A Bare Lady

One more day at the mad house and I am off for 3!!

Tomorrow is a Tripoli and back, one of the longest days we do. Vile, but will be over before I know it.

I got up this morning at 4am - cutting it a bit fine to be at the airport by 6.20. Luckily there wasn't any traffic (why would there be at 5am on a Sunday, normal people are in bed) and I made it in record time. I will not be posting the record here *looks around anxiously* The one shocker was the thick layer on ice on the windscreen! Glad I still had deicer in the car. Yes, I know the best thing to do is use a scraper, but when you have to fly down the A303, it's freezing cold and you just want to leave, the pump action bottle is the best thing. At least I don't use the aerosol type. Doing my bit for the Planet.

I spent a very happy day in frankfurt on Thursday. All day in the town centre in a craft shop. Bought loads of bits and pieces for Christmas and for the Christmas stall. I was like a ferret up and down every aisle, picking up odds and sods and popping them in my (two) baskets! Spent far too much, but who knows when I will be back again? Got some lovely patterned Christmas card to make my cellophane jam hampers and some small baskets to plant up cyclamen plants for the fair. Will post pictures where i get a chance.

Agnes is looking odd. I thought at first that Jase had swapped her for another Buff Suusex. She has bald patches on her back, neck, chest and backside, no tail feathers and when she bends over, it makes me blush! The poor hen. A serious moult, so have started to add tuna to their afternoon mash.
Cornelia was out of sorts yesterday and i was a little worried about her. She seemed disinterested and vacant (more so than usual). I got back from work today to discover why. Beautiful black and ginger laced feathers everywhere. She is moulting too now, hardly surprising as she is the same age as Aggie. Slightly concerned that they aren't eating much. They need their pellets to help regrow their winter coats, feathers, you know what I mean.

I relented and put up the chicken netting in the posh garden last week. I say 'posh' garden, but Carol Klein would be shaking her head in disbelief. It has had no attention in months and is in desperate need of digging, weeding, cutting back and tidying. The girls loved rootling around, digging up ants' nests. We have a small door cut into the willow hurdle to let the hens into the garden. For some reason, Cornelia ducks down and crawls through, a la commando, even though there is plenty of head room!

I have discovered a bar of Green and Blacks dark chocolate, with 'inherent warmth from crystallised ginger'. No idea how that one managed to escape my beady eye. Time to release it from the paper prison and feel the heat. It is freezing here again tonight. No point lighting the fire as I am off to bed soon. Up again at 5am. It's currently 4 degrees and dropping. Another frost forecast. Winter is coming!

I will sort out the veggie garden this week. The hens can help and be on slug patrol. The parsnips, chard and spinach are under enviromesh, so they can't attack those. The strawberry, raspberry, runner bean and tomato plants can all come out now. I planted out more spinach seeds, but think it is too cold for them now. Always forget to get an extra row of spinach in for the hens over winter!

Need to get my hair cut on Tuesday. It is growing sideways and starting to resemble a hedge. A wispy, uneven hedge, but a hedge nonetheless. It was fine yesterday. Weird.

Jase announced that we have friends staying next weekend but the office is currently being used as a stock room. That would imply order, but far from it. I put the futon and bedding away, to give myself more room for plastic boxes of Christmas stuff for the fair. I now have to find somewhere for it all and make the bed up again. Still it is a good excuse to declutter - something I have been meaning to do since we moved here 4 1/2 years ago.

It is 7.30 now and my eyes are starting to droop, sad that at 36 I am thinking of going to bed. Been up at 4am most days this week and do need to sleep. Wishing I could hibernate for a few weeks and wake up refreshed, just in time for Christmas!!

One more piece of Green and Blacks (for the health benefits) and then bed! Apologies for the rambling nature of this post. Will go back and edit to make more sense, when I can keep my eyes open.

C x x x

Edit - I have no will power. Save me from the chocolate.




Too late.

Meant to mention the reappearance of my hip bones after a long absence. Won't bother now. The chocolate has ruined the moment.