24 May 2010

Apologies for not updating the website for so long, hopefully the news and photos dating back to 5 February will bring you up to speed! We are now enjoying the warm weather before we jet off to Italy for the summer!

22 May 2010

Recently, Cissy, one of our battery hens decided to move out! She is getting far more treats around at a neighbour's house so doesn't come back to see us very often and doesn't sleep here anymore! Kids eh!

With this in mind, Chloe and the children went across the county yesterday to a farm specialising in hens. They came back with a stunning Black Rock called Minny (Minerva), a beautiful Bluebell called Lavender, and a pretty little Light Sussex called Luna. For those of you with good memories you'll remember we had a hen called Luna before, but as she was technically Malfoy from the start, and as Luna is such a cool name for a white hen we're using it again. Here's a photo of them (in the order above) settling into life in Cottesmore.

12 May 2010

Joshua is 4 today! He is so delighted to finally be 4, as he has been counting down for over 6 months (I guess that happens when you're one of the youngest in the class!).

He enjoyed his birthday with presents and cake and then his party at Monkey Maze the following weekend with 10 friends, more cake and more presents.

Thanks to everyone for the terrific presents, there hasn't been a minutes boredom in the house since he opened them.

8 May 2010

Joshua took part in a gymnastics competition today, really enjoyed himself and got a medal for taking part!

29 April 2010

Emily has just finished the second of two performances in the local theatre this week. Her entire school put on a production of Music from the Musicals and Films and were excellent. Emily and her class were performing songs from The Sound of Music and she really enjoyed herself, remembering all the words and actions! Well done Emily!

25 April 2010

A weekend away in Dublin. Chloe and Emily went to the theatre to see Disney Live's 'Three Classic Fairy Tales'. It was excellently done and Emily loved every magical moment! While the girls were at the theatre Paul and Joshua went to the cinema to watch 'How to Train your Dragon' with their 3D glasses! Cool was the word Joshua used when he came out!

17 April 2010

Emily took part in an Irish Dancing Feis (pronounced fesh) today. She enjoyed it and was given three medals for effort. Considering she has only been having lessons since January we were all very proud of her for doing her best and not seeming at all nervous.

14 April 2010

Another shock death in the flock. This time it was Malfoy who had seemed totally healthy until we found him first thing this morning lying on the floor of the hen house. He died 10 minutes later. The most likely cause is a virus, frequently brought to Ireland and the UK at this time of year by returning migratory starlings. He will be sadly missed as he was our only rooster and such a great character, keeping his girls under control and making the rest of us smile with his antics!

12 April 2010

We have just had a lovely visit from Phil and Carol. The weather was warm and sunny so we enjoyed time in the garden, the park, and horse riding.

26 March 2010

Paul's back takes a turn for the worst and he ends up heavily medicated and on a waiting list for surgery! More news to follow...

17 March 2010

12 March 2010

Emily is awarded 'Star of the Week' trophy and certificate for being the best pupil in her class this week! She was complimented on the effort she has put into improving her handwriting.

23 February 2010

Sadly we had to have Tonks put down today. She had been suffering from an injured leg for the past few weeks and yesterday her other leg gave up being able to support her weight. There was nothing the vet could do.

22 February 2010

Chloe and Paul enjoy an evening at the snooker, meeting Denis Taylor and Steve Davis.

14 February 2010

We have just had a lovely visit from Kate and Dave. The kids took to him straight away and he was a natural with them.

5 February 2010

We have decided to rename one of our hens. Due to recent developments (namely loud cock-a-doodle-doos and a healthy interest in Ginny) we have changed Luna's name to Malfoy. He is the same shocking white colour as Draco's hair so it fits him perfectly.

As he only has two girls to look after, not the original four we had planned to keep, Chloe went on a quest to find an additional two for our flock. The choice was easy - we were offered the chance to re-home two ex-battery hens who are only 14 months old but were due to be disposed of. Although very much the worse for wear due to their ordeal they will recover and start laying in time. Malfoy is already doing a great job of protecting them.

We have named them Belatrix and Narcissa as they are both strange (nicknamed Trixy and Cissy).

Please think of Trixy and Cissy next time you are buying eggs and make the humane choice to buy free-range. They are a bit more expensive, but no animal should have to suffer as these girls have done.

1 February 2010

Joshua is out of nappys and proudly sporting Spider-man pants! After only a week of getting rid of the nappies he was accident free! He then decided to stop wearing nappies overnight, and after a couple of weeks with the odd accident he has been consistantly dry ever since! Well done Joshua!

30 January 2010

Joshua starts gymnastics lessons! He has taken over Emily's place as her attention is now firmly focussed on riding and Irish dancing. Joshua could make a good gymnast, as he fearlessly throws himself around, if only he could stand still long enough to listen to the instructions!

27 January 2010

Emily starts Irish dancing lessons! Every Wednesday evening (until 7pm!) Emily is now to be found dancing! It is more like a youth club as for an hour and a half, the girls (and a few boys) take it in turns to dance, then chat to their friends while watching the other dancers. She now has her own pair of 'poms' (dancing shoes), and is thoroughly enjoying it. All visitors can look forward to a performance when they come over!

9 January 2010

Emily starts horse riding lessons and takes to it like a duck to water! It's amazing to see how relaxed she is riding 'her' pony, the pride we feel just about makes up for the weekly requests for a pony of her own!

1 January 2010

Happy New Year! We had a lovely evening, seeing the new year in with Selina, drinking, laughing and eating into the early hours. Thank you for coming over to join us B!

We wish everyone a happy and healthy 2010!

28 December 2009

Merry Christmas to everyone. We had a wonderfully relaxing Christmas this year. We had a white Christmas, then a shower of rain on Christmas morning turned the surface of the snow to ice, so we spent the next 3 days iced in. As we were unable to even drive to the end of our road, this added to the fun of Christmas as it meant we had no choice but to curl up by the fire with our new gifts.