The big autumn clean

Does anyone else have the big autumn clean. You know like the big spring clean only in autumn.  Its funny isn't it how we all have our little idiosyncrasies.  I always feel like September should be the beginning of a New Year rather than in January.   I'm not sure what it is that makes me think that way although come the autumn equinox all the family birthdays are out of the way and with the new school year, even if it is the teens last one it feels like a new beginning of sorts and of course then we are on countdown to Christmas (oops did I mention the C word).    I don't know about anyone else but during the summer months when the sun is in the sky we tend to spend time out and about or in the garden which means that the poor old farm house is left somewhat neglected.  It is only as we approach the equinox that I suddenly get the realisation that the farm house looks more like steptoes yard than our lovely home. D is by his own admission a hoarder of things and these things can end up taking over a large proportion of the house if you let them.  This is partly due to the fact he works from home and at times the house becomes an extension of his office.   Does anyone else have this problem?  Of course we glaze over the fact that I have a lot of crafting paraphernalia around the area where I sit.  I do try and keep it under some sort of control but when you're working on more than one project it can get a little unruly.  It may look like disorganised chaos but I know exactly what stage I am at with each WIP and can always justify the reason it is currently residing where it is.  D probably feels the same about all his piles of things that languish on every free surface. If there is a free surface he can definitely fill it. I did spend a fare bit of time ferrying things into his office, well if it needs sorting he can do it just as well in there as he can the lounge.   

As both D and the teen were out all day Saturday meeting up with some of the teens friends, who are all train enthusiasts, it meant that I could really get to grips with the house. I cleaned from the top to the bottom. I got the hoover and attacked those pesky wispy cobwebs that collect in the corners of the ceilings. Dusted down the skirting boards and architraves. Moved furniture that you never bother to move normally and boy do find things when you do that and not just dust bunnies. Sadly not the winning lottery ticket that had got stuck down the back of the sofa.  

By the end of it all the only thing left to do having got all the washing out on the line and dried during the day, nothing like the smell of freshly dried sheets,  was to work my way through the mass of ironing that had accumulated.  This plan was working fine until there was a sudden tuf  and a plume of smoke but sadly no genie. Poor iron had ironed its last pillow case....  To be fair it was probably 13 years old so had done its job. Just meant that D had to go and purchase a new one on Sunday morning. Which is a lovely shiny new black and silver Russell Hobbs. Lets see if it lives up to the standards of the old Morphy Richards. 

At the beginning of the week the teen  turned the magic 16, I really don't know where the years have disappeared to.  It doesn't feel that long ago that we were wringing our hands with worry that he wasn't walking and wasn't talking but was obsessed the number 8 and the letter B and loved nothing better than to line all his cars up in size and colour order.   Of course it wasn't long before our suspicions that he was on that wonderful spectrum that is autistic spectrum disorder were confirmed, although I'm not sure we are supposed to call it that anymore every five years or so they seem to give it a new name.  Whether or not it still boils down to the same thing that we went on that a little trip to Holland when you thought you were booked to go to Italy.  He does pretty well on the whole and on return to his last year at school he takes over the role of  Head Boy and if you knew our teen that is some achievement. Of course the cake of many guises made another appearance but this time as a vanilla version and as our local supermarket (20 minute drive away) had run out of chocolate finger biscuits it meant we had to go to plan B but the teen was happy with it especially the sparkler candles and it did taste good too. 

Hope the rest of your week is a good one and that whatever you are doing this weekend that you find a bit of time for some well earned R & R. 

Mx

Noel Fitzpatrick Becoming the Supervet Listening to the animals

In my work as a veterinary surgeon, I try to get people to listen to the animals - and listen to each other. 

I believe if everyone tried to shine a little light, then the world might be a better place - for us, and for the animals.

Growing up on the family farm in Ballyfin, Ireland, Noel's childhood was spent tending to the cattle and sheep, the hay and silage, the tractors and land, his beloved sheep dog pirate by his side. It was this bond with pirate, and a fateful night spent desperately trying to save two newborn lambs, that inspired Noel to enter the world of veterinary science. 

Noel recounts this often surprising journey that sees him leaving behind a farm animal practice in rural Ireland to set up Fitzpatrick Referrals in Surrey, one of the most advanced small animal specialist centres in the world.

We meet the animals that paved the way, from calving cows and corralling bullocks to talkative parrots and bionic cats and dogs and of course his beloved Keira, the scruffy Border Terrer who has been by Noel's side as he's dealt with the unbelievable highs and crushing lows of his extraordinary career.

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It always seems to take me longer to read a memoir or autobiography/biography than fiction. I don't know the reason for this it just seems to be the way.  It usually coincides with the fact that I am very busy in the day job and exhausted by the time I go to bed which means I only get to read a couple of pages before I realise that I have read the same paragraph three times and therefore its time for lights out.  It may well be due to the fact that when I read a fiction novel the chapters are shorter than within a memoir.

For the past few weeks I have been snuggling up at night with the lovely Noel Fitzpatrick. For years I have been watching this lovely man with his Irish brogue on our screens treating all creatures great & small. In his memoir Noel Fitzpatrick describes life growing up on the farm with his siblings and his daddy and his beloved mammy Rita.   It was on a cold night that he went out to assist a ewe he found in a ditch who was in active labour. Fortunately he managed to save the ewe but sadly he could not save the lambs.  It was this defining moment in his life that he decided that he wanted to become a vet.  He was not the most academic and struggled throughout his primary school years both academically whilst also suffering at the hands of the school  bullies. He also realised that in order to achieve his dream he would have to study hard.  From this moment on he had a very strict routine of waking early to help his daddy with the farm, spend time studying and  all before school and whilst his friends were out enjoying themselves after school, Noel was back home hitting the books with no time for romance.   Noel Fitzpatrick has talked about being bullied at school within his TV series and has even helped some of the children and young people that have come to his practice. He talks more extensively about his own experiences of bullying and shares the stories of those who have come to his practice in telling the stories they have told him. Most will tell him that the dog or cat that he is about to carryout surgery on is their best friend and the only one  that understands them.  Noel Fitzpatrick knows this story first hand in the relationship he describes between himself and his beloved dog Pirate.

Now my name has appeared in an Amanda Prowse novel as a love interest of Theo. It has been used by Green Rabbit Designs for one of her lovely Christmas Bunnies back in 2014 and now it has even featured in Noel Fitzpatrick's memoir.  Now wouldn't it be lovely if I had been the love his life the one that got away, the one his mammy says he should of married. Sadly not,  this chapter is about Mitzi the white German shepherd but thought it was very amusing that my name should appear yet again.

Whether you are a fan of Noel Fitzpatrick or not in reading his memoir it will give you a better understanding of the man, his vision and how he has built up Noel Fitzpatrick referrals literally from the ground up.

Mx

Issues with Blogger

Good morning lovely people. 

I just wanted to pop a little post up as I seem to be having a few issues with Blogger. 

I haven't been able to leave any comments on any of the blogs I follow.  

It keeps throwing up an error message.  

I don't know whether anyone else has been experiencing this same problem.  

I'm rather hoping so as I've not had any comments left for the past couple of weeks which is really unusual.

Just so you all know that I am still here reading your blogs even though it won't let me leave any comments at the moment.  

Hopefully this problem will be resolved soon and normal service will resume. 

Mx

Come into my garden - Mabel & Earl update

Do you remember me telling you about Mabel & Earl who have been our resident pigeon pair over the last year?

Well something rather exciting happened. Can you see that little beady eye watching you?

This is Mabel & Earl's little chick.

We discovered the nest purely by chance.  

We have vine that grows along the garage wall and it can be a bit of thug and we have to trim it back every so often or it takes over.

We came across the nest one morning as we went to enter the garage to retrieve the secateurs to do this very job when suddenly there was a floury of noise and a pigeon shot out from the vine narrowly missing D's head. It gave him quite a start I can tell you.

He gently moved the vine back and discovered their little nest with two eggs inside, so my mum was right they do lay two!! Were we about to have our own pigeon pair??

I have to say they seem to build their nests in the most precarious way teetering on the spindly branches of the vine. It can be quite windy across the ridge here and we didn't think that the nest would survive.

Sadly one of the eggs did fall out of the nest onto the concrete below but looky looky one did go on to hatch and here is either Mabel or Earl junior. By this stage the chick was pretty big and took up the whole of the nest.  I'm not quite sure that you would of got two chicks in that little nest.

I am beginning to wonder if they lay two eggs in order to get and heir and spare rather than a pigeon pair.

At one stage we thought we may have to contact social services as Mabel & Earl didn't seem to be very attentive parents in fact they seemed to have abandoned the chick as we rarely saw them go anywhere near the nest.  Having now seen how big the chick had got and how big the nest was I can understand why.

And just like any honorary parents we watched the progress of the chick hoping it would get to successfully fledged.  Of course it had to choose the day I was at work but D was there to capture the moment and here our little chick taking its first steps into the big wide world. 

Its not returned to the nest since but is still around the farm house and we hear it calling to Mabel & Earl who I think, think their job is done.

This morning when I got up at stupid O'clock to go and make my Saturday morning cuppa it was sat on the front fence.  Now I think Mabel & Earl need to have a little word as to the company it is keeping 

 

as sitting on the very next post was Mr Sparrowhawk who has visited the garden before but tends to treat it a little like its local takeaway. The hedge behind is full of sparrows and normally when I come down the stairs they are all queuing to get onto the bird feeder but not this morning. You can usually hear their birdsong before you see them but this morning it was deathly quiet (no sparrows here mate).

But just as with our own children you can encourage them to make the right choices when it comes to friends and hope they stick to the good kids and not the mean kids. Hopefully this little pigeon will learn this valuable lesson.

Now at the time when I wrote about our pigeon pair it was because I had been making my Solid granny square snuggle blankets for a friend whose daughter was having twins, a boy and a girl that we were calling Janet & John.  Well I can tell you they arrived safely five weeks early but both doing very well and have now gone home with their mummy and daddy. As predicted they didn't like our choice of Janet & John for their actual names but I think they will always be known as Janet & John to me and my friend.

Have a lovely Saturday one & all

Mx

Autumn is coming

That's it we have said farewell to Poldark for the last time, well at least until they decide to do a remake in another 25 years or so by which time watching a young man removing his shirt in order to get the corn in may not be deemed appropriate when I'm 80 years old.  

So we may not have Ross and Demelza on our screens anymore but it is that time of year again when the Great British Bake Off has returned to our screens, does this inspire you to don your pinny and find your inner baking goddess? No me neither I am very much a basic baker cup cakes and the the cake of many guises are one thing but to make some of the creations they make on GBBO is like another world to me. For the past few years I have made it to the the cake international exhibition at the NEC Birmingham and the cakes that are on display are fabulous, made by the very young to the very old (like me). If you ever get the chance to go I would highly recommend it and of course I will be going again this year.  It is a great day out and the ticket is good value for money as it also gives you entry into the the creative craft show & simply Christmas which are full of inspiration for Christmas gifts or lots of stalls in order to top up on all your crafting essentials and this year it is on from the 1st -3rd November. Of course with September comes Strictly Come Dancing, although I can't say I recognise many of the celebrities this year, but like every other year I'm sure we'll get to know them and watch them go through their highs and lows. Autumn usually brings a few new dramas to our screens to keep us entertained and there are already one or two that look promising.

Autumn has always been my favourite time of year and with the farmer bringing in the harvest in the fields that surround our house we know it is definitely on its way.  It has already been dark when I have woken at 5 am for work but now autumn is on its way the nights will be drawing in and before we know we'll be like little moles waking up in the dark and coming home in the dark. 

It also means that for those of us that are devotees of Yarndale there are just under 3 weeks to go when Lucy and the team will be opening the doors to a weekend of yarn filled fun.  I think this will be my fifth trip to Yarndale and every year you get to see exhibitors old and new and lots of new crafty ideas.  As many of you will know each year Yarndale come up with a community project and this years Yarndale Community Project is in support of Mercy Ships. They have asked crafters across the world to make either a knitted or crocheted bear and have free patterns for a crochet bear here designed by the lovely Lucy of Attic24 and for a knitted bear here.  

I would like to introduce to you Norman and Norma so named after the song by The Divine Comedy  they are all ready to be sent off to Yarndale to add to the growing number arriving daily. They are hoping to have 500 which will be displayed during the Yarndale weekend and will then be sent to the charity who will make sure they are each gifted to a child. 

Christine Perry's sock line will also be on display at Yarndale again this year.  I have one pair completed and one pair on the needles to finish for this years sock line its such a worthwhile cause to support. Each year Christine asks that we get our knitting needles out and make a warm pair of socks that will go on to be distributed to deserving causes.  Every pair I have sent over the years has gone to a homeless charity to keep someone a little warmer over the autumn/winter months. I know its not much when there seems to be more and more young and old finding themselves homeless. You can't believe in this day and age that this is still happening. It is not just homeless charities that will receive any socks that are donated some have been distributed to care homes and women's refuges but you can find out more about Christine and her sock line here.

Well I can hear stirrings in this here house which must mean the rest of the humans are awake. Enjoy your Sunday and hope your first week in September goes well for those with children returning to school and for those making the transition to college and University, its a big old world out there with endless possibilities.

Mx