Pictorial update of this last week

The ducks having their first paddle!!! They grow so fast that I'm sure they have already grown since taking the pictures a few days ago.

Mummy Pekin/silkie with the 2 baby quail.

And a close up of one of the babies. So cute when they are starting to get feathers. Going to look just like its dad I think!One of the tadpoles that has made it to a froglet! Will went off to fetch his book that he made to show me!

Tom's old drum stove that he has made for scouts. He welded some legs on and cut two doors that you open to light the fire inside the drum. The idea is that you cook on the top of it, and there will be a little flue pipe as the outlet for the smoke eventually. The things that look like corks are the insulated handles to open and close the doors. So clever!
Rob has made a pirate ship in the garden with a mast and sail, a flag pole and ships wheel. It is made out of an old crate and raised up on legs with a ladder and the boys love it! Unfortunately all the photos show just what a mess our garden is so I'm not sure I can post a picture...plus they don't really do it justice! Well, maybe this one isn't too bad....



That's all for now folks...the boys are off to the woods to build dens, and I need to get up and persuade Will that we are too poorly to go with them. Sore throats and runny noses should stay at home today I think, as the weather is pretty rotten. Rainy.

Quick duck pic

This is a picture of the ducklings parents sent to me by Sara at Farming Friends...They are such lovely ducks aren't they?! The daddy is the one with the dark head...lets hope we don't have too many of those!!

My hugely talented, yet totally modest husband's creation and other photos...

This is the birthday card that Rob drew for me whilst I was in the dining room pressing and sewing Will's jumper... Isn't it great? I love all the little details...obviously personal to me, but I thought that you would all appreciate it. Louis on my shoulders, chicken as a roll mat, carrot bullets, duck grenades, spade weapon with pile of MUD !!!! Ok I'll go to compost, but thats it! It's fab isn't it. Trying to persuade him to do a series for greetings cards...what do you think?

And here are the ducklings, out in the sunshine the other day....they have grown so much! Two weeks old now and I struggle to hold all four in my hands together now to move them!

Tom is now constructing his own CB aerial out of some old tent poles and wire reclaimed from a skip...following some instructions found on the internet. His other CB aerial has managed to put out a signal string enough to be heard 45 miles away!!! He has been learning the CB language and has been communicating with a number of people. It's a good job that he sensible enough to know who to talk to and who to avoid!!! A lot of his 4x4 mates have them so there is a kind of network I guess. Everyone knows everyone!

Tom is off today with Scouts/Explorers for St George's day celebrations. They needed to make a sedan chair strong enough to carry an Explorer...so instead of a wooden one, Tom welded one together from box section and then spray painted it. I have no photo as yet...but I'm hoping there'll be some later on to share with you all. He really is doing well with the welding. The other day he used his trailer that he has made for his bike to take 2 bales of hay down to the field so I didn't have to get the inside of my car covered in hay! I just wish I'd got the camera out.....it really was brilliant to watch!!

Jonathan's riding lesson was a huge success too.....he got to go out in the cross country paddock and Bob and him did brilliantly. Huge tree trunks, tyres, solid walls, poles over a dip and the bank....all like he had been doing it for years!!!! The only hiccup was the ditch...Bob was not going through that for love nor money...not even following me!! So practice needed there but the bank was fantastic!!! They work so well together...a real team. Always brings a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes when I watch them jump. I do hope that we can get him in to a competition some time. His teacher said that he would certainly be capable of it.

David is after a pair of bed socks to take to HE camp next weekend so I'd best be off and get the wool out....now the question is, to machine, or not to machine?!

A couple of veggie pics...

This first one is ofthe veg patch....it seems that my allotment plot isn't going to be available after all so yesterday we fenced off some more space in the garden for me. It started off as just fencing off the existing plot better from the puppy, as the old fence was too easy for him to squeeze through, but then we just decided to put up the new fence further over...Not a particularly pretty garden as we are waiting to puit some turf down on the left hand side, but it is functional, with the chickens down the end along side the shed, getting the early morning sun, and the veg patch getting as much light as possible on the right hand side. The original fence followed the line of the washing line you can see there, and as far as the triangular shaped hen run, which is currently protecting my potao plants as they are coming up. So you can see thatthe new fence which runs along side the path is giving me as much space again!!!! It will also come down as far as the pot you can see in the bottom right hand corner. Almost half the garden now!It isn't quite finished yet, but I can't wait to get out there and dig the new bit over!!

And these are two runner bean plants that Willie and I planted a few weeks ago, that have grown from my saved seeds from last years crop! I am so thrilled, as I thought I had taken them from the plant too soon, but obviously not. Lets hope some more of them grow and then I won't need to get any more seeds from the shop.

I'd like a pretty garden, really I would, but with wanting the chickens and the veg patch, there isn't much space for beauty if the boys are to have somewhere to play. Maybe nextyear we will look at some flowers that are hardy and low maintenace. I have got two honeysuckle plants to grow up the fence, which will certainly bring colour and attract the bees!

The two big boys are off fishing today at the resevoir with the boilies thay made last night, David is playing lego and Will is playing with some binoculars, being an explorer. Sun is shining intermittently despite the forecast for rain, and I am considering a frog lapbook with David....but when they are engrossed, it is wrong to pull them away, is it not. Hmm, so hard to get the timing right with these things.

And why is that when I am in the mood and have created the time for such 'schooly' things, does David (unaware of my intentions) find himself so engrossed in other things? And why does it feel such a big deal to get out the paper and things for the lapbooking/projects.....we seem to have so much stuff but it must be really badly organised or something for it to feel like that surely. Everything is in boxes, like things together. Books on shelves. Pencils and pens all easily accessible. I think it is just having Will that makes it so difficult to get going. Not knowing if he will leave us alone, join in nicely, or justbe co-operative by doing something alongside.

Oh help. Is it just me? I quite like the school at home feeling, as does David, but it is so hard to make it happen sometimes. Because we don't do it all the time, I guess. It doesn't come easily or naturally. Aaaah that must be it.

By the way, I think I just a duckling pipping inside its shell!! They area little late, but nothing in nature is set in stone.....I do hope 1 or 2 hatch outof the six. Fingers crossed everyone!