Catch Up

Well I thought I had better make a start on catching up with my blog.I didn't realise just how long I have been away from it and needed to read some of my postings to see where I had got to....

The fish tank has been doing quiet well and I have found it quiet theraputic watching the fish wizzing round the tank and also seeing them grow so large,so large in fact they have turned out t be right little piggy's eating all the food that we put in for them so that some of the smaller fish miss out.We were starting to over feed them and had to take a water sample to the fish shop to have a test done on it,{even though Stuart had already checked it and it seemed slightly high to him}Anyway we had to do more water changes and cut the feeding down to every other day but at this moment in time everything is fine with them and so far our Guppies and Endler Guppies have produced over 200 baby fry between them.

It was quiet exciting watching the tiny babies grow from very tiny replicas of their parents to having to let them go to the fish shop where they were sold on and have gone to new homes to give other fish keepers the same pleasuer as they have given us...

At this moment in time we have some more babies due at any time because the fish man was so impressed with the colours in the babies we sold him he has done a deal with Stuart and after providing all the food free to us then he is going to give us a good price for any future that we can produce.We already have some credit with him which we will be able to use to buy any bits we need and any money we make will go towards any new fish we fancy...

I shall have to catch up with blog agian soon because our female Guppies are giving birth as I type.Have got at least 5 new fry......

Catch Up

Havn't felt much like posting anything for the last couple of weeks due to the fact that I have been trying to get outside to weed the borders and get some allotment work done inbetween theses horrendous storms that are now battering the country.At the moment we have managed to escape lightly with the wind and hopefully it will soon go away and we can resume normal life.

I have been able to get over to the allotment and have got loads of clearing up done of nettels and brambles that looked like they were going to take over all the spare ground.Any greenery that is showing underneath the fruit trees is being left so that Stuart can get in with some Roundup weed killer that should work it's way right through the plant system.We don't spray any of our fruit and vegetables aiming mainly to be as free and clean from any insect damage by good insects like ladybirds that and our feathered friend that like to forage amongst the trees and plants.

Hopefully once all this wind and rain has died down we will be able to start getting the vegetable seeds sown,like Broad Beans and Parsnips that are usually one of the first ones to be sown at this time of the year.

In the greenhouse I have Bedford Filbasket Brussels growing.All the Year Round lettuce,Primo Cabbage and some leeks which the name of escapes me at the moment.I only sowed them on March 3rd so i am well pleased with how they have come on so quickly,though using fresh seed has helped with 100% germination.We shall be eating them until they come out of our ears but at least we will be able to share a lot of veggy's with Punkey and Mabel our Guneia Pigs though I don't think they will like the leeks very much..

Monday

Couldn't wake up this morning after another sleepless night.It is getting to be a regular thing now,and I don't know why I bother going to bed.Another forum I peruse,it seems that there are loads of us having the same problem,though at the moment I just lie there trying to nod off instead of getting up.I always think if I start getting up then I will wake Stuart and then there will be the two of us staring into the darkness.I shall be ok once the light morning come back round...

Had a nice breakfast of porridge with grapes on the top instead of sugar{good girl} and a nice hot mug of Earl Grey to kick start the morning...

When Stuart went outside to start the car up it was quiet frozen so he had to defrost it before he could set off.I waved him off from the comfort of the lounge.I reckon the neighbours must think I am a bit crackers standing at the window waving him off like a small child would wave goodbye to her daddy as he sets off for the days work....

Managed to get two lots of washing done and hung outside and also a load of ironing done, and put in the airing cupboard.All my friends think I am mad being tied to the Iron and never ever iron anything but I can't bear to wear clothes that have not been ironed or aired... Had beans on toast for lunch which went down quite well.Decide on the spur of the moment to pack the car up with all the bags and buckets of guneia pig waste and vegetable peelings and to head over to the allotment.It takes me about 20 minutes to drive over there depending on the amount of traffic there is on the road..

I off loaded the bags and the buckets and then went and parked my car outside the Allotments.Some of the lazy ones down there drive right up to their plots and then leave the cars parked on the track so anyone trying to walk past with a wheel barrow find it almost impossible to get past.Serves them right if they get their cars scratched....

Popped across to have a quick chat with my friend Chris who was down there before getting the rotavator out of the shed.I filled it up with fuel and then pushed it down to the piece of ground that I wanted to work on.It fired up on the first pull of the cord so I was quiet pleased that I could start straight away.I soon got the first large piece of ground turned over again.I am trying to turn it every couple of weeks or so so that it keeps it looking good and it doesn't pan down if we have lots of wind and rain.It is exciting times as the allotmenteering season is just around the corner and it will be nice to get the first crops into the ground.

I decided to move the remains of my last bonfire that hadn't completely burnt out so that I could plough up the ground that had been underneath it.It took a little time setting up the new one but once the apple branches and dried weeds were in place,I set it alight with my small weed burner.Much easier than trying to strike matches especially in the windy weather we have been having.The fire soon took off so I was able to start plouging the next piece of ground.I took some photos of the flames which were leaping through the wood and weeds.I do like a good bonfire,it so reminds me of the bonfires we used to have on November 5th each year.I think that is where my liking for them comes from though I don't like the smell of the smoke on my gardening clothes...Yuk.

After I had done my ploughing,or should say rotavating I decided that I had had enough for the day so decided to pack up and put the equipment back into the shed.When I got down to my car I looked at the time and it was 3.45pm.I had been over at the allotment for nearly four hours.No wonder I was feeling shattered.I was so glad to get home but realised as I pulled into the drive that I still had two lines of washing on the lines.I quickly un pegged it all and got it into the basket and the basket of pegs put away..Phew..

Indoors I could smell my dinner in the slow cooker.I was too hungry to have my shower first so quickly dished up a nice plateful.I had made the dumplings before I went out and because I hadn't turned the slow cooker up to high,the dumplings had cooked nicely.Once I had eaten and then checked my emails I went upstairs and had a nice long shower.So refreshing after all the hard work of the afternoon...

Frosty Weather

I especially love this photo of the way that the frost has formed on the long twig of this sapling...

I would love to have been able to set up one of those time lapse cameras to have been able to film the growth of these ice crystals.I think that Nature is one of the most fantastic of things,but it is amazing how many people walk around and never see just what is under their noses...

The birds have been frantically feeding on my nut and seed feeders in the garden because at this time of the year they desperatley need all the help that they can get from us humans.

Always remember though if you do feed the birds don't forget to change the nuts and loose bird seed because even though the nuts look ok in the nut holders they will soon go mouldy if left out in all weathers which can be fatal to the birds as those nasty bugs can develope which will soon make the birds sick and that is when they are likely to die.

Also please remember to provide fresh drinking water for them every day and if you don't have any trees or shrubs or flowers in your garden,take my advice and get some because you will soon be rewarded with the sound of birds calling to each other and in the summer months if you are still feeding them,they will eat a lot of the pests that are likely to take up residence in your favourite plants.....

Frosty Weather

On Tuesday we woke up to quiet a heavy frost and very thick fog.We havn't had such a good frost since before Christmas so in the afternoon I managed to get out for a nice walk round the village with my cameras.

I was amazed at how the frost had formed on the trees,shrubs and flowers round the village.

The Pine trees in the photo looked fantastic so I just had to take a photo of them standing together like frosted soldiers.It so reminded me of the artificial trees that people were buying from the garden centres raedy for the big day...

Sunset

This is a photo of the sunset we had yesterday evening.

The day started quiet frosty and we had to scrape the frost off of the cars before we could use them,brrrrr

Later on the sun came out and gradually the day got really quiet warm.After I had done some of my household jobs{housework}and had had some soup and bread for my lunch I packed up my gardening gloves and some water and headed over to our allotment.

I was the only one over there because the ground was still a little bit frozen in places so it had put some of the old ones off going to tend their plots.

I had to take my cardi off in the end as I got some weeding done because I was getting quiet hot doing it.

I soon collected up quiet a lot of dead leaves off the old plants and also dug up some of the nettles on a vacant piece of ground.

After having a nice drink of cold water I decided the ground that I had been clearing was ideal for rotavating.It was a bit of a struggle getting the machine out of the shed but it wasn't long before I had it up and running.

As I set off the tines soon got to work on the soil though at times it was a bit of a struggle as the machine though manageable wanted to do it's own thing as it trundled across the soil.At times it seemed like the rotavator had a mind of it's own and I had to struggle to control it.

Eventually I tamed this monster and soon had the first piece of ground completed.After another rest and drink stop I decide to have a go at an even rougher piece of land that I was determined to conquer.I may be small{5ft 1"}but I hate to let anything beat me,something I have had to cope with all my short life{scuse the pun}

All in all I managed to get three pieces of ground turned over and it was nice to see a Robin settling onto the turned soil in search of nice juicy worms.Something difficult to find in the frozen ground.

I decided after finishing the last piece of land that enough was enough for the day and decided to head for home,hot and tired but glad that I had managed to get something done for my efforts.

Back home I had a nice refreshing shower and then after I was dry decided to sit at the computer serfing and reading blogs before Stuart got home.Not long after he had arrived home there was a fantastic light outside that looked almost like someone had turned a giant torch on.It lasted for quiet some time,then we noticed that as the sun had set it filled the sky with a fantastic red glow,which we managed to catch with the cameras and one of them is what has started todays blog.....Enjoy

Take 2..Plants,Fish, Bog Wood And Willow

This is the finished tank complete with the first lot of fish, three plants and the Bog Wood.As usual Willow is keeping a beady eye on everything.

Next weekend we are due to take another water sample to be tested and also to do a 20% water change.If everything os ok we can then get some more fish.We don't want to get too many as it could lead to problems.We have mostly females at the moment apart from Romeo our one and only male.

Our fish will gradually grow to their finale size and the tank will be mature after 10 weeks.Hopefully by then we will just need to enjoy them. do their water changes as often as we need to and to make sure we either don't over or under feed them....

Week 2.. Getting More Fish And The Plants

This my cat Willow keeping a watchful eye on one of the spotted Mollies that we have bought,with the credit voucher.We also have bought three more Spotted Mollies,Four Neon Tetras,An Orange coloured Guppy and a Silver Molly that sneaked into the plastic bag because it was desperate to find a new home...

A friend of mine who have a tank gave me two Platy's on Friday a Male and a Female and I have named them Romeo and Juliet.Romeo is busy chasing Juliet round the tank so I expect we will soon have fry swimming round the tank.

The fish have settled in really well and enjoy wizzing round the tank in a line much to the annoyance of Willow...

Week 2..Adding The First Fish And Plants

This is Molly,the first fish we were given by the fish man to try out because the water wasn't clearing and had gone a bit of a green colour...eek.

Molly as we had called her is actually a spotted Molly type as you can see by the markings survived the night so we were then able to go back to the shop to get some more. We were given a £10 credit note for use to buy some more fish,so we havn't actually had to buy any yet as such....

Week 1..Preparing The Tank For Fish And Plants

This is the tank with all the bubbles clinging to the sides.On the right is the heater that we have set to between 24c or 75F.As long as the temperature doesn't go higher or lower than that we shouldn't have any problems....

On the left is part of the filtration system,the water goes up the tube along through the filters and then falls like a waterfall back into the tank.We have also put a layer of gravel in the bottom but by the looks of things we will need a bit more adding ready for the plants...

My Fish Tank

As promised this is the fish tank that I have bought with part of the money that I recived at Christmas.It is a 45 Litre{10 gallon} tank and this is the tank after we had taken it from out of the box.

Stuart filled the tank with tap water and then added the chemicals after switching everything on.We have had to leave it for over a week on a ' cycle' as per the instructions so that the friendly bacteria could get to work and so that it starts to become acceptable to fish and plants..

Computer Problems

Well what a week I have had with this Laptop.A virus tried to come in a couple of weeks ago but thankfully was stopped by my antivirus softwear.The problem though meant that it slowed my computer down so much that I could have hand delivered the emails quicker.

While I was out babysitting last night for one of my village friends,Stuart got onto the computer and managed to put things right by installing a new card to replace the Belkin card that I had been using. He also got rid of two programmes that may have also been slowing everything down.

Babysitting was good last night as the eleven year old son had one of those Wii games for Christmas so between me Jack and Alicia the four year old we had lots of fun playing skittles,tennis and basketball.Talk about laughing so much,really good way to release tension and to wear ones self out.

My new fish tank is coming on well,despite Willow trying to catch the fish as they whizz round and round the tank.Our first fish was a female Spotted Molly,closely followed by three more Spotted Mollies,Four Neon Tetras,One orange Guppy and a white fish that somehow found it's way into the net at the shop and into the plastic bag,we brought them home in.We also got three plants and a small lump of wood that they can pick around in.

This past week they have had fun and games playing follow the leader round and round the tank,first one way and then the other.Poor Willow has been mezmorised with them,though Poppy isn't bothered with them in the least.I went to visit two of my friends this afternoon who have a tank of fish and ended up coming home with a pair of orange ones that I have named Romeo and Juliet.I don't think it will be long before we see new little fry swimming about,that's iff they don't get eaten first that is.

It has been bitterly cold this week and have had an awful cold wind that cuts right through you,brrr.Up in the Northern part of the country they have had blizzards but apart from a small flurry this teatime there hasn't been much about at all down here.I personally love the snow as I think it brightens up the countryside,but I never like it when it starts to melt and goes all slushy.

I managed to get down to the Greenhouse this morning to prick out some Iris seedlings that I had sown the other week and they are now in individual pots where they hopefully will grow on.I have also sown some double Hollyhocks namely Chaters Double Mixed,which are one of my favourites.I do so like the colours of them but don't like it when they get the dreaded rust on the leaves.I always pick off the worst leaves,but find that eventually the plants start to go downhill a bit.

The first snowdrops are out in flower in the garden and also Helleborus Niger,the Christmas Rose.It is a lovely pure white colour and is a pleasure to see on a freezing cold morning.

Thursday's Ramblings...

Well,I haven't posted for a couple of days,well properly that is as I havn't been feeling 100%.I am still trying to watch the sugar I am consuming and have finally finished the last of the Christmas chokkie{A Very large,and I mean very large Toblerone bought for me by my darling hubby} so hopefully now I can begin to get somwhere in cutting out sugar from my life.It is shocking just how much sugar there is in products we buy as well as the fat and salt that I have previously mentioned...tut tut.No wonder there are so many health problems in the world.

What I do now,when I have my breakfast is to put either some chopped up grapes on top or either strawberries or raspberries instead of the fake sugar I have been using....

For my lunch I had a nice Fish Cake which I cooked in the oven,and served it up with potato's,peas and carrots.I found it quiet filling..

As the weather was pleasant with the sun shining and blue skies I decided to go out again for my daily walk.It was bitterly cold out so I made sure I wrapped up warm.I take my camera with me in case I see some good photographic material...

The builders will soon be finished our shopping area so we are looking forward to being able to pop down there to get anything we need instead of having to trek three miles to the nearest shop.I expect that is something we took for granted where we used to live because all the shops we needed were only 500 yards from where we used to live so we were spoilt in many ways. We could quiet easily walk to them. With luck the food shop should be opening next month fingers crossed...

I have just had to run out to the kitchen because while I was busy typing this my apple that I was stewing on the hob was begining to burn so now I will be having cremated apple for dinner to go with the crackers and cream cheese I have eaten already..If the smoke detector goes off I nearly break my neck tripping over Willow as he normally runs under my feet and tries to trip me up as I rush out to the kitchen...

I had a laugh yesterday morning.I was looking everywhere for Poppy as I hadn't seen her since I got up.Stuart said he hadn't seen her so put on my coat and shoes and went off round to the garage in case she had been locked in there all night.I called out here name and expected her to come running out.No sign of her so I went round to the shed to see if she had spent the night in the company of the Guneia Pigs.Still no sign of her.I turned and walked back to the house with a bit of a heavy heart and thinking the worst that she had been run over and had crawled under a bush to die...

Stuart asked if I had found her and I said No as I took my coat and shoes off and walked back into the warm lounge..Guess what,there was Poppy where she had been all the time,sitting in her basket and looking at me as if to say 'Why didn't you look in here first.I have been here all the time'.. I really must get my glasses lens cleaned...sigh.

Watch this space folks...

Saturday Ramblings

Well it is the start of another weekend,though I expect it will go just as fast as it usually does.Didn't sleep well last night and then when I did go to sleep I never woke up until 8ish which is late for me,though not for Stuart.I only woke up because Willow was having a nibble on my arm...Ouch.
By the time we had eaten breakfast it had already been raining yet again for some time.Will it never end.!!!
Went to the shops and did our grocery shopping and amongst other things bought some more Organic eggs as well as the Free Range Chicken I bought last week,I am certainly trying.Tesco's wanted nearly £10 for an Organic one and there were more on the shelves than what there was when I popped in last week.

We were glad to get back home and got the shopping stowed away before having a quick bite to eat.By then the rain had stopped,but it still left everything damp and squidgy,urrgh.

After lunch we drove out to one of the DIY sheds to buy some more tile adhesive and grout so that Stuart could do some tile laying in the new Conservatory he is building.

On the way home I suggested popping along to the fish place along the dual carriageway near where we live to choose the Aquarium I would like to buy,with some of the money I received for Christmas.It is about time I treated myself as I never seem to always thinking of others before myself.I look at it,that I don't smoke{unlike Stuart},hardly drink and very rarely go out for a meal,so have decided to buy something that will give me lots of pleasure for many years to come.
We were in the fish shop for what seems like hours before settling on a Bowl 45 which is basicly one of the round Orb types but is made of glass.

We have spent quiet some time setting it up and have now turned on the heater after letting it stand full of water for an hour in room temperature.Stuart has now added the gravel,though he forgot to wash it first {We both forgot that one} and has added the chemicalswhich should give the water the cinditions and bacteria ready for the fish.We have been told to wait five days before taking a water sample to the fish shopto have it checked to make sure it is all going ok.
The tank is bubbling away at the moment,and I can't wait to see it full of fish.I am thinking of Neon or Cardinal Tetras,and I have been offered already some Guppies,which no doubt will end up breeding all over the place...

I will keep you all posted as to how we get on.Watch this space and Thankyou for visiting my blog....xx

Frosted Rose-Winning Photo

This photo of one of my Dublin Bay roses which was frosted on December 2oth 2007 was entered into the same competition as the Twin Suns photo and they were taken on exactly the same day.
This photo was voted into first place by the members of the garden forum and my prize was £15 worth of National Gardening Gift Vouchers which I will enjoy spending on seeds and possibly plants in the Spring ready for the gardening year.

Please bare with me as I get my head around blogging and hopefully I will have lots more photos that I have enjoyed taking since taking up Digital Photography.Thankyou xx

Twin Suns

This photo was taken on December 20th and entered in a gardening forum that I belong to.It was voted into 4th place by the members on there.....As the title shows I called this one Twin Suns,a complete fluke as the photo was taken in my friends house through her double glazed french doors....

New Day

Good morning everyone and Thank you so much for your kind comments,much appreciated.
I thought today was going to be another dry day,but now I can hear rain falling on our conservatory roof so that throws that idea out of the window.The forecast doesn't look very promising for the next few days with rain falling right through until Tuesday.Where will it all end...
My garden is starting to look like a paddy field and if I walk off of the stepping stones across the lawn then it is like a quagmire.I feel sorry for anyone who gets flooded out this time and I know that there are still lots of people having to live in Caravans because of last years floods...

I am desperate to start getting some more ground prepared over at our allotments,but dare not even think about it until it is drier..

I managed to get out again for another brisk walk round the village.I love getting out in the fresh air,well that's if you can call it fresh,cough cough..

I was watching that programme last night on the TV about how much rubbish that goes into the food we eat,salt,sugar, and fat.I am having to change my eating habits becausewhat with suffering with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome{PCOS} and now going through the dreaded menopause,these last few years I have found my weight has gone up even more and it is getting harder and harder to lose it....
I am trying hard to cut right back on my sugar intake,though it is hard with me having a sweet tooth.Once the last of the Christmas chokkies have all gone I am determined to cut down.I only eat the low salt anyway and always cut off all the fat that I can see on any meat that I buy.It is a nightmare when I go shopping because it takes hours to raed all the info on the backs of the products.I have never been one for eating lots of raedy meals and since the New Year I have started making all my own cottage & steak pies,filled with lots of good vegetables and topped with potatoes that have had no milk or cream added.I am proud with myself at saving myself a small fortune by not buying that disgusting gloop,the shops try to palm us off with.Who are they trying to kid.Their cottage pies don't even look edible as well as being laced with a cocktail of chemicals,half of which I can't even pronounce,and that is with my glasses on.
Enjoy your day everyone in all you do.Just off to find my water wings....

Willow and Poppy

This is miss feisty,Poppy.She is Willow's sister and we think she is a Tortishell on white.She has taken to Stuart and spends all night snuggled up to him whereas Willow took to me right from the start and loves to have plenty of fuss from me...

Poppy doesn't like to be picked up and fussed,but leaps from her chair over to Stuart when she wants attention.Even though Willow is the boss ambushing Poppy whenever he gets the chance there are times when she manages to give him a swipe back...

They both love catching their favourite food,mainly mice shrews and sometimes birds,but Willow likes to bring them upstairs while we are sleeping and cries a certain sort of cry to let us know he has bought us a presant.If he gets no response from us then he settles down and eats the mouse.

There is nothing worse than hearing him crunching on the bones..Yuk..

Willow and Poppy

This is a photo of one of the two cats we rescued nearly four years ago,living with his sister and mother underneath part of a dug out skip in our village.His name is Willow and when you see his sister Poppy you will find it hard to believe that they are actually brother and sister...

They were being fed on sandwiches and crisps Monday-Friday but once the contracters had left the site then they had to fend for themselves until Monday came back round..

I had to catch them with a trap hired from Cats Protection and laced with Pilchards.It was worth getting scratched to death by the little tigers and it took us months to bring them round,but now they are spoilt rotten and rule the roost...

Willow is a handsome cat and knows it...

Dry Day

Carrying on from this morning I can safely say that we have had a very pleasant day with the weather.The sun has shone all day and there has been some really good cloud formations up in the sky....

I even managed to put Punkey and Mabel out in their run to nibble the grass while I cleaned out their hutch.I have never seen such small creatures eat so much, talk about eating for England.They never seem to stop,only when they are resting do they seem to slow down a bit but I bet they are dreaming of their next meal while they are asleep...

Got some potting up done of some of my Iris plants that I had dug up in the Autumn and put them on the top staging where they can grow on a bit more before they have to go outside...

Also got some of the shed tidied up so that now looks a lot better....

I have decide that now my back is starting to feel a lot better,I am going to try and get some more walking done,especially now that the wind and rain has died down for once.I went out yesterday afternoon for thirty minutes and today I did five minutes more.Hopefully this will help me get my fitness levels back to normal ready for when we go away in September up to the Lake District again...

No wind and rain,Yipeee

We finally have got rid of all that horrible wind and rain,well for the time being anyway.I havn't been able to put out the loose bird seed for my robin because as fast as I have put it out on my birdtable then it has got blown all over my small vegetable border outside of the kitchen window so I now have grassey type weeds growing amongst the plants that edge the plot..tut.

Stuart and myself bought some small Violas before Christmas to put out in the borders.I do so love their little faces,they always seem to be smiling or is it just the way I see things. Since we got them we have had lots of rain and now the borders are saturated so they are sitting on the top of the Guneia run waiting patiently to be rescued.More rain is forecast for the rest of the week but the weekend looks like it will be fine so if by some miracle the ground dries up I mifht be able to get out there and get something done...

Managed to get out for a nice brisk walk this afternoon inbetween the rain showers and Domestic Goddess work{Housework}It is so nice to get out and get some fresh air.

I was listening to Radio 5 live this morning about a chap from Edingburgh who had been on death row in America for 20 0dd years for a death of a child in a house fire.He came to within 1 hour of death but because he had put in an appeal,then it didn't go ahead.He is now back home in Edingburgh but is very bitter as to the fact that he has lost so much time out of his life,years that were supposed to be the best years of his life..My prayers are with him and his family and I just hope he can at last get back to some sort of normal life.

Think of all the new technology that he has to learn to live with .As he said himself he feels like an outsider on a world where we take everything for granted...

The rain has started again and has been doing so for a few hours now.If it carries on then I feel like I shall be growing waterwings very soon,or turning into a Mermaid...

Rain rain go away

Well this flipping rain has been falling for quiet some hours now.When I drive along the roads round here,I can see that the rivers and streams are full and there are quiet a few areas of grassland already underwater.
I shall be most annoyed if they put people on a housepipe ban when and if we have the first hint of sun anywhere.Perhaps the powers that be will give us all a rebate on our water bills as there must now be enough fallen to last us for a little while..

I heard on the radio as well the other day that parts of Australia have had quiet a bit of rain for the first time in years...

When will it end

Well we have it very windy with heavy rains today.I feel sorry for those poor folk who lost everything last year when they got flooded out of their homes.Some of them are still living in Caravans and will do so for many more months to come.Fingers crossed that everyone will be ok today.

I have been preparing the meat and vegetables to put in my slow cooker and the smell is divine as the mixture starts to heat up.Stuart and I always had one of these on the go when we used to live in our old house and there was nothing better than to go for a nice long walk along by the gravel pits and river when there had been a good hoar frost,and to come home and tuck into a large plate full of stew & dumplings..yummy.

I will have to venture down to the greenhouse soon to feed Punky and Mabel the Guneia Pigs we took on last year from a family that had a son who started having problems and used to come out in hives..Yuk.I have had to wait until it gets light because the back garden at the moment is very wet and muddy and I don't fancy slipping over again like I have done twice already...

This is the first sunrise of 2008.It was lovely watching it slowly rise into the sky.I think it is one of the most amazing things to watch,but even when I am taking photos of both sunrises and sunsets I always make sure that I don't look directly into the sun as everyone knows this can lead to blindness...

January 14th 2007

Just started this blog thing so I will see how it goes.It is all new to me.Once I get started I will put up some of my sunrise and sunset photos that I have enjoyed taking with both my Kodak-EasyShare Camera and my new Fugi camera that I had for my Birthday...