Shopping

Today I went shopping in Ledbury, adding to the supplies, getting some hen and cat food, stocking up on toiletries from The Apothecary Shop and on food from Handley Organics and The Co op. 

The Co op had a rather sad looking reduced bunch of flowers, so I bought them as a little treat for myself. 

After I'd unpacked all the shopping and put it away I went for a walk and also picked some Snowdrops. 

And here are the results 😊

Hop Pocket crafts

We had a great afternoon out this week at The Hop Pocket, just up the road from Compost Mansions.

We met up with friends, had an excellent lunch and then did some shopping. I purchased some new clothes (as very little now fits me due to losing so much weight *grin*)






and I also bought Compostgirl a few items in the sale. Wow! She looks so great in them! But ... How did I get such a grown up daughter? Lol. Such a great role model for the younger ones she mentors at school and as a Young Leader at Brownies and

Trip to Monmouth.

I had a busy day today, I took Compostgirl to the stables for a day of riding and then I headed into Hereford to return various stuff and then drove to Monmouth. I took the back road from Hereford and was rewarded with a spectacular view of snow topped Welsh mountains.

I love Monmouth and would like to live there one day. I went to the Craft Fair which was held in the Town Hall. I met up with the lovely Emma from Ffolkyffelt and we chatted for a while and discussed various upcoming events. I also bought a beautiful felted fairy as a gift for Compostgirl - who has hung it up in her bedroom.

I popped into Waitrose and picked up a few bits of food and took advantage of their free coffee and newspaper offer using my Waitrose card. I then ate my lunch in the car. I always carry food in the car in a rucksack, just in case I can't find anything I want to eat when I am out and about. It is a bit harder to eat out when I can't eat dairy or gluten as so much of the food on offer is bread based. So I always have a light meal's worth of food handy just in case I can't find something I can eat.


Then it was home to collect Compostgirl from the Stables, lock up the chickens and settle down for the evening in front of the fire.

Busy day with a trip to Hereford.

Up early today and got cracking with chores, then went into Hereford  with a very long shopping list. I need a new wind and waterproof coat as my old one leaks and is now hanging off me. So I had a look around the various outdoor clothing shops and found one I liked, which was in the Sales with a substantial discount on it, so I bought it. 

 I had a wander around the Cathedral for a bit, I love Hereford Cathedral

And I also had a wander around the streets surrounding the Cathedral - this is the High Street looking away from the Cathedral precinct.

I then got on with more shopping, all things I needed but I did look at a few "wants" while I was there :)

Home, to do a bit outside while there was still light and then do the normal evening chores. Bed early as I was very tired after my long day out :)

Saturday stuff

Up and busy around the house and garden this morning - very cold but lovely and sunny :) I put Lilac hen outside with the other girls to enjoy the sunshine and she pottered around with them in the garden. She is very thin  and very slow, though ...

The other big girls are laying well so I collected 4 eggs from them and one of the Serama pullets is also laying an egg nearly every day so thank you Mandy ( I think)

Later, after lunch I brought Lilac inside the house and then Compostgirl and I went to Hereford for a shopping trip, collecting a friend of Compostgirl's on the way. They went off and had a look around and I did clothes returning and then book buying, using up loads of money saved up on my loyalty card. Two "free" Robin Hobb books to get stuck into later this week AFTER I have done my tax return I think! We met up for hot chocolate and cake ( them) and coffee for me.

Home (via friend's house to drop her off) to a beef casserole cooked by Compostman while we were out and a sit by the fire to watch TV. Compostgirl and I enjoyed "The Voice" and then we all watched a "Father Brown" we had recorded earlier in the week.


I need to get on with crochet and sewing as I have realised that in another few weeks it will be time to start the seed sowing/chitting/plant propagation etc etc and then I will not have time! Eeek where has the winter gone? 

Day out with friends

Today Compostgirl and I had a lovely day out with friends Maria and her two children.  Compostman stayed at home and did ...stuff ( I don't know what he did, but he says he enjoyed himself)

We went out to lunch at a local pub ( The Bunch of Carrots) which I have mentioned before and which does an amazing carvery. I had roasted meats and loads of veg (cabbage/cauli/green beans) and roast parsnips. When I went to order and started to ask about gluten free options the waiter immediately offered me "naked" cauli (the cauli on offer was in a cheese sauce with wheat in) and the offer of gf gravy and a gf Yorkshire pud! I declined the Yorkshire pud but it was so nice to be asked rather than having to quiz the staff about it :) .

Compostgirl and the other two children were intrigued by the concept of a Dessert Trolley and had pudding while M and I had excellent coffee.

After that we went into Hereford and had a bit of a shopping trip - the children went off together to mooch around the new Old Market shopping complex while M and I looked in M & S and various other shops.

We ended up with a short trip to Sainsburys where I stocked up with stuff we had run out of.

Got home at 7 pm after a very enjoyable day. Compostman had very kindly had put the hens to bed and made a fresh pot of tea :)

I have spent the rest of the evening crocheting and sewing and am off to bed now. We need to be up early tomorrow for Archery !

Sunny Saturday

Today was a busy day. I felt a little more human today so after getting up, having breakfast, shower etc I did the Ginger Hen Gang, put on a load of washing and stripped our bed. Compostgirl did her bed and tidied and vacuumed her room and cleaned the bathroom (these are her regular jobs, along with her guinea pigs and feeding the birds)
 
I cut Compostman's hair - he looked much tidier after! I also deep cleaned one of the hen houses and put new fresh bedding inside ( more on that, later) while Compostman did some more work to the Pink Bedroom.


Then after lunch we went out on a trip out, to do with my birthday present. We went to Malvern and on the way we passed signs for a Wildlife Trust Bluebell Day. I thought about how none of our Bluebells were anywhere near flowering

We did our birthday shopping, went to a Supermarket  and then came home


Compostman and I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening doing lots of outside work, I mowed some grass and moved hen runs and houses around and watered the polytunnel plants. Compostman dug some of the veg patch and also did a bit of this, watched by bemused members of the Ginger Gang ( Marjoram and Titch, here)

(can you guess what my Birthday present is, yet?)

In the late afternoon sunshine we had a cup of tea outside and I went and had a look around the garden. And concluded that yes, Spring was finally here!

The Magnolias are in full bloom and unusually they are flowering at the same time as the Damson, Rivers Early Plum AND the Victoria Plum!

Lots of Cowslips and Daffodils including Pheasants Eye which I love.

And finally! Finally the Fritillaries are in bloom :-)

No apple blossom out yet so I do not know if we will have a good display for the May Bank Holiday "Blossomtime" event here, but at least we have blossom on the plum trees and have had no night frosts - so maybe this year we will see some plums on the trees.

 And when I walked in the wood at dusk what did I see but - the first of the Bluebells flowering :-)

A very long and tedious day out.

Today I had to take my car into Hereford early for an MOT and service - so I took the chance to do some unaccompanied shopping in the morning rather than come home.  I was expecting my car to be finished with by about 1 pm, but then found it would take several more hours, but not long enough to make it worth driving home in the courtesy car and then back again. So I went to do more shopping...just for fun and to kill time.

What a mistake!

How can people do this, every weekend? or even every day? for fun? I was SO sick of shops, and crowds and noise by the end of the day!

Still, I got some good finds from the morning session in the charity shops, several books I wanted, a book I REALLY wanted, which was brand new...(!) plus a few things for the house which have been on my shopping list for some time, but had not got around to looking for. I also managed to find a couple of presents for Compostman and Compostgirl - for Christmas and for Cg's birthday ( next week - eek)

But I was SO glad to get my own car back and drive home - to sit in front of the fire, with a hot cup of tea and my family ( human and cat :-) )

Bliss!

I have an ad on my blog

Some of the sharper eyes amongst you may have noticed I have an ad up on my blog, linking to The Recycle Works. I have been a big fan of them for a long time: I use their wooden compostbins which work REALLY well and was impressed that they were made of FSC timber and were NOT treated with nasty CCA wood preservetives. So far I have used the bins for 6 years and they are still going strong! I have ordered many items from them and have ALWAYS been impressed with their products and services.

One of the very kind things they did was to donate a childrens wooden compost bin to my local school fete as a "Build an Compost Bin" competition prize. So when they launched an Affiliates scheme a few days ago I was very happy to ask if I could join!


This is what The Recycle Works has to say about itself

"The Recycle Works Limited was established in 1995 by Sylvia Hopwood. The Company set out to address the matter of recycling within the family and in particular recycling Organic Waste. Separation of Organic Waste prevents poisonous leachate and monoxides from forming when in contact with the various metals in the waste stream. The Scientists do not really know, but these poisons may contaminate the earth for hundreds of years.

We are fortunate to live and work in a beautiful part of the country in the Ribble Valley and on the doorstep of Britain’s only European Designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, The Forest of Bowland We are also particularly aware of, and only buy raw materials with accreditation to Fair Trade, FSC wood, and sourcing of European woods from well managed and sustainable forests.

You are safe with our secure on-line ordering system, see our Terms & Conditions. We will never pass on your details to a third party Privacy Statement. The Recycle Works is continually developing the range of products and adding good, new and innovative items. We manufacture many of the products we sell. This gives us a unique range of items to offer to you. We also address separation and sorting items.

Main Product Groups:

* Home Composting
* EM (Effective MicroOrganisms) & Healthy Living
* Vermicomposting
* Organic Gardening
* The Magic Range
* Kitchen Waste Recycling
* Water Recycling
* Sorting Waste "

So, IF you want to shop at The Recycle Works, if you clink on the linky here, and buy something from them, I will get some commission. It's that simple, I don't get any details about you or anything, I just get a bit of credit from them for being the means by which you went to shop with them....