Nine!

Checked on the goslings today and there are nine!  Mum and Dad took them out for their first walk:

And then taught them how to feed on their chick crumbs!

Dad is so attentive.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Pickles, Poppy, Poppet and Pip are sometimes like this:

But usually like this:

 

Hungry!!

Spring

Well, lambs are popping out all over the place:

and, inevitably, some are not so happy and end up in the kitchen being bottle -fed.  And some really make themselves at home and try to get hold of some hot food!

Cute for a while but then annoying so I am really grateful to Sarah who has lent me her dog / guineapig hurdles:

Now they have their own little den where they can make all the mess they want.  I currently have three in what George describes as the Nursery, and am feeding them four times a day.  luckily they have taken to the bottle well so it's not too much of a struggle and they should survive.  (I spoke too soon, number four has just been carried through the door).  Hopefully a couple can be put onto other ewes, but in the meantime I know there's work to do.  it's not so bad when they are indoors, but when they are stronger and we put them out, it's a real pain - especially when it's raining!

Then, this afternoon, as I went to feed the geese, they were reluctant to come out. 

I've been waiting what seems ages for this - I'm sure it's longer than a month - so I had a good look in the hut:

Is that a glimpse of yellow?

YES!!!

I'm so pleased!  I don't know how many eggs she's sitting on - the other year she had nine! - but five or six would be really nice!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!

We've started!

Looked out the window this morning and saw this:

And this:

 

 

Our first twins of the year!

 

One thing after another

All this cold weather is certainly not bringing out the best in me.  The usual letting out of the geese every morning is a matter of life preservation these days.  Mum is sitting on her eggs and dad is being very protective and tries to peck and batter to death anything which comes near

The other day after letting him out I ran to the gate with him climbing on my back with his beak yanking at my hair.

Then, for Pitch and Stitch on Tuesday the heating broke down in the workshop so we had to have it in the kitchen - everyone was really understanding about it although Sandra C was a bit thrown when she was again faced with a similar tramp/farmer type who turned up in the restaurant in Marlborough:

Those types  just get everywhere.  Even Dawn looks a bit uneasy and she lives next door!
Sandra C, by the way, is NOT quilting.  She has some pretty Japanese fabric which she has backed with calico and put a little wadding in between and now she's just sewing around the outline of the picture.  The rest of us were at the other end of the kitchen - in the machine area.  We were sitting at the table on the old science room stools I rescued from the school skip - they were so uncomfortable - not surprising I had to re-sit science O-Level and still failed!

Finally, yesterday morning I was putting the calendar back on the wall when it flipped over and hit me in the eye.  Result - a scratched cornea.  Everyone was very understanding when I slunk away from the workshop and lay in my lair.

Still, new heater arriving soon, hopefully cute goslings will hatch soon, eye feeling better today and Easter is upon us!

And, even though it's bitterly cold again, the sun is shining today....... Bring on Spring!!

What a Day!

So, today was the day we made a start on the quilt we are making for Reading hospital.
We had chosen a 'quilt as you go' design to speed things up, and Sandra, Jackie, Barbara, and  Lindsay arrived armed with sewing machines and rotary cutters.  Dawn came too to cater for us so I didn't have to keep running in and out.  Her morning coffee and biscuits, 3 course lunch and afternoon tea and cake was just what we needed.  And Helene joined us late afternoon to help with cutting and a bit of unpicking!
We all got our heads down

and stitched till lunchtime

Then stitched, stitched, stitched till 4.00pm and by the end of the day we had a pile of 62 blocks

 

Just 18 more to do and then we can put it together!

 

 

Light Rain

Just been looking out at the light rain we've been forecast for today:

It's been 'raining' like this for 3 hours.......

Chicken Cheek!

Had a busy, productive Pitch and Stitch this morning.  Well, to be honest, I was productive in a negative way:  I unpicked all the work I've done over the previous two weeks, and, again, it is largely due to that Lynne Johnson!!  I've been messing around trying to finish a quilt in a day I started a year, or maybe two years, ago.  It's a jelly roll zigzag design and it's been a right pain.  I finally completed the strips and sewed them altogether but wasn't happy with them.  Then, in a book, I saw a pattern where they sewed strips between the zigzags and decided that would look better.  So I sewed strips of a flowery green fabric between them.  Still wasn't that thrilled but thought it would be okay.  Then came Medallion Day, and Lynne Johnson.  She was poking about as usual and came across the quilt (yes, I had tried to hide it).  "Hmmm", said Lynne (here it comes), "would it have looked better with white or cream strips?".

I will be sewing the white strips in tomorrow.......

In other corners people were knitting and stitching.  Penny was making great headway with her raggedy coat in the Garston Gallopers colours:

 

and Barbara was basting her beautiful basket quilt:

 

 

 

Then look what happened when I fed the chicken this afternoon:

 

 

 

 

They've starting pushing their way into the utility room while I fetch their feed but this cheeky one obviously went even further and into the kitchen.  Then it must have hopped onto the windowsill to get at the Basil, then seen me go out into the paddock and tried to follow!  I had heard a load of clattering and thought it was a tractor in the field until I followed Mattie's gaze and saw this bird clamouring to get out!

 

 

 

 

 

I put her out and then returned my beautiful orchid to it's pot.