Oh what a week!

The past week has been extremely stressful. 2 dogs were coming into our yard, on a daily basis, and trying to get my chickens. Numerous reports to animal control achieved no success (and let's face it, they are only one person trying to answer all reports) and finally, on Saturday, hubby goes out to feed and water our 4 young hens, and these dogs have scratched and torn up my new chicken hut. 

I was out of options, and - since we live in the country - the main one left to us was to shoot them. I hated to have to do that, as these are 2 healthy looking dogs who - other than being allowed to roam - are probably someone's much-loved pets.

Thus our planned Saturday activities changed in an instant, and we made our way around Lowe's and Tractor Supply, looking for a perfect pen to go around our chicken hut, so as to make it safer for my babies, and less likely that these dogs can get into it. I was extremely upset about the damage so my first call was to the Sheriff's Department, and I filed a report. 

This was what had greeted us when we got outside.  They had even pulled the tray out and I guess used it to clamber onto the roof as it was slightly bent and wouldn't slide back in as easily.  My hubby chased them off, and I made sure to take pics before we put everything as it should be, and then fed and watered out babies.

We found a dog run at Tractor Supply that looked sturdy, and blew over $600 (thanks to our credit card) to buy it and 2 extension panels (so that we could make it a 10' x 10') and a tarpaulin to go over the top for now, as a temp cover while we figure out a sturdier solution.

The chickens love it. We still shut them up in the original hut overnight but they love the extra space in the day.

So that was our hectic Saturday, where we got NOTHING done that we'd planned on, but had spent all day trying to fix a problem that we shouldn't even have had.

So, yesterday, Sunday, we started off lazily, watching "Songs of Praise" on the telly and kind of vegging out before we even started our day. We were physically and mentally exhausted from the day before.

Hubby got motivated before I did, and went outside and mowed the yard, and then moved some of my plants onto the paved area he's been doing for me.

We still have to repaint the front but it's coming together nicely.  I found some nice edging fencing for around the paving yesterday, which we'll get some of in a week or two.

I'm feeling pretty chuffed as my lychee plants are coming up and looking healthy. 

The bigger one is about 3 weeks older than the smaller. I've planted 2 at a time, and both times, only 1 managed to grow out of each pair.  I have more pits to plant, but I want to get some nice pots for these and pop them on the porch as part of my planned greenery.

My cucumbers and cantaloupes are doing good, they are flourishing and sprawling all over. We have small cantaloupes starting and have already had 2 cucumbers off one plant and there are still more out there.

I've decided to alternate rosemary and lavender in one of my long raised beds, they complement each other well and the fragrance will be fresh and clean.  The 3 gardenia cuttings that rooted, of the 5 I had taken, are doing well in pots and I am looking at transplanting them into larger pots and having on the porch, as well. The parent bushes, up by our gate, that have spread over the years, came with us from our apartment when we moved here in 2004.  We'd had them in 2 tubs on the patio, there.

Indoors, I took 3 cuttings off my trailing pothos plant, and have them in water with Miracle Gro, and rooting powder, to get them started. I'm hoping to get one that will sprawl like the ones I had in Germany, and Florida, where they trailed all around my living room, over shelves, and looked lovely.

Last weekend's project, of clearing off the front porch and setting it up to be a cozy retreat, went well. It looks a bit bare right now, but I am working on the greenery ... it will be quite lush with plants once completed. My very own tropical paradise.

I am pleased with how everything is going and am looking forward to an upcoming productive week, and hopefully nowhere near as much stress as this last one has been.

#containergardening #lovemychickens #busyweekend #frontporch #paving #yardwork #tropicalparadise

We are officially tuckered out!

Another brilliant day.  

Hubby got the patio furniture out of the cabin and I cleaned them up, polished the rattan, and the front porch is definitely looking sorta cozy. We still have a lot to do, but it will take time and money, so improvements will be as we can afford it. 

I am now trying to figure out what plants I want to put in there.  I am thinking some dwarf banana trees in pots on the grey stand that we found by the side of the road. They'd be some great foliage at that end of the porch. I also want some scented plants, so am thinking maybe lavender, rosemary and gardenia in pots. Methinks that would be a gorgeous fragrance just hanging in the air.

Hubby took trash to Conestee, while I prepped tubs of cherries and grapes for his lunch box, and an iced brownie for each day. I try to balance his lunches and snacks for throughout each day.

It really has been a busy 3 day weekend. We have busted butt with everything. My mate Kwacha helped us yesterday, and had fun riding hubby's mower. Hubby took 2 truck loads of trash and we did some serious decluttering. To me, that's a productive effort!

A Brilliant and Productive Day

 Today has been an amazingly productive one, we got so much done and tomorrow I'm hoping will be even moreso.

I started in my kitchen, wiping off all my plastic totes that I keep all my seasonings, food trays for my bulk freezing sessions, washed and dried dishes and put away, then swept and mopped in there. I sit to do it all, I have a roll around desk chair that lets me have the freedom to do so since my standing and walking isn't good at all any more.

That took it all out of me so I had to lie down and let my body rest, let my BP go back to within normal ranges, before starting round 2, which was actually showering, and getting dressed, ready to go do running around.

Trekking out, we first hit up Lowe's so that hubby could get some more cement for the molds for the area he's doing up front, which is really starting to look good. They look like big cobblestones. We still haven't decided exactly which edging we like best, whether the decorative panels with rounded tops, or shaped bricks, and then again, whether we will finish them in red or white..

Next stop was Walmart (we HATE going to Walmart but my granddaughter-in-law had said that the carpeting we wanted for the front porch was about 1/3 the price of the same item in Lowe's. Money talks! So, Walmart it was, and we picked up a neat little area rug for it, and only $21, cannot complain at that.

Our final stop was the best, Persis Indian Grill, where we grabbed a take out of various biryanis, chicken tikka masala, another chicken curry and some tandoori chicken ... at home, we ate lunch, and I froze hubby 2 portions for work lunches, and 6 portions for me for lunches. I added frozen peas and carrots and boiled some extra white rice, and used polystyrene tubs for mine. The sort that Chinese restaurants put rice in. They are the perfect size for my lunches, allowing me to have my Indian, or my Chinese, and not overdo my calories, sodium, fat or carbs. It's MY "diet" food.

On our way home, we gleaned a frame that somebody was throwing out, and are going to pop a board across where the springs are and turn it into a nice bench for some of my plants, on the front porch.

After lunch, I rested again for a little while, then swept and mopped my living room and hallway. 

I took it easy for a little while, and hubby and I watched some telly, and then we did trip 2. We restocked my AVON brochures in Ingles in Mauldin, grabbed lottery tickets and drinks at QT (and I had an ice cream cone!) and took trash and recycles to Conestee Park. On our way home, I tossed a box of books in a couple of new areas.

Tonight, I watered all my fruits and veggies and we decided to be nice and let ye chickies out in the yard while we were out there. they stayed close ... until it was time to go back in their pen, and then hubby had to chase them for about 20 minutes to catch them and pop them to bed! They are definitely growing up now.

I have one more task to do, mop the bedroom, and then to bed! Early start tomorrow, as it's "clean off the porch and get it looking pretty" day.

#lovemylife #productiveday #outandabout

Boy! I used to walk a lot!

 Hubby has been outside, mowing, and brought in some blackberries off of one of the bushes, down by the field. They were delicious. That was all it took, and I was back to being a kid again, and going blackberry picking. 

We lived in Leytonstone, 58 Queens Rd, and would walk down to Wanstead Flats, past Whipps Cross Hospital and down to the road that led to Epping. Our destination was a wooded area in Loughton. I remember, we would pass a slimy green pond on the left, and that meant we didn't have much farther to go. My mum would have my baby brother, Graham, in the pram, and my other sister, Theresa, in a seat near the handle, and my dad would have my sister Stephanie on his shoulders. And we would walk there, pick blackberries and walk back.

We walked everywhere, it seems, back in those days.

We'd walk from ours to Aunt Irene's in Manor Park, by the graveyard where my Uncle Terry worked.

My nan and I would walk from Hoxton to Liverpool Street to visit Aunt Maud. Then, when my grandparents moved to Hackney, she and I would often walk from 9a Marlborough Avenue (now torn down and a new estate in its place) to visit her, as well as to Dalston, to Riddley Road Market, or down Kingsland Avenue to visit my granpop at work at King & Scarborough, the timber yard under the bridge by the side if the canal. Every night, he would bring his lorry home and park it out front of 9A Marlborough Avenue. The park that was there back then is now long gone, flats were built in the late 60s.

I walked to school. First to George Tomlinson which was 4/5 mile, and then to Leyton County High School for Girls, 3/5 mile away. When I was at Leyton County High, though, I was a paper girl, so had my paper delivery route to do before school - and if someone else failed to show up - I did an extra route, so I did a LOT of walking on school days.

I did a lot of walking, too, when I lived in Snettisham, and would push my kids in the pushchair, and walk to Hunstanton, and when I lived in Gaywood, walking up town to do my shopping.  

The same again, when I lived in Mildenhall, 3 or 4 days a week, walking up town to do my shopping, or, going out to dance, down at the base at RAF Mildenhall, I'd walk the 4-5 miles or so down there, dance most of the night and then walk home again afterwards.

No wonder we didn't have many people with weight issues in those days, everyone was pretty fit without even realising it. All that free exercise that was just a means of getting from point A to point B. 

I did love to walk though. Walking and dancing are the 2 things I miss most since losing the mobility and stability I once had.

#life  #memories  #childhood  #reminiscences

Lyman and Lake Cooley for July 4th

Hubby and I took a nice little mini-trip out today, to Lake Cooley and the back roads through Lyman SC, and on the way discovered a hitherto-unknown-to-us "hidden treasure". Right by the Middle Tyger Library is a beautiful section of river that I just happened to glimpse as we drove over a bridge, so we turned around and went back. What a gem. Parking in the library at the edge closest to where we had seen the water, hubby took a walk down the footpath to get a better look.  It was too steep and bumpy for me to attempt with my walker, but I was able to hear the rushing waters from the truck, and when  he brought the pictures back, I was able to see what I was missing.

Isn't this beautiful? 

Such a hidden gem!

It was a perfect stopover on our way to Lake Cooley and just added another "nice little place" to our local water areas that we like.

We went on to Lake Cooley and sat  by the lake, watching people standing up paddling surfboard-like kayaks and others rowing single seat ones. What was weird was that hubby commented on the mountains in the distance, so I decided to take a pic ... 

and the shadows of the hills didn't even show, yet when I took the second one, zooming in, they are there plain as day!

We had a lovely few hours out, and are now home and hoping to get on with some chores in the house and yard.

Happy 4th July everyone.

#LakeCooley  #LymanSC  #MiddleTygerRiver

What a week so far!

 Our problems actually began on Friday last week, when our 17 year old cat, Precious, returned from one of his usual "disappearances" looking almost skeletal, covered in fleas and with foul smelling breath. Over the weekend, we flea treated him but it seemed to no avail, so we topped it up a bit and then - on Monday - after his trip to the vet, we got him a Seresto collar.  We have bathed him a couple of times and we are still fighting to get him free of them.

The vet's gave us meds for his breath, as that was caused by some bad ulcers in his mouth, gave him subcutaneous fluids as he was a bit dehydrated, and took blood to send to the labs to see if anything else was going on, him being 17.  That came back and he has thyroid issues, so is now on thyroid meds for the rest of his life ... just like me. Well, he has always been a mama's boy.

Trying to get him built back up, giving him lots of treats to tempt him to eat. but we can see in his eyes that he is starting to feel better. They were so dull and sad looking. before and now are more alert (and he is starting to try to be a pain).  We just want him back to being as healthy he was when this pic was taken a few years back.