Bella plays

wee dog at the farm playing with a hoop toy. frosty chilly day

car update

I did manage to sell the little Corsa the first weekend in December. very glad about that.. this Vectra is 17 yrs old .. its now developed a slight fuel problem and bunny hops as you drive... eeeek... coming up to Christmas week means there's no chance of getting it fixed till early January.
it was really bad on Sunday though I managed to get it to the farm and call out the AA rescue service who changed the spark plugs, its better but not cured. its also been to a local garage but no time to get it fixed. 
''luckily'' (??) I have driven old bangers most of my life so babying the car past a bit of bunnyhopping is almost second nature.. I know people who call out the rescue services for less... haha...

found a good blog to read

THE SMALL THINGS: The Making of Mistakes: ‘Make mistakes,’ is one of my war cries. Embrace your mistakes, cherish your mistakes, lean in to your mistakes, because it is only...

I'm not a salesperson

to update on ''car overload'' .. https://clairesgarden.blogspot.com/2018/09/car-overload.html

I am still a two car owner. I advertised the larger one and only got two offers to swap it for equally large , expensive to run, other cars.. now if I have to keep a big car at least I know whats been fixed and what hasn't on this one.
the smaller car was advertised and drew a phone call, a text message or an email .. approximately every five minutes for a week. even at 3am..... two people did look at it when I offered to take the car to them... but never called back after ''thinking about it'' and lots of other people engage in furious messaging sessions.. never actually call to talk. arrange to look at it and DONT' TURN UP.

I have removed advert . I'll put it back up later this week and specify to view on Saturday morning only.....

''rain rain go away...'' reposted from 7 years ago.

I love the uspside down reflections in the drops.

the mystery plant turns into a Knifophia, its a tight clump which probably needs to be separated out a bit more as there was only this one flower. this was a rescue from a garden that was bought by someone who wanted to changed things. my other rescue was a Jacobs Ladder in white, now I'll need to get a blue one too....

this is a cultivated vegetable bed, honest... looks a bit like a jungle!! this is peas and beans, but there is only one bean stalk...in the foreground, I planted them twice and didn't get any growth from them at all. this photograph looks a funny shade/tone, it seems greener in real life, but its earlyish and very gloomy cloud. also I think my camera is possibly on its way out.... the disadvantage of electronic stuff I suppose. or maybe its my computer screen? also possibly on its way out... it took about half an hour to get into my emails this morning.

top right is snap pea Sugar Ann which I've been eating for a couple of weeks. not quite ready for eating are left-Alderman is which is the very tall pea, it was trying to grow along the washing line but got blown off and beaten down in our lovely summer weather.... and right-Waverex. they'll be ready soon.

This post was made on the 13th August 2011. Seven years ago but seems longer. I no longer have the garden or a good camera to record things with. I'm sitting inside with  my view of chimney pots on the roof of the nextdoor house and looking at the rain. Very heavy rain yesterday and today , so nothing going on to post about . Enjoy old memories, glad I have them to look back on. 

NEW ZEALAND -A TIME LAPSE OF NATURE-

a friend sent this to me.. sharing .. just stunning.

loving watching the ideas for van living.

car overload

 Corsa versus Vectra..... one was purchased while the other was being fixed, and I can only keep one. and I really like them both. both old. both drive really well.. adverts being created for both and the first one to sell will go and the other will stay... 

photos are misbehaving in this post.. I don't know why.

the MOP has been CROPPED

 EEEEEEEEEK

and its done. xx
 my friend is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer. just so she doesn't feel alone.. my hair is gone too. I've been raising money with sponsorship and the link to that is in the post below. I'll try to copy it up here.

Crop the Mop

on 10th September I am having my hair cut off... buzzed off, not shaved... to support a friend who has cancer and is being treated with chemotherapy which causes hair loss.
she is being supported by a charity called Breast Cancer Care so I am asking for sponsorship donations for this charity. photos to follow...
this is a link to Just Giving where you can make a donation for which I thank you .

playing with ponies

building blocks....
training from the ground up.
its not all about riding, its getting used to different things, its accepting that when you're asked to walk past something scary you can trust the rider and go...
she's learning trust, sometimes very sceptical...

sunny summer

having a great lead horse is so important in training others. I appreciate everyone who has taken the time to help me. Quince did not leave the farm environment till she was 9 and then spent two years in a quiet out of town place though she did get used to cars and bikes there. for the last six months she has had to get used to going past houses and people, and all the mad things they do. scaffolding to re -roof, cutting grass and hedges, washing cars, putting up new fences and just as she gets used to that they paint it a different colour. a childrens play park and the children who run screaming to see a horse. .... just beyond the houses we have lovely off road paths to wander, only a few miles but I love it.
on the subject of houses... I am still camping in my daughters spare room. I sorted through some boxes this week that have been packed in a hurry in various places over the years. there was a few surprises in there. I got from six boxes down to four, a bag of stuff for the charity shop and some stuff to sell on ebay. and a few good finds to use, some t-shirts and a waterproof jacket. I need those.
I'm not feeling too great today. I came home from work early last night not feeling well. either sun-stroke , food poisoning or a combination of them both. I left Quince to cool down before getting a feed.. myself? I was rushed into the farmhouse and given a wonderful lunch containing a lot of mayonnaise , eggs, cream , fruit.... I usually don't eat that much during the day particularly before going to work as I have heavy duties to do.
and my work has a policy that if you have been ill you cannot have an extra shift. so I am not allowed to work the shift that was an extra today.. that leaves them short staffed and me short of money.

reposting from 12 years ago.. 12 !! ''Sunday morning''

this little black viola has self seeded. these are meant to be edible but its too pretty to pick.
Cerinthe major purpurescens, grown from seed.. I am sure I planted seeds for a yellow one as well but they have not appeared yet.

sweet pea 'Borderline' , lovely colour and good scent too. there's no point in haveing them unless they're good and smelly!
this is a funny plant, Parahebe perfoliata, common name - diggers speedwell, its kind of spidery and creepy with these lovely little sprays of flowers.
and here's the cold frame still full of stuff which should have been planted out by now? and I do believe there's a fine crop of dandelions growing up the front of it too.....
I am going to an open garden this afternoon so will hopefully have some nice pictures from that to put on through the week.

fat shiny pony

summers here with dry weather. lots of buttercups in the field. .. looks pretty but not really what you want . still plenty of grass as all ponies putting weight on.
looking forward to a week of warm weather so I might give Quince a bath, not sure what she'll think of that.,,, got some citronella shampoo that helps to keep the flies off.

trailer loading

my aim is for Quince to stay calm. there's a net of hay hung inside so she can eat in there .

horse care article

feeling a bit down today, found this article to read and its given me a bit of hope for the day.

http://www.soulfulequine.com/natural-horse-care-principles/

took a nice bit of video of our loading practice yesterday and I'll get it on here tonight or tomorrow.
a wee photo to be going on with. 💗

to go in the trailer

a bit dark but a record of out practice. Quince is not fond of small spaces. if I want to take her on outings then she needs to learn to tavel in this box to tow on the road. a friend very kindly took the time to bring her trailer down so we could walk through... its okay walking in but a panic starts at midway and Quince just wants to get out and quickly... so we spent an hour just walking through till she could do that calmly. I used a clicker to mark good moments and treated with pony nuts.
hopefully get another practice soon.

to see the sea

a recent visit to friends in Dumfriesshire. we are looking over to Auchenlaire Caravan Park, but I forget the name of the viewpoint we are on. the car was parked close to the sea on a rocky beach, I thought briefly about dipping my toes in but too chilly.
there's a couple of little islands there, sure that I have kayaked this area in the past.

sleepy bees

a sleepy bumble bee on a  fencepost at the farm. the sun was shining and they are appearing here and there. there is a frost forecast for this weekend, I hope its not too cold for them.
the farm has a hive and honey bees look quite different. I haven't seen any of them yet.

snow to mud, cold

lots of snow. halted Scotland for four days... its all turned to mud now which Quince says is a much better thing...
I had booked a week off work, just as well as there would have been no getting there. I was meant to travel to visit friends but cancelled with the weather reports... we've re-arranged for a couple of days at  the end of the month.
the horses were out in the big field for the snow storm, with big round bales of hay and extra bins filled with water. there was no traveling to them either so they were left to the farm owner to check .
feelings are generally that winter is too long, too cold, and everyone is fed up.
the nights are getting lighter and hopefully it will warm up soon.

the dumbing down and poisoning

I read labels of food when I shop. sometimes having to choose between affordability and nutrition...
large conglomerates of shops leading the market with their products... not food... non food?
lemon curd as an example. homemade is eggs, lemons, sugar. butter.
Asda... a Walmart shop... er... none of those are in it....
and everything, it seems everything, has palm oil in it. bread, biscuits, peanut butter. like biting into blood....
shop local, shop health food stores... better for you but I can't afford it.
very grumpy about this.

to lighten my mood up a bit, the sun is shining and  I'm having a lazy day, watching Star Trek Voyager.

sunny but cold

the sun is shining on me and Luna the dog so we're snoozing.... the cats have not come back after the screeching over the laptop..
I've a bad cold so I'm slouching on the sofa with dogs and cats for company... and Sam, the cuddliest one, he nudges you just as you drink your coffee...  today he spilled it right over my laptop... oh my.
its taken a lot of drying and 20 minutes of system restore to get it back on... all seems to be working and files are calling up as usual,,, I'm going to leave it on now so that it keeps good and warm and hopefully any residual damp will be heated off. and I will back up files to a store later on too.. just a reminder of how easily things can be lost.
the weather is just winter yuck horrible, snow, that melts into muddy sludge, nice sunshine but freezing temperatures. I'm glad the nights are now showing a noticable difference in lightness.
photograph is of coffee in the bottom of my keepcup that was left in the car.. frozen solid !!