Popped over to Altrincham yesterday to ram in some shopping and see the kids and best bud, Mandy.
Love those hectic days. While I was away from home our elusive next door neighbours showed up - for a week in their house (hopefully to sort out their garden). Stu rang me. Furious. So as I have explained before there seems to be some dispute over access . As I also tried to explain to them - we both have different opinions on what the access is because the info provided when we bought our respective houses doesn't match. So - let's keep things calm and amiable and go back to our solicitors for an explanation. That to me is the most obvious solution. So on Saturday...instead of parking round the back on their own drive and accessing their house on their own land (using their own access) they decided to block our front gate, unload and walk across our garden and decking to get to their front garden and door. Are they trying to prove a point? But regardless. They could at least have had the courtesy to ask if that was ok. Would we mind..because they only had a front door key. Or whatever the excuse was. What if they had released one of our hounds when they opened our gate? What if one of our dogs was out and took a dislike to them and bit one of their legs off? What if they tripped or slipped on our decking and broke a leg. Hmm? What then? I am convinced that the whole attitude ultimately boils down to the fact that they were hoping to buy some of the paddock from the chap who previously owned our house. And because he gave them false promises..then sold it to us (his decision as it was delaying our buying the house and we were on the verge of pulling out)...and didn't tell them. So that is our fault. They are pissed off. NOT OUR PROBLEM. We tried to get the previous owner to hurry with the splitting up of the paddock. We never asked for the extra bit. He just decided it was easier if we had it. It basically meant we could complete on the purchase. If I see him I will strangle him. He has done us no favours whatsoever. Why not sell the land to your neighbours yourself? I hear you say. They can FUCK RIGHT OFF. It's not for sale. Tempted to install 20 cockerels out there. Anyway. I like a good written rant. But you can bet your life I will spend the next week ducking down if they are in the garden etc. I don't like conflict and will burst into tears if they decide they want an argument. Wuss. (Next purchase? Big padlock for the driveway gate) Today's photo: a scribble to confuse you further (not to scale) or an attempt to depict the boundary issue (and their lack of access). I have to be honest - I have no idea why they bought the house. Would you? A house where you can only get to the back door? And to get to the garden you have to go through the front of the house. No access to their garden from anywhere else. Madness.
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They say never work with children or animals.
I will add to that...think long and hard about agreeing to photograph a wedding in a dimly lit registry office, a double decker bus and a party boat. To be honest I wasn't looking forward to downloading the photos. It was a nerve-wracking moment when I started clicking through. Fortunately...I managed to capture at least one decent shot of each important ceremony moment (the look on the groom's face as the bride enters the room, the exchange of rings, the vows and the signing of the 'register'). I also managed to get several confetti throwing moments (this is always a challenge as at this point, so early in the day, the guests haven't got accustomed to my style and some always seem reticent to follow instructions). Then we all boarded a red double-decker bus. I felt like a bus conductor going up and down the stairs with my ticket machine (camera). So that's that ticked off my bucket list. The next stop was a darkened bar room. Another super backdrop for photos. Then the party boat. To be fair it was very light and bright. But tight for space when it comes to group shots. So I pretty much abandoned that idea and aimed for portraits. Lots of people captured singing along to Girls Aloud. But you know...as I scrolled through the shots, I deleted far fewer than I would have expected. And had a good selection to further narrow down from. So all in all - a good shoot and more importantly the happy couple are pleased. That makes it all worthwhile. That and the tiny blonde, curly-haired, blue-eyed princess who gave a marvellous rendition of one of the Frozen songs. Animals (Hens) Since the hens decided that the old vegetable garden wasn't big enough for them they are now in the paddock. Which they seem to have decided is not big enough for them. So these 'not too flighty' Rhode Rock hens seem to be able to jump five feet (with clipped wings)...so they can sit on top of fences or get to the very tasty hardcore outside the paddock gate. So tomorrow I shall be Googling 'how much fucking space does a hen need?' Animals (Sheep) So I popped down Helen and Rick's to 'help' with the sheep shearing this afternoon. First job - round them up. Three humans, two border collies and a quad bike. You'd think it would be easy. Armed with a bucket of sheep food I led the way up the hill. With a huddle of sheep all trying to get into the bucket. At one point one them decided it wanted a piggy back. Got half the flock to the top. Then they all ran back down again. And so it went on. We finally managed (not sure I was any help at all). And the shearing commenced. Jesus. It's terrifying up close. No bloody way did I want to try. But once again - thanks to Helen and Rick for letting me 'help'. The whole experience has convinced me I don't want to be a sheep farmer. I am more than happy to give them a hand but would not like to be the one in charge! Respect to them and Dyfan (the shearer). Also HAPPY BIRTHDAY DYFAN (20 today...shearing with a hangover) Today's photo... A Frozen moment It's surprising how hard it is to find hens for sale in Wales. Seriously. There are fresh farm eggs for sale everywhere. Just no hens.
So, armed with directions from our neighbour, whose husband remembered seeing a 'hens for sale' sign, we set off. We drove up and down the road where we thought the sign had been spotted. Again...there was a sign for fresh eggs. But no hens. So we went back to Google. Aha...hens in Bala. However it turns out to be eggs for hatching. As newbies to the chicken thing this was clearly not an option. A bacon sandwich and another Google search later we set off for a farm in the middle of nowhere. Stunning location. Very isolated. We were greeted by the farmer and his son who took us to a barn and the hens. Dark ones, speckled ones and white ones. Who knew it was so hard to choose two hens? How do you decide? The speckled ones looked a little fierce. So I ruled those out pretty quickly. And the farmer helped narrow things down further when he explained that the white ones were more 'flighty'. Not sure if he meant literally. But I was looking for 'calm' and 'happy on the ground'. So it was down to the dark ones. I asked the farmer to pick. Which basically meant...whichever he could catch. Anyway...we drove back with two hens stuffed in a cardboard box. With the smell of hen poo increasing as we got nearer to home. Names were decided as I drove (Stu had no input or choice in this matter): Nanan and (Auntie) Gladys (named after my Great Grandma and her sister). They're been with us a few days now and seem to have settled into a routine - they now know when it is time to head into the Eglu for bed (unlike a couple of nights when they flatly refused to go in). The other day they decided to fly the coop - or jump the fence. One thing I was concerned about as the fence isn't that high. However, after a demonstration jump by Gladys this morning, we've identified the problem section which can be fixed with a little more chicken wire. This evening Gladys stopped at the door to the Eglu...clearly wanting a stroke before she went to bed. I'm rapidly getting very attached to them both. They're a constant source of amusement. Today's photos... |
DebbieMe, my life, my family and my travels Archives
November 2022
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