Ramble on

Apologies for the blogging hiatus, I appear to have lost my blogging mojo of late, coupled with getting my head around being a landlord and attempting to start a business.  Those of you following on Facebook will have been privy to the scant posts I made showing my feeble bargains over the past few months, which is more than I have put on here!

My head is bursting with paperwork, landlord law, problems with the rental property that I hope are almost sorted, despite being pretty major, and the all round headless chicken mode that comes from being fully responsible for everything I do to earn money and keep afloat, it's terrifying but empowering at the same time.

Where to begin?  Not sure really, Christmas is coming, I've done all my shopping, my gift bags for friends and family are sorted.  Some non seasonal generic products (like foodstuffs and toiletries) I have recently purchased in shops or online, other things, individual to the person, are picked up as I shop in the year.  I have found great purchases in the charity shops over the year, and hopefully they will be liked by the recipients (despite the fact I paid pennies instead of pounds)

On a sadder note, I lost one of my chickens at the end of October.  Maisie was just under six and a half, quite a good age for a light Sussex bantam.  She was a lone hatch at the time and I had to keep a mirror and cuddly toy with her to stop her crying.  She spent time in the kitchen with me when she was tiny, she loved me sliding her along the tiled floor and raced back to me for me to do it again!  She moved with us to the countryside and thoroughly enjoyed the freedom, the views and once she was used to them, the horses in the field next door.

Here she is with her mirror

Still living in the kitchen

The terrible trio last summer, Duck passed away last Christmas and now only Lola remains.

I do have two new chickens I was given by the person who keeps horses in the adjoining field.  Lola is now integrated with the female, Florence.  The male, Brian is rather amorous so has to be kept separately!  Both were not in a good condition when I was given them.  Florence obviously has vision problems, this is frustrating Lola big time as Florence does not go to bed or follow her around foraging.  Both chickens had very bad feet when they arrived, the toes were covered in hard balls of caked soil, and after some gentle removal of the loose stuff, and several days walking on good ground, their toes emerged.  Brian has managed his own foot problems, and has no further trouble, but Florence has lost some toes, had to have her ridiculously long nails trimmed and had some sort of scale disorder, which is healing and appears to no longer be causing discomfort.  She is being monitored closely!

On a lighter note, the OH and I now have two days a week when we get to go out and just relax.  We have been to some lovely places, and I hope to start sharing our visits with you all soon.  We are both struggling with a work/life balance at the moment, and hopefully will sort this out soon, especially as things on my side calm down a little and I get used to my new work pattern.

I'll leave you with this bargain I picked up from a charity shop in Broadway (yes, there are charity shops in the Cotswolds) not a cheapy cheap buy at £5.50 but so worth it!

 I  am so fussy with jumpers and only have three that have to last me through every winter.  as a charity shopper I find buying woollens so difficult as donated woollens are usually not in great condition.  We generally hang on to our beloved jumpers and cardis more than anything else I think.

  The jumper is green and lavender and I actually took the photos before I washed it, it came out a little lighter as it was filthy!  Never mind, it is now the softest and most comfy jumper to wear, and must have cost over £100 brand new.  Sometimes it pays to spend a little more, it has certainly expanded my range in the chazzas.  

Right, I think it's time for me to get out there and get commenting on your blogs!