Today, news. Tomorrow, photos.

Sunday lunch went very well, though our numbers were depleted considerably.  First Al and co had to cry off as I’ve said, because of flu, then Dora wasn’t well so Ro came over on his own.  So there were eight of us instead of fourteen.  But we had a good day and Zerlina and Gus are still here, because I like to have them over for a few days in the holidays if possible.

Little z was a bit upset last night, missing her parents, and I cuddled down with her in bed for a while – once she’d gone to sleep all was well, and there was no repeat of the situation tonight because we’d had a lovely day.  I’m going to have to stop calling her little z before long, I’ve a feeling she’ll be taller than I am within a couple of years.  We’ve got a wall against which all the family has been measured over the years and the children love to compare their height *now* with a few months ago.  In z and Gus’s case, they are growing like the lankiest sort of weeds, especially Zerlina.  She is still only seven years old and won’t be eight until mid-August, but she is already 139 cm tall.  She’s about three inches shorter than her aunt Rouk and I’m only five foot two, she’ll catch up with both of us in no time. I last measured her six weeks ago and she’s grown appreciably since then.  She’s thin as a stick, which isn’t surprising.

While the children were polishing off sausages and mash this evening, we were talking about family birthdays and ages, and I wrote a list – we all were born between 20th March and 30th September (not in the same year, clearly) and, once I’d written them all in birthday order, I numbered them in order of age too.  LT came first and Ro and Dora’s unborn baby came fifteenth, of course (and could only have an expected month).  Zerlina and Gus really liked it.

Very strong winds today but only a few branches down, nothing awful.  We spent most of the day indoors, but will probably be out and about tomorrow.  Wink left for home a bit later than she’d originally planned as the weather was improving as the morning continued.  We’re sure that we’ll see each other a lot more this year than last, she was away a lot so didn’t come here much, and I visited Ziggi as much as possible, which pretty well wiped out everything else, and I’m so glad I made her my priority.

I kept the chickens indoors again today, it was far too windy to let them out.  Except I did, accidentally, one of the young ones, as Roses found when she went to fetch more hay for her chooks’ bedding.  So we cornered her and I swep’ her up in the net and put her back, and then I noticed three eggs laid in the outside run, so went and fetched them.  Then I thought I’d better put straw in there – I should explain.  The chickens’ favourite nesting place, which has three divisions but is big enough for at least five, is presently occupied by three chickens who keep stealing their china eggs from each other.  There are three other nest boxes, but the girls want to lay in the other place, but its occupants won’t let them, so eggs tend to be laid on the ground.  Anyway, I put in an armful of straw and one chicken immediately sat on it – I went back for more and they all had come rushing in by then and were scratching around joyfully.  I chucked in some food, to give them a reward for their searching, but I feel rather mean that I’m keeping them in most days.  It’s a big run, they’ve got ample room, and I’m working on a solution – but no more chicks.

Anyway, we used half a dozen eggs to make cake.  Tomorrow, I will put up pictures of this splendid concoction.  Right now, I’m going to finish reading the papers – not that I read the news nowadays, if I can possibly avoid it.

2 comments on “Today, news. Tomorrow, photos.

  1. Beryl Ament

    I made two spreadsheets, one with the birthdays of grandchildren chronologically to sort out ages, one with the birthdays on a yearless? calendar (so I could remember birthday cards.) Grandchild #22 (any day now) will mix things up royally.

    Reply
    1. Z Post author

      If it’s an Excel or similar spreadsheet, you should be able to insert an extra line rather than have to redo most of the year. Tim said he supposed I have all the birthdays on my calendar – but not the family ones, actually, I remember them. I don’t think I would if I had 22 grandchildren, though. How lovely!

      Reply

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