Show Time!

 It's that time of year again.
The Enniskillen Show has been and gone and we have carried off some prizes in the cookery and photographic sections. I had 4 firsts and 2 thirds. Above, the marble cake.

 The cherry cake.

 The madeira cake and the sultana cake.

 Third with the boiled fruit cake and the ginger cake.

 Michelle entered a few items and got 3rd for her carrot cake.

Niall did very well again with his photos. He got 6 firsts, 3 seconds and 2 thirds which means he wins the cup this year again.
Success all round.

A good harvest

 The crops have grown well this year. Dare I say I am HAPPY with the results so far.
The onions are good and need to be harvested in the next couple of weeks.

 The rhubarb has excelled itself. In fact there is so much of it now I think I will make some jam to use it up.

 I have just picked my second batch of garden peas. They have been growing really well too so there are plenty more pods still to mature. I need to shell these I picked earlier.

 I have used a lot of the curly variety of lettuce so it is almost finished now. Rather than pull a whole lettuce, I picked off just some leaves each time so the plants kept on producing more and more.

 The rabbits nibbled the tops of the leeks but that hasn't hindered them growing on. They have a bit to go yet before they are ready to use.

Going potty

Yesterday we had a lovely sunny day - one of those rare commodities in this part of the world.

We spent a good part of the day outside. The trampoline was popular.
The girls were all prepared with the summer clothes and suncream applied.

As there is some serious potty training going on, we had no nappies but Peppa pig pants instead.
That meant not going far without the potties.

We managed through the whole day with only one pair of pants washed and on the line. Kyra had told me that there were over 30 pairs at the ready so we were well prepared. Getting there.

Big bird

 Jubilee is now growing fast. He/she has moved out to the rabbit hutch where there is plenty of room to move around. The other hens and roosters would pick at Jubilee so I must keep him/her in isolation yet.

Every now and again I bring Jubilee inside so that we can stroke him/her.
The feathers are growing well and there is not so much fluff now.

Beach break

 This week we took Faith and Sophia to Rossnowlagh for a short holiday. Gareth and Kyra had a wedding to attend on Friday so we went to Rossnowlagh on Thursday afternoon stayed until Saturday.

 We went down to Bundoran on Friday and walked on Tullan Strand.

 The girls had good fun digging in the sand and making sandcastles, with some help from Nanda!

 They also enjoyed playing the keyboard with the volume turned full on. Here you can see Sophia's tonsils as she sings along!

Two nights were enough for this trial run. I needed to come home for a rest!

Heidi in doggie heaven.

Sadly, on Wednesday, we said goodbye to our faithful pet, Heidi. She passed away peacefully on her favourite couch at around 8.30 a.m.

She been in failing health for quite a while now and the vet said she was suffering from heart failure. She stopped eating about 2 weeks ago and slowly became weaker.
She was a very intelligent dog with a lovely gentle personality and, as she was in the house all the time, she knew every move we made. When she was at her fittest, you could not escape outside without her. She shared Robert's yoghurt - as soon as he opened it up she would get up with her front paws on his chest so he would give her a spoonful.
We have a lot of happy memories of Heidi and we know she is in doggie heaven romping around with Tina, Queenie, Lassie and all the other dogs.

Spring is in the air.

We have had lovely mild weather for some weeks now so it's nice to go out and enjoy it.
Faith and Sophia love getting outside to play and do not want to come back inside. Gareth has been sanding and painting this link box so now it's a great place to jump up and down and make a noise with your feet.
I hope you will take notice of this sign the girls found lying at the back of the house!
The hens have been laying since last week. It's lovely to be able to go out to the nesting box and lift fresh eggs.
The weather has been good too for getting into the garden and planting the vegetables. You could say that I am MORE THAN PLEASED with the progress so far. I have already used the fresh rhubarb twice to stew for dessert.
I re-aligned the planting area to have a better walking space between the beds,
I have planted potatoes, onion sets and shallots, runner beans, leeks, cucumbers, lettuce and strawberries. I also planted a row of blackcurrants and raspberry plants which were growing in various places around the garden. We'll see if they come to fruition - literally!
The shrubs are in full bloom and the bees are enjoying their nectar. This plant was a hive of industry for the bees today and the noise they were making was amazing as there must have been hundreds of them.
The hens spend all day roaming round the garden picking up any tasty morsels they find.
On a good day I can get three eggs. There are four hens so hopefully we will soon see four eggs in the nest.