Awww Shucks...

Thank you so much for all you advice, support and down right wonderfulness...

I must cut the hedges.....

I am still considering my options and I need to do some groundwork first making the area secure and smaller as I want to keep half the grass area for the moment...

I am thinking of putting the fence across here... with a gate to one side
I will double chicken wire the hedge sides (which already have stock fencing as the previous owner had a basset hound) and sort out the bottom which needs completely scrubbing out...

apple tree in front the area that I want to clear out...

there are a couple of shrubs down there that I do not particularly love, the over grown rusty coloured broom... and the Photinia is struggling, being swamped by the broom.... and another white flowered shrub that I can't even recognise... plus the apple tree could do with the extra room... as well as a tidy up and prune... lol

This is my Victoria Plum...

we do need to keep some distance from the bottom fence though as every now and again the people on the other side have a dog there... so I am thinking clear it out and build wooden compost bins... I might leave the Photinia but put a gate or barrier in front of it so that I can get in there and keep the weed growth down, but the chickens can't get in there near the fence...

The dumping ground...lol

This is the rest of the garden and yard looking towards the house... its a good size space and only gently sloping... however it has a lot of buildings and ground coverings from the previous owner... he was a tractor enthusiast and had one tractor under the flat roof one more in the garage and the brick shed was full of mowers etc... lol

Our recycled coal bunker... that took some muscles to collect and put back together! lol
trouble is now i am not sure we are keeping the open fire... :(

The varying thickness's of concrete have cracked and are now uneven and filled with weeds and daisies... the asbestos garage needs emptying and taking down...

Mr P had a aluminium keg from when he worked at the pub in his village... makes a fantastic table base with a slab of stone we found in the garden...

We have dug up an area of concrete next to the garage and Mr P bought Cotswold chippings which are lovely and white but do go discoloured... I bought a cattle trough from Mole Valley Farmers and planted it up with herbs... I like the look of the galvanised trough.. should last a long while too...

My bamboo plant in the corner with a collection of pots and plants... I carved a tree trunk that Mr P brought home for fire wood into a bird table... I usually fill the hole I carved in the branch with fat and suet with yummy treats captured inside it... this year I have been dropping dead meal worms in their for the nesting birds...

The brick shed that we share with our neighbours, it sits on the boundary half in our garden and half in theirs.... then it is split longways so our half is longways into their garden and their half comes longways into our garden... (very odd!) anyway its in a bad way... needs re roofing and our half has no doors.. which does mean a pair of blackbirds have nested in their... so its currently barricaded off to keep Daniel and the local cats out... lol
it needs emptying and repairing... I fancy taking off the corrugated asbestos roof and replacing it with a corrugated clear transparent roof and using it as a hot house for fruits and veg growing... will have to wait and see...

Nasturtiums are self seeding now and growing like weeds... but I don't mind that...

The old outside toilet is Mr P's storage shed and also contains kitchen bits and bobs that I am not sure whether I need it or not! lol this also need a roofing repair and new guttering, I have started scraping down the door ready for a coat of paint and I will then need to get my brother around again to fit a new pane of glass... he cracked the last one when he was fitting it .. Obviously its me P's playroom but that doesn't mean I can't utilise the outside for more colourful plants.. ;D
many of the "weeds" that people dislike I leave to do as they will in places that I have no other use for... Mind you I have just read that Petty Spurge is poisonous and the milky sap use to be used to burn off worts and corns... nature is very clever! however I really must go through the mint collection above and give it a good weeding...


in between the two brick sheds is a gap that use to home the rubbish bins when we moved in... I asked Mr P to put up a little more picket fence.. which I will be painting.. and I filled it with plastic with no drainage and then dropped 6 bags of cheap pea shingle in their... it now homes my first attempt at growing tomatoes... I haven't put any canes in them yet as I was given them by my mum who won them on a raffle... to this day I have no clue of their variety or type... but they will need canes as the tomatoes get heavier...
FIL dislikes the tomato pots... but I dislike grow bags so I think we are even! ;D

Well that's my garden... in need of attention and a little TLC.... So my garden and I have a lot in common.... lol

Mr P doesn't do gardening
so its pretty much a one gal show over here at Pinkfeatherparadise HQ

I shall leave you with a picture of my one solitary courgette plant given to me by Mr P's work colleague... I am not sure why the leaves are like that... is it normal or does it need a feed of something?

Thanks for reading through all this...
you deserve a medal! lol

big hugs Alex
x

Wooden Coop or Eglu?

I have a fair size patch of lawn (filled with moss and buttercups...lol) and I have decided to cut it in half with a fence and have some chickens.... I am going to have a coop with a run for when I have to pop out and double fence with chicken wire over the stock fencing that is hidden in the hedges either side and along the bottom.....

Now do you think I should go wooden coop...

or plastic eglu ?

now I know the price of the eglu cube and no I have not won the lottery...lol
but if in the long run it will last longer and be kinder to the girls then I am willing to forgo all Birthday and Christmas presents this year to pay for it! lol

do any of you lovely chook keeping ladies and gents have any hands on knowledge of either?

I am in a quandary!

I thought having some chickens would give me some company for when Daniel eventually starts school in September plus the idea of the odd freshly laid egg is so very appealing... lol

any advice greatly appreciated...

also I think I will re home battery hens rather than buy new... I know that they can be shorter living but I would like to think that I am giving her a new chance and however long she may live a better life...

looking forward to hearing your ideas and thoughts
take care
Alex
x

A wooing we shall go.....

I have booked tickets for Mr P and I to go to Stourhead picnic and firework display on Wednesday 24th July... its only £10 each and you take your picnic and rug and enjoy an evening in the gardens from 7:30pm till the firework display at 10pm and the temples around the garden are illuminated.....


I have not been to the scaled down version of the gardens open in the evening.. the last time I went was the bi-annual Fete Champetre event where they put on many entertainments and events and it was packed with revellers in fancy dress as each event had a theme.... I think after the last event in 1998 when it rained and rained and the gardens were badly trashed it was opted to go for a more low key simple event....


I have bought a new hamper for my picnic and I am awaiting delivery of a new battery lantern and we have now invited a couple of friends to join us at this romantic venue...

The children will not be coming ...this is a night for Mr P and I to spend some time being a couple, reminding ourselves of the people we were pre family lol

So excited about it, even if it rains I will love every minute...

big hugs
Alex
x

Jamies English homework......

Jamie has had to write a poem about England... she's in year 7 and came home asking me to help her... do you help or do you try to guide? I find it so difficult to not get involved with anything creative and poetry is in my book painting with words... I think she gets what I am trying to tell her and I hope the teacher likes her piece of artwork... I tried to keep my ideas out of it but I love anything creative... so here it is ... be kind! lol

if its a little small you can click on it to enlarge it... had to save it as a picture.. blogger was messing me about something silly!

Hope you liked it...
I tried to get her to think each stanza in seasons so it gave it the idea of the varied seasons we get here in England...

its almost 10 o'clock and I have to admit it was quite good fun spending some quality time with Jamie... some of the verse suggestions even got a little rude... but I blame that on the pimms!

take care
Alex
x

My little boys first trip without me...

Well who would have thought that I would be a fretful mum!

Daniel has departed on his first school trip... the pre-school have taken the leavers (the 12 children who will be attending big school in September) on a trip to


.... it did seem a little bit of an overkill when 12 toddlers and 3 teachers got onto a full size coach to go to Longleat... lol
there is every chance they'll loose them on the bus let alone at the safari park...
they won't be driving through the monkey enclosure which I assumed was because the monkey are destructive little .... well... monkey's!

but according to the website the monkey enclosure is closed at the moment... I would imagine they are making a protected drive through tunnel...

they do so love to strip the rubber off your car! lol

Anyway.... Yesterday Mum was left looking after Daniel and they picked up Jamie at 4:30 once she had caught the bus home from school plus obviously dog duties letting him out etc...

why I hear you ask...? (I like to kid myself that you are interested! lol)

well we bought a car on eBay... and we had to travel via train from Yeovil to Newhaven... even the ticket clerk didn't know where Newhaven was..." just the other side of Brighton... " I told her!
So off we went on our South west train heading for Clapham Junction... we zipped across the platform bridge and jumped on our next train... which was going to split at Hayward's Heath... luckily I was paying attention and Mr P and I were in the front 4 carriages and carried on to Lewes... what a lovely little station too!
from here we jumped on a proper clackety clack train with the proper hoeeen honk horn... and the scenery was much nicer... we went at a sedate speed instead of the travel sick inducing high speed mayhem of the first 2 trains....

I have never seen so many individuals so firmly fixed on their gadgets, phones, laptops etc... no-one seemed to look out of a window or take any notice of the world whizzing by... so sad!

anyway in Newhaven we grabbed some lunch, and I decided it was far too hot to walk to Peacehaven... so we found a taxi rank and got a taxi... and I was so glad... it was only a couple of mm on the map but I could not have walked that and survived! lol
we found the address and the car sat on the drive...

We had a cup of coffee and a lovely natter with the lovely lady selling her car and duly paid up and left on our merry way in Mr P's new (to us) T reg Volvo only to realise that we hadn't brought a map so we had no clue which road would be best to come home on... ;D

Once we had filled the greedy motor with more money's worth of fuel than I wish to contemplate we started home...
we glided through seaside views and I loved it... we didn't stop anywhere as we had 4 hours to get home to pick up the children by 9pm... so we just kept driving...

This is Brighton beach.... I proposed to Mr P 14 years ago on Brighton beach... he must have heard me as I have an engagement ring to proove it... but it hasn't been replaced with a band of gold yet... lol

What on earth people thought as this blue Volvo sped by with a mad looking woman hair flying in all directions took snapshots out of the window! lol

but it was a good drive home and I obviously had to do the snooze test while travelling in the car... and it passed with flying colours and I didn't even get a neck ache! ;D and I even manged a little crochet...

We stopped at 7pm at a little chef and had some tea... and then Mr P dropped me at the station in Yeovil where I picked up my Freelander and I drove back to mums to pick up the children by 9:30pm... Mr P shot off to the little convenience store to pick up supplies for packed lunches and I took one sleepy head son home and after he was propped on the loo (while still asleep) gotten ready for bed and put to bed I sat down to chill out and read a few blogs...

So I am now sat here wondering what to do with myself... normally I would only have 2 and a half hours to do something but today Daniel won't be back till 3pm....

I think I might clear out Daniels toy box and clear the lounge of clutter... it needs a ruddy good clean!

hope you are all enjoying the sun... oh and if your that way inclined the football may the best team win...

x Alex

Mr P will start to wonder......

Last night her returned from playing squash to find me with my feet in a bowl of water...

his first comment was

"whats wrong?"

where upon I said

"nothing ... I am soaking my feet... pampering them!"

I massaged and trimmed and pampered away while watching a chick flick! lol
this morning I have dropped Daniel at pre-school and come back in the house to wash my hair so that I can go and get a new hair do!
however I noticed a face mask sat on the shelf in the bathroom that I have never gotten around to doing so I am now sat typing while I can feel my face hardening under the white chocolate mask...
whats the bet that there's a knock at the door?
would you answer the door in a face mask?
if the postman comes I will answer it and I will die laughing! lol
so will he probably...
mind you the milkman caught me saying goodbye to Mr P at the door this morning in my dressing gown... note to self if this kinda thing is going to become a regular occurrence buy a nicer dressing gown! ;D

5 minutes to go and I can wash this off.... yay!

oh no.... I have an itch and I think I am going to sneeze! oh oh oh... its okay its passed... my face would really have cracked up if that has happened!

I think with all this pampering Mr P will start to think I have a new man in my life!

I am hoping to have my hair cut short like Juliette Binoche in Chocolat... love that film!


My hair is long, brown and has a natural wavy curl it has been unloved and ignored for probably a year... I don't have a hairdresser anymore... I use to always have my hair cut by the same person back in my pre-25's... you know the kind of hairdresser you dream of knowing, one that seems to just get what your hair does... how it will take to a style... I haven't been able to find one of those in a very long while... mind you I can't say that I have been actively searching...

I may even paint my toenails... lol if I can find any nail varnish in my 12 year old's bedroom... I don't own any myself! lol

Oh dear... I really have let myself slip haven't I ....

well times up off to wash off this face mask....
no - one came to the door so I made it!

x
Alex

My Little Big Adventure....

Did not go completely to plan....

lets see where did we leave it at the end of Thursday... I had accomplished a fair chunk of chores so I had searched British Rail timetables and maps to see where I could get to and I decided on Dawlish Warren...

Now do you remember I mentioned that I had a headache... well I went to bed with that headache and I awoke with that headache... and it had worsened during the night.. so at 7:05 when Daniel came into our room announcing his need for the toilet... I dragged my thumping head from the pillow and came downstairs, Mr P had already gone to work and I had roused Jamie before seeing to Daniel... not that I have to do much but he's at that "you've got to be around" stage.. lol

Anyhow... the head was painful, I felt sick and I had a bad tummy so I curled up on the settee and pondered whether my adventure was cancelled... Jamie got herself sorted and off to catch her bus and Danny watched Cartoonito while I snoozed... by 10 the headache was waining and I was feeling a little better...

Now Mr P suggests (via email from work) that I might have stressed myself into the headache... and the sad thing is I think he might be right, I went to bed that night feeling guilty for planning a trip to the sea and leaving Daniel at my mums... I wondered if I would be lonely on my own with no-one to run after and supervise.... I have become "mum" and I no longer feel secure in being "Alex" does that sound strange?

Anyway feeling better I decided that I should take baby steps and visit somewhere that I had been to in the past and that I could drive to with Daniel as co-pilot... So I went online joined the National trust (just me and the children £40) and we headed to


Stourhead


Its only a short drive up the A303 so I felt secure in the knowledge that I could do it!
The last time I had been to Stourhead was probably 16 years ago when I attended the Fete Champetre dressed as a flower fairy with a huge picnic and candles to light the evening away...

I flashed my temporary pass at the lovely NT lady and started down the path towards the gardens with Daniel leading the way and I could feel the stresses and strains seeping away as I tuned my senses to listen to the birds, feel the breeze on my face and recognise the scents of wild garlic and rhododendrons...

We passed through the courtyard where tea's and ice cream would be purchased later and headed for the gardens...

The areas in red are the two places that we managed to visit... the first was the temple of Apollo... we trudged up a steep hill...

well I trudged Daniel ran!

and then we eventually reached the temple... whereupon Daniel announced he needed the toilet

So I quickly took some snaps of the breathtaking view...

and we came down the other side of the hill on the cobble path

to the spooky tunnel

and back to the quad for toilets and then refreshments...

we sat a while and enjoyed the sunshine and fed the ducks which stand at your feet and quack at you... and then we decided to go up to the house...


I had never been to the house and we had a lovely time looking at paintings and furniture and Daniel was wonderfully behaved which made me very proud... he asked questions and was really intrigued by the old things to be seen... the fact that the library was bigger the the ground print of our house was also quite amusing... Daniel made friends with an elderly gentleman who kept calling him Charlie and I chatted with his daughter who was trying to keep her dad active mentally and physically by taking him on day trips...

we then took a small stroll to the gardens behind the house

but it wasn't long before Daniel announced he was tired

and we found a shady spot on the lawns and looked at the back of the big house...

This was by no means the end of our day... we wandered back to visitors center via the walled garden and I have bagged my bench that I hope to return to and sit a while and crochet on...

we went over the road bridge

then back up the hill to the restaurant and shop...

that's the end of the photo's but while we sat and had a snack in the restaurant we discussed coming back again and how much we had enjoyed it... then we loaded up our shopping... well it would have been rude not to.. I even bought 2 planks of beech wood for £20 that had been felled from trees in the gardens... that will become my new windowsill in our kitchen... Mr P was really chuffed! lol

and I drove home listening to the radio and the contented silence of one tired little boy sleeping!

I was smiling by the time I arrived home and Mr P was pleased to see me cheery...
we had Chinese for tea and went to bed happily worn out..

If you have made it to the end well done and thank you for stopping by...
I do love it when you visit and share my stories
take care and have a splendid weekend, today I am off to mow an elderly friends lawns and trim her front hedge.. then back home to assist Mr P in the building of a china smash for next weekends school Fete... I also need to practice my face painting skills on Jamie as I will be the face painter at the fete, then tomorrow we are off to a Butterfly BBQ and village treasure hunt at Coat in Martock which is in aid of the Children's Hospice UK

a busy mix of chores and rewards, just as life should be!

Take care
x Alex

Rewards system!.... UPDATE!

Hey if it works for the kids perhaps I should start doing it for myself!

So this is the plan....

If I get a fair chunk of chores done today I can go to the seaside tomorrow!

wish me luck!

x

Well as its nearly the end of the day and the children will be off to bed very soon...
I have a headache but I think that's down to the heavy weather and atmospherics than the amount of housework I accomplished, our black rubbish bins were emptied this morning and I have cleared almost enough to fill it... its stunning how much rubbish you can keep "just in case" it might come in handy... i have a stack of magazines ready for recycling... and I cleared the washing up but unfortunately refilled it with tonight's tea things... hey ho such is life.. lol

The lounge is definitely suffering from that syndrome where it looks ten times worse before its done but thankfully for me Mr P said " I would not stand in your way whether you have done the house or not" so with that in mind I am off on the train to ........

Dawlish Warren


its going to cost me £18.80 and take 1 and a half hours and I will have to change at Exeter.... I am off on an adventure and i am so excited!



I will tell you all how I fared on my little big adventure on Saturday...

now wheres my camera I had better pack my rucksack... and what crochet shall I take!

;D

xx