Warm and Sunny at last!

Isn't it lovely to have some warm weather at last! I got home from work, rushed upstairs to get changed and went straight out into the garden. I haven't felt like doing that for ages now! Just a pity we don't have the allotment yet - it would have been lovely to take the family for a group dig before tea!

The lawn has dried out so I raked all the bark and stone chippings off that the chickens have scattered over the winter - lo and behold, I do still have a lawn! It survived the ravages of chickens and children and is not looking too bad at all!

I did a bit of tidying on the veg patch (I did manage to brave the elements a couple of weeks ago and did most of the work and planted some seeds, but it has been abandoned since then) I didn't realise how lovely broad bean flowers smell until I got close to them!

The children and the chickens appreciated me digging up a few weeds from the flower bed as well. I did take a picture of the children poking dock and dandelion leaves into the run, but blogger has now gone on strike!

And after moaning to friends about the children bickering, tonight they went straight into the garden after school and played together like little angels until bedtime! Typical LOL!

What to do in the School Holidays

I know it's a couple of weeks late, but some are only just ending their 'Easter' holidays!

We took the boys on some great days out! First trip was to Thomas the Tank Engine Land at Drayton Manor. Expensive, but worth every penny just to see their excitement!

Oldest son took me on the roller coasters for a treat!?

We took a picnic that we ate in the car, but the weather stayed reasonable and we all had a great day out.

Next up was the Butterfly Farm at Long Sutton. We visited with my Mum and Dad who had great fun teaching the boys how to use the zip wire LOL

This is a great place to visit - great value for money and loads to see and do. The childrens playground is wonderful, with three great slides, a wooden fort, the zip wire and lovely, solidly built and well maintained climbing frames. I recommend taking a picnic, even if it is cold and wet - they have two long polytunnels kitted out with picnic tables. Lovely and warm on a chilly but sunny day!

There are loads of exotic birds and animals, including a racoon family; the indoor tropical butterfly house is amazing and the real treat - a demo of the birds of prey. We had a beautiful owl sat on the seat next to us and the buzzard nearly took my Dads hair off, clipping his head with it's wing tips!

Snow and Allotment pictures

I can't believe the weather! We woke up to snow again today! Now normally I'd be the first to get excited about snow, but this is pushing it - what I would really get excited about now is a spell of nice hot weather!

But I have to admit it looks pretty - these grape hyacinths were outside my neighbours house, they look lovely with a frosting of snow.

After church we went for a wander to the allotment site. There is no access to the site yet - once that is sorted, I think we can start work on our plots. At the moment, this is the site. There will be 20, 10m x 10m plots. I am stood on the edge of a ditch bordering the north side of the plot. You can see the fence of the south and east borders. Just out of shot to the right is the west border - a tall hedge between the field and the road. Although you can see houses from this viewpoint, what you can't see to the left of the picture is open fields as far as the eye can see! (although I am sure that will change in the future).

The place I stood to take the picture is a plot of land between the allotment site and a bridle path - it is owned by a friend and is likely to be built on one day. I asked her this morning if she would be averse to renting some of it out for me to keep chickens and possibly pigs on. She sounded quite keen - it is just lying fallow at present. Haven't a clue how I'm going to go about this, but it's a plan for the future! Watch this space!

Allotment News!

So excited today - I've just found out I will be allocated one of the new village allotments when they open, hopefully in May! I won't be able to put chickens on (I was hoping to keep a few broilers there) but no matter, I will finally have space to grow all the larger crops that I can't fit in the garden - potatoes, brassicas, onions. And hopefully some fruit bushes as well. I can't wait! (can you tell I'm excited?)