Excuses excuses

I made a promise to myself that I would do my very bestest to blog a little more often than I have of late, its obvious I haven't adhered to this promise (thankfully I only made it to myself) and have in fact blogged less....OH DEAR!
It's not that the intention isn't there, I have a camera/phone on the verge of combustion from all the photographs I take with the intention of boring you all to death.
I have blamed my recent lack of posts on many things, including bloggers block (still not sure if there is such a thing) Iv'e also used lack of time and inspiration as an excuse, but to be perfectly honest I have come to realise it's just plain old fashioned laziness.
Plenty has happened since my last post but the time lapse has blurred things a little and everything is out of sync but I'll try and do a super quick catch up for anyone out there who is still remotely interested!

we had a little trip to the big smoke

We've been busy in our little plot

and enjoying the fruits of our labour.

Iv'e been busy with the hook

and the glue

and there have been one or two thrifty finds

There has also been a small matter of a 13th birthday  but I'll save that for next time.

thanks to everyone who has stayed tuned! xxx

Summer Lovin

I absolutely bloomin love the sunshine, and here in sheffield we have had it by the bucket load, but not before time!

It's been like heaven arriving home from work and enjoying my afternoon cuppa in our little secret part of the garden.

essential reading material

summer in a glass

equally delicious

The garden has really come in to it's own this year and things are maturing nicely, some parts of the garden are lacking in colour at the moment but with a little tweaking here and there, this time next year everything should be looking the way I'd like.

Unfortunately the sun seems to have done a runner and it's back to cloud and grey skies with a rumble of thunder threatened for later on this week.

Hope you  enjoyed the sunshine while it lasted.

: )  x

A quick Hello

Things have been very quiet around here of late, the Easter break has passed by in a flash and it's now back to business as usual.
We didn't have much time off together this holiday so didn't venture very far, besides the weather here in Sheffield has been dire, feeling more like winter than spring, much like everywhere I suspect.
 Little H is at an age where he wants to spend time with his friends, doing what typical 12 (nearly 13) year old boys want to do, it seems me and the Mr have to fit around his plans these days!

We did have a run out to Matlock and had a lovely walk around the park followed by a mooch around the shops (much to little H's annoyance) Vintage Living and Rewirks are two 'new to me' places, I knew I was going to love them before I had even set foot inside.
Rewirks is a lovely little place filled with lots of interesting bits and bobs, it's a perfect mix of vintage  and hand made, just the kind of place I daydream about owning one day.
Vintage Living is packed to the rafters with everything you could ever want in your home......

 including the kitchen sink

No day out for us is complete without lunch so not wishing to break the habit of a lifetime we headed to the Old Smithy at Beeley for lunch, followed by ice creams in the car (it was far too cold to eat them outside!!!)

Fast forward a couple of weeks and at last Spring seems to have found it's way to Sheffield and our little plot has finally come to life.

Mr. H  dragged out the deck chairs and we enjoyed a well earned cuppa in our secret garden.

taken last year round about this time

Hope you are having some ☀☀☀ where you are

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

Time has been a little tight over the last few weeks but I have managed to put a few new bits and bobs in my Etsy shop (blatant self promotion I know) just in time for dare I say it....Christmas!

If you look at this picture from a distance it looks as though the cheeks are evil eyes hehehe!

how cute are the little envelopes containing the beads and buttons.

Speaking of the C word, I spotted these at a local antique centre a couple of weekends ago for £4, they will adorn our tree along with our ever growing collection.

It doesn't half feel strange talking about Christmas when we have had such glorious weather recently. I found these photos on the camera that Mr. H took a couple of weeks ago

As you can probably see our garden is seriously lacking in colour at this time of year, (this is something we are working on) but boy you should see it in Spring.

HERE COME THE GIRLS

Well they have finally arrived!
May I introduce you to three new members of the Hotchpotch household.
They are battery rescue hens but have been living in a barn for a few weeks so don't look nearly as bad as I thought they would.
They have been with us now exactly two weeks and are settling in really well. Even in such a short space of time they are looking so much better, their combs have started to colour up as they were very pale when they first arrived and their missing feathers are just starting to grow back.


This is Bob, little H's hen. I have no idea why he chose this name but has stuck with it since we talked about getting chickens yonks ago so Bob it is.

She is a funny old girl, quite timid and doesn't really like to be handled.
she prefers to have a nest box to herself and perches perilously close to the edge and combined with the slight rocking motion looks in danger of falling off.

This is Hirsty, Mr. H's hen and named after his footballing idol David Hirst.

She is the pretties one of the lot and definitely the friendliest, she's forever around your feet and loves to be stroked.
I'm secretly wishing I had picked her now!


....and last but not least my girl,Dame Judi named after the lovely Judi Dench who I adore.

she is the ugliest and scrawniest of the lot,(Obviously no reflection on the real Dame Judi) most of the feathers around her neck and chest were missing when she arrived but they are starting to grow back and she has the most comical clump of feathers growing back, which makes her look as though she's sporting a badly fitting toupe!
She is the first one out of the shed every morning and always ready to make her escape given half a chance, she hates being handled and no way will she let you stroke her she's also the most destructive... trust me to pick the most badly behaved bird!

We didn't manage to get the run made in time for their arrival due to the appalling weather but Mr. H managed to get the shed ready which as it turns out wasn't in as good a condition as we thought and in fact had a whopping great hole at the back which we had failed to noticed because of all the junk we had piled in, but with a few bits of old wood and a few nails here and there they had somewhere cozy to spend their first night.






We managed to build the run between the showers the day after they arrived and although it needs a little fine tuning it's secure enough to be able to leave them out during the day while we are at work.
I'm thinking some sort of roof would be a good idea as it's a complete mud bath up there at the moment with all this rain we've been having.

Still not sure how Brucie feels about their arrival, he doesn't appear to be aggressive towards them and there has been no showing of the teeth, although I'm sure Iv'e seen him licking his lips!!!

They have been a great addition to our family albeit a lot dirtier and untidy than I thought - not to mention the smell and the (how shall I put it politely?) manure, they are actually like babies and spend all day eating drinking and producing copious amounts of poo!
Despite all this I still look forward to getting up each morning to feed and water them (actually Mr. H does this) and to check the nest boxes for eggs. So far we have been getting an egg each day which is perfect for us and yesterday I was able to give our lovely neighbours some for their breakfast.
As for the poo I'm sure our compost bins will be all the better for it!

and it's such a good eggscuse to do a bit of baking!!!