Purple Dragon

... TODAY!!!

Recently I've been putting on weight. It has been slowly creeping up on me, inch by stealthy inch.

Mum stayed last week, and she is the Queen of the Sweeties. I put on 2lbs - YES TWO POUNDS - during one week!

My God, I'm a bloater!

I didn't do any exercise. I usually walk up and down to the school, which is half a mile each way. The 'up' is very much 'up', and pushing Rachel in the buggy makes me puff, for sure. So, I did no walking at all, coz Mum can't walk the length of herself.

And I ate. Oh, did I eat. Peanuts, choccies, strawberries & cream, cake.

Anyway, I weighed myself, and I'm disgusted with myself. I am the heaviest I have been without having recently birthed a baby. God, I'm heavier now than I was after I birthed Rachel. My clothes don't fit, I feel dough-y, I feel unfit, I'm having headaches, and I generally feel like Buddha without the smile.

Right. I need to lose 11lbs. Encouragment gratefully received.

This is a small book, closer to a booklet really (just 96 pages) about getting chickens.

Introduction
History of the chicken
The house and run
Choosing a breed
Buying the birds
Feeding
Daily and seasonal care
What to do with all those eggs
Breeding your own replacements
Showing
Dealing with problems
Quirky questions
Reference section
index

A handy little book, and great for introduction to hen keeping. I think that a more experienced poultry keeper, though, would prefer something a little more informative. I do think that this would be a great book for someone who has decided to keep hens, but hasn't bought them yet.

Don't know if any of you have heard of this, but I gotta tell you - what a brilliant idea!

Basically (for those who don't know) you join a Yahoo group in the Freecycle area where you live. You then have to put something up that you don't want anymore. I put up a double buggy. After that, any time someone posts something you want/need, you can email them, and if it hasn't gone, you can come and collect it.

The idea behind it is, if you have something you don't want, but it is too good to tip, then you can recycle it to someone else, for free.

You wouldn' believe the things people get rid of on it. Chuckies, slabs, buggies, computers and monitors, kids toys, bikes, wardrobes, cupboards, cookers, garden equipment - the list is endless!

I've got a garage full of stuff that I want shot of, but I need to sort thru it.

If you Google 'freecycle' then you will be able to find your local group, and get freecycling!

Well, Mum just left after being here since last Wednesday, hence the lack of pstings here. Not really very polite to blog when your Mum is sitting in the next room.

We haven't done much. Just pottered in the garden, visited the local town and garden centre. Gone grocery shopping. Watched Big Brother every night. I've converted her, I'm afraid. Last time she came, they were doing the Season 2 preparation by showing all the Season 1 episodes of Lost. Now she is addicted to that, and this time, I've gotten her addicted to BB.

I was supposed to get up this morning at 5.30am, so we could leave to run her to the airport at 6am. At 4.45 the wee man got up with stomach cramps, which rapidly progressed into a nasty little stomach bug. I think he's emptied himself, one way or another, and now he's sleeping peacefully , but Lala just came thru crying with stomach cramps, so she's off to the loo as I type. So much for running Mum to the airport. We had to locate a taxi to take her. A 40 mile taxi ride ain't gonna be cheap Typical. And I'm supposed to be collecting my friends son from school this afternoon, because she is away on a school trip with the bigger kids. Hopefully, they will all feel better by then.

We henna'd my hair while Mum was here. What a mess - it looks awful! It has pretty much gone ginger, the bits that were grey have gone orange, and the underneath is still brown - it didn't take there, for some reason. I went and bought another dye from the chemist (black/red) but when I was reading the instructions it said not to be used on henna'd hair until it was all cut out. Bloody hell.