My little boy got accepted in his school of choice, which is just a short walk from our home. We were all really pleased he was accepted. The school has a great introduction programme which include home visits, stay and play afternoons, school visits etc. My son seemed really excited not at all bothered by the situation.
He has had his home visit and seemed relaxed with his new teachers, chatting away, looking forward to the stay and play that afternoon!! My Oh and I breathed a sigh of relief, both thinking this is going to be a breeze he'll settle in easily. We were worried as he only turns 4 a few days before he starts school making him one of the youngest in the year.
We arrive at the stay and play my son was lead off into the classroom for 30 minutes while we sat and ate cakes, drank coffee and got to know the head teacher. Then our son appeared the teacher said he'd had a little cry and was a bit unsettled!
Oh here we go, we were being too confident. Now taking him to Pre-school the next day our little boy was hysterical, clinging to us which is so unlike his behaviour, he normally goes in not looking back. His pre-school teacher said a few other children were acting the same way and they were putting it down to "big school nerves". Last night when he came home he seemed ok, then when it was time to go to sleep he started crying saying I don't want to go to school I want to stay with you and give you kisses all day (my son certainly knows how to pull at my heart strings lol!). Eventually he fell asleep he woke up in the morning the same way. He is there now at pre-school, I can't stop thinking about him, I know he is fine and it is for the best that I made him go in but I can't help feeling cruel :(
I want him to grow to know you have to do things you don't want to do to get past these feelings and to not always take the easy way out. When I look into his pleading eyes I just want to scoop him up and hug him and say you don't have to do what you do want to do but the reality is he will just think he can get away with it every time!!
Well lets hope these "Big School Nerves" don't last to long!!!
Thursday, 23 June 2011
Monday, 14 March 2011
Cheeky Chickens!!!!
Well the chickens have caused trouble again!! Our neighbours also keep chickens (they have about 7 older girls), and our clever girls have worked out our neighbour's feeding times and have found a little gap in the fence to get through to infiltrate the brood next door or for quickness fly over the hedge!!!
Our neighbour has given us a few tips on what the chickens enjoy, grass clippings, fresh sweetcorn and any general household scraps (beware there are some things that are harmful for chickens to eat, uncooked potatoes for one). So now we know why our chickens are turning their beaks up at our layers pellets!!!!
My son and I went to feed the chickens this morning and my son said to me "Mummy look there are 2 Tina's". A chicken from next door had decided to play our girls at their own game and crossed over the hedge to our backyard and was making itself heard by clucking very loud.
The girls are still laying so we have lovely fresh eggs daily which the children love.
If you have the space I would recommend keeping chickens, they are cheap or should I say cheep sorry ;) to feed, they are low matainence they just please themselves clucking around, they give you fresh eggs yum and they are very friendly, they are so cute following you around when you potter in the garden albeit in search for food. It lovely just looking out of the kitchen window watching them enjoy the garden. I can't wait to get some more. Still trying to persuade my OH to get me a micro pig, he's still not having any of it.....
Our neighbour has given us a few tips on what the chickens enjoy, grass clippings, fresh sweetcorn and any general household scraps (beware there are some things that are harmful for chickens to eat, uncooked potatoes for one). So now we know why our chickens are turning their beaks up at our layers pellets!!!!
My son and I went to feed the chickens this morning and my son said to me "Mummy look there are 2 Tina's". A chicken from next door had decided to play our girls at their own game and crossed over the hedge to our backyard and was making itself heard by clucking very loud.
The girls are still laying so we have lovely fresh eggs daily which the children love.
If you have the space I would recommend keeping chickens, they are cheap or should I say cheep sorry ;) to feed, they are low matainence they just please themselves clucking around, they give you fresh eggs yum and they are very friendly, they are so cute following you around when you potter in the garden albeit in search for food. It lovely just looking out of the kitchen window watching them enjoy the garden. I can't wait to get some more. Still trying to persuade my OH to get me a micro pig, he's still not having any of it.....
Sunday, 13 March 2011
My poor little boy!
Well my poor little boy has had a rough few weeks, he felt ill and we took him to see the Doctor who diagnosed an ear infection and prescribed amoxycillan medicine on the Wednesday evening. We thought he was picking up but on the Sunday evening he started shivering and complaining that he was cold, I undressed him for bed and noticed his skin looked mottled alarm bells started ringing. I immediately phoned our out of hours Doctor service which is located in the local hospital, they said to bring him straight in.
When we got there his temperature was taken it was 40.2!!! The Doc explained that the shivering and mottled skin was associated with the high temp and told us that the ear infection was not responding to the amoxycillan, she prescribed a new antibiotic which thankfully worked and his high temp. went down.
When he finished the new antibiotic on the Friday morning, he started vomiting and could not keep anything down, we visited the clinic again, the said it could be the last of the antibiotic making him sick so it should clear up within 24 hours. He seemed fine by Sunday evening so we decided to send him into pre-school.
We got a call from his school to say he had been sick, which equalled another trip to the clinic, where after a water sample was tested he was diagnosed with a water infection, he was then prescribed another type of antibiotic which thankfully have worked. He is now back to his boisterous self :). The medical service in this area has been excellent and we have been able to get appointments as and when we needed them. He missed out on his half term break, so we have a lot of trips out to make up for!!!!
As my OH's favourite saying goes All's Well, that Ends Well.....
When we got there his temperature was taken it was 40.2!!! The Doc explained that the shivering and mottled skin was associated with the high temp and told us that the ear infection was not responding to the amoxycillan, she prescribed a new antibiotic which thankfully worked and his high temp. went down.
When he finished the new antibiotic on the Friday morning, he started vomiting and could not keep anything down, we visited the clinic again, the said it could be the last of the antibiotic making him sick so it should clear up within 24 hours. He seemed fine by Sunday evening so we decided to send him into pre-school.
We got a call from his school to say he had been sick, which equalled another trip to the clinic, where after a water sample was tested he was diagnosed with a water infection, he was then prescribed another type of antibiotic which thankfully have worked. He is now back to his boisterous self :). The medical service in this area has been excellent and we have been able to get appointments as and when we needed them. He missed out on his half term break, so we have a lot of trips out to make up for!!!!
As my OH's favourite saying goes All's Well, that Ends Well.....
Monday, 7 February 2011
What came first the Chicken or the Veg?
We have well and truly settled in to our new life in the country. Establishing new friendships, exploring the new environment and choosing our favourite local pub.
Well we thought what would truly make us live the dream of living the country and self sufficiency. Chickens and obviously a veg patch, So while my other half got to grips with converting the old outside toilet in a very fetching chicken house. I prepared the raised beds for the planting of my potatoes, broccoli and sprouts that would hopefully be ready in time for Christmas. I got my hands dirty with gods good earth, broke a few nails, screamed when I saw a few beasties and had a lovely time time getting drenched by my 3 year old boy as we planted our veg. Rosy cheeks had by all.
While my veg was getting to grips with the raised beds, making lovely progress. We looked into finding our new editions to our family. We found a supplier of chickens Creag Mhor Poultry and chose 3 different variety's of chickens.
My OH travelled to get the girls, he brought them home in cardboard boxes!! I suddenly realised I was totally clueless when it came the chickens. Don't get me wrong, we had done extensive research reading books, web pages, Blogs, you name we read it, but when the girls arrived panic passed over me we were now responsible for 3 chickens!!
The reality was clucking and flapping in front of my very eyes and I was petrified, how would I pick them up how would I go in the coop to clean them out? Had we made a huge mistake? We named the girls Patsy (Cline) aka Henny Penny, Tina (Turner) and Celine (Dion). My OH passed me Celine, I was a little freaked out at first but feeling her soft feathers she seemed so relaxed in my arms, so began a beautiful friendship.
Once they were transferred into their new home we had to leave them in there to get used to their new environment.
We decided that once they were ready to come out we would give them free rein of the back garden. How much damage can 3 chickens do?
OMG, how much damage can 3 chickens do? Well at first they were pretty sedate just wandering around pecking here and there, then they discovered my veg patch and my veg tubs. Over the course of 2 weeks my veg, slowly but surely did no longer exist! We had created steps down into our garden with bark chippings, the chippings were all over the lawn, the borders of the garden have been dug out. So it is safe to say 3 chickens can do a lot of damage to the garden and our garden no longer looks pretty. The plus side is we have happy hens, who give us lovely fresh eggs daily.
It is lovely to go in the garden to see the girls roaming round, as soon as they see you they follow close behind you, to see if you are giving them any treats. They all have different characteristic's, Tina is the feisty one, she is very reluctant to be picked up or touched and rarely eats out of your hand, Patsy is also quite feisty, but likes a bit of cuddle now and again. I know you shouldn't have favourites but Celine is the one, she has a slight limp and is always ready for a cuddle and is the first to come to greet you. She is so sweet!!
We were worried our dog would like to "play" with the chickens, but luckily he just ignores them and they keep out of his way! If you leave the back door open the Chickens rush up the stairs straight in the kitchen to see if there are any nice scraps going. We had an incident the other day I had left the back door open and the door to the lounge open and suddenly appears Patsy. She climbed on the window ledge (whilst a bus load of people were outside, what were they thinking?) and then proceeded to harass my daughter who was in her play pen. I had to wait till my OH came home as Patsy was totally set against going back outside. Then my OH was in his office (upstairs), and lo and behold who should appear on the window ledge...Patsy bold as brass. We thought the ladders would have to make an appearance but luckily she found her way down again.
We are looking into to getting a couple more chickens now, as we are a bit more experienced we are going to get some ex-battery hens to join the other girls. I would really like a pig but I have yet to convince my OH.
So to answer my question what came first the Chicken or the Veg? Well in my case it was definitely the Veg, but the Chickens made sure they made their mark on it!
Once they were transferred into their new home we had to leave them in there to get used to their new environment.
We decided that once they were ready to come out we would give them free rein of the back garden. How much damage can 3 chickens do?
OMG, how much damage can 3 chickens do? Well at first they were pretty sedate just wandering around pecking here and there, then they discovered my veg patch and my veg tubs. Over the course of 2 weeks my veg, slowly but surely did no longer exist! We had created steps down into our garden with bark chippings, the chippings were all over the lawn, the borders of the garden have been dug out. So it is safe to say 3 chickens can do a lot of damage to the garden and our garden no longer looks pretty. The plus side is we have happy hens, who give us lovely fresh eggs daily.
It is lovely to go in the garden to see the girls roaming round, as soon as they see you they follow close behind you, to see if you are giving them any treats. They all have different characteristic's, Tina is the feisty one, she is very reluctant to be picked up or touched and rarely eats out of your hand, Patsy is also quite feisty, but likes a bit of cuddle now and again. I know you shouldn't have favourites but Celine is the one, she has a slight limp and is always ready for a cuddle and is the first to come to greet you. She is so sweet!!
We were worried our dog would like to "play" with the chickens, but luckily he just ignores them and they keep out of his way! If you leave the back door open the Chickens rush up the stairs straight in the kitchen to see if there are any nice scraps going. We had an incident the other day I had left the back door open and the door to the lounge open and suddenly appears Patsy. She climbed on the window ledge (whilst a bus load of people were outside, what were they thinking?) and then proceeded to harass my daughter who was in her play pen. I had to wait till my OH came home as Patsy was totally set against going back outside. Then my OH was in his office (upstairs), and lo and behold who should appear on the window ledge...Patsy bold as brass. We thought the ladders would have to make an appearance but luckily she found her way down again.
We are looking into to getting a couple more chickens now, as we are a bit more experienced we are going to get some ex-battery hens to join the other girls. I would really like a pig but I have yet to convince my OH.
Thursday, 14 October 2010
It's been nearly two years in the making, but now I have finally arrived. I have finally got my little home in a rural village in cheshire. I found the house online last August, my heart was racing, my palms were sweaty and lo and behold I couldn't get in touch with estate agent or other half to let him know I had found our dream home. We finally viewed it on beautiful sunny day, the house was OK, but it was the area we fell in love with. My OH give me the nod and he put in a offer straight away, it was accepted woo hoo!!
Now for the hard work to commence.... The house needed a lot of work it was damp, it had no kitchen, a old bathroom. I was 8 months pregnant at the time and our son was 2. We decided I would stay with my parents in Liverpool , while my OH set to work. He unravelled many problems that needed fixing adding to the budget (the back kitchen floor under the tiles was peat?!?), and whilst he was partaking in major DIY, our cheeky daughter decided so would give me false labour for the next month and a half.
I was scared he would miss the birth and with having no car (we sold our lovely Santa Fe for the country dream), and the trains didn't run at night and Mobile phone reception was none existent. We decided he would stay in Liverpool till I gave birth (Daughter arrived safely 11 days after due date).
My OH tried his best to finish the house, but with limited funds and a commitment to a project in Liverpool, we thought the house move would be best put off till we could finally finish it (we are in now its still isn't finished).
We finally moved in the beginning of September. Our son who is now 3, has started Pre-School just a short walk from our house. The walk to school is unbelievable, we can see squirrels run up and down the trees and cows in the fields, I pinch myself every morning and I will never take for granted how lucky we are to be able to bring our children up in this environment.
Now for the hard work to commence.... The house needed a lot of work it was damp, it had no kitchen, a old bathroom. I was 8 months pregnant at the time and our son was 2. We decided I would stay with my parents in Liverpool , while my OH set to work. He unravelled many problems that needed fixing adding to the budget (the back kitchen floor under the tiles was peat?!?), and whilst he was partaking in major DIY, our cheeky daughter decided so would give me false labour for the next month and a half.
I was scared he would miss the birth and with having no car (we sold our lovely Santa Fe for the country dream), and the trains didn't run at night and Mobile phone reception was none existent. We decided he would stay in Liverpool till I gave birth (Daughter arrived safely 11 days after due date).
My OH tried his best to finish the house, but with limited funds and a commitment to a project in Liverpool, we thought the house move would be best put off till we could finally finish it (we are in now its still isn't finished).
We finally moved in the beginning of September. Our son who is now 3, has started Pre-School just a short walk from our house. The walk to school is unbelievable, we can see squirrels run up and down the trees and cows in the fields, I pinch myself every morning and I will never take for granted how lucky we are to be able to bring our children up in this environment.
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