Where did January go?!

I will tell you where it went...

It went in working and then in being ill with flu.

Not much fun.

Not really what I left the hell hole of the UK for either. Something is going to have to be done and, being who I am, something WILL be done. The work/life balance needs to be redressed.

My surrogate family

The young boy was ill, his sister makes him smile

Father and Son part 1

Father and Son part 2

The gift bread, with the prize baked in it

My pictures go back to New Years Eve and a lovely wonderful evening had with The Little Lady, Usmivka, The Special One and The Other Brother and family. I even tried to video Usmivka and The Other Brother dancing but didn't hit record so that went away unfortunately. It was a lovely night and the last time I've really let myself appreciate being here.

New year, clean chicken house

The ducks using the pond

Cooking the right way

Thelma and Louise on the edge

Louise at high speed

Louise just before being at high speed

A cleaned out the chicken shed, with me providing the clean hay. This time the old hay was spread around the base of the trees in the orchard which was a great idea, apart from the chickens went up there and scratched it all out again. This winter has been very mild, we had a little skiffle of snow which meant I could take the puppies up onto the headland for a run - I do love walking in the snow. They had a great time, I don't think Louise stopped running. Getting outside is such a rarity for me right now, it was a perfect moment for sure.

Plucked chicken

Processing in our sink

Louise didn't want them, but wouldn't let Thelma have them

The bird, roasted for our dinner

One night I heard a load of flapping and squawking while I was asleep so I dashed onto the balcony and made a load of noise. By the time we got to the chicken house, which had been left open by accident, we found one drowned chicken in the pond and a bunch of others that were outside. After some chasing we got them all inside and locked up; we reckon maybe a cat got in and chased the poor girl into the water and she couldn't get back out. The Little Lady helped clean and butcher her, with Louise getting the giblets and stopping Thelma from even looking at them, and then that weekend we had our own chicken for dinner. It was pretty good - at least you know there were no chemicals in it.

Finally I was in the UK the other week (where I got ill) and my colleague visited us here before we flew to Manchester. It was lovely to show him around, though he was so battered from the flight I do wonder how much enjoyment he managed to get. The trip to the UK was good, I got to see some very special friends and took some good pictures but my phone is not letting me transfer them onto the computer. Gutted.

No filter - the red moon

I'll leave you with this picture of the moon, so red as it rose the other night. We've both been so ill, we're both still ill, and I'm sorry this has been such a delayed post and now it is written it is hardly filled with the joys of life. As I said in my opening remarks this overwork cannot continue and so it will not.