Mae fy iar wedi bwyta broga!

No, your eyes do not deceive you, that is a photo of one of the hens eating a frog...

In other chicken related news, yesterday we had 7 eggs for the first time this year -- spring is definitely here -- the daffodils will be opening any day now and there are lambs in the field above ours!



Also, on Saturday, we bought our first six apple trees. Now we just need to plant them!

Scrabble yn Gymraeg

As many of you probably know, I have been playing Scrabble for more years than I can count now -- most recently with the London Scrabble League and before that in New York with Xina at Mona's -- but I have never before played Scrabble in Welsh -- it is VERY hard!!! The CYD group in Ammanford organised a Scrabble night on Monday and I went along -- I am pleased to report that although my team lost, I was personally responsible for the single highest scoring move in our game -- COR for 20 points!

All Small Engines

I would like to highly recommend All Small Engines in Manordeilo to anybody in the area needing work done on chain saws, strimmers, lawnmowers, etc. I took our chainsaw in to Roger on Monday and just got it back -- he stripped and cleaned the carburetor, checked the motor, decoked it, refitted the throttle, sharpened the chain, replace the spark plug & fuel filter, gave me a new screw for where I was missing one on the top cover, and a general tune up -- all for a total of £36.72! I personally think this is an absolute bargain and am well pleased... :)

RIP Sunshine

Gone but not forgotten...





And in a bizarre twist of events, the dealer who bought her was the same one I bought her from in the first place! So in a way she's gone back home...

I know it's silly to get emotionally attached to a bit of plastic and metal, but I miss her already... :(

What we did with our Saturday...

So in our house we only have one power point in each room. This sort of reaches its worst point in our study where we have 3 computers, etc., and power strips and cords draped across the floor everywhere... So yesterday, Greg said that he thought that if he ADDED one more power strip to the mess, he could then re-route it so it ran across the top of the door frame rather than across the middle of the floor and it would make the room tidier and life simpler. I said that sounded like a great idea... So Greg was trying to neatly fasten this power strip around the top of the door frame with cable clips when he drove one of the clips into one of the central heating pipes (which are NOT behind the walls)... With the help of a very helpful little book which Calcot gave us for Xmas several years ago (thank you!), we have now managed to successfully repair our central heating system and gain a thorough understanding of it's workings in the process...

And because I haven't posted one in a while, here's a gratuitous photo of the kitties...

Welsh in New York

Did anybody in New York see this on Wednesday???

Dim Dwr Eto...

So this morning, yet again, the water is frozen. Two things I don't understand:

1. There was a cold snap a while ago where it was colder than this for a longer period and the water never froze, so why is it freezing now?

2. Doesn't the hot water tank hold a quantity of water? I understand that the cold water which only has a very small header tank inside the house freezes because it's basically coming straight from outside, but shouldn't I have a bathtub full of hot water? Or is there something in the tank that prevents the water dropping below a certain level, so if there isn't fresh cold water coming it, it won't let me take the hot water out?

All answers and suggestions gratefully accepted...

Dwr

And the water is back again. I know what Greg means now when he described it to me last time -- there is suddenly a "thud" and then a whooshing sound as the toilet tank refills...! Off to make a cup of tea...

Ac eto...

By the end of the day yesterday, the snow had melted off the muddy bits, but, as if by magic, it all reappeared in the night again! :)



Now this is obviously some sort of little bird...



But what is this? A fox???



Oh, and did I mention, I have no water again... :( But I guess that is a small price to pay for all this beautiful snow! Yay!!!

Mae hi'n bendigedig iawn...

This is so much better than the pathetic dusting we had the other day!





You can really see now the contrast between the (allegedly) white chickens and the pure white snow...





As Shiva tries to go outside without getting cold feet...







This is the view down the valley from the top of the top field...



I got confused when I went into the porch to go out -- normally it is very bright in here as there are windows on three sides and clear plastic sheeting on the roof -- and it was very dark this morning -- because of the snow on the roof!!!

Ar Werth

Want to buy a car?

And now for today's egg picture -- check out the difference in the size of the yolks!



Yummy, yummy, yummy!

Roedd hi'n bwrw eira!

It finally snowed yesterday, and actually settled enough to look pretty. Of course by yesterday afternoon, it was all gone except for the very top of the mountain. And now I present you with quite a number of completely gratuitous snow and chicken photos...













In other news, there is a bus once a week that runs through Talley into Llandeilo (our nearest town) and I have been saying for ages that I am going to take the bus -- yesterday I finally did. When I got on the bus, I asked how much the fare was, and the driver said £2.70 return. I had about £2.15 in change, and a £10 note, which he didn't want to change, so he just gave me the ticket and told me to pay him on the way back!

Whilst waiting for the bus, I realised that I have not really posted any photos of the village, so here's one -- this is the old Talley Post Office -- it closed about 11 years ago...



On the way back from the bus stop (walking up the hill with my groceries!) I spotted this little cuteness -- love the pink ears! Can't wait until I have my own!!!



I think that's enough photos for one day, so I'll just leave you with this one final thought -- do you think the chickens are capable of learning how to use the cat flap???

Pump Wy!

The eggs are increasing every day! Pedwar ddoe, a pump heddiw! (Four yesterday, and five today.) Good thing I was planning on baking a cake tomorrow...

Pedwar Wy!

Yes folks, that's right, four eggs in one day... We are really getting back into production again. If you are interested in buying eggs, let me know. They're 90p for six.


Various people have told me that there are too many photos of eggs on this web site, but personally I don't think such a thing is possible, so here's another one. It amazes me how unique each egg is and how much variation there is from one to the next. Can you tell which eggs are New Girl's? :)


On the baking front, the other night Greg made crumpets -- from scratch -- they were delicious! This is Greg's Mom's homemade blackberry jam on top...


Ever wondered what to do with a surplus of beetroot (beets)? Look no further, the answer is beetroot pie. This is from a Martha recipe. It's not bad -- it actually tastes somewhat like pumpkin pie, with a bit of beet flavour thrown in -- but if I made it again I think I would puree the beets rather than grating like the recipe calls for.

Slow News Week

Not much to report really -- I was ill all week -- I actually had a fever on Tuesday -- and am only now just getting better -- so I spent most of the week sitting on the sofa doing nothing...

I may have mentioned that one of the hens is starting to display the symptoms that Polly had -- walks around very slowly, doesn't stray far from the coop, spends a lot of time IN the coop, spends a lot of time sitting down -- and I was talking to a guy at the Talley Dinner the other week who is a doctor and he suggested that I give her a course of antibiotics, as that would clear up most things... So I rang the vet on Monday and she said I should come down and pick something up. So I went to the vet and they gave me these four syringes
one to be injected each day, into the breast or thigh -- and she said that by Friday she should be better. Anyways, I've given all the injections and not seen any improvement so not sure what to do next now...

In other news, Greg received a package in the post that does not contain a cricket bat...

Water Update

It's back. I was in town buying water and Greg was here at the house and heard a wooshing noise -- the toilet tanks refilling! So I guess the water was frozen, and then it just defrosted. I mean, it was cold this morning, but I think we've had other mornings that were just as cold, or colder, with no problems, so... But anyways, we are not going to die of dehydration today...! :)

More week from hell...

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse -- I woke up this morning to discover that we have no water. Now, whether that's because it's frozen or because the levels are very low due to lack of rain, I don't know, but thankfully Greg came home last night, as I can now take his car into town and buy some water... :(

Week from Hell

Thank god the week is finally nearly over...

On Monday, I had a little accident -- nobody was injured, but I collided with the people who live across the road from me just around the corner from here -- and my car is no longer drivable... So I am currently bidding on a new (to me) car on eBay -- please keep your fingers crossed that nobody outbids me! RIP Sunshine... :(


So then, of course, because I don't have a car to get anywhere, the heating oil somehow runs out earlier than I should, and despite repeated phone calls, the oil company takes over 48 hours to deliver the oil to me, so I have been a bit chilly...

In other news, Baz has started putting up the fence -- it's looking good!


The chickens learned that the fence is just something that they can ignore at will:


And Special K had fun exploring the inside of one of the bones I used to make beef stock with:


Oh -- and have a look at this article on the BBC web site -- Llandeilo is the town where I do most of my regular shopping -- it's a really nice place!

New Lambs!

Okay, they are not mine, but check out the size of these twin premature lambs that were born to my next door neighbours this morning -- they are so small!


In other news, the other day I was in town and Greg said we were out of beef stock cubes -- and then I thought, why buy stock cubes when I can make stock? So I went to the butcher where they gave me this huge bag of beef bones FOR FREE -- when I got home Greg weighed it -- over 8 lbs!


I also started swatching for my latest knitting project but am having a bit of a problem: The pattern states that the gauge should be 30 stitches/22 rows = 4" -- so I have washed and dried my swatch and it measures 6" across (stitches) and only 3.5" high (rows) -- so what do I do??? Any help would be much appreciated... Isn't the yarn lovely and beautiful though?!