Oliver Boliver

Can everything really taste like chicken - even if you are a chicken?

David and I were sat enjoying a nice cold beer in the garden, catching the last of the sun and watching the chickens lazily peck peck pecking away at anything that catches their beady unblinkered attention. Suddenly Sue chicken burst into a sprint which Usain Bolt would be proud of and started to hurtle around the garden closely followed in a Benny Hill like fashion by Pam, Paula and Brenda. Sue had happened upon an unfortunate frog and had it clasped firmly in her vice like beak, legs dangling in the early evening sunlight. Not wishing to share this tasty luxury with her peers she greedily decided that the only option was to run.

And run she did.

This way and that way, a side step here, dodge a chicken there, round the dog, under, over, through. She managed to shake off Brenda, who quite typically in her namesake's fashion, had decided to the buck the trend and go shopping. Paula decided it wasn't worth the chase which left Pam still in the game. One false chicken footing and Sue lost her edge. In swooped Pam Schumacher snapping at the frog's legs and took the prize and the lead! Round and round went Pam, round and round went Sue until finally and graciously (or sorts) they decided that they were both winners and would share the prize. In the shade of the apple tree Kermit found his last resting place as Pam and Sue did him justice.

The question is whether in the roost review that night if Brenda and Paula, the losers in the frog foray, nervously asked the winners whether Kermie could possibly taste like chicken.....?

A fishy in a (not so) little dishy

Moving day for the fish has finally arrived.

I had intended to do it all properly by ushering him into a polythene bag and then floating it on the top of the new aquarium enabling him to explore his new pad in his own time.  Instead, he was fast tracked and poured liberally out of a pyrex measuring jug into his des res!

He was a bit quiet for an hour or two but can now be seen gleefully motoring around his new home as if he owns the place.

The only thing is he appears to be turning a silvery colour from his belly upwards. I'm thinking he was probably already like this and I'm now just noticing it under the scrutiny of his halogen phased disco lighting. He's just so this season, I can't keep up!

Broody Brenda Chicken

Oh no - Brenda's gone all broody!

I've forcibly ejected her from the nesting box twice in the last 2 hours and she was pretty non-plussed.  I can't quite work out the dynamics but suspect that the other girls are squeezing in beside her, popping an egg out and then she's keeping it warm for them! In fact they're so warm I think they're almost starting to cook!

She's still laying for the moment but I'll have to have a search on t'internet tomorrow and see what I can do to snap her out of it.

Sold - subject to contract

6 weeks ago I decided in my usual whimsicle fashion to treat our long suffering goldfish to a new tank.  Sarah won him at Sale fair last year and to be honest I didn't think he'd see the week out.

However, he's clearly made of sturdy stuff and one year later he's managed to see off a series of unfortunate events including 3 determined cats trying their paws out at goldfish tickling. Sadly for him he's been living in the fish equivalent of a bed sit and I thought now's the time to treat him to something more along the lines of city living. Smooth clean lines, halogen spot lighting complete with moonlight phases and finally, (although probably higher on his list of priorities than mine) a filter.

I did my research and despite its critism I sourced a Biorb life. A perfect batchelor pad. (Please don't mention to him there'll be no opportunity to have any moonlight swims with the fairer sex.)  My research included how to avoid new tank syndrome.

6 weeks later and he's still not moved tanks. We sit looking at the shiny batchelor pad minus fish. I'm hopeless and just can't decide whether it's ok for him to move yet and whether the "fishless cycling" thing has worked. I'm going crazy with chemical testing kits and pondering over the exact pigment colour of the test result.

Maybe, I'll relent and release the keys to him tomorrow?

Meet Daniel

I've put the finishing touches to my my knitted dog and apart from a few tweaks which I'll make to the next litter of pups, I'm happy with him.  He's about 7inches tall (5inches when sitting) and is knitted with Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in white. His jumper is knitted with Rowan Cotton Glace in blue and green and he's stuffed with toy stuffing which conforms with BS1425, BS5852 and EN71.

As you can see, he is very well behaved and will "sit" and "stay" for as long as want him to. I'm still working on him fetching my slippers!

Confessions of a guilty mummy

I've committed the worse act a mother can do......  I remember my mother doing the same thing when I was little an things were never the same ever again...... I had no choice, I swear....

Okay - I'll confess......

I put Blue Bear in the washing machine and ..... switched it on!

I had to. It was covered in sick so I really had no choice. Really.

I nearly got away with it until beady eyed Oliver Boliver spotted him pinned to the washing rack. On drying poor old Blue Bear got the cold shoulder from picky old Oliver.

I wonder if leaving fresh & crisp fragranced Blue Bear at the bottom of washing basket for a week might help?

 

If chicken pox is the question - could a knitted Daniel Spaniel be the answer?

Poor old Oliver Boliver. I was very unsympathetic a few days ago when he was very grumbly and generally winge-ing a lot. Turns out he was harbouring chicken pox all along.... Poor little fella! He's surprisingly very high spirited and hasn't seem to notice the spots appearing exponentially before our eyes, all over his little body - yet..... We'll stock up on calamine lotion tomorrow and hopefully it will all be over soon.

 

Maybe Daniel Spaniel might cheer him up although I've got to get his legs right first. He's just a body and a head at the moment so he looks a little ghoulish.