Waves to Goosey!

A new reader has joined us - hope you have a great holiday!

Today has been one of those days for the FH - he had his flu jab yesterday and has felt rotten all day today. He is always like this and declares each year that he would rather take his chances getting the flu than feel like this after the injection - but he still goes and has it! He had a headache last night and didn't sleep well, so when he woke up this morning and still had the bad head, he decided to sleep it off. He got up at around 11, and mooched around the garden, inspecting the rabbits and chickens, and then went into the shed where the chicks are living. He thought that we should increase the area of the pen that they are in because they have grown (must take another photo for you) and went to move the heatlamp - Big Mistake - he accidentally hit it against something and broke it! And he had only bought that one on Sunday (forgot to tell you that one broke then, perhaps?) so he had to go out this afternoon and get another one! I (being a wise woman!) had told him on the two previous occasions that he should buy two to save special trips but he resisted and just got one each time - guess what, though? He bought two today!

I have made biscuits for the girls today - a similar recipe to the last one, indeed a bit of a variation on it, but made with peanut butter instead of chocolate chips. Since I don't fancy trying to melt peanut butter, I mix the peanut butter with the sugar in a creamed mix, then add the rest of the ingredients, but this makes quite a dry, crumby mixture that won't hold together - so I add two eggs for the binding. I then take small handfuls, roll them in my hands before putting them on the baking trays, and then flatten them gently with a fork. They are quite solid biscuits and much less prone to spreading out than the choc chip variety. These are not for taking to school in case there is anyone about with an allergy to peanuts, so the girls and FH enjoy them at home.

This afternoon, the YFG and I were at gymnastics again, which was fun although hard work. We are preparing for a competition in November, and so 15 of the gymnasts are learning floor routines with the choreographer, K, as well as trying to perfect their vaults. It is just a two-piece competition, so that is all they have to do. There will be one in March next year which will be four pieces, so they will have more to learn. K had a car crash recently and is without a car, so we took her home afterwards, popped into a school PTA meeting to tell them about the books I sell, and then came home for tea - the YFG is completey pooped, poor girl, and was at the crotchety stage of tiredness.

The FGs are loving their "winter" beds - I have bought them each a set of old-fashioned flannelette sheets: I got them hugely reduced from Roseby's in Cambridge in August as obviously no-one else wanted that sort of thing in August and they were desperate to get rid! So they are snuggling down between the sheets, with a duvet over the top and then, on cold nights, a blanket or fleece over that. The EFG has now taken to asking to be "tucked in", which she hadn't bothered about for years, and is now 12! It is lovely to tuck them in, though, so I don't mind. I haven't come up with a washing plan yet, though; I only got one pair each, and I don't have a tumble drier so they will have to be off the beds for a day or three when they are washed so I think that they will have to go back to normal sheets - unless I can find some more reasonably priced ones somewhere this week.....

It has been striking today how warm the wind has become overnight - we have gone from very chilly weather to mild but blustery winds. The thick winter coats weren't needed today and I was walking around the garden in a polo shirt without a jumper. The vagarities of the English weather are a mystery, but a pleasant surprise at times. There were certainly no worries about putting the heating on today.

The YFG is going to a friend's house after school tomorrow, and I have to take the EFG to her exercise class, so I will get an hour to myself in town - unheard of!! A trip to the library and a few shops will be in order, and I need to collect some change from the bank for the show at the weekend, so that will be top of the list.