JJ and his Godcat

My Godson, JJ, wanted me to take a photo of him with Meg yesterday. He's always been interested in Meg and keen to be her friend. Meg, of course, is rather like a child herself in that, the world revolves around her needs and wants, and if something isn't directly for her benefit she isn't interested.

JJ hoped that a blade of grass would be enough to entice her to sit with him. Meg thought of climbing the tree.

She's always been fairly tolerant towards children, though she finds loud voices and noises unbearable and mostly takes herself off somewhere quieter.

She isn't sure whether the blade of grass is being offered as something to eat, or something to chase.

This was the closest JJ got to her.

I knew when I took this photo it was the best we could hope for. I like the composition. When we walked back into the house JJ said that Meg is his Godcat, because I'm his Godmother and so Meg is his Godcat and we're all in the same family. 


Otherwise life has been busy lately. Hagos is about to go away on tour for a couple of weeks so it's been lots of washing, drying, packing and generally preparing for that, in amongst socialising and me working too. I took Wednesday off this week and I was so tired. I got up early as usual, then went back to bed taking Meg with me and slept in until 10.30am. One of my favourite things is for me, Hagos and Meg to be sleeping in/on the bed all together. It's so relaxing! I'm looking forward to finishing work tomorrow night, and having a lie in on Saturday and Sunday morning.

All about the hens

Life this week has been all about the hens. Hagos and I are on rota, which means I get up in the morning, feed the cat, fill my watering can with water and head over to the hen house. I can hear them all clucking and bokking away before I've even opened up their door. Then, as I try to fill their bowls with water and food I get surrounded by them, pecking at my wellingtons and jacket and fingers and rings, and even my pyjamas have been plucked at. 

I've been making an effort to touch them all this week, as they're getting used to us all now, and as they are so curious and come so close. When I put out my hand to touch them, though, they stop dead and do a kind of squat on the ground, then I can stroke their backs (not sure if they like being touched; their feathers feel lovely and smooth) and it makes it easier to pick them up. 

And we've been rewarded by two small eggs each day. It's still thrilling every time I open up the hatching box and see an egg. I love it when the egg is still warm!

Midweek we had a normal-sized egg and when we had it for lunch yesterday it turned out to be a double-yolker! 

Poached egg on toast is one of my favourite lunches.


The hens are a thousand times more endearing than I expected them to be. The speckledy hens are probably the most boisterous, running over to be in the midst of any action. Bow, the bluebell, likes eating, and can still be found at the food bowl long after the others have lost interest. I know the whites least of all but I've noticed this week that they love digging when I let them out to free-range. Arrow has recently recovered from being unwell so I try to give her extra attention away from the others.

Meg, of course, is still top cat/top chicken. This morning she jumped up onto the kitchen table when I was halfway through breakfast, eyed my lap nonchalantly, then put one little paw onto my knee. I can never resist her, so I had to sit back and let her climb onto me and sleep for half an hour. Sometimes I'm so soft I sit for an hour or two just cuddling her because I know she likes it.


Animals are the best.

Perfection

These are the first two eggs we've got from our hens. They have been producing in the last week and a half but our neighbours have been on rota. Hagos and I were delighted when we lifted the lid today and found TWO whole, tiny eggs. Their perfection is awe-inspiring. 


I'm also hopeful (fingers crossed) that Arrow is back to normal after being under the weather for the past week. She'd been keeping herself separate, looking forlorn and depressed, but today she is running about with the others, eating, drinking, and looking back to her old self. It's been horrible to watch her being unhappy. So we hope she'll be healthy and happy from now on.


I've had a perfect morning at the kitchen table, drinking coffee, cuddling Meg, surfing the internet. I think I could live at the kitchen table quite happily.

Goodbye Fatty

I went back to Weightwatchers tonight, because - I have been overeating lately, not counting my points, eating when I'm not hungry and generally eating food that is high in fat and sugar and calories. The result - I am almost one stone heavier than my goal weight of 8 st 7 lbs. So I decided to take the problem in hand.

And then my neighbour popped by with this delicious cake and I thought it was a fitting last indulgence before I get on the programme, tomorrow.

I reckon it'll take me two months to lose one stone :)

The first egg

Our first egg, laid by Shelley. It reminded me of when I first started gardening many years ago and being amazed at seeing food GROW. Of course, I know that vegetables grow, and that hens lay eggs, but somehow being involved in the entire process, from planting the seed and watering my tubs every day, to the point of picking and eating a carrot or a courgette, made it all come into focus and it was amazing and awesome and almost unbelievable. Well, that's how I felt when we lifted the lid and saw the first egg today.  

The boys helped me out by holding it to show the scale of the egg. It was small but perfectly formed.

And it was still warm!

We were ecstatic to see it had a yolk! I was charged with turning it into something we could all share so I made:

Scones, glazed with Shelley's egg, and Lemon Curd, made with the remainder of Shelley's egg. We met on the lawn at 3pm and enjoyed them together. Hagos missed out on all the fun as he's been away for a few days working. Home tonight.

I'm looking forward to many more hen-associated treats in the coming weeks.

I love Meg

I LOVE MEG

AND MEG LOVES ME

Care No More

Our friends came to visit us last weekend and on Saturday we decided to visit Cairn O' Mohr, a Scottish berry wine-making company. We were lucky enough to tag onto a tour, which was great fun and ended with a tasting session.

We started off in the cafe for lunch, and I had a Ploughman's Lunch, which was really lovely and far too big for me to eat.

Every year the staff put by two bottles of each wine and keep them for ten years. Initially this was explained as being for control purposes - but later in the talk the tour guide revealed they would drink them on a Friday night!

This is me at the wine tasting. The plastic cups we were given were so tiny I initially thought they were being stingy, but then the wine flowed (lots of it) and I tried every kind, red and white, then we moved into the shop to try the sparkling wines and the cider, and a couple of others. I got very drunk very quickly. Good fun as I had a partner in crime in Ba! 

All of us at the end; we were so drunk we bought lots of wine in the shop (good ploy, wine people!). Hagos and I only bought the Strawberry wine and a bottle of cider, but our friends took orders from their friends.

It was an unexpectedly good, adventurous day. Just the kind I like.

Sokken

I've been enjoying The Bridge (Danish/Swedish crime drama on BBC4) so much that I now believe I can speak Danish. Especially after watching all 30 episodes of The Killing too. 


So I present to you Sokken: The Sock! There is only one so far. I made it using leftover wool from this jumper, knitted in Jaeger 4 ply. I still miss that wool and wish it hadn't been discontinued. I like the triple stripes. I can even knit while reading subtitles and most of this sock was knitted while watching The Bridge. The final two episodes are on this weekend.


I've always been drawn to Scandinavia and I'd love to go to Iceland. A friend of Hagos has just moved there and I'm angling for a visit.


After finishing The Socks I might finish my purple and green jumper, just one sleeve to knit. And  I've still to sew together my slippers. 

Hens!!!

We have hens!!! And we're all very excited about them. We picked them up from a farm last night. This is them arriving at their new home.

We've been talking about it for just over a year and finally, suddenly, my neighbour Chloe made a date to meet the hen woman. We have six hens shared by three houses. We've still to clarify the exact flavour of each.

The kids were very excited about them and kept saying they were very 'cute'.

Chloe popping the hens into their new home. They all seem to get on well together so far.

This isn't a great photo. It's much cosier inside than it looks, and there are five little egg-laying sections to the left. 


It's been a steep learning curve for all of us. I like to thoroughly research things before I take them on, so thankfully our neighbours are on the first week's rota for feeding and cleaning them. Hagos and I are next week. I went to the library today and got four books out on keeping hens.


They're all incredibly beautiful and vibrant and prehistoric. Gorgeous girls. The first egg will be beyond exciting :)

New socks

This is my new sock. I'm looking forward to finishing the pair as I think they're rather jazzy.


I've had three mornings at the kitchen table, which is one of my most favourite ways to spend time. At the kitchen table I: watch The Bridge (fantastic Danish/Swedish crime drama; I loved The Killing too), knit my socks, cuddle my cat, drink percolated coffee with frothed milk, read my book (currently still To The Lighthouse), wait for my bread to rise and bake, wait for my chocolate chip cookies to bake, read gorgeous rustic blogs, and daydream.

Saturday

There's a line in a Scarlet Thomas book that says once you've had hand-knitted socks you can't do without them, or something like that. Anyway, that's how I feel about hand-knitted socks. I have two current pairs, the yellow pair with red beads, and the orange pair, BUT the yellow pair is now wearing out on the sole, so it's time to knit a new pair. Rowan has a gorgeous blue Pure Wool 4-ply out at the moment, but I thought I should make use of the leftover wool I already have, and so I chose the muted purple above and will add an occasional green and green and orange stripe to the foot. I think it looks good. No one else in the world will have socks exactly like them.

Whitmuir today. The shortbread is really delicious, and it makes me think I should make my own shortbread again, though tomorrow I will make an apple crumble for afternoon dessert with The Burnses.

I got new shoes recently. They're Campers. I really like them, though maybe not with those socks!

It isn't a good photo of me. My hair needs washed and perhaps I should have put on make up, but Meg, as always, looks beautiful. And I like taking photos of us together. Today she came in smelling of something animal-related and honking. Really awful. And the mouse body count continues to rise. But she is my little darling.


I'm still reading To The Lighthouse and enjoying it immensely. Slowly though. And while I knit I watch The Bridge. I do love those Danish/Swedish crime dramas.  I like a lot of things about the Scandinavian sensibility. On the whole, they're a pretty cool bunch. 

My new BFF (Best Friend Forever)

This is Bill, my new Best Friend Forever. To cut a long story short, he was stranded in our neighbours' field, two fields separated from his own field and his mother. He lay down on some straw for a while but then tried getting back through the fence and couldn't and he was bleating. So, Hagos and I tried to get in touch with the farmer and couldn't. The only option left was to gather him up and repatriate him ourselves.


Our first attempt resulted in him running towards the road, so we enlisted the help of our friends Iain and Robin and looked everywhere. We had just given up and were heading home when we heard a little bleating and turned to see him hiding behind a tree. So we chased him back into the field and shut the gate, then me, Hagos and Iain shepherded him (me with a blanket - which was a great tip, James, and became a crucial part of the rescue) and while he was trying to jump through a five inch square gap in the fence I threw the blanket over him, bundled him up and then we climbed three fences and finally got him back into his own field. He was much bigger than I expected him to be, close up, but I completely fell in love with him while I was carrying him.

So I went looking for him again today, to check he wasn't wandering alone somewhere he shouldn't and at first I thought this must be him back with his mum, because he had a sweet little black face and black legs, though I thought this lamb looked lighter in the body than I remembered.

It was only when I was almost home I saw a lamb by itself in the middle field, realised it was Bill and understood how he'd got through to the neighbours'  field in the first place.

So, he seemed happy enough, and so long as he remembered his route back he still had direct access to the rest of the sheep if he wanted it. I got the impression he was a bit of an intrepid explorer though, and liked to be by himself.


Hagos thought he looked like William Shatner, hence the name. Isn't he gorgeous? I'll probably go and check on him again tomorrow.

Making Frenzy

This last week I have been on a Making Frenzy. Sometimes I just have an urge to make something and I can't settle to anything else until it's done.


Today I decided to make scones and lemon curd. The scones turned out at 1 Weightwatchers point each, which is great. I did them in conventional and heart shapes.


And this afternoon I finished knitting the second thumb of my new mittens, and I sewed in the ends of my new scarf. So, the new winter accessories kit is complete: mittens, hat and scarf. 


I had planned to cast on a new pair of bed socks today, to knit on the bus, but I'm not sure I have the energy now. Hagos is cooking dinner (chicken fajitas) and after that I think I'll only be fit to read and watch a bit of telly.


I have just started reading To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. I am enjoying it more than I expected. 

This was our coffees and cakes at Whitmuir yesterday. That chocolate cupcake was divine. Sadly I could only eat half due to how many points I figured it must have. But the half I had was delicious. 

Pyjama Bottoms Part II

Yesterday I made a second pair of pyjama bottoms. I almost had enough material from the sparkly hippos to make a complete second pair, but just didn't have enough length. I considered making 3/4 length pyjamas, which I quite like, or adding other material to the bottom, which is what I did. It took me a while to decide which material to add and I eventually settled on the grey bicycles because, you know, that whole connection between sparkly hippos and bicycles :)


I just have to hem the bottoms and they're finished. I managed to buy pyjama elastic in John Lewis yesterday (was very pleased to discover such a thing existed!) and I've used that for the waist band. I'm still planning to buy other material from Ikea to make more pairs.


I've started running again and yesterday I reached the point where I thought about going out for a second run of the day. My wintery, lethargic body is now craving exercise and physicality. I'm even now thinking about blowing up my exercise ball and pulling my weights out of the cupboard. 


Today is Saturday, the loveliest day of the week. We will go to Whitmuir for coffee, then come home and read and knit and sew and play Scramble (a new game my friends and I have gone crazy over on iPad/iPod) and watch a film together in the evening and eat home made pizza. Bliss.