Hello?

*Peers round corner*

Hello? Is anyone there?

First of all, i would like to apologize for being so long updating here! It's been pretty busy around here, especially in the past month or two, and i have been updating mostly via Instagram. 

We discovered that The Bearded Wonder has been having quite big heart issues , so much so that he was initially referred to get a pacemaker fitted, but on the day of his surgery the surgeon decided he was too young for a pacemaker and ended up fitting him with an under the skin monitor instead, which shall be in for 3 years, then he'll be re-assessed to see if a pacemaker is more suitable.

He is doing well, and recovering nicely from the surgery.

In other news, today is the day that Angus has been in our lives for a whole year!

He was so tiny then.

Somehow, out of nowhere, he has turned into this really fat, obnoxious fluffball!

We are still enjoying going out and about on the bikes, and we are looking forward to when The Bearded Wonder is stronger and we can go for longer rides again 

The garden is starting to wake up and show signs of life (though mostly in the form of bloody weeds!) My blackcurrant, tayberry and loganberry bushes seem to be thriving, and i can just see the buds forming ! I'm so excited and am hoping for a good first harvest :D 

I netted them over on Saturday, in the hopes that the birds won't get to the, though i have deliberately left a gap at the bottom so we won't have a repeat of last year and get a hedgehog caught up in it.

Most of the garden is looking a bit like steptoe's yard at the minute, with lots of wood, cardboard and carpet in the vain hopes of killing the weeds for NEXT YEARS growing season. I didn't want to, but i think raised beds may be the way to go :( 

Last week i made a wee wheelbarrow from an old shopping trolley and an unused glass recycling bin and for the moment i have tied it down with yarn as i have lost my string. 

I am also starting a new project, a compost tumbler.

I put  a hole in the top and bottom of a fermenting bucket, popped a stick through the middle, added air hole and propped it between to old chairs. According to research this is the quickest way to get coarse compost in months, so i'm looking forward to seeing the results.(if it works!)

I also have a very exciting new addition to my kitchen! 

Given to me by a very dear friend from my knit and natter group, a few months ago, i still go into the kitchen to just gaze at it and smile.

This weeks bargain was this amazing old enamel mincer for £5. I have been searching for one of these for years! Though it is not going to be just ornament. i plan to fully utilize it as a kitchen tool. I  used it today, in fact, i tested some potatoes to see how it would fare and it made the smoothest mashed potatoes ever! much better than mine! (though not better than the Bearded Wonders') i also feel it would be great in processing apples for chutney, and suchlike.