Dikkipenior KilliKer

Update

2009-05-14T19:01:00.000+01:00

Chut'Chut' is healing & doing brilliantly. He still likes being with me or Midnight RippleBack & follows us around. He quite likes sleeping as a people or on my head over night & insists that I'm HIS people, which makes typing hard at times as he's on my lap & wishes to add his own comments

Other than that it's all babies here

How can People be so Cruel ~ Not for the Squeamish

2009-05-04T10:15:00.000+01:00

After we had Llyw's 2 ferret gills & my Wolf taken here, Tara returned very briefly before she & her favourite PiriPup vanished once again from my yard. I'd given up ever seeing my 2 dogs ever again, which is why yesterday Annon got yelled at:

She'd let the 2 boys (WhiteTip & Midnight RippleBack) out & called that she was letting them back in ~ I was in the sitting room knitting when a a small black dynamo landed on my lap & I screamed at Annon because WhiteTip's tail had gone & with it all my sense & logic. It was Annon who worked out that, as she still had 2 very tailed black dogs round her legs, then the tailless 1 had to be Chut'Chut' returned.

Whoever took my puppy (6 1/2 months old now) had prepped him for fighting. He's a rough coat terrier type & looks like a gone-wrong Bedlington Terrier. Beddy's were originally bred for fighting, poaching & ratting, so either they were hoping to turn him into a ring dog, or were just using him to train up their own fighters. You can see Chut'ty's spine poking out through the end of his stump & he obviously rolled over in submission as he has a hole in him from his scrotum across his body & down a back leg ~ it's just like looking at a 1/2 eaten cut of meat still attached to the animal. (Chut'Chut's dad was a BC X so you have the BC love in him)

When he was on my lap yester evening he growled with intent whenever the other dogs so much as looked at him & I spent my time calming him & loving all the dogs, helped by Annon who had Piri & WT on her. Middy sulked. I was worried about bedtime as all the dogs like sleeping with me, so I took Chut'ty up first & Annon let the others up when she finished watching a dvd (no school this day!), but there were no problems at all & everyone settled down. I'm hoping that we can love our poor baby back to himself as he is still a loving, gentle boy under his wariness.

I rang the vet, but as his hole wasn't new, they couldn't stitch him together (I don't think they could have done anyway as there is a lump of dog gone) & as there seems to be no sign of infection, she told me to keep an eye on it & bathe him in brine. I also rang the Gardai to inform them that this was going on & to cover my back if the neighbour decides that I've been abusing my dogs again (both times she's reported me, the ISPCA commented on how happy, healthy & shiny-coated my dogs were! The second time, I was told by them that the Wolf was too skinny, but they left as a Wolfie breeder arrived & told me that she was too fat!)

If I could, I'd post photos of the under side & stump end of my poor baby & really gross you out. Beware if you have dogs, they may come after yours.

From Robbyn on the Back Forty

2009-02-13T14:39:00.000Z

CAN I HAVE A WORD

It's harder than you think!! Here is what you are supposed to do...and please don't spoil the fun...copy and paste into your own note, type in your answers and tag a bunch of people - including me.
Where is your cell phone...........................pocket
Your hair.............................................mousey
Your father..........................................England
Your favorite thing..................................family
Your dream last night..............................gone
Your favorite drink.................................coffee
Your dream/goal...................................aminals
The room you are in...............................bedroom
Your fear..............................................accidents
Where do you want to be in 6 years..............here
Muffins...............................................yum
One of your wish list items.........................saddlechariot
Where you grew up................................Berkshire
The last thing you did.............................knitted
What are you wearing.............................LOTS
Your TV...............................................none
Your pets.............................................many
Your computer.......................................catchup
Your life..............................................alive
Your mood............................................tired
Missing someone.....................................yes
Your car.............................................none
Favorite store......................................Kahn's
Your favorite color.................................purpleyburgundy
When is the last time you laughed.............now
Last time you cried................................yesterday
People who email me...........................varied
One of my favorite foods......................veggie
Place I would rather be right now............here
People I think will respond...................noone

Fun Monday Update & Weird Wednesday

2009-02-04T14:24:00.000Z

Finished Night Birds on Monday & started Genesis of the Grail Kings: Laurence Gardner as soon as I finished the other book. Connection problems until this day.

Had a strange experience this morning ~ someone used the door knocker, so I returned downstairs to see who had braved the snow to visit & found....... no person..........Snegurochka was waiting at the front door. How does a pony know how to get attention by knocking on the door, how DOES a pony use a door knocker? It was definitely the door knocker & not knocking straight on the wooden door as the dogs, cats & chickens do. I have unusual animals

Fun Monday

2009-02-02T08:13:00.000Z

AOJ & her Lurchers have asked us to write about the book we are currently reading & whether we are enjoying it or not, with whys given.

This part of her assignment is straightforward: I'm reading a couple of foaling books off & on in case we have a baby this year, but can I find them to give the bibliographic detais?! I'm sort of reading "Handy Farm Devices": Rolfe Cobleigh. This is more of a dipping reference book which I'm reading straight through at odd times when the computer refuses to play & puppies are preventing knitting. I like this book & wish that I had the ability, confidence & lack of laziness to use his ideas around my small holding. Apart from building my own home, most of his instructions are reasonably clearish. I enjoy seeing how others do things & knowing how we are heading into such conditions as existed as when this book was written makes it a sort of guide.

My "proper" reading book (take it to bed & to the vet's where I should be later if I can find a lift for my poor hamatomaed Beddy) is "Inventions of the Middle Ages": Chiara Frugoni ~ a fascinating book using contemporary illustrations, paintings & sculptures as wellas writte sources to introduce us to the developments that appeared during the Middle Ages in the West. The author does admit that some of the inventions originated in Arabia & China before being taken over & adapted by Europe. This book covers a range of categories, taking in music, games, clothing as well as clocks, printing, glasses, banking & many others that I haven't reached as yet. This is 1 of my many books & I chose it to read now as part of the Science Reading Challenge mentioned by Chile in her blog (chilechews.blogspot.com, post entitled Engage Your Brain).

Because the above is a Folio Society book, I have a different 1 for taking with me to read in the bath & this is "Night Birds on Nantucket": Joan Aiken. I LIKE children's books! I've read others of her parallel history series & enjoy the adventure/thriller/history/fantasy aspects of her writing. Night Birds follows Dido Twite after she was found floating in the water & is picked up by a Nantucket Whaler. Miss Slighcarp ~ the baddy from "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase" ~ makes a reappearance as part of a plot to flatten St. James' Palace, thus killing the King, by firing a huge cannon from Nantucket across the ocean to London; she takes the place of the sister of the Captain who saves Dido. Dido, Nate (from the whaler)m & bthe captain's daughter uncover the plot &... I've very nearly finished this book, so will have to choose another to join it & me this evening. I'm not sure whether to choose another fiction, a ferret book, conspiracy theory, linguistics, philosophy, livestock, small holding...

That's the easy bit done. The 2nd part is to choose a book to take with you to a desert island. 1 book? ONE book? Can't I take 1 library? There is no such thing as ONE book to a librarian, even an ex- one. This part I'll have to fail on. Do I choose an entertainment book, a practical book.... I'm not good at choosing one book. It's like trying to choose which of my dogs I'd take with me & which I'd leave behind. Books are people, too!

Bob Stewart Song

2009-02-01T21:07:00.000Z

MeadowLark posted on her blog the difference in grants given to changing analogue TV to digital as against that given to help feed people:

http://justwanderingthrough.blogspot.com/2009/01/cause-we-cant-control-masses-without-tv.html

~ it reminded me of a verse in a song I learnt whilst putting together a bibliography/discography about the psaltery for my degree:

All that we ask for is vast acquisitions
& all that we need is belief in our schemes
& all that we'll do is to break your traditions
& split up your families & poison your dreams;

(Ch)& we will make you fair of face
& we will make you full of grace. (x2)

We make old people young & the young people old
& the ugly ones pretty & witty & gay;
& all that we need is your silent permission
To banish reality far, far away.

We'll build you thin houses & sell you loud noises
& cure your depression with strong yellow pills.
& while you're consuming, we're breeding & blooming
In big country houses secure in the hills.

We'll sell you & buy you & never deny you
Your strongest of wishes, your highest of joys.
We'll dish out your food from bright plastic dishes
& paste smiling faces on mass-produced toys.

We won't let you work or make a decision,
Or breathe the clean air or look at the skies.
We'll tell you the truth on our bright televisions
That ask youy no questions & tell you no lies.

Bob Stewart is a psalterer & builds his own magnificent instruments

Christesmas Meme from Meadowlark

2008-12-05T08:11:00.000Z

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Paper mainly, but sometimes bags & then there's the stockings...
2. Real tree or Artificial?
Artificial when I lived at home, real when s was around, now we have lots of real ones round us, but I can't get any home; with lots of dogs & a small house, (although this year the sitting room is usable ~ finally) we have a teeny tiny wooden 1 I can keep out of puppy range, including Wolfie range!
3. When do you put up the tree?
Because the wooden tree has 24 ornaments to put on it, usually we start on 1st Dec, but that will wait until the weekend this year ~ an Advent Tree. The rest go up between 20th & 24th.
4. When do you take the tree down?
12th Night
5. Do you like eggnog?
No idea
6. Favorite gift received as a child?
Lucy, a doll from my Grandmother from Lucerne, books
7. Hardest person to buy for?
Used to be my father until I found an unending supply of gift idea for him ~ OS maps! Now my sister.
8. Easiest person to buy for?
Now Dad, though Annon + Books is easy
9. Do you have a nativity scene?
Mine & Annon's are still packed in the container. Annon's was a gift from her Godmother, mine I inherited from a priest
10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail ~ I'm still painting them, so some may be late. I wonder if people realise that mine are hand drawn or painted (my parents didn't, but now I'm a commissioned artist, they may take more notice!)
11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Pen that didn't work, jumper that was made of a yarn to which I'm allergic ~ elder daughter swiped it & other childer took all the other gifts for me from that person
12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
No idea
13. When do you start shopping? When I see things I think people may like. Had a load of presents on order for months ~ awaiting bank to get off its backside & let me have my renewed debit card. till waiting 4 months after old 1 expired & 3 months after they promised I'd have it soon...
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Bread sauce, stuffing, & mince pies & brandy butter, but not at the same time!
16. Lights on the tree?
Not on wooden 1, but used to on real 1
17. Favorite Christmas song?
Ring Out Solstice Bells, but that's not really Christesmas! O Tyred Di Emmaniwel, except that's the only line I can remember in Welsh, Stille Nacht, Boar's Head, Gaudete, Stop the Cavalry......
18.Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Home ~ can't travel now with so many animals
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
No ~ I get my childer & dogs' names muddled!
20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
Star on wooden
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
After breakfast, even if people don't get up until the afternoon. Stockings can be opened on waking
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year?
Starting far too early now; overt commercialism
23. Favorite ornament theme or color?
I like red & green, but don't stick to any theme or colour
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?
I can't eat furry/feathery meat any more, but I used to boil a ham, score the skin, add whole cloves into the crosses & cover in honey, wrap in foil & cook in oven. I've found a lovely parsnip roulade that has sage & onion stuffing in it & my childer love my cheese & onion "sausage" rolls
25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
I wanted a dvd cleaner, but ended up buying 1 as I know I wouldn't get it otherwise. Because I live away from my family, presents have to be sorted either in October or April, so I know what I've got. My sister bought me a butcher's trolley for Christesmas & my birthday, which is very useful & I wanted one ~ storage & work surfaces here are non existent compared to my last kitchen. I'm allowed to use it early & while with the babies around I'm not using it as planned, it is being used to keep things interesting to tiny puppies out of sight & reach.

Gifts

2008-11-16T21:28:00.003Z

When Felix left, he left a TV in my yard ~ one with no aerial, so it can't receive programmes (I had the aerial taken off the roof). I had the brilliant idea of getting a DVD player so we could watch films in front of the fire, especially when all my littlies are here ~ 2 of us squeezed under the eaves in my bedroom (I have a 1.5 storey house)where my computer is, is hard, but 5 of us! & it could be 6 from now on. Also, watching films was almost impossible after I failed to teach the mouse to swim in tea & drowned it, plus my computer keeps freezing. I asked in a local small shop & he had a suitable beast, but he refused to sell it to me until I'd checked that the TV worked & had a SCART thingy. It did work, despite being rained on, but had no SCART hole. When Scotty needed more electric cable for wiring his girlfriend's trailer up to solar power, I explained the TV saga & offered him the spare lead wired in with the TV lead. Apparently Felix had another TV & DVD player, left in his destroyed trailer & he's scarpered, leaving no contact details. Scotty had rehoused those 2 items, but has greater ideas & he wants a TV that is a TV & not just a screen, so we have a TV screen & DVD player in the sitting room & Annon has just spent all day in there checking it out, well all day after Scotty brought the TV up! I watched 1 film with her & the luxury of finally having a usable sofa with all its cushions in place, a fire & a film was wonderful. Now I just need to beat out the big rug I made & return that to the floor (& finish scrubbing muddy hoofprints off the wooden floorboards & we have a lovely little snuggy room for us & visitors. It's happened just at the right time as my wonderfully cleaned, scrubbed kitchen has been puppied.

Scotty has offered to work on my house as my builder ran away & he & Joe & Gary all offered to do my fencing, so I may get those things done a bit at a time. The best thing about this is that we're all strapped for cash, so they will understand if I have to halt work to save some more money for the next stage.

In Somerset I bought a long curtain & thermal lining for my back door (the other of the pair I lent to a friend who lost it!) It won't be used here, as I bought dark red velvet & discovered an unwanted length of heavy dark red fabric in a shop closing down & I'll use those to do the door curtains (2/3 curtains will BE the door between the kitchen & the entrance hall & I'll do a curtain for the back door for Winter). I was given various curtains since I've been here by someone wanting them gone & 1 set were rust coloured, like my door curtain. I washed the curtains & they're going to Scotty's girlfriend in return for the TV & DVD. Barter & regifting is great!

Because of the Day it is

2008-11-11T20:47:00.002Z

I'll let my mother's words loose on the internet this day:

MY FATHER – ALEXANDER ROBERT GILLETT

Will commence at the start of my father (well, maybe a little bit after that!!)

He was born on the 27 September 1907. His birth was registered in Fareham.
What he did between then and 1926 I have no idea. However, on the 6 January 1926 he joined the Army (Royal Artillery) and served with them for 6 years until January 1932. He then enlisted in the Army Reserve for another 6 years January 1932 till January 1938. It was then extended to August 1939 when he was recalled to the “Colours” for regular service. It is not known what his job was in the interim period but his profession on the marriage certificate was given as Packer.

Round about 1933/34 he met my mother. Unfortunately, I have little news to report on the early days of my parents (before my time) apart from the fact that I understand they met in London where they both worked. My mother used to hurry across Southwark Bridge to work. One day my father said ‘no need to hurry today, you are early’ and so began a beautiful friendship, which resulted in them getting married on 28 September 1935 at St. Paul’s Church, Southwark. They had 4 years together (during which time Joan and I appeared on the scene) before he was recalled for war service.

My mother had very little communication from my father at the beginning of the war and then shortly afterwards all communication stopped. He was reported missing in action by the Foreign Office in February 1942. It was not until the Japanese surrender that a small number of soldiers were found still alive, my father being one of them. He was taken to a military hospital and remained there for quite a few months, before he was pronounced fit enough to travel home. In September 1945 he received a letter from Buckingham Palace (King George VI) welcoming him home.

He was discharged from the Army on the 6 September 1946 as ceasing to fulfil Army physical requirements.

My father had a very rough time during the war in a Japanese Prisoner of War Camp and was one of those who worked on the Burma railway (the railway of death, as it was called). He very rarely spoke to us about his war experiences. However, he did recall how extremely hungry they all were - a bowl of rice was all they received each day if they were lucky.

After his return home, he was never very well again and had to return to hospital each year for unpleasant treatment. I recall my mother saying he often suffered from nightmares.

He did manage to work again as a Manager in a packing department for a West End fashion house. His hobby was breeding cage birds.

My father died on 30 September 1960 at the age of 53. His funeral took place at Streatham Park Crematorium.

Compiled by Sheila (nee Gillett)
Eldest daughter
16 January 2005

Even more babies

2008-10-23T23:27:00.000+01:00

Vanilla & Custard, the incubator-hatched chicks are with their new foster mother, Blanche, now & are thriving. Blanche belongs to my friend & I gave her her name as he just referred to her as his girly! She was furious at being caught & penned & then having to take on another woman's babies, but this day she told him off for trying to take HER baby from her. I'm so pleased that it all worked out.

Instead I have 2 yellow & 2 black & yellow ducklings hatched & in the brooder incubator with more on the way. J had never seen just-hatched duckies & was thrilled when, yesterday, he was able to see & hold the new, wet baby. Seeing his look of pure pleasure at having the new chicks & being with me when I found the first duckling makes me appreciate just how lucky we are to be able to witness & have a hand in bringing new life into the world.

Juke & the Piri-pups are rekindling his desire for a dog, something not practical at the moment. One Piri-pup is sold, but won't go to her new home for another 6 weeks & another may be wanted & this without any advertising by me!

Another Fluffy

2008-10-19T13:56:00.000+01:00

Finally, the second egg hatched & a very sorry, dry, deformed chick lay curled in the big incubator whither I had moved the eggs, so I could use the little incubator as a brooder. I decided to give it a chance & put it carefully in the "brooder" using the hessian sack in the bottom to give it some support. I've just been down to check & take pictures of yesterday's chick & miracle of miracles ~ the chick was uncurled & steady on its feet. Vanilla (yesterday's chick) came out strong, steady, wet & as a chick, whereas Custard was dry, weak, curled up on itself & stayed lying either head down or its side all tweisted. It had taken so long for the hatching that the membranes had dried in the shell, making it even harder to hatch. I couldn't believe it when both chicks were standing tall & straight. I'm so glad that I hate taking life & will give any chick a chance to try to survive as Custard would have been culled otherwise ~ past experience has told me that any chick not able to uncurl & vaguely stand on hatching will soon be dead, but still I let them have a chance.

Is this because the doctors wrote me off? My parents were told that I'd never walk nor talk again IF I ever came out of the coma...

Bad Surprise, Good Surprise

2008-10-18T11:34:00.000+01:00

I started writing this last night, but the computer froze & it wented away into the ether. Yester morning when I took Tara out for her early morning walk I was greeted by the very bloody face of Remus the under puc kid. Somehow he'd ripped off 1 of his horns (I blame his brother for that) & was covered in gore on 1 side. He saw me & ran off to hide, so maybe the farmer that hit 2 of the dogs with his shotgun butt for barking at him when he was on MY land had attacked the poor kid. I've been trying to remember if he was in with the poultry when I fed them the night before, but I think only Persi & Romulus turned up to bully the chickens & I know that the farmer had been up whilst I was trying to retrieve Tara & Jukkel who disappeared the day before. That was the bad surprise.

On Fridays I have feed delivered for the poultry & was waiting for it to arrive when I heard a vehicle coming up. Bill Siop turned up with coal & briquettes for us ~ I hadn't ordered any fuel as my fuel allowance is paying off the 11 month electricity bill the ESB landed me with as they didn't read the meter nor bill me for the first 11 months after fitting the meter! Their excuse being that they couldn't find me & the property didn't exist. It existed to repair line faults, to top trees, to fit a meter, but wasn't on their system for billing! Anyway the village is worried about Annon having a 2 mile cycle/walk to the school bus in the dark & the rain & sent up the Welfare Officer to try to sort something out for her. The weather has been so wet that I hadn't sawn up enough branches to keep the range going, so the house was cold. I'm used to it & put more layers on if I get cold, but I think the Welfare Officer didn't like the temperature, so sent fuel up for us. I'm not complaining ~ we have heat, might be able to get rid of some of the dampness & have hot water from the tank once more.

My feed came up later, so we're all set here for a while.

I was woken this morning by a cheeping & found that 1 of the eggs I was given has hatched a tiny yellow chick with orange legs. Most of my chicks are black or black & yellow, so this yellow one looks odd. Do RIRs lay brownish eggs?

Paternity Suits?

2008-10-16T22:12:00.000+01:00

Having thought that we'd narrowed the pups' father down to 2 dogs, I went to tell Craig ~ Arthur's person ~ the good news that Arthur was off the hook. Only he isn't: true, Arthur is a strange black & brown dog with Alsation in him, but Arthur's dad was black with a white chest flash & white paws.... Pups all have chest flashes & white paws. One has a white tip to his tail, just like Jukkel. None seem to have Collie nor Beddy type coats, but they are only 4 days old.

Piri is torn between wanting to tell me that she still loves me & needing to be with her babies, so every now & again I get a visit from a very loving girly dog. Piri was always fairly aloof, but since her pregnancy & birthing, she's so much more affectionate & asks for love ~ something she never did before.

Jukkel, the stray, seems to have decided that he's the protector of ALL my girly dogs: he & Tara disappeared yesterday when I took water up to J (I had some intersting information for him) & neither of them came back until I was away hunting for them, back up Curreeny Hill & later at Site. I was starting to panic as Tara is never away that long & surely Juke would have come back, unless something had happened to my Wolfie ~ Juke knows his way to & fro Curreeny from when he was looking after J. Jukkel is away again now, looking after the Spaniels who have decided to take advantage of the moon to go hunting. He knows that Piri & Tara are safe home ~ Tara's flaked out on my bed. We think that Juke is the same age as Tara ~ 18 months ~ as he was only a young dog when he turned up in my yard & yet he has a maturity about him. He's been road training the Lurcher pup & it's a pleasure to take the youngster out as he flattens himself into the side when traffic passes. Piri challenges the cars, lorries & tractors ~ truly a lion in lamb's form as she stands no more than 18 inches high; the Spaniels are torn between racing back to my protection & trying to get past the traffic & Tara stands with her bum poking out& usually me hanging on to her.

Whoever the father turns out to be of the puppies, I'm proud of the way Piri is behaving. She has the freedom I didn't allow Mindy (I didn't trust Mindy anyway as she wanted to get back into my bed as soon as possible), but that Tashka had with her pups to start with. 4 pups is a much more manageable number than 11 (Mindy) & 8 (Tashka) & at the moment she's being very responsible. She doesn't leave them for long & today walked outside, sniffed the air & came straight back in to be with her pups. It does mean that I have puddles to deal with, but that's a small price to pay & as she feels she can leave the pups for longer periods, she will go back outside. I have a bucket of water & a mop on hand at all times in the kitchen.

No editing tools still, so no pictures. Time to join the Wolfie on my bed, having turfed the puppy OFF my pillow nest ~ he can curl up next to me ~ really he ought to be with missy in her bed, but he abandons her when she goes to sleep

More Babies

2008-10-12T22:26:00.000+01:00

If my mother is reading this ~ you can have the kittens ~ we've got the puppies! We have more babies ~ 4 black, black/white puppies from my Bedlington Terrier, Pireni. Piri has looked very uncomfortable & hasn't roamed far for days now & I dreaded her having her babies on my bed. She was a very clever little doggy & found her way into Annon's real bedroom, found a box labelled fragile & emptied it of nearly all Annon's clothes before birthing her babies. As she bit any dog that tried to mate her I'm not sure who the father is, but it may be the stray collie as he's black & white, or maybe a friend's collie x otterhound... She hasn't left them yet & is very protective. Somehow in the next few days, we'll have to get Piri & her family downstairs to a box I'd prepared there. My editing tools have disappeared again, so I can't post any photos of mummy & babies which Annon took as I can't easily get into her room.

WATER

2008-10-05T20:56:00.000+01:00

After a week without water, it suddenly returned. Last weekend, for some obscure reason, we had no water reaching the house, except for the rain, rain & more rain. Monday, after taking the horses back to the Curragh where there was grass for them, I went up to my holding tank to see what the problem was. Now, I'm frighten of cows ~ too many people have been killed by them & I'm no match for one. (Yes, I know that more people have been killed by other animals & even my puc turned on me with murderous intent, but me & cows ~ that's my thing). The cows hid until I was 1/2 way across their field & then the pregnant mamas came after me, followed by the mothers & calves & then the bull. By the time I reached the electric fence between them & the holding tank I was surrounded on 3 sides. I could see that the tank was overflowing, meaning that the problem was between the tank & the house, but, in the rain with fully armed cattle, there was no way I was going to try to get over or under the wire to see if the blockage was at the tank end or somewhere in the yards of pipe. I had my trusty farmer's stick, so I waved it madly & screamed "Go 'way" at the cattle. The bull went first, followed by the mamas & calves, but the pregnant mamas followed close on my heels all the way back across the field. So, that was that ~ until the cattle left I couldn't go check & solve the problem. I'm a coward, I know, but these cattle are evil, not like the quiet beasts that the Moloughneys have & where my horses go occasionally, or the easily frightened beef cattle in Christy's fields (my hens have had them running in panic across the field after 1 wandered up to the fence & clucked!). The rain has been a God-send ~ water for flushing the toilet, water for the animals to drink & I collected water from a spring near me for us to drink. We still had hot water (when the range played games), because the header & hot water tanks were full before the water stopped, but that had to be used sparingly as once it was gone, the range couldn't be lit & I couldn't get in to the header tank to check it. For me, living this way ~ collecting water each day, washing only what was necessary when it was necessary, is just a fact of life, but those with mains water cannot understand that we have NO water. With all the fuss about lead poisoning from mains supplies, I'm so glad I have my own well-spring with rubber pipes, even if it does fail at times, or freezes for the greater part of the day in Winter ~ I make contingency plans for that when I can ~ the 3 range kettles are kept filled.

But we have water again & it's wonderful ~ turn a tap & there it is, pull the handle & the loo flushes without hauling water to it. The dogs still insist on going outside to drink, even though their inside bucket is filled!

Good News for a Change

2008-10-02T17:06:00.004+01:00

Last week I opened up the window-door at the back of the shed to let the chickens out as Summer had finally arrived, then I opened up the run to the new house & out of nowhere appeared this henny & her babies. I know they couldn't have come out of the shed as the ramp isn't in place & there's no way these littlies could fly up 4 feet or so. The house had only had Woodstock in it the night before, so where she laid, brooded & hatched out these 8 babies is a mystery. I know I have a broody IN a hay bale, but she wasn't it. She is such a good mother with them & it's lovely watching her fluff up her skirts to warm them at bedtime & the way she chickherds them around during the day. She never takes them into the yard, just behind the shed & behind the people house ~ where there's leaves to scratch around & under & where there's grass. I've never had any eggs hatch this late in the year, so I hope they survive.

The person that borrowed my little incubator returned it last Friday & gave me some eggs to go with it. Most of them are duck eggs & are Aylesbury x Khakis & will give Magpie Ducks I was told. There is 1 banty egg & 3 RIRs in as well. Because the incubator is small, I have to turn the eggs manually several times a day. When I incubated last year, I had a big automatic one for incubating until the last few days when I transferred the about-to-hatch eggs to this one. We shall see how good a mummy duck/henny I prove to be. I must get my big incubator back anyway as I'll be incubating again next year.

RIP Pan the Puc

2008-09-13T21:37:00.000+01:00

Last Saturday whilst I was out feeding & putting my poultry to bed, Pan took offense to me & attacked. He got 1 of his horns round my leg & pulled, landing me flat on the ground. Usually, if I had a stick, he'd leave me alone, but not this time & he just kept coming at me. How do you tell a puc that he's won & just go away & leave you alone? He shouldn't even be out of his field, but some "helpful" person keeps letting him out.

Anyway, I get up & try to get on with putting the poultry away, but he comes at me again & down I go after he's ripped holes in my anorak. I try to edge away on my bum & end up going around the hay barn, always facing him & trying to keep him away with my feet. This works until I end up in the coppiced area & on up along the bank/dry stone wall. He moves around me & starts on my right side. Things are further complicated by darling Pahn (called for the Protector god!) who decides that he really, really needs fuss & attention. Fighting a puc goat is hard enough at the best of times without a tom cat trying to sit on your face & chest, especially when said puc is keeping up a constant pressure on your ribcage. At 1 point I managed to get him back on my feet long enough to call Site & try to get help from there. (Annon, of course, was nowhere to be seen ~ away off on her bike ~ so she couldn't ring/go for help).

I knew full well that Pan wanted me dead & if I let him puc/butt me I'd have been utterly helpless, so I just tried to keep pressure against his horns & forehead all the time with whatever part of my anatomy was closest to him. He did try to go for my left side, so I swung round (still on my bum in the mud), to let the wall/bank protect that.

Craig & Joe came up & as soon as Pan saw them he left me alone. Joe got the heavy duty chain I'd bought to secure a gate & he & Craig chained Pan to a telegraph pole whilst he was eating from a bucket of feed I'd run & prepared to distract him.

On Tuesday I asked Steve in the pet shop if he had a shotgun as he arranged to deliver dog food to me this day. He said that he no longer had 1, but a friend did. Friend came into shop shortly afterwards & we discussed the demise of Pan. Friend is a butcher & was quite happy to come out with Steve & finish Pan off.

Yesterday, as I was on the computer, I heard screaming & looked out my window to see Remus (the quiet young puc) with 1 of his fore legs jammed between Pans horns, with Pan doing his best to break the kid's leg. I went out to see if I could help & eventually kid pulled free & limped off on 3 legs, the other tucked up underneath him. He got far enough away from Pan to be safe & then sank down & stayed put. I had visions of trying to strap up a goat leg with sticks & greyhound bandage, but by eveniong he was using the leg again.

Steve & Liam came up this morning with dog food & a sharp knife. It took the 2 men to get Pan on his side & even then he was trussed up with flex before he was restrained enough to be stuck. I think it surprised both men that this was such a big heavy goat & I only had bad bruising from my encounter. He was a heavy, strong & powerful animal. There wasn't much blood & Pan died after a while.

This afternoon Scotty & Gary came up to remove the carcase. Apparently there's a fight going on on Site as to who will get the horns! It took both men to carry Pan slung over a pole & even then they needed a break part way. Scotty estimated his weight at 2 hundredweight & was surprised at the thickness of his neck. Scotty is going to behead him, bury the head to let nature clean off the skull, skin him, gut him & spit roast him before making goat curry. He's promised me some of the meat, despite my protestations that we don't eat meat!

So Pan, the magnificent Puc is gone. Scotty counted his horn rings & put him at 12 years old, so he's had a long life for a boy goat. My back is hurting now, as is every other part of me that came into contact last Saturday with that murderous goat. I don't think I'll ever know what made him suddenly turn & attack me, but once again I survived & for that I'm very thankful

Surprises!

2008-07-18T13:44:00.004+01:00

I had a surprise when I came on here to post: my editing thingy has returned, finally! but now my camera battery charger is dead. The battery died the night before my daughter's wedding & I was cursing the fact that I hadn't charged it up enough before leaving Ireland. In fact, the cats killed the charger stone dead. So, I have no digi piccies of my beautiful radiantly happy daughter & son-in-law to share & my big film camera is suspect, too. My last film came out black & I'd had a shutter issue before I loaded the film for the second time ~ the first time, the film withdrew into its cartridge, which is quite an achievement for a camera that UNwinds the film onto the take-up spool, then returns each exposed shot back into the cartridge. The place whence I bought the film got the end out for me again, but have I none idea how he did it. I'll try to get the film developed onto CD like I have with the past several, but they were developed in England & I know not if there's an Irish service that does that as I've ignored my film Eos for the past 3 years. Fingers crossed.This is Chissy & bem last Christesmas whilst they were with me & is the latest picture *I* have of them. I've asked my sister to download every wedding picture she has taken or has wheedled out of friends & family onto a USB memory stick, then I can bore everyone rigid with them.

My son's foster sister announced to me that he's engaged & I got to meet the poor girl at the wedding. She's very quiet & seems to be doing him a lot of good. I hope it works out for them, or they realize in plenty of time if it doesn't.

I'll post more later

May be a Good Idea, May be Not

2008-07-06T00:42:00.002+01:00

I received a text from my son this day asking for his father's full name. I thought it was for some form concerning the apprenticeship he wishes to persue, so I gave him all his father's names & explanations as to why he had different names. Son wishes to track down his father & demand the maintenance for himself that I never received. The CSA awarded £11/child/week since his arrest, so Llyw is owed (in theory) £11 x 52 x 7 (well it's several weeks over the 7 years now, but I was making things easy for myself!) = £4004! s wanted money from his father, despite being suspended on full pay & living cost free with my parents whilst on bail & his father obliged. When s's mother was dying, she asked for him &, as he'd turned up out the woodwork with a new female, contacting his father, so his address was passed from his father to his step-father & thence (illegally as as victim I'm not supposed to know his whereabouts...) to me. s never visited his mother & wasn't at the funeral last month. I'm not sure if Llyw confronting his father is a good thing or not, but that boy is as stubborn & pig-headed as I (& his father) am & has his father's temper at times. So who will come out of any confrontation better? I'm not sure if I should encourage Llyw in his pursuit or try to dissuade him from confronting his violent abusive father. I've never tried to stop my childer having contact with him & tried to encourage contact in the early days, but the girls refused & after Llyw's letters were ignored, he gave up. I think this is something he has to do for himself, but I hope that he will leave me & my current whereabouts out of it or we'll have to run again & I hope he does this AFTER his sister's wedding.

Tara's Going Home

2008-06-30T20:12:00.000+01:00

Talked to Tara's previous owner ~ someone that loves her as much as I do, but was offered a full-time job, making the keeping of multiple Wolfies impractical, especially as she has a breeding bitch & they will keep her safe for me for a while. Told her the whole sorry tale ~ I'd told her husband only that I was going to my eldest's wedding & would be away for a week & the dog belonging to the people that were to look my dogs doesn't like Tara (true, but he's also frightened of her & they have a new pup). He husband was dubious about it, but she was sympathetic & so helpful. I told her that if they couldn't have taken her while I'm away, I would have asked them to take & sell Tara to the other people that wanted her ~ better she's alive elsewhere than under threat of death without me to protect my scaredy-cat Wolfhound. So Tara's going home soon. That's brilliant news at the present time.

Good Deed Gone Bad

2008-06-29T18:36:00.000+01:00

Remember the Porno Puppy? The girly I took in in November, well she's just cost me ALL my Lurchers. "Doesn't chase cats or cattle", her owners said, so she chased our cats, killed a friend's cat, killed my first nanny kid & has been caught with cattle. She's black, my boys are black, most of her pups were black..... Farmer has shot gun, farmer wants all dogs dead. Of course the Wolfhound got the blame as well ~ Tara who's terrified of goats & ponies & spends most of her time stretched out on a bed or trying to look after Mindy's pups. Wolfhounds are being stolen, so I keep her inside virtually all the time anyway. Mindy has been a bad influence on her pups as they killed 2 of my broodies to get the eggs & stood round the nanny AND the puc barking furiously at them after watching Mindy lunge for the nanny.

Now I feel guilty as the dogs I gave homes to are now homeless & under a death sentence ~ I feel that I've failed my beautiful boys by taking in their wayward sister. The pups went en masse to a rescue place, but no one will take the adults. At 6 months old the boys came back to me as their new owners were told by their landlord to get rid of the big dogs & it was me or death. Nearly 2 years later their luck has run out & I'm sitting here in tears. Annon wanted it to be the cute Spaniels who could probably have found a home to go, refusing to understand that the farmer wants the big dogs gone. Stockings knows that life is not good & keeps crying; he cuddles me in bed. The perpetrator really couldn't care less & keeps escaping, opening windows to leap out & the bathroom door to get to window we keep open slightly.

Please pray for a miracle new home for these dogs. I had 1 miracle for the pups. I just feel so guilty about the boys. I love them. I need a big dog to feel safe & I dread the return of the nightmares.

s started stalking Annon in Somerset, so we had to leave ~ no barring order would be given against him, regardless of what he'd done ~ & someone referred to by him as his mistress is Annon's Godmother, so people unwittingly gave her our new address. His mother has died & after his behaviour, I think he may try to see how I've benefitted as he hasn't... (I haven't & I never expected to as I'm not family & his first wife was closer to her; also her husband still lives trying to rebuild his life without her.)

KilliKer is currently a very sad place

New Blog

2008-06-21T22:50:00.000+01:00

Having given up on Blogger as I don't think my editing tools will ever return, I've started a new mainly arty-crafty blog on Wordpress. I've made myself a header there, which I couldn't do on the arty blog here & I have links to the blogs I visit regularly as I can't add anything further here. I was so thrilled when I managed to upload 4 whole pictures over my first 2 entries ~ silly things... I'll add more pages there & more photos/pictures as the days go by ~ as I learn what the new site can do. The site mentions web hosting, but I haven't been able to get the contact link to work so that I can ask about moving my site to wordpress hosting. Knitty Steph has been giving me pointers about using wordpress & she'll probably run screaming whenever she sees a comment from me in future. Thank you Steph.

Ferret Differences

2008-06-17T20:36:00.000+01:00

Ferret returned home this evening as the people that borrowed her were getting concerned as she'd stopped eating. I had put lots of dried food in with her which had disappeared, so I think that she was stuffed. Her sister, on the other hand, was eating whatever I put in their cage, demanding more, & showed no worries about her lack of companion! Anyway ferret has returned & they think that it has done the trick. They also got a cat which will help ~ if the cat is a ratter. The brother may have found a cob ferret for me, which is good news for the gills, but not for me. I wonder if my vet can neuter or will neuter ferrets under the Dogs' Trust Scheme. Danger money for ferret handling or tranquilizer darts?

Branching Out?

2008-06-15T23:25:00.000+01:00

I seem to have become "Loan a Ferret". Someone has borrowed 1 of my ferrets to scare rats away. When we moved over here I purchased a Ferret Funfair to move them in, & , as it's an indoor house & mine live outside, we've never used it since, but now, for a while Scout is going to live indoors. When asked what I wanted in return, I asked for the loan of a cob ferret to mate my gills ~ a hard ask for the man to fulfil as we ferret keepers are few & far between in Ireland.

Help in finding a New Blog Host, Please

2008-06-15T18:56:00.000+01:00

This is getting ridiculous ~ the only help for blogger problems comes from fora of users ~there is NO bogger help & support & no means of contacting google blogspot direct. I can't post photos or change my blog layout, I can't link anyone to my blog now or save anything except text posts. I did everything suggested & I've had enough. Does anyone out there know of a, preferably, free blog host that will enable me to post photos & link to other blogs? Live Journal is just as bad for me & friends there have asked that I do not put photos up as they take too long to load. I can't add photos anyway on LJ now. I just wish that I had the ability to get killimengri.net up & running & use that for blogging. The only thing I've been able to do there is killimengri.net/photos, which needs updating & is hosted by singapore via tripod or something like that.

Thoughts from Nikolay Gogol

2008-06-15T12:14:00.000+01:00

"Only in music does man have freedom. Everywhere he is in fetters. He forges for himself even heavier fetters than those imposed on him by society and authority... He is free only when he loses himself in a frenzied dance: here his soul no longer fears his body."

Unpublished fragment

Problems still ~ Good Idea failed

2008-06-04T16:29:00.000+01:00

I had an idea that if I used a picture already published to the web & copied it here I might be able to add piccies once again. It failed. I have NO editing buttons here & no post preview, just an empty text box. I did manage to use this method elsewhere. The pictures are mine own photos.

Please Blogger help me, or let me contact you ~ the forums haven't been of any help as I've done everything suggested & even started a new blog, but that has no editing options either. Google Blogspot hates Killi

Pireni has had a Growth Spurt

2008-04-04T20:38:00.000+01:00

I really wish I could post pictures here. I had an 16 inch "pocket wolfhound", all grey & fluffy & gorgeously roughcoated ~ now I have a nearly 3 foot wolfhound, all grey & fluffy & gorgeously roughcoated & she's STILL GROWING!

Bad Start to the Month

2008-04-02T12:39:00.000+01:00

Dad rang yesterday morning ~ Llyw's head of year at school wanted to discuss his recent behaviour with my father. We wondered what stupidity he'd gone & done now, jeopardising his future exams even further (he may be pulled from his Art GCSE after swearing at the teacher & "conditioning" the hair of a fellow pupil with hot glue). He hates school, refuses to do the coursework for his exams, wishing that he only had the exams to do (the government is going to scrap coursework & go back to exams only in the next few years) like I did. He's a very clever boy, but as time goes on he seems to be unable to relate to others like his sisters do. He won't talk to anyone about his feelings or problems & locks everything up inside himself. He decided against coming to Ireland with us, running away from home until there was no way he could come over. He stayed with the dog breeder with whom he worked until he made himself so obnoxious he had to leave. My wonderful friend Jan took him in & things went OK for a while. Llyw is the kind of boy you really don't want your childer to know much less be friends with. Jan has his daughter living with him now & the 2 of them (the youngsters) make an explosive mix of extreme naughtiness. Llyw is bad for her & she for him in such close proximity.

Dad rang again yesterday evening ~ he'd been pulled off the railway tracks near the school twice in 1 day. My son wants to commit suicide. It may have been fuelled by the rum mix the girl had smuggled to school, but even so. I can't reach him. I've heard nothing from him since Mother's Day, despite texts from me. I've tried to tell him about our puppies as that usually elicits a response from him, but nothing. He doesn't answer his 'phone. It seems no one can get close to this troubled boy. I want to dash to England & bring him back with me, but that won't help ~ it'll stop him doing his exams, take him away from his job in the garage & away from the professionals that are trying to help him.

I fear that he has the alkie tendency in him, I know he smokes, but is he using anything else? He was caught with cannabis last year & nearly died of alcohol poisoning (he said he was just drunk, but others have said otherwise) & would I stop worrying & fussing as he's fine. He is NOT fine. We've been told that, although he's in foster care (to enable Jan to get child benefit for him), he won't be abandonned once he finishes school ~ usually those in foster care are no longer of interest to those authorities that deal with them once they hit 16/finish school. He's 16, thinks he knows it all, thinks he can cope totally in the world, but in many ways he's still the little toddler who spent his first year struggling for life.

If anyone has any ideas for me, for helping him, I'd be so grateful. I'm lost here. The ideal thing would be to ship him out to a remote farm with vehicles so he could work with animals & motorized things, beyond drink, drugs, any bad influences (including TV!) Anyone got a spare deserted island needing staff?

Rawnie Spangle is supposed to be in foal, due 16th April, but she looks too small & she has milk that leaks when I stroke her teats. Her udder isn't full ~ certainly not like Mindy's or Persephone. There is no sign of a birthed foal or that birthing has taken place ~ she's been up with me since the beginning of March in an enclosed area which I've checked thoroughly. I've been looking at pictures of pregnant mare to try to reassure myself that everything's going OK, but I don't feel at all confident, especially after last time.

I want a hug

More Chinese Thoughts

2008-03-29T12:13:00.000Z

Still no ability to add photos. :(

More quotes from "The Philosopher Cat": Kwong Kuen Shan ~

Fish swim freely in the sea but do not notice the water,
Birds fly freely in the sky but are not aware of the space,
Men live freely in the world but tie themselves down with burdens & worries.
When you understand the true meaning of freedom you rise above all these to enjoy nature's way.
Chong Tse

I practise three principles which I hold close to my heart
One is to be kind, Two is to be frugal, Three is to be modest.
Being kind I have courage, Being frugal I can be generous,
Being modest I can lead.
These days people abandon kindness for mere bravado,
Abandon frugality for extravagance,
Abandon modesty for power & control,
All these bring disasters.
Tao Te Ching

A brave warrior is not intimidating,
A great fighter is not easily provoked,
A winner is not vindictive,
A good superior is modest.
This is the virtue of non-competitiveness,
This is making the best of people,
This is matching the way of nature.
Tao te Ching

We borrow the Earth ~ not Chinese, but a Romani view & 1 I always try to bear in mind for everything I do.

Photos

2008-03-23T13:59:00.000Z

Blogspot still won't let me upload photos & it seems this problem has been ongoing since Feb 4th for some people, so I was lucky being able to post the Porno Pup. I have no option for photos or anything other than straight words on the "Create Post" page. How do the rest of you manage to post piccies? Phelan, Duckie & Rhonda Jean post gorgeous ones still & Chile manages to post videos (which won't play for me ~ I'm sure my connection goes backwards now). Photos were the whole point of this blog :(

No sunrise here for Easter, just masses of cold grey clouds bringing high winds & wintry weather ~ I did go out to look for it

Chinese Thought

2008-03-22T13:04:00.000Z

At work give 100 percent.
At play give 100 percent.
Do not dream of play while at work.
Do not think of work while playing.
That way you get the best out of both work and play.

Anon.

From "The Philosopher Cat": Kwong Kuen Shan.

I'm very guilty of NOT following this.

Entry for Paddy's Day is still awaiting Blogspot's allowing me to post pictures.

In short we have 9 black/black & white wigglies & 2 silver ones....

Milking

2008-03-18T19:03:00.000Z

I have been trying to post this since Friday.... & now I can't even add the photos! This entry needs a huge update now...

I have a mummy goat with 2 mad kids, named Breda & Danu, born on Brigid's Day, & will she let me milk her? Will she, heck. I've even caught her tangled on her tether so she could barely move & yet her rear avoided all attempts to get near her very full udder. I need Phelan's Dan to build me a goat catcher & holder, like her cow stanchion...

I had my field fenced, with gates for the old footpath (blocked off in the field next to mine) & into the small copse I had fenced separately to keep the goats off the trees. Does the fence keep Persephone the Perverse & her babies in? Not a chance, so they keep escaping (no tether for her any longer), but they do stay mainly on my land. Pan the mad puc is still tethered.

Anyway, no milk from the goats; Rawnie Spangle is still weeks away from her foaling, so no mare's milk, BUT I was having a good look at the Porno Puppy. She won't let me move her tail, but I did get to stroke her tail udder & I can milk a dog! She has milk all ready for the pups, but no pups. I did this in the hopes that breast stroking would start her off though it never worked for me & I had to be induced earlier & earlier each time... I only did it a couple of times, the second to show Annon as I don't want her to lose the colostrum for at least 1 pup

Porno Puppy!

2008-03-11T16:31:00.005Z

Mindy, the pup I gave to friends who left her behind when they left Ireland, is very heavily pregnant. Her mother had whelped her pups by this stage in her carrying, but Mindy seems intent on keeping hers inside of her! This is her on Saturday, 8th March showing off her boobs (for Phelan).

I have her sleeping at night in a cage under a heat lamp as, I KNOW she wants to whelp IN my bed. The cage is in the unrenovated downstairs room (very cold, hence the lamp) where her mother had her & her brothers & sisters, 4th March 2006, when Annon & I were away over night. My bed had just been removed from that room, so we avoided pups in my bed on that occasion.

Lurchers should be svelte, skinny dogs, but poor Mindy is so round ~ I'm sure she's bigger than her mum. She has 10 nipples & her mum had 9 pups (1 dying at birth), so I'm dreading a dozen balls of wriggles appearing.

The fluffy, grey thing behind Mindy is Pireni ~ my Bedlington Terrier that I want to breed rough coats from, but Piri is showing no inclination to come into season after her first time when she bit the boys on the nose every time they tried anything with her! It's almost as if she's deliberately refusing to be bred from & looking at Mindy, I can quite see why! Thank goodness I only had singletons (after losing bem's twin early on) ~ imagine being that huge!

My First "Pet"

2007-10-13T14:45:00.000+01:00

I was torn between writing about the first livestock we acquired after s went or the first I had all of my very own. Even then it was a toss up between a chick the childer gave me & what I saved up to buy for myself. I think my four-legged beast just about came first as truly MY animal. She is a Pet in that she's a part of the family, but she's also a working beast. My first very own acquired animal was my well-beloved Gypsy Cob Draught Horse ~ the skewbald I had always wanted from the time, as a child, I became aware of a picture of 2 horses, a piebald & a skewbald playing up when trying to pull a cart, that my grandmother had on her living room wall.

When I was contacted out of the blue about buying the horse that originally pulled my Waggon, I could hardly believe it ~ Malc had sold off the Waggon after getting it rebuilt, but had said he was keeping the horse & harnessing when I asked about buying that too. Then came the fun part ~ getting from Somerset to Cheshire to meet the horse before agreeing to anything. I'd been promised help to do this by a friend, but things got very personal & complicated: still the lifts up to Cheshire still went ahead & I met Spangle. I met & held a Tarantula first... Malc had renamed her Spangle, but called her Lady. She had been bred & trained by the Cornish Gypsies & was a very quiet easy horse who knew how to pull. I went for a drive with her & she was gorgeous. I agreed to buy her, but said that I was going to be in Russia until early June, so could she come down late June ~ this would also give me a chance to try & find a field for her.

Brilliant plan & it would have worked BUT Rawnie (Lady) Spangle, Malc & Aston arrived a month & a half early! She spent 10 days on her tether in my tiny back garden, sharing with the chickens & a mound of my stuff evacuated from the garage because s was meant to have removed all his things months before & I didn't want him taking mine out of spite. Instead, he just uncovered all my stuff when we were visiting my parents & left it open to the rain.

Malc had given me a load of grooming equipment for her. Stupidly I left it outside after 1 usage & it disappeared completely, no amount of looking could find it....AFTER I'd ordered new brushes, etc. we found her bucket of grooming stuff ~ SHE'd hidden it UNDER the tarp amongst my stuff! Rawnie Spangle is a very clever horse!

My elder daughter had a cockerel from Hell (more about him later) & Spangle knew I was afraid of this bird, so she always placed herself between us & he spent days & nights sulking in a bush because of her. We took her out for a walk every day to let her get fresh grass & to exercise her. Eventually someone said I could tether her in their acre garden ~ just before I disappeared off to Russia!

I'll post a couple of pictures of her here now & try to find if any of the pictures the day she arrived were saved to an old computer & rescued by the person who built my current one.

In a rented field next to the garden she spent several months in, September 2003, Othery, Somerset

Spangle showing off her Winter moustache, 20th February, 2004, Othery Somerset

I'll try to post these & then add more when I can

Posting Problems

2007-08-01T21:38:00.000+01:00

I wrote a post, had it saved & it was eaten before it got posted. 1 of the posts I did earlier exists now only as comments ~ all the photos & text has disappeared. I can rarely get comments on other blogs posted & those that are can take up to a day to post ~ I am reading, Phelan & Rhonda Jean (& now Duck Herder), but can't comment.

Middle Bedroom Upstairs

2007-07-14T10:04:00.001+01:00

Bedroom 3 12’ x 16’6” work needed

The middle upstairs room is finished. It will be my elder daughter & son-in-law's room/guest room (Bem told me they are getting married next July 12th!. The reason for her marrying "young" is that she gets a break at uni next Summer, but after that there's no break until she's a fully qualified doctor. I was married on the 14th ~ would have been 21 years this day if it had lasted ~ & my parents on the 19th.)

Here you can see the hot water tank, chimney breast & on the left a cannabis growing chamber belonging to "Dodgy Dave" a previous inhabitant! In this bit there are real floor boards.

This is the same area, but it's smaller now as the stairs were changed & took out part of the floor space. I had a window put in here for light & air. This wall is West facing & looks out onto the borreen that goes up behind the house. You can almost see the trees on the rise up above the borreen. The water tanks are behind a panel on the right.

This is the space behind where the landing juts into the room. This room has walls, made from wood & lots of insulation, as it shares a staircase with what will be Annon's room.

This is the doorway into the non-existent 4th bedroom. You can see the rafters & the wood holding up the ceiling in my room. The wood on the chimney breast shows where the living room/kitchen ceiling used to be in the before days, probably when the roof was thatched. The floor here is chipboard/ply & bent almost to breaking point when walked across!

The same view, complete with a new door. which is also the wall between mine & this room. This door enables access to my room at present & allows furniture to be brought upstairs through the stairless hole in my room & will allow furniture to be moved around upstairs when needed.

The chimney breast has been sheeted with tongue-and-groove lengths of red deal (I think), like the ceiling

The chimney breast with shelf. There was a step on the chimney breast here & it slopes as it goes up to the chimney ~ the base was almost the width of the house in it's original form!

The front wall, complete with stuff left by Mike & John! The "statue plinth" on the floor houses so many electric cables that are fed into the fuse board underneath. The wooden floor had to be stained as the floor was laid & then not varnished at the time. Puppies & chicklets, besides us, visitors & workmen all led to bad staining of the boards

One of the mirrors I "rescued" from a now-demolished pub. There are flowers etched at the top & a 3-mast ship in full sail at the bottom. It will act as an almost full-length mirror. My son-in-law to be in much taller than the rest of us & I had to take his height into consideration (that & the door design!) when placing the mirror

Mirror reflecting the wall at the front of the house.

Views from my Wellspring

2007-06-29T11:53:00.000+01:00

"En Garde!"

2007-06-28T17:41:00.000+01:00

Saw a very funny battle of power/pecking order playing out on the rise. I was in Annon's room & caught Woodstock, my Cochin cockerel, being totally intimadated by the kid! Demeter was browsing happily on the Fuchsia, while her baby bounced at this huge fluffy chicken. He did try to stand up for himself, going into fighting cockerel stance, but Semi just put her head down too & bounced him.

A not good picture of the 2 antagonists, whilst mummy browses all unconcerned

More Kittens ~ no apologies for so many pictures

2007-06-25T17:25:00.002+01:00

Tried to post this all day Monday, 25/6/07 & Tuesday 26/6/07!

Annon went to feed the cat this morning & came back with a black & white kitten instead of the white one! Stardust has 3 kittens in Cream's basket now! Where had the other 2 been for the past 2 days? & they're so soft & sweetly-cute:

Annon & Starlight

Starlight peeking out from under her mummy's
whiskers

"Peep Bo!"
Starlight & Stardust

"Me go 'sploredy ~ Mumma's not looking..."

Starlight & Moonlight climbing over Starshine

Starlight & Starshine posing for the camera with Moonlight searching out something in the corner of the basket

"Me do go 'sploredy again............."
Starlight contemplating escape, while Moonlight looks the other way & pretends not to notice

Starlight using Starshine as a cushion & Moonlight ignoring the camera

Starlight using her sister as a climbing frame & Moonlight still ignoring the 2 of them.

Starlight & Stardust

Phelan Chick, Kitten & Tug of War Dogs

2007-06-24T10:51:00.000+01:00

This the Phelan Chick, I have none idea of her parentage, but 1 or other has to be a Silky. She isn't a Silky as she hasn't the feathered legs that they have, but has the 5 toes of Silky chickens. She is also a stange colouration, much more like Sundae my Wesummer X Cochin cockerel than any of the Silkies (black & white) or the other Banties which are predominently black!

She is currently in a box in the sitting room with 5 other chicklets, awaiting space in a house/run outside (& warm dry weather for the move out there). These pictures were taken in my kitchen.

Her legs are dark smoky grey, with grey claws.

Annon is holding her feet here to show the extra toes ~ there are 2 behind the 3 in front. Most chickens have 3 front toes & a rear one, though we did have a hen with only 2 front toes on each foot.

"What's around here then?"

First sighting & handling of Starshine, kitten to Stardust & Cream. She must be at least 2 weeks old, maybe more, but because mummycat kept her hidden we'll never know for sure.

"Hmm, what's down there? Hey! You forgot to paint that bit!"

The following set of pictures were our 2 Spaniels with a bone whilst that was I trying to do the first Bathroom Post. They often trot round the yard with a feather or something held in their jaws, having to trot together as neither will let go their end. Bridie (my 1) is on the left in each photo & Annon's Spaniel, Twilight, is on the right. I can't remember who fetched the rawhide bone in the first instance!

"That's MY bone, you let go!"

"I did go getted this bone, it's MY bone"

"My bone"
"My bone"
"Go getted your own bone"
"I did go getted my own bone, go getted yours!"

"OK you do get bone. (Killi & Annon have people food!)"
"Me do go winded, me winded, me winded!"

Bathroom Part the Second

2007-06-21T12:58:00.000+01:00

This the bathroom as it is now. It's only a small room, 6' by nearly 7' & low ceilinged, but is much brighter now. It is in a small extension to the house: basically a small entrance hall/enclosed porch, leading straight into this room. With this being a working tinyholding, having the bathroom so close to the front door is a boon ~ I can come straight in & wash my hands before entering the house proper, thus keeping the kitchen sink for food related things. The tiles were end of range at B & Q & the bathroom suite was acquired from the owner of a pub that has since been demolished. I had the door on a push open basis because, if my hands are filthy, I need not touch the handle, but just push it open with my bum/knee/elbow. There is a lock on the inside!

I liked the light, no other excuse for it!

I had to get new windows throughout the house, this is the bathroom one. I wanted sash windows, but the window company doesn't make them ~ I did get wooden frames, though.

Bath & tiles. I chose & bought the tiles before ever seeing the bathroom suite................

The new floor ~ tiled this time, not lino. Practical as I can easily be going in & out of here with muddy boots/clogs on. You can see the large woven trunk I found in IKEA that serves as a laundry basket/place to put towels when in the bath/book/magazine rest for loo visits.... There is usually a poultry/smallholding mag on it.

Yes, that is a pestle & mortar in the corner of the sink unit! This one is for herbs/plants only & is very heavy, being metal. The towel/dressing gown rail is also a radiator for heat.

So this is my bathroom ~ the smallest one I've ever had, but everything fits in & it's cosy. The panelling from the old bathroom was burnt to keep us warm during our first Winter.

Bathroom

2007-06-20T21:36:00.000+01:00

Really, I ought to post pictures of mine & Annon's Spaniels & a rawhide bone, but I haven't downloaded them yet, so here are some before pictures of KilliKer:

This was the bathroom when I moved in ~ all damp, dark & small seeming. There was no water here as the pipes had been cut & the stop-cock had to remain shut off if we didn't want the bathroom flooded.

This was the floor.

I was all set to post pictures of the bathroom now, but suddenly found that I haven't taken any of use! I'll do it tomorrow.

Instead, here is 1 of Arawn:

"I'm sure I lefted it in here somewhere"

Arawn in the tub bucket that the chicklets & ducklings were in for a while. Ari is a Lurcher: His mum was a Whippet x Staffordshire Bull Terrier (Black & White), his dad was a Black-Brindle Greyhound x Staffy x ? & the most perfect dog imaginable. We still miss this big, gentle, patient Gypsy-trained dog who was stolen from us.

Arawn is the Welsh god of the Underworld: the Master of the Midnight Hunt & Keeper of the Fiery-Eyed Hell-Hounds

Free the Loughisle Two?

2007-06-17T06:46:00.000+01:00

"Please do go let us out......................we'm promise to go be good little ferts"

Scout & Little Nip in no particular order.

These are my son's polecat gill ferrets that live with us & not him! When they play, they are liquid fur rolling, weaving & tumbling in their cage.

Once the broody hen stops sitting & we can get all the poultry out of their cowshed, they will have to set to work. I'll put the bitches in the shed & maybe harness up the ferrets & send them ratting. My Bedlington is meant to be of good ratting stock & the Spaniels catch mice. I think the boys will be too big to work in the shed. Their mother was desparate to go ratting in Scotty's bus, but being whippet-sized was she too big. The ferrets may be put in their harnesses so I can attach long leads to them, so we don't lose them. Annon is good with them, but they think I'm food. Guess who usually feeds & cleans them out.....

Kids' Treehouse

2007-06-16T13:02:00.000+01:00

I took these at 5.45 this morning: girlies under a tree stump in a dry little nest.

The treestump itself.

We have Kids

2007-06-14T15:48:00.001+01:00

Demeter has finally kidded ~ we have 2 little goatlings with her. I haven't looked closely enough to see if they're nannies or pucs for sure, but I think we have at least 1 nanny. She hadn't long kidded, so we've left her alone after I made sure that each kid had at least something to drink. She couldn't wait for snow and frost as that time has gone here, so she waited until it was raining heavily. Because of the trees, they have a dry shelter in their field. They all seem to like the old cattle crush as a place of safety.

Iwant to give Demi some feed, but my delivery of 42 sacks is sitting in my yard awaiting help to shift them. Some of the sacks are plastic, but many are paper. The covering the Mills put over the sacks is NOT waterproof, so I've put plastic sheeting over that. I need the Lads up here 7 hours ago. Well, 28 hours ago really, but they were in town then

Teen Mum?

2007-06-12T17:38:00.000+01:00

Mummy duckling and "her" babies: 2 hatched a week before this photo (8th June 2007) & the other 2 hatched that morning. Their box was clean when I put them in it! Big duckling keeps escaping her box and has just persuaded 1 of the bigger babies to join her in exploring the sitting room.

House

2007-06-11T09:20:00.000+01:00

House from the auctioneer/estate agent's blurb:

KilliKer as I named it.

This blog will mainly be pictures of the house during its renovations and the animals with whom I share it & the land. Half the house has already been renovated, so many of the pictures will be older ones. Those of the animals will be a mixture of both older and recent.