A Challenging Day

The weather was the first thing - it has just been so very windy here all day - even the water coming out of the watering can got blown off course! I pottered at home until about 12 and then I went into town to do some shopping, pick up some contact lenses, get a prescription for the EFG and go to the bank, the dump and the petrol station. I had all of that done by 2pm and came home for some lunch; I made some hummus yesterday and it was quite garlicky, shall we say!?! I had that for lunch and successfully kept the vampires away for the rest of the day.

I had an email conversation today with my sister and booked the caravan at Kelling Heath for three nights in the October half-term, and simultaneously booked Uncle J to come here and look after all the creatures for me. That is something to look forward to at the end of October - and to save up a little spending money for as well! There is a good bookshop in Holt which I like to visit and the most excellent jigsaw shop in Sheringham too - and there is Sheringham market where we like to have a poke around the stalls on a Saturday morning.

This afternoon, the FH killed a chicken on my instructions: she has been attacking me every time I go into the run to feed them for about the last week. She always goes for the piece of my leg immediately above my left knee and the whole area is like a dot-to-dot with peck shaped bruises. I will not have an aggressive hen in the flock and so she had to go. I cannot have any chicken attacking me or anyone else, so I really had no choice, and it was about time we had another one in the pot anyway, so her behaviour sealed her fate as the next candidate!

The EFG was also on the receiving end of some challenging behaviour on the bus on the way home from school today, so we had a long talk when she got home about how she can deal with the bullies if it happens again. It boils down to jealousy in the long run, I am sure - she got a Principal's Commendation in Assembly this morning for her voluntary work on a committee in the school, and she works very hard at school, and I know that the teachers think highly of her. Working hard and doing your best isn't terribly highly regarded in some circles, unfortunately, so I am doing all I can to let her know that I am immensely proud of her, and love her to bits!

My shopping trip was my personal challenge. I have my £4 off a £40 shop vouchers from Sainsbury's and I wanted to spend no more than the £40 necessary to get the £4 off. I made a meal plan based around what we have in the cupboards and freezers, then made a list of all the other things I needed to buy - mostly fruit and veg with the odd other bits and pieces. The whole lot came to £42, so it was £38 after the voucher - and the actual food spend was only £36 as it included some more cider vinegar for the poultry, which comes from a separate budget. 54 chickens have to have an allowance all to themselves!!

The shortbread I made last night was declared "Delicious!" and it has all gone - already! I did make it with butter as opposed to margerine, and so I bought some more butter today in order to make more, but I think that I will leave it until tomorrow evening to make it, or it will never last until Monday morning.