Return of the Guinea Pigs

Welcome home to Bubble and Flapjack who have returned to us from a 'holiday' at one of Jonathan's friend's houses. We rehomed them in order to make room for the new arrivals back in March and it was on the understanding that if she didn't look after them properly we would have them back. Well, yesterday morning as we were walking back from the doctors ( with my miracle cure anti in flammatory drugs in hand!!!) her mum called me over said that she wasn't happy that the girl was doing a good enough job and would we take them back? We agreed immediately of course and the boys carted all the hutch and stuff back home. Then she told me that the little girl was away with the school and i felt really sorry for her!!!!

But here they are.....happy to be home i think!

And i actually got round to fixing the run that we had given them too...it was old and slightly dilapidated (oh, that sounds like a description of me at the moment!!!) and in desperate need of an overhaul.......hmm are you sure I'm not talking about myself?!!!!

So Jonathan and I took it apart ( the run!!) and replaced some of the pieces of wood and then i made a new piece for the top that lifts up on hinges......ooh! Look at our lovely 'new' Guinea pig run!

And while we are on the subject of fixing things...my wellie boots have been on their last legs for a while. They developed a split across the front at ankle height so no good for puddles anymore!! So here they are...new and improved WELLIE SHOES!!!! Don't laugh, they cost £9.99 in the local garden centre!!And my good friend has hopefully posted my letter to the LEA today. I received it about 3 weeks ago I think and thanks to the help of the oxonHE yahoo group I have managed to put together a reply that was neither too rude, too sarcastic or too short. I have given them enough information about Tom's education and his progress so that they can't possibly write back and request anything else but I have pointed out my legal rights and point of view. I wrote the original draft by hand which I was very pleased with but when I came to copy it out (we have printer problems here too at the mo!) by hand I kept changing the wording as I went so that it lost its edge!! So thankfully I emailed it to her, she proof read it for me and then printed it off and posted it!!! Thank you Han!

We have more eggs in the incubator! After the not so successful Cream Legbars and Pheasant Fowl eggs last week, we were given some blue eggs by the goat lady we visited on Monday. The hen was a beautiful brown and cream speckledy hen with a golden chest, but the father of the chicks could be one of 5 different cockerels so could make for interesting chicks!!! She said she thought it was an Araucana but it didn't have the characteristic ear tufts so I guess it was already crossed with something else! Cuckoo maran maybe? I just hope there are some girls and the blue egg gene is passed down to them!!

And here are the pictures of the two breeds we have just hatched.......Old English Pheasant Fowl,

and Cream Legbars.....

We have come to a decision as far as the goat keeping goes! We have the chance of 2 very sweet Saanen x English kids from the lady down the road, or the possibility of 2 Golden Guernsey kids about 100 miles away in Nottingham. We hope that the GG kids work out ok as they are the best goats for us ,I think but these others will be a good second if they fall through. The lady down the road is very kind and friendly so will be a good contact from the point of view of goat keeping knowledge and advice as she has been keeping Saanen's for more than 20 years. She makes cheese and butter from their milk and keeps them in a realistic home setting. She also keeps rare breed sheep and has their fleeces sent off to be spun into wool which she knits with. So all in all I could learn a lot from her!! (And she liked talking to the boys!)

So its all systems go hopefully by the weekend, either way. GG's from Nottingham or cross breeds from the lady down the road....so excited!