A new roasting tin

Hopefully this will bring a smile to Granddads face.

Spring hath sprung

Well it might be a few days early, but spring has officially arrived at chateau Larcombe. The sun has been shining all week, the daffodils have poked their heads up and the magnolia is starting to bud. Unfortunately alongside the great weather comes great works. I have managed to get the front lawn mown for the first time although it already looks like it needs doing again. If it's like this tomorrow, I'll attempt to do the back if the mower holds out.

I've also been busy working around and in the greenhouse preparing beds for this year. I took the broken plastic water barrel and converted it into two raised beds for outside which I've already planted out. I took the large wooden barrel that used to be in front of the house and cut that in half too making two large planters for inside the green house. So far I've filled them both with soil and compost and planted strawberries around the edge of one of them.

I've also moved the old manure heap from between the greenhouse and the stable and spread it over the vegetable plot. Next job is to rotivate it all in ready for the start of this years crop planting.

With the sunny weather comes the traditional water fights which the kids have spent the afternoon participating in alongside numerous arguments and slanging matches.

Work, Work, Work

Been a busy week here but it looks like I got our friends roof finished just in time as the heavens have opened today and the water is pouring down. One of these days I'll put the missing tiles back on our roof then we'll be dry too.

For those that didn't guess, the picture in the last post was of my brother playing Shrek in the island carnival. I thought his Hagrid was good from previous years but Shrek is fantastic and suits Tony down to the ground. Ogres are mad up of layers, a bit like an onion. That says it all really.

Jane has lost some weight since this time last week. She's had all her hair cut off leaving her feeling light headed. As chief cook and bottle washer, I have been working hard towards our healthier eating campaign as well, not only reducing our carbohydrate intake, but also cutting down to 1 bottle of wine a night on school nights. I'm sure I can make up my intake tonight though as we're off out for dinner with friends.

I'm sneaking in a quick trip to the UK at the end of April for a bit of softball and socialising. Will be a fleeting visit, so I'll apologise now if I don't get around to seeing everyone.

It's my sisters birthday today so "Happy birthday Alex" hope you're having a great day and the family are spoiling you rotten. Love from us lot xxx

Guess Who

A picture for Grandand

The joys of a mini digger

I thought it was only fair, as we had the digger here, to get Jane to have a drive. A simple exercise of scooping a bucket of stones from the pile and emptying them in the wheel barrow. Kirsty had already mastered this task and was not impressed when I told her it was mummies turn. After a quick lesson in lefts and rights she was off, half a bucket here, a large hole there but soon she seemed to be getting the swing of it. Unfortunately it was not to continue in such a swimmingly fashion. During a lapse in concentration she used the wrong right hand and, instead of the bucket emptying, the arm swung round hitting me square in the side and knocking me about 4 feet. So endeth the digger driving for Jane.

The digger is still here at the moment which could be seen as a bonus where as in fact it's a bit of a curse as I keep terrorising more and more bits of the garden and surrounding areas. I could however use it to dig a giant hole to bury Janes car in as it died on us earlier in the week, breaking the CV joint and suspension system on the front. We shall keep our fingers crossed that the repair bill will not be too extreme, but have decided it is time to look into a new car. We will have to borrow money to buy the new car however, without a reliable vehicle Jane can't get to work so it's a bit of a no brainer really.

I am almost back to full health although still feeling rather lethargic and lacking motivation. I've built a scale model of the roundhouse and have ear marked the trees that I'm going to fell for it's construction. Keep up with that project on www.frenchroundhouse.blogspot.com

I've also started another blog for some of my late night insomnia driven ramblings. There's just no holding the author in me back www.andys-shorts.blogspot.com This one is based on all the little stories that amuse me or are wedged in my brain from days gone by. All true, some funny, some serious.