Sunny Weekend & Funny Tortoises

It looks like the sun has returned for July and let's hope we get a lot of nice sunny days now. I've marginally got my hay fever under better control now thanks to steroids, which I'm not thrilled about being on but the GP and I have exhausted every other option so this is a last resort to try and get it under control. It's the worst it's ever been for the last two years :-( Does anyone else suffer with it really badly? I take tablets, eye drops and nasal spray daily, go to bed with a flannel over my face most nights - Jack's even bought a special pollen mesh to fit on the windows! I've suffered for over twenty years and it shows no signs of being outgrown in my immune system. I've tried local honey, all sorts! Failing that I'll need a gas mask and boiler suit!

I have been able to get outside and enjoy the garden in brief spells anyway and both the front and back garden are looking colourful at the moment. The Borage is flowering and the bees seem to spend their time going backwards and forwards between them and the Lavender. We've had some nice walks out with Barry too exploring a few new routes. I found a pretty meadow nearby with a track running all the way around the edge where the public footpath runs through. Barry likes disappearing off in the long grass in search of rabbits. He then comes home totally worn out and hops straight into his favourite chair in the conservatory and has a snooze!

My brother and his girlfriend have gone on holiday for two weeks so we're looking after Jenna's Horsfield Tortoise named Terry. Terry is a Russian tortoise so quite different in his markings to my two Hermanns tortoises (Mediterranean Tortoises), but nonetheless he's just as cute. He's a real character anyway and anyone who thinks tortoises are slow boring pets are very much mistaken! It's not advised to mix different species of tortoises together due to different parasites they may be carrying or if they were to accidently mate, but I thought a quick meet and greet between the 'cousins' as we call them wouldn't hurt as ours are all healthy animals. I also thought it would make for a funny photo of all the cousins together so I sat all three tortoises on the lawn and made Barry lie down next to them. Terry's usually a very shy tortoise and hides away a lot, not like my two that love a tickle under their chin. I quickly took the photo and seconds later Terry tried to bite Barry, making Barry yelp and run away. Terry then proceeded to chase Barry around the lawn (yes, you read that right, a tortoise chasing a dog) before then switching to chasing Squirt (my biggest tortoise) and biting her back leg and refusing to let go. I managed to peel him off and banished him back to the old wire run we used for my two before we built their permanent run, what a little hooligan! Barry (aka Wimp Dog) can add tortoises to his list of everything he's scared of and Squirt and Lola aren't interested in meeting Terry again! I then went inside for all of five minutes, came back out to find Terry missing from his run - he'd managed to pull the chicken wire away from the frame and luckily I found him hiding under the nearby Rosemary plant. I put him back in a safer run and told him to behave and then relayed the story to Jack. Jack's witty response to me was "it's because he's an only child" which had me in stitches and made Jenna and my parents laugh when I called them later that day! What an eventful ten minutes that turned out to be! That's the first and definitely the last time that they all meet each other!

Barry keeping a very wary eye on the tortoises, seconds before Terry tried to taste him!

We had Jack's parents and Grandparents visit yesterday which was lovely. Barry took a shine to Barbara and insisted that she play tug of war with him and his chicken leg toy! We had a nice roast in the pub in the afternoon before they all headed home again. Barbara had very kindly put together a lovely food basket for Jack and I, full of tasty goodies! I love the basket too, very handy for yarn and other crafty bits (Jack's already moaning about the fact that there's craft baskets everywhere in our house!).

Barry and Barbara

Lovely food basket from Jack's Grandparents, Barbara and Brian

We've got a quiet week this week other than work, which will be busy for me as I'm on Jury Service next week. I have to say I'm really looking forward to it and think it will be quite interesting. I've been warned that it's a lot of sitting and waiting but that sounds perfect to me - I might finally be able to catch up on some reading as the books 'to read' pile is growing. I hope I can take some crochet too if it's allowed.

Can't resist sharing this photo of Jack and Barry snoozing on Friday evening, I must have worn them both out on our dog walk earlier that afternoon!

Have a good week everyone!


Em x

Blackbirds Nest Update 30/06/2016

I can confirm that all four chicks hatched safely and are growing well, I can't believe just how quickly they grow!


Mr and Mrs Blackbird are very busy parents, constantly bringing food for their hungry brood throughout the day and until the sun disappears each night.


More updates soon!

Em x

More Gardening

We spent Saturday morning working on the back garden which had been somewhat neglected while we'd been busy transforming the front garden. Everything had got a little unruly thanks to the regular supply of rain and sunshine.

The bees are loving all the different Lavenders in my garden

Jack has fitted guttering onto his shed so I now have a water butt slowly filling with rain water.

I weeded all of the flower beds, gave the herbs a bit of a tidy and admired 'Grandad's Rhubarb' which is growing really well since we planted it late last year.

Jack mowed the lawn, I edged it, Barry christened it (you know what I mean..)

I gave the Tortoise's run a tidy up; Squirt and Lola love the little cave I created for them with some slate and bricks. The Fuchsia in their run is full of flower buds too.

I weeded the whole patio - back breaking but looks so much better again

We packed up all the gardening tools just as the sky got incredibly dark and a big thunderstorm arrived, hence the 'moody' looking photos below!

Have a good week everyone!

Em x

Blackbird's Nest Update 27/06/2016

I'm very excited to announce we have babies! Ugly but cute little Blackbird chicks! The photo isn't brilliant but Mum was sat at the back of the nest and I didn't want to disturb her and her babies for long. She doesn't seem to mind and is very bold but I still don't want to interfere with nature, I'm just so pleased to have wildlife making its home in our garden!

I didn't want to disturb the nest too much as Mr and Mrs Blackbird have been constantly flying back and forth alternating in bringing tasty worms for the chicks. When I peeked in when both Mum and Dad weren't on the nest it's hard to tell whether all four have successfully hatched or not, I can definitely see three and think there might be a fourth but perhaps as they get a bit bigger I'll be able to tell.


The parents are quite bold when we're in the garden and only feet away from the nest they perch on our conservatory roof with a mouthful of worms and debate on whether it's safe to fly into the nest, then moments later they do so I think they're quite trusting of us. I think they're even appreciating the tortoise's water bath in their run which is below the nest and I've seen Mrs Blackbird having a drink and a bath in there first thing in the morning before she returns to the nest.


Hopefully I can keep updating you as the chicks grow; they grow very quickly and fledge quite early; I believe they hatched on Friday and it's remarkable how much they've grown and changed already!


More updates soon!


Em x

Blackbird's Nest Update 18/06/2016

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend and I hope none of you have been too affected my the torrential downpours last week. Lucky for us there wasn't too much and to be honest I really love thunderstorms anyway and they helped freshen the air for Hay Fever.

I posted a few photos last week about Mrs Blackbird who was busy building a nest in the Clematis in our garden. She finished her beautiful nest and I didn't think to look again until one day in the week when I was putting the tortoises into their outdoor run which is right nearby. As I stood back up I came eye to eye with Mrs Blackbird sat on her nest! She stayed totally still and I carefully moved away so as not to disturb her. She doesn't seem to mind too much anyway as I've come quite close to the nest a few times as I put the torts out and bring them in again.

The other morning when I went out I noticed she wasn't on the nest and when I peered a little closer I saw that there are four vivid blue Blackbird eggs sitting in the nest! I was worried that she'd left them but within about half hour she was back on the nest and I've noticed she's off the nest each morning for a little while. I assume it's to stretch her wings and find some food for herself.

I estimate that the eggs were laid about five days ago and I've researched that the incubation period is 13-14 days according to the RSPB website so they should hatch around next weekend some time. Fingers crossed they hatch and survive. Thankfully I've done everything in my power to deter cats from our back garden and it's very rare we get a cat in there as they're one of the biggest risks to vulnerable chicks, so hopefully the chicks will have a good chance at fledging successfully. There's plenty of worms and insects in our garden for Mrs Blackbird to feed them anyway, so here's hoping they all hatch successfully.

I managed to carefully get a photo of the eggs in the nest the other day and wanted to share it with you. More updates to come soon; as you can probably tell I'm quite excited about having wildlife in our garden, that was my main aim :-)

Em x

Front Garden Transformation

We've been living in our house for almost 18 months now and I can't believe how quickly that time has flown. I feel like we've achieved quite a lot in terms of decorating and putting our own stamp on the place but one job we've been meaning to do for a while is neaten the front garden area. It only consists of a small garden sat next to the driveway but it was very overgrown and mostly full of weeds (which the tortoises really enjoyed!).

So I just thought I'd share a few photos to show the transformation; we weeded the bed, some of the wildflowers I've dug up and re-planted in my wildflower bed in our back garden. Once the bed was weeded I created a flower bed under the Buddelia and we levelled out the remainder of the ground and prepped it for turf.


After a trip to the garden centre to purchase turf and some plants for the newly created flower bed we went home, laid the turf, planted the new flower bed up and laid slabs for the wheelie bins to sit on. Ugly though they are we don't have anywhere to hide them away, but at least they're now sat on slabs so they're easy to move. There was a flower bed in front of the kitchen window too. It was full of a type of Valerian (I think that's what it is...?) and although it is pretty it was very invasive and growing through the gravel, not to mention soaking us each morning when we had to brush past it to get to the car. Therefore I pulled it all up and again have replanted a smaller amount in the back garden where I can better manage it. This newly emptied bed under the kitchen window was then planted with Osteospermum I bought from the garden centre and with Gaillardia that I have grown from seed. I love Gaillardia and they're great for spreading across a bed and are covered in bright orange and yellow flowers each year.


We both worked very hard anyway and we're really pleased with the finished look; a pretty front garden that's nice and easy to maintain (because all the hard work is in the back garden!). Just a small lawn to mow, Privet to trim and a few flower beds to keep happy. The only jobs we have left out the front to do is pull the remainder of the dead ivy off of the house and re-paint the brickwork. We also desperately need a new front door before the next winter approaches (this one sticks terribly in the cold weather). We'll get there eventually :-)


Before...

After...

And because of the pesky cats I've had to protect my new flower beds

The downside of all this gardening? My hay fever is extremely bad at the moment, but I'm determined not to let it get the better of me!


Em x

A Walk Around Our Garden

The Alliums are out; this is the first time I've grown these and I love them! It's great to see the bees appreciating them too

 

I love my little bug house that Jack's parents bought me. Some insects have already made it their home and it's well hidden amongst the blackcurrant bush - there's going to be lots of blackcurrants this summer!

 

 

 

I love the flowers on Chives :-)

 

Mrs Blackbird has been busy flying in and out of our Clematis; she's making a fantastic nest...

 

...While Mr Blackbird/potential suitor has been keeping a close watch from the top of our conservatory.

 

Em x

Hen Do & Weekend With Jack's Parents

Morning All! I hope everyone is well and that you had a nice weekend.


Just a quick update on Barry for those wondering how the poorly patient is, he's doing much better. He has been home from the Vets for a week now and for the most part has been fine. There has been the odd bout of vomiting but nothing to be concerned about and he's getting his appetite back which is a big relief (he's so skinny!). He seems quiet still but I'm hoping that by the end of this week he'll be back to his normal bouncy self. Fingers crossed we don't have another flare up for a while.. He's starting to play with his toys again which is a very positive sign, we just want him back to normal!

On the rare occasions Barry wanders off and lets me out of his sight, he can be found sunbathing!

Making friends with Harvey the gorgeous Sausage Dog on Sunday! First time that Barry has met a dog smaller than him!

We headed back to Cambridgeshire for the weekend to spend some time with Jack's parents and for my best friend's Hen Do which was great fun, I think Jess really enjoyed herself. We had a lovely meal out in Browns in Cambridge followed by some drinks in a bar. I had a really nice time and it was great to see Jess having fun before her big day in two weeks' time! I had organised goodie bags for everyone attending the hen do and I had great fun buying bits and putting them all together. The other girls generously contributed and the glow stick bracelets and personalised badges proved the biggest hits. I sorted balloons too and Jess' lovely mother in law to be, Rene, made some beautiful flower arrangements for the table too - lots of the things Jess loves to make it special for her. The wedding is fast approaching and I know she's beginning to get quite nervous and stressed, it's also hard without her Mum here who suddenly passed away just before Christmas. So my intent is to make sure my bestie is well looked after and relaxed!

Hen Do Goodie Bags

Some of the bag's contents

Beautiful flower arrangement!

Jess and I

It was lovely spending some time with Jack's parents too. They own a windmill that sits on their property and it was National Mills Weekend so it was open to the public. It was great to see lots of people coming to visit the mill to find out about its history and have a nose inside. If anyone finds it of interest, here's a couple of website links:


Cattell's Mill Website: http://www.windmillweb.net/


National Mills Weekend: http://www.nationalmillsweekend.co.uk/pages_wind/willingham.htm




We've got a quieter week ahead of us which I'm relieved about as both Jack and I are tired after lots of travelling just recently. My brother is staying tonight as he's visiting a client near Reading tomorrow so that will be nice. They completed on their house purchase last Thursday so I'm looking forward to hearing all about their new home, with a possible visit planned for this coming weekend.


Other than that we will be making the most of pottering around in the garden and getting on with some DIY jobs in the house. I'm also dragging Jack out shopping on Saturday as he needs a suit for the wedding, so I think we'll head to Reading where there are plenty of shops.


Finally, just a few photos from my walk around Willingham while at Jack's Parents, everywhere looks so pretty even though everywhere stinks of pollen!!

Apple blossom

Lilac I believe? Please do correct me if I'm wrong!

Forget Me Nots back in our garden at home

Have a good week everyone!


Em x

Poorly Pup (Again)

Barry has been a very poorly boy again and it's been such a worry. It was only mid-March when he last spent three days at the vets due to sickness and tummy upset and it's now early May and we're back again with a similar thing :-( Sorry if this post is a little graphic to read!

Visiting Barry at the Vets yesterday in an attempt to persuade him to eat

It started on Thursday afternoon with almost constant sickness and for the first time ever Barry refused to eat any food. This is very out of the ordinary for him, especially when he was only being offered plain boiled chicken (because of the sickness) and usually he eats this with glee. He didn't eat anything at all that night and started to look very sorry for himself by the next morning after a night of sickness too. He still wouldn't eat the next morning and when diarrhoea started which was mainly just blood I got very concerned and took him straight to the vets (it was very startling and scary to see). The vet couldn't feel any obstructions and so it was put down to severe gastroenteritis like last time, only this time called Haemorrhagic Gastroenteritis because of the blood. The vet said that fresh blood in stools isn't too worrying compared with 'coffee granules' dark blood which pinpoints problems much higher up in the digestive system but it was advised he stayed in to get him straight onto fluids and medicine to try and get him feeling better. Off he went out the back with the vet and they rang later to say that he was bright, but still some sickness and diarrhoea and therefore they wanted to keep him in overnight to keep him on the drip. I rang a few times the next day and it was the same story, though the sickness had finally stopped. On Sunday morning the vet rang and said he was much brighter but still not eating and therefore they asked us to come in and try and persuade Barry to eat.


Barry was very happy to see us and we managed to persuade him to eat a tiny amount of chicken which at least was something. Saying goodbye to him again was horrible and he howled and cried. They managed to get him to eat a small amount more yesterday afternoon and the vet rang this morning to say that it had successfully stayed down which is good. He isn't interested in eating again this morning but the vet said she's happy for Barry to come home in the hope that he'll start eating at home. So I'm off shortly to go and pick him up and I can't wait to have him home, we've really missed him this weekend.


As to the cause of his tummy troubles, it's very hard to pinpoint it as frustrating as that is. The vet says he obviously has a very sensitive digestive system and she herself has terriers and that they are more susceptible to sensitivities and are also extremely fussy (which I can vouch for with Barry!). Barry is already on a very good food (Arden Grange) and has been on that for 4 months now having changed it from James Wellbeloved a while ago to try and help his sensitivities to an even better hypo-allergenic food. The vets advised we stay on Arden Grange for now to see how he gets on and then we'll have to consider what to try next if not. Deary me, they're such a worry! I'm just glad he's ok and hope he'll be much better soon and not have anymore flare ups for a while, it's horrible seeing him so poorly.


In other news (no sickness or other messy stuff!), my parents arrived yesterday to spend a few days with us. Dad has got stuck straight into the tiling here at our house, with Jack's help. Jack and I madly spent Friday evening clearing the conservatory and ripping up the old laminate wood flooring as well as moving items off of the kitchen worktops ready for Dad to tile the conservatory floor and the kitchen walls. My parents are staying with us until tomorrow so hopefully the tiling will get finished, there may just be some grouting for Jack and I to do. I certainly can't wait to see the finished look in both rooms. I cooked a barbeque yesterday with Jack's help and it was very tasty. I made a tasty salad too and we of course had to have corn on the cob on the BBQ as that's my favourite.

Quickly took a photo last night; Dad & Jack have made a good start on our new kitchen tiles!

It was lovely spending the day in the garden with Mum while the boys were busy tiling. The tortoises have spent all weekend in their run and are very happy in their outdoor home. We just missed having Barry running around too.

We had to share our strawberries with the tortoises yesterday! They're very dusty in this photo as they've been busy digging into the little 'cave' I made them in their run

I hope you all had a lovely weekend and enjoyed the hot sunny weather; I can't wait to get my boy home, spend the afternoon with him snuggled up on my lap while I read your blog posts!


Have a great week all!


Em x

Lovely Bank Holiday Weekend With Family

Morning all, I hope you've enjoyed a lovely bank holiday weekend where I think the weather was pretty good considering it was a bank holiday and they can be a total wash-out.

Beautiful sunshine on Overstrand Beach, Norfolk

We loaded up the car on Friday afternoon and set off to North Norfolk to spend the weekend with my parents, brother and his partner. Usually the car journey from home to Overstrand is around four hours, but it took us well over five hours due to the volume of bank holiday traffic on the roads. I think Jack (who was driving) was rather frustrated with the constant crawling towards the end, but we did eventually reach Cromer where we picked up fish and chips for everyone from Mary Jane's (best fish and chip shop ever!) and took it back to Mum and Dad's where we ate it alongside champagne (we're not posh people, I think Mum and Dad were just very pleased to have their 'babies' home so it called for a celebration!). My brother Simon and his partner Jenna had arrived prior to us so it was lovely to catch up with them too and hear all their good news about the house they're in the process of buying. They are first time buyers so all the stress and excitement is new to them, but so far the buying process seems to be going smoothly.


We spent Friday evening having a good catch up and then we helped my parents with various jobs on Saturday to help them get ready for the garden party they had planned for Sunday. The weather on Saturday and Sunday was amazing and we can't believe how lucky we were! We all had pink faces by the end of Saturday where we'd caught the sun and it was so nice to feel warmth instead of an icy breeze. My parent's garden is so pretty at the moment; full of bluebells, tulips, blossoms, Camellias and Rhododendrons too. Jenna and I took Barry for a walk on the beach in the afternoon and it was beautiful down there and great to see lots of people enjoying the beach and sunshine. We spent Saturday evening having competitions with the Shuffleboard. I'm not sure if any of you will have heard of it, but we're all rather addicted to it now and it's great fun to play! It's a wooden table game where you push wooden discs down it and the aim is to get them through the different holes at the end of the board. I'm not too good at it but then I'm not very good at many games (I'm a sore loser!)

Sunbathing Barry - his fur is growing back slowly but surely

Shuffleboard in the sunshine

Beautiful colours in Mum and Dad's garden

The weather on Sunday was even better than Saturday and it made the party extra special for my parents. They had invited a big group of friends to come for a bbq for the afternoon and I think they all had a great time. I helped Mum with the food and we put on quite a spread. Mum's lovely friends Annie and Jenny made amazing desserts too which went down very well along with Dad's home brewed beer. Their close friend Hugh even played a few songs on his guitar including one he used to sing to me when I was very little called "The baby went down the plug'ole", look it up, very funny (lyrics here, but there are different versions and no-one is sure of who wrote it originally)! I'm glad that Mum and Dad had such a nice time with their friends and that the weather was kind to us all too. Barry was such a good boy around all the people at the party and he was very popular.

It clouded over and got a bit chilly as 6pm approached

Jack and I got up nice and early on Monday morning to take Barry for a final walk along the beach. It was low tide so you can get around the ends of the groynes rather than having to climb over them nearer the back of the beach. A fairly deep pool is always left at the end of the groyne though and Barry completely mis-judged this and ended up disappearing right under the water much to his surprise! Luckily he loves water and is a good swimmer and shook himself off before setting off again down the beach at 100mph! We then said our goodbyes to my parents, Simon and Jenna and endured another 5+ hour journey home (this time I gave Jack a rest and I drove). We eventually made it home all very weary. Sadly Jack had to go into work for a few hours so I just snoozed on the sofa in between putting on a few washes. We have a very tired pooch after all the playing, beach exploring and attention this weekend and Barry looked mighty pleased last night when we said good night and went to bed, I think Barry was asleep before we even reached the top of the stairs!

We've got a busy week ahead of us in terms of jobs to do around the house; I emptied the loft of nearly all of its contents the other weekend in order to sort through everything, throw things, bag things up for charity shops and sell other things on EBay. I've kept it all in the guest bedroom and slowly been sorting through it but now my parents are coming to stay with us this weekend I had better get a move on and finish sorting it. We've laid more loft boards in the loft so you can now walk around more easily up there and as I'm slightly obsessed with being organised, I don't want anything to just be thrown back up there and instead want to know what is in each box. My parents are coming to stay this weekend for a few days as my Dad is kindly tiling our kitchen splash back area and also tiling the conservatory floor. So he'll have plenty to do but have Jack's help too. The weather looks good this week so I'll be able to move my plants out of the conservatory too, more space again!


Finally, just a photo of my two very happy tortoises on waking up this morning to find a whole windowsill box full of home grown lettuce for them to devour! I've tried to leave it growing as long as possible and had better get some more planted ready - I'd quite like to enjoy some too, but it is a lovely treat for Squirt and Lola!

Have a good week everyone!


Em x