a new resident

Today we went to pick up a new family member. On the journey we spotted these, which amused us.

And then we picked up James. Aka 'Karamouche an Audience with Micador'. What a mouthful. He would be going to Crufts except he has grown 1cm too tall for his toy poodle class. Therefore we have bought him from his showing home to be resident boyfriend for our girls. They think he looks despicable tonight. And he had better stay away from their beds. Presumably, given a few days and a following wind, he will be lodged between them like a sardine. Hopefully. And the dreadful 'lamb trim' is also going just as soon as I get him to a parlour. Apparently he has a bit of a 'gay' tail, (much frowned on by poodle purists). It looks just fine to us.

The lovely lady we bought him from will have him back if he doesn't settle, and will refund our money in full, which we thought was extremely fair. In one of life's twists of irony James turns out to be a bit of a man's man, and much prefers the Farmer to me. So the poor Farmer is going to have to learn to tolerate a tiny bundle of black fluff sitting on his knee and trotting at his heels. If it was not so funny it would be tragic! The Farmer despises poodles, but I hope he will learn to be fond of James.

scary visitor to the bird feeders

I don't know if you can see it,but on the hedge is quite a substantial bird of prey. No idea what kind, it didn't tell us. The sound of all the small garden birds yelling and complaining brought us to the windows to see what was wrong. There, bold as brass, was the scary bird, guarding the feeders and waiting for breakfast to come out and play. It did flap off when I revealed myself around the corner of the house, attempting a better photo opportunity. Obviously, I failed. And luckily, the bird of prey also failed to secure his breakfast in our garden.

In addition, the dogs put another barn owl up this morning, and the poor bird was so shocked it almost landed on my head as I walked by is escape route. It swooped right over me, (I ducked), screaming its anger and distress at being disturbed from the hedgerow at 7am. The dogs thought it was great fun. They have no discretion.

Tomorrow we are collecting a young poodle dog so that he can make his home with us (and the girls). Fun and games for the next few weeks as we try to settle in a tiny, shivery young male dog with our girls. #sigh#. Why we decided on this course of action escapes me for the moment. It will be a laugh a minute I am sure......

calving 2.wmv

A well-spent day making another 1 minute film for college - will be better when I have spent time editing out the swearing. Sorry to the easily offended!

two parts of a trilogy

here's the other two 60cmx60cm canvasses to go with the cockerel in an earlier post. Taking time out to consider whether they might be finished. Nearly complete anyway.

The weather today is ghastly, wet, cold, blowing and miserable. The Farmer is at a Machinery Show (yawn) and so the girls and I are curling up in front of a huge fire for some wickedly idle extra sleeping time. Naughty but nice.

a dog's life

Tonight there's a frost outside. And a fire in the stove...

AND

for my next trick..... a 2ftx2ft chook

working this week on a matching pig, snout first.

mother nature the artist

The baby boy came downstairs yesterday, early evening, to complain. "How can I work with all that going on outside my window?" he said plaintively. Then he picked up the camera and disappeared upstairs again. Here are the results. Sometimes, we need to stop and stare. Gorgeous.

a tale of doors

The farmer and I travelled 40 miles to collect a pre-owned sofa and two large chairs which I had bought on eBay. The farmer skillfully backed the horse trailer down the drive of the house. The sofa was already on the drive and we had it in the back of the trailer in the wink of an eye. The seller looked a bit downcast, and admitted that she could not see how to get the two large chairs through the internal doors of the house onto the drive. The farmer was quite sure that he could do it. He and I tried every which way to get them through the several doorways to the outside. Front door and back door remained irritatingly out of reach. We pulled off the castors. Still couldn't squeeze them around the tight bends of the hallways. In desperation the Farmer looked around at the sitting room walls. "I don't suppose that's patio doors behind those floor length blinds is it?" he asked the seller. She looked puzzled. "Oh yes, I forgot, so it is...." We had those chairs through the doors and out of the house shortly thereafter. She was blonde.

happy new year

The big boy and the baby boy spent New Year's Eve in sunny Skegness celebrating with friends. As men in black (gowns)! What a hoot. They have all surfaced this morning, and promptly consumed rashers and rashers of bacon covered in tomato sauce and clasped inside huge bread buns. And look remarkably well on it. Considering. The farmer and I accompanied aforementioned group of Men in Black (gowns) to the Pub for a few drinks, and then dropped them off in town on our way to another pub gathering. They were immediately photographed for the newspaper. Can hardly wait to see it in black and white! A good night was had by all (including the farmer and myself) and a jaded and weary picture we present this morning.

Feeding the 5000 at 5pm, so potato peeler warming on the starting blocks. Lamb shanks resting and ready for action. The chef's hat is calling, so have a splendid New Year's Day, and speak soon.