For shame

I have been a very bad blogger. Life just ridiculously busy and I lost the plot with most things online - hey, I suppose that I'm lucky that the kids got fed, quite frankly.

And to that end, let me introduce you to Sebastian, whose arrival into this world five weeks early, contributed to some of that whirlwind:

In fact, becoming pregnant with Sebastian in the first place was a huge surprise to me. He's my lovely surprise in many different ways!

I shall update you shortly with the other elements of life, including scrapbooking, the children, the rabbits, the chickens and my photography. In the meantime, Second Son Milo is calling. It's his birthday today (two years old!) and he has been sleeping off the amount of chocolate he has consumed by having a nap. Looks like my peace time is over and we are once more unto the breach....

Finally October

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." ~ George Eliot

Completely Quackers

We had some new family members join us in the last week. The Husband is less than impressed that I took 22 chickens to sell at Salisbury Poultry Auction and then returned home with a pair of butterscoth call ducks. Which, of course, swiftly became three when they we joined by another duck, apricot this time, the next day. Shame on me! Although, to be fair, I did give The Husband ample warning that a duck or two may be coming home with me. And I gave him every chance to make divorce threats. But it didn't happen, so the little quackers came home with me, snug in a box in the boot of the car. Hooray!

They now have a snuggly bug house ( a spotlessley clean chicken coop), a nice muddy run and a deep addling pool to float aroun in. They're as happy as can be :) We feed them on corn and poultry layers pellets at the moment, although we may well get some waterfowl pellets for them becuase these float in the water and allow the ducks to naturally dabble as they would in the wild.

Milo and Tabitha are still at an age where I can (gently) direct them in what to call their animals. So Milo's girl is Daisy Duck and Tabitha's girl in Maisie Duck. Innovative and unique, n'est pas? IN the picture above they are Maisy at the top and Daisy at the bottom. They are friendly girls, both under six months, I think, and probably a way off laying.

My headstrong four-year-old has more sway in naming his animals. Tragically for them. I csertainly hope never to have to take the drake in the trio to the vet and explain on the registration form that his name is Super Duck. Elliott was firm that this was what he should be called, even though I pointed out his lack of superhero qualities. He has, Elliott explained, tucked his cape up under his wings and only needs to use it when flying. OK, then.

I'm surprised by how little mess they make really, having read the horror stories about how mucky ducks are. And although they're not particuarly noisy, I love it when the girls set off into peals of quack-like laughter. I love it! 

This is how we ride in the Fielding family...

About three weeks ago, out of the blue, Elliott asked for the stabilisers to be taken off of his bike. We must admit to being a bit dubious - he still preferred his wooden balance bike and had hardly ridden the 'grown up' metal one.

Anyway, the stabilisers duly came off. And Elliott was off like a greyhound out of a trap. We were amazed! We cleared the patio for him and he practiced up and down, up and down. His confidence grew with every successful length. We bandied around the idea of taking him out to get more freedom and he grasped that idea and nagged and nagged and nagged.

So we popped to the bicycle shop to get him a more fitted helmet, got Tabitha and Milo gussied up with theirs and went for a bike ride. Kelvin rode alongside Elliott, with Milo in the baby seat behind him. I dragged the trailer with Lady Tabitha in it.

That week we built up to five mile round trips. After three in a row, I was shattered but Elliott still had more energy. He loves his bike with a passion. I can see that we'll be doing a lot more cycling in the future.

Midnight Rooster

I signed up for the brand spanking new Midnight Rooster scrapping kit. DO NOT tell the husband. But it looks fabby :)

Check them out here.

Ain't That The Truth

After a morning of trying to do everything, my to-do list hasn't got any smaller. In fact, I haven't actually crossed anything off of it yet. This is because all the things I've been doing didn't make it to the to-do list in the first place. Gah. All that work for no visible achievement and no satisfaction of putting black lines through items!

So, with perfect timing, the following cartoon from Cathy Thorne popped into my Inbox.

The woman is a genius!

If You Go Down To The Woods

Today we went on down to the Forest of Bere at Hundred Acres. It's the same place that the Easter Egg hunt took place and the children love it there. They have a new, all-natural play area with wigwams, a huge sandpit, swings, a bridge and a wooden castle built around a tree. What's not to like!

We went with dear friends and the children all had fun playing together. The swings were a huge hit, especially the two-seater boat. Even Milo had a goo on the swings, although Tabitha did push him a bit energetically. He preferred to sit on the ground and eat the bark chips around the swing area. They're obviously useful for teething!

We also went on a route march around the forest, which is OK to start with because it's all downhill. But the way back is all uphill and when you're pushing a buggy, loaded with three increasingly heavy children. Some good exercise that, you know!