Rob's away down to Cheltenham at the cheese festival. He left last night, straight from work, and as you know, while the cat's away, the mice will play. Actually, in our case, while the husband's away the wife will sleep and the cats will have to paw her face to wake her so she can feed them. Curse these early morning beasts! The chickens aren't much better. There was an almighty scrabble in the eglu as I went to let them out: the sooner they can start letting themselves out the better.

In other news, it's quite sunny here and I finish teaching at 11, then it's off to Cheese Land for me too! Hurrah!!!!

It was D of E expedition this weekend, which is the subject for another post at another time, including the (not as thrilling as it sounds) tale of late-night rescues from hillsides and roadsides. We got back here at 6ish, and I was talking to Rob in the kitchen when I noticed it:

Me: Eurm - what's that?
Rob: [innocent like] What?
Me: That's a chest freezer!
Rob: Oh, that, well...
Me: How long have you been planning this for?
Rob: A while.
Me: And were you going to tell me?
Rob: I was looking for an opportune time to install it
Me: An opportune time? In other words, waited for a weekend while I was away? I'll give you opportune!!

It's a good job that buying and installing kitchen appliances is all he does at such opportune times. Mind you, this time last year he'd come home with a ling, so obviously September is the Boy Rob's month for silly purchases!

I wrote a post last night about being on duty in the House, and how it's different now I don't live there. The internet died just as I was about to press publish, which is a shame, as it was the most coherent writing I've done in a while. Maybe I'll try again later...

Avast me hearties, aaaaarggghhhhh!!

(here)

We have an egg, fresh from a chicken's bottom (or "vent" if we're using technical terms!) That's lunch sorted out!

The chickens have landed! We headed off this morning at ungodly o'clock to meet one of Rob's colleagues and her blokey somewhere over near Tutbury, the other side of Burton. We met their alpacas (very fluffy!) and their chickens, discussed fields and land management, and then got to choose our own cluckers. Now, at the moment, a chicken is a chicken is a chicken, so it caused a few moments of indecision when they asked which three we wanted. Luckily, they saw our confusion and chose three for us - a white one (a Sussex White crossed with a Cream Legbar); and two brown ones (one is a Buff Orpington cross, and the other is a Rhode Island Red cross). Luckily they all look different, so we can tell them apart. The only one with a name so far is the white one, who is Gwehenivere:



The oldest, and most adventurous, is this one, the Rhode Island Red cross:



The other brown chicken is a Buff Orpington cross, and she's younger (not yet laying) so has the potential to get bigger:



Clucks away!

It's now C-12 hours. The eglu has been put up in the wilderness at the end of the garden, complete with run assembled, and we pick our chickens tomorrow morning. Woooo!!

The next dilemma is what to call them. Let's face it, our name choices for the cats are bad enough! We've been toying with an "Arthur and Camelot" theme (Gw-hen-ivere, Sir Layalot, Eggscaliber, Arthur Hendragon...) but Rob's just suggested Fatso 1, Fatso 2, and Fatso 3, as an homage to the hamsters. I think there's a lot of milage in that! Or maybe Duck, Duck, Goose (a game much beloved by the Rainbows in the village). Any better suggestions from the audience?

Nice things about not being in the boarding house #475

I now get to have my lunchtimes to myself, rather than having to eat with the kids. Our kids are nice and generally very pleasant company, but lunch in the house takes up the whole of lunch hour. Now I have time to come home, eat, sit outside AND geek, all in the time it would take me to get through the first course in the House. Bonus!

It's been a tad damp here - so much so that the sky looked green, just at the moment before the heavens opened and the doors leaked - and I've a start-of-term cold beginning to creep in round the edges. It's much like Freshers' Flu, and is inevitable in a school where the kids come from across the world with such a fine selection of germs and diseases. All in all, it's not my most favourite Thursday of term so far. Harrumph.

Wireless is now back in place, and I'm able to sit anywhere in the flat - and even at the house end of the garden - and geek away to my heart's content. In other news, our eglu arrived yesterday, so just layers pellets to buy and we're ready for chickens. Wahay!

This weekend just gone was the debrief from GOLD (Guiding overseas linked with development). We got together with the other project teams (Fiji, Belarus, and Madagascar) and spent the weekend sharing tales, memories and photos. We also got to do some personal development work about where to go from here... I just wish I had more time (and was younger - so many things are unavailable for over 25s. Pah!). Photos are drifting onto flickr, but my favourite of the lot is this one:

WHEEEEEEEE!!!!!

Broadband at home back up and running,* and I've made the discovery early enough in my lunch hour to make effective catch-up for all the hours and days and weeks of internet-free-ness that I've enjoyed. Well, tolerated. Just.

Much has happened, including moving house, painting, unpacking, painting, more painting, Guide camp for a week on a canalboat, painting, shopping in Nottingham, painting, more painting, unpacking, desperately trying to find my school clothes in time for the start of term, taking up a "give up drinking for a whole half term" challenge, teaching a few lessons, unpacking, gardening.... and this weekend I'm off to London for a debrief from my GOLD trip to South Africa. Life never stops.

The start of term has been lovely - nice classes, a new classroom, not living in the House - and it has been bliss having a new house with a garden in which to relax. All we need now is a new wireless router (old one blown up by lightening!) and we'll be in geeky heaven.

That cats are both well and loving having a garden - My Cat has even been seen running, with stomach wobbling from side to side, in gleeful abandon. Your Cat has been spotted playing with furry squeaky things. They haven't even tried to run away home to the old place either. Wonders never cease!

Now, though, must go - blogs call (I've got weeks worth of people's lives to catch up on) and then teaching. Hurrah!

* But not email, not just yet. Soon, I tells ye, soon.