Frisky in the sunshine

No , not me, silly! The sun shone today for the first time in I don't know when...and it clearly put these two lil moths in the mood for lurve....

If you listen carefully, you can hear Barry White playing in the background. Anyway, enough with the Moth Porn...the sunshine meant that I went out with out my cardi or my mac, so I was practically naked  (well, compared to what I've been wearing so far this "summer" ) LOL.

There's a guy in Newbury market square with a book stall...10 books for £5...I can't even find books that cheap in the charity shops.... here's my little stash ..

I'm particularly chuffed to have found the Haruki Murakami one...have just finished Kafka on the Shore and really enjoyed it.

Next door to the bookstall was a stall with Asian foodstuffs. They had spices and lentils and gulabjamun for sale. They were also offering free rice & tarka daal...delicious. Even better...they had printed out the recipe...

Guess what's for dinner here this evening....

Hee hee...I've had 3 bowls already this evening... this is all that's left.

The rest of the day was spent pottering in the garden...the lawn was mown, little bit of tidying and dead-heading....a little harvest of broad beans...

The pods had been pretty badly munched by the uber-slugs in the garden, and some woodlice had broken in and had themselves a little bean-feast..so these are the survivors. I'll be taking the tough outer skin off as I don't like that bit ( I always thought that I didn't like broad beans..turns out I love 'em...but only if the yucky tough skin is removed)

I even managed to get some washing out on the line to have a blow...

The piddled on feather duvet that I washed has been drying on the clothes airer all week, but I didn't think a blow through with some fresh air would do any harm at all.


Oooops...just looked up from the screen...it's getting dark...time to shut the chicken coop and call the kittens in from the garden with the time honoured call of "Who wants a sweetie?"
The chooks are moulting at the moment and have gone off lay...I had to go out and buy eggs - shock/horror!!!
Don't the normal chicken eggs make my girls ones look dainty?

 N'Night  ^..^

A bit of this, a bit of that...

It's past bedtime, but I thought I'd just to a quick post of what's been happening in my world so far this week.
I have very little work surface space in the kitchen, and have been looking out on ebay for a butchers trolley for ages..I found one at the weekend...a little shabby chic, but I rather like that, and I could easily re-paint if I want to smarten it up. It's a good solid piece of furniture and I was chuffed to get it for £50...the cheapest I have seen these new is £250 (and lots of places selling for a lot more) ..anyway I'm very happy with it so I guess that's all the counts.

When I went to pick it up on Sunday I found myself only 1/2 hour away from Ethan in Bournemouth...so I thought I'd stop in for coffee and perhaps bring a few of his bits home prior to the complete summer move home in a fortnight. I dialled his mobile, landline and knocked on the door...no sign of him...must be up and off to the supermarket for the weekly shop thought I...when I spoke to him on the phone later it became clear that I am now old and rapidly forgetting what it's like to be young...Ethan had been clubbing til 6 am and at noon was spark out in bed... oh I remember those days...natures cruel trick as you get older and don't have to wake up early with kids anymore is to set your bodyclock to wake up (wide awake ker-ching wake up) by 6am at the latest every day...so unfair!

There was a brief dryish spell...I heard some snuffling in the garden and found this cutie lil hedgepig....welcome and please snuffle away and dine on the robust superslugs currently residing in the garden. Please fill yourself up until you couldn't even manage a wafer thin mint !!

The rain didn't hold off....1 heavy, soggy feather duvet drying on the airer in front of the stove...this may take some time!

Never mind...it may be raining outside (AGAIN!) but it's always fair weather in my house...LOOK!

It's fair weather, bordering on very dry according to my barometer :-) Oh alright, it's more a piece of wall art rather than a precision intrument, but at least it's stuck in the right place, we wouldn't want "Pluie - Vent" in the living room would we? Well, there may be some "Vent" but that is entirely another conversation Hahaha!

Kittens are minging with fleas...I only Frontlined them 3 weeks ago so I don't really understand it...I've always found it brilliant before...anyway, don't want to re-spot them for at least another week as they are still so young , and diatomaceous earth doesn't seem to be doing the trick so I've resorted to the good old fashioned flea comb and beaker of hot water..Queenie is actually quite tolerant but Baldrick is singularly unimpressed, but I'm bearing his dirty looks with fortitude.

Ooops...getting late...time to go up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire...n'night  ^..^

Best laid plans of mice & middle aged ladies....

There were lots of things that I had planned to do today (wild and exciting lifestyle...that's how I roll LOL)....move the chicken coop. mow the lawn, dig a hole and bury my precious fluffy one :(, along with the normal weekend catch up chores....but for want of a better word...it's been a piddly day! Dry spots have been few and far between both in and out of the house.
Queenie decided to have a lil piddle on my bed (litter tray was clean so no excuse - just attention seeking methinks)..stripped the bed and stomped around making Marge Simpson noises..Queenie took this as a cue to make herself scarce for 10 minutes.This is the 3rd time I've jammed a kingsize feather duvet into the washing machine in 7 weeks so I'm clearly not getting all of the aroma out...I think this time we will go with the full on "vinegar-wash" followed by "bicarb rinse",...I don't quite know what else to do. Peeing down outside so 1st load of washing on to the airer and 2nd load in.

I decided that if I am going to have to keep washing duvets then perhaps a more "washable " one might be a good idea...into the car for an unplanned shopping trip...still making Marge noises.  I found a Poundland type store with kingsize summer weight duvets for £6.99..that'll do :-) I also picked up another clothes airer..seems to be no promise of better weather soon, and I'm picking Ethan up from Uni in a fortnight, so there will be MUCH washing. Word to the wise...never EVER buy your progeny one of those "pop-up" washing baskets...with a little brute force they can jam 6 washing machine loads in to it. If it doesn't stop raining soon this will be my kitchen for all of August too!

I would love to tell you that after yesterdays fry-up I ate sensibly...and I did...here's my greekish salad..

..but I also wiped out all the good with an entire packet of Lemon Puff biscuits...think I'd better go on a LOOOOOOOONNNGGG walk tomorrow. When I was young, weekends were WAY different to this......I think I'm entering the "Radio 2 " stage of life...if  you EVER see me singing along to Cliff Richard - shoot me !!!

Global Fat scale?

On the BBC News site today I checked out where I was on the Global Fat Scale...Yemen apparently! Anyhoo...turns out I'm not as fat as I thought I was...actually, that's a lie...I am exactly as fat as I though I was, it's just that the worldwide population is a lot fatter than I thought so I don't look as bad in comparison. That was enough of an excuse for me!! Bring on the Friday Fry Up!

 Mmmmm Quorn "bacon" tastes bloomin' luvverly!!
(Actually, since I gave up smoking just over a year ago...everything tastes bloomin' luvverly..especially cake! ) ...promise I'll eat sensibly tomorrow....honest!

RIP Akira :( 14/4/2011 - 12/7/2012

When I went out to work this morning there were 3 cats in the house...when I came home this evening only the kittens came to greet me. A little strange I thought, but I toddled through the house to the back door to yell "tea-time" which usually guarantees a feline stampede. There, by the steps, in the rain, I found Akira, cold and stiff, with not a scratch on him. Akira was just 15 months old, and he survived his sibling Aiko by just 3 months. Aiko was poisoned by antifreeze at the beginning of April ( verified by the vet) and the fact that Akira was fine last night makes me think that possibly Akira suffered that same fate.
He was always such a good natured chap with a wicked sense of fun...he loved to sit on the dresser or bookcase, look you straight in the eye and deliberately sweep items off onto the floor one by one with his paw. When Aiko died, he really missed him, but when I brought the new kittens home 7 weeks ago he was friendly and groomed them and once again enjoyed kitten games of chase and wrestling..you could see that he took into account how much bigger than them he was. Much as I'd like to think that it's an accident and that no-one would deliberately kill a cat, you have to wonder when I've lost 2 cats and next door but one have lost 2 cats in the space of 4 months. If someone is doing this deliberately I would really like to think that what goes around comes around ! Anyway...enough rant, I'm incredibly sad , but there are still 2 kittens here that need cuddling . Glass of wine at the ready (if I still smoked I would SO have a cigarette or 10 now) ..raising a toast to my beautiful furry boy who was too young to be going to the great compost heap yet a while....
To Akira!

Kittens 1st vet visit..

The kittehs are now 16 weeks old and went to the vets for the first time today. Only their 2nd trip in a car...and in a spooky replay of 8 weeks ago when I collected them from Swindon, Queenie yowled loudly all the way...for a dainty girl she sure is gobby.  Once we got to the vets she was fine and they were both quite intrigued by the puppies in the waiting room. Todays visit was for microchipping...funds are limited, and microchipping is a priority for me as my cat flap works by recognising their chips...for the last few weeks I've had to keep it locked when I'm at work or asleep as they managed to get out into the rain, but couldn't get back in as they weren't chipped. This has meant that poor Akira hasn't been able to come and go as he pleased either. All fixed now tho'...Queenie and Baldrick did me proud and didn't flinch or utter a sound as the vet "injected" the chip. The boys never made a fuss when they were vaccinated as babies either...clearly I'm blessed with stoic kids and pets.  Anyhoo...cat flap now programmed to recognise them...I just need them both to learn how to use the cat flap.

 I'm currently favouring the "prop it open with a stick " method whilst they get used to going in and out.


Let's hope they catch on fairly fast, as I can see 2 others who may take advantage of an open cat flap in order to raid the mealworm cache...... luckily Baldrick is on Guard-Kitty duty...

take care
KKWF  ^..^

Weekend Walkabout

When it's not peeing down with rain, I like to go for a walk at the weekend. Here are some pictures of my walk into Hungerford at the weekend...it's about 6 miles there ( and of course 6 miles back) so any shopping needs to be of the super - light variety cos martyr I ain't! I had already walked about 2 miles before I thought to get the camera out - silly me... it's a fairly easy going , flat walk along the river valley, with only the one proper hill to get over...

Here is Littlecote House...now a hotel..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Littlecote_House

One day I think I'll stop in for tea and cakes...

As usual (for me anyway) I like to stop and chat to the creatures on the way.. these 3 must be used to tourists at the hotel as they stood and posed, and wouldn't move until I had photographed them LOL.

These ladies weren't afraid to come right on in for a close up - yeah baby the camera lurves you!

Now , I can manage photos of the tame ones, but the wild ones are just too quick for me....there were a pair of deer boinging through a barley field in a manner that made me laugh out loud, but I wasn't quick enough or a good enough photographer to catch them.

This one wasn't fast enough though...poor wee thing...I guess adders don't know their green cross code :-(

Here's a picture from halfway up the hill looking back...somehow the camera lens always seems to flatten out the view though...

Through the copse...

and out onto the other side of the hill where I can see Hungerford..

I took this photo of poppies as I loved the way they stood out against the barley...didn't see

many poppies in the field...I guess they spray the crops to avoid this

There was a sign at the bottom of the hill saying that this barley will be going to the Ramsbury Brewery for beer...I heartily approve!  (Ramsbury Ales are delish...try some if you get the chance)

Ahhh Hungerford, there you are , I'm nearly there...


Here are some of the flowers I saw on the way...I've marked them with what I think they are...but feel free to put me straight if I'm wrong

                                                               Agrimony???

                                                           White Campion

                                                       Bladder Campion

                                             Common Spotted Orchid?

And finally...a couple of gratuitous chicken pictures simply because they were on the camera and I like them:-)

Mother Clucker on a "good hair day"

Yolko Ono looking particularly sleek with her 50s teddy-boy 'do!


bye for now....beddybyes time for me...
KKWF ^..^

Puffball!!

Just popped out to go to the supermarket in Marlborough and as I drove over the hill I saw this nestling on the verge....bit of a clean up and a check for creatures first (as you can see, it has been a bit nibbled ) and then I think I'll fry in butter with some onions and garlic NOM!

Gotta love food for free!!

^..^

EEEwwwwwww!!!

I don't usually kill any creature...and my home is a spider sanctuary (well, if they are smart enough to avoid the cats...) but I can't abide slugs.
This years rain has brought uber slugs...think my poor wee chooks would choke on them!

 Maybe it's their slimyness (is that even a word?) or maybe it's that they systematically destroy all of my carefully nurtured seedlings and veg...I even found one one the leaves of the tomatoes for goodness sake...nothing eats tomato leaves!
Anyway...lil Cath has moved from next door but one, so there is no longer a prohibition on bad language in the garden (and Mo can go back to her given name of Mother Clucker) ....patrons of the Crown & Anchor may have heard in the distance middle-aged mutterings of "die, fecker, die" as I wandered around the garden with a pair of scissors merrily chopping the little bastards in half!