just reading all of that!

Hugs xx

karen said...

I know how you feel about the local pub thing. Hubby and I decided to go out the other night. we actually walked out before we even ordered a drink lol

It all look's very exciting on the chicken front. We opted out of having a cockerel for the same reason lol. I can't wait to see which breed(s) you choose.

P.S. If your cousin can't help you out, I know a really good local breeder Just email me and I'll give you his details.

Good luck

Jenn said...

Sorry the pub wasn't quite what you planned...
Love the eglu! Can't wait to see it's new residents!

Jacey said...

Sounds like you had a very exciting weekend. We too have been sat in traffic, thought it would be a nice idea to take the two older children to london for the day to the british museum, in hindsight travelling to London in rush hour traffic on a monday morning was not one of my better ideas, then to top it all off the sun came out, don't get me wrong I love the sun, just not when i am sat in traffic with two bored children who are now hot and thirsty, on the good side though i did manage to get loads of granny squares done.
Looking forward to seeing some photos of the chucks, when are they arriving??. jacey x

Snippety Gibbet said...

You finally got it! How fun. I can hardly wait to see your chickens and find out how you fare with them. Such an adventure! jan

karenshopes said...

How exciting you are getting chickens, if you havent already got them the white sussex in your picture are very hardy birds. I had a couple of rangers and a couple of sussex and the rangers have long gone but the sussex are still going strong they are very sturdy birds. Good luck with you new venture.
Karen

Callies Cottage said...

Ah the edifying picture of drunk women!Why can't we go out,eat and have fun without getting completely out of control? I hope you still enjoyed your meal...
Wishing the chickens a happy new home!
Warm Wishes,
Cally x

karen said...

Hi Alex
Thanks for popping over to my little blog.
I thought that two weeks without river would be great and was actually looking forward to it. but I really did find myself feeling very lost without him lol.

Oh and in response to your comment about the quilt hhhmmmmmm yes I guess I will need one of those won't I ;) ;)

Hope your enjoying your holidays

Unknown said...

Ha ha! SOunds like a very interesting evening in the pub, Alan Bennett would have been in his element! It is incredible how people don't slow down in adverse weather conditions, but I am glad that you got home and manged to put up you eglu. I looks good, can't wait for you to get your chucks! Susie xxx

Snippety Gibbet said...

Hey... I have a post for you over at my blog. http://snippetygibbet.blogspot.com/2010/08/pensioners-knit-jumpers-for-chickens.html

jan