Time to say I Do!

So Jilly and I are thinking of tying the knot at some point during the next two years, but arent really sure what we want to do. We definitely dont want a huge do, but it has to be special, as Jilly's last wedding was a complete nightmare (it was fate!), and i am only planning on marrying once. So we thought of doing it abroad, just with us and the kids and maybe Jilly's parents.

I just wanted to hear about you guys experience. Where you got married/civil partnered and any tips you have for us.

This will be my last post before christmas so i will leave you with best wishes and a happy christmas x

Wordless Wednesday- The girls goofing around

Wordless Wednesday

So much to say...

So firstly i'll apologise for not posting in such a long time. I have thought about posting several times but never seem to have had the time or the enthusiasm to post. But a certain someone (you know who you are) has requested that i post so i will.

Its been a busy month and a half in our house. I had another interview in November and was offered the post, so am just waiting for my criminal record check to come back. Jilly and I graduated on the 13th to which Jilly's parents and grandparents attended and my dad came down from Scotland. It was the first time the parents had met some it was a bit intense but all went well and we had a nice meal afterwards.

On the allotment front, we havent done very much, but we have still got some sprouts growing that i will cook Nigella Lawson stylie for christmas dinner. We lost another of our ex battery's to the great coop in the sky. We saw it coming cos she was so weak, but it was still upsetting...the inevitable problem with having animals i guess. So to make up the numbers, particularly as we had just bought a nice new coop for the ladies for winter, we went and bought a couple of hens at point of lay from the local farm. They are quite timid but it is wonderful to have chickens that lay again.


Dorkus & Queenie

We have been getting small pale eggs (as they lay small ones at first) so we assumed both of them were laying, however i have just found a dark brown one so i dont know if one has just started. Not sure of their breed as apparantely local school kids hatched them and then sent them to the farm. If anyone wants to hazard a guess, go ahead!



Anyway am preparing for christmas now and have actually bought quite a lot of presents so i'm happy about that. Hope everyone is well and enjoying the festive season.

Anniversary Weekend

Well we started the weekend by going to an Indigo Girls gig. It was the first time we'd seen them and they were fantastic. We then went up to Robin Hood's Bay in North Yorkshire and a little 1 bed cottage that Jilly had booked for our anniversary. It was lovely and cosy with a log burning fire and a beautiful kitchen. On saturday we took the dogs on the beach and they loved it, playing with every dog in sight. We enjoyed the walk and the fresh sea air. Saturday night we went and had a candlelit dinner at a little restaurant in the village and had lots of yummy seafood. We then snuggled in the cottage in the evening.



On sunday Jilly's parents brought the kids up and we had fish and chips before spending ages on the beach with the dogs and flying a kite. It was really fun. We set off to come home as it was getting dark and i really didnt want to come home. It was such a perfect weekend and i didnt want it to end.



Thank you for arranging it Jilly and happy 2nd anniversary. I'll love and adore you forever xxxx

Autumnal weekend

Jilly, the kids and I spent the weekend together. Yesterday we went to the cinema to see Up! in 3D. I've never seen something in 3D so that was pretty cool, unlike us in our glasses! It made me and Jilly cry in parts but we really enjoyed it. Then last night we had a night in and watched X Factor. This morning we had our usual lazy sunday in bed reading the paper and listening to Sunday love songs. Then we went to Chatsworth and had a nice picnic and walked the dogs. It was a beautiful autumn day. We came back and i cooked a sunday dinner which was very yummy (if i do say so myself). Hope everyone else had a good weekend x

Being a lesbian daughter

So I could do with some advice from people who know what they're talking about. Basically my mum refuses to accept who i am and who i love. Jilly and I have been together for two years and up until then i had not spoken to my mum about my sexuality. I told my parents that Jilly was my girlfriend a few months after we got together and my dad was very gracious and gave me a hug and said its my life. Whereas my mother said (and i quote) "I cant pretend i'm happy about it cos i not". Now ok, she was probably shocked etc, but she's had nearly two years to get used to it.
She still acts as though Jilly doesnt exist and when i spoke to her the other night and told her that my job had fallen through, she told me i have to go where the jobs are and i should think about moving...convenient as she thinks this would take me away from Jilly. However, both Jilly and i agree that we would rather work in a supermarket and be together than work in hospitals and be apart.
My mother seems to want me to be apart from Jilly, even if that would make me miserable. Not surprisingly, Jilly has never met my mum, basically because she thinks my mum hates her and i cant say for certain that my mum would be nice to her if she met her. So i hardly speak to her these days. My relationship with my dad is the same as it always has been. He is so laid back really, he loves me for me, and i love talking to him. I dont see much of them cos they live in scotland about 7 hours away.
I dont want to end up having no relationship with my parents cos they're family, but there's only so much i can do. The rest is up to her!
Any words of wisdom?

Edited to apologise for the long, propbably boring post!

New arrivals

We came home on saturday and found our neighbours sitting outside with their 9 week old kittens in a play pen. She was waiting for someone to come and look at them, so we ended up playin with them for a while.

Jilly has always wanted a cat, as she hasnt had one for ages, so she convinced me to take one of them, but we couldn't pick which one, so we now have two little kittens. They are adorable and have such funny characters, however Skye is not particularly enamoured by them. As far as she's concerned, we've brought two evil kittens that spit at her, into her house!

Here they are. The one on the left is Ginny and the darker one is Tonks

Hard Knocks

I am writing this post feeling truly fed up.

So I finished my operating theatre training and was waiting for my professional registration to come through before i could start the job i had lined up at a private hospital. However, on tuesday i received a letter from Human Resources at the hospital saying that after receiving all the information and dcoumentation they required, they would no longer be processing my application. This completely shocked me, as as far as i was concerned everything was fine and i did have the job. This has completely knocked me for six, as i have no idea what the reason for this sudden change is, and the HR woman will not speak to me!

In truth, i think it involves the educator from the hospital where i did my training. He was a nasty piece of work, who if he liked you and you were one of his favourites, he was nice, and if not he would make things difficult for you. Unfortunately, i stood up to him on this...morally the right thing to do, but apparantly the wrong thing for my future career.

So i am unemployed and really gutted, as i thought Jilly and i would be sorted and all our money issues would be solved. I know, after reading posts by some bloggers lately, that there is a lot of unfairness in the world and i have no reaal reason to complain....myself and Jilly are healthy, as are the kids and she has started her job. I'm just fed up of coming up against obstacles at every turn. We are definitely the family who nothing will ever come easy to!

Sorry for rambling and ranting, but if i cant vent on here, where can I?

Wordless Wednesday

Courgettes, Chickens and Civil Partnerships

Our allotment is very overgrown, however there is plenty of produce coming through. The beans are doing well, as are the courgettes, so we had a courgette and green bean risotto last night that was scrummy!

The allotments are surrounded by blackberry bushes which are full of fruit right now, so the other day we picked lots of blackberries and came home and made blackberry and apple crumble and some jars of blackberry jam. The kids ended up covered in juice pretending to be murderers (too much imagination!)

Unfortunately, Bangles, one of our ex battery chickens died the other day. She didnt seem very perky and wasnt herself. It was very upsetting to feel like i'd let her down, but she did get a few months of life outside the cages, sunbathing and pecking around.

On a happier note, we went to Jilly's cousin's civil partnership ceremony on monday. They got married at the town hall and then had a party afterwards. We all had a boogie and Jennifer sang on the karaoke with Jilly's other cousin, Ben.

Congratulations Gemma and Clare!

What I love about Jilly

I am always telling Jilly all the things i love about her and why she is so wonderful, but she never believes me. Hopefully one day she will, but until then i'll just have to tell the world.....

-Firstly, and most importantly she is the most beautiful woman in the world

-She has the loveliest bright blue eyes and the softest lips

-The way she sings along to songs in the car...so cute and sexy!

-The way she takes care of me, especially when i'm ill

-The fact that she always humours me, even if i'm not being funny

-She lets me be who i am, and loves me for it

-She is so strong and independent and doesnt let people take advantage of her

-She is so clever and really ingenius sometimes

-She still has the ability to make my heart skip a beat

-She is a complete and utter romantic

-And we both want the same things in life....she really is my soulmate

I could go on further, but i'm sure you'd all get bored.
Anyway just wanted to let you all know the fantastic things about my fiance, Jilly.

A Vegetable Feast

Hello everybody, sorry it's been a while...we've both been so busy with work. Jilly has finished her training and has got a job in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and i finish tomorrow and have been offered a job in a private hospital. Hopefully we should start work at the end of september at the latest, until which time we'll be a bit short of money (just for a change). Oh well it will just be nice to spend some time together as a family.

We spent a few hours at the allotment last saturday and harvested all the onions, the remainder of the potatoes and some peas (which unfortunately harboured lots of maggots/caterpillars). The beans are finally starting to do something and the sprouts, broccoli and main crop potatoes are coming along.

The main reason for going up was so Jilly could try out her new toy, a battery powered strimmer. She was very excited and it turned out to do the trick and cut those nasty weeds back down to size! We also put in place a garden bench that Jilly's grandad had fixed for us...so now we have somewhere to sit and drink our tea.

Anyway hope everything's ok with you guys

Italy for the weekend

Last weekend we left the kids and dogs with the ex and flew off to Italy for the weekend. It was my friend from school's wedding on the saturday in a castle in a little town on lake garda called Malcesine.

It was a beautiful weekend, we had a welcome rest and ate lots of delicious food. Lake Garda was absolutely magnificient, with its big mountains and lots of lovely villages and towns.

The wedding was just a semetic one and therefore quite short, which we were glad of as the sun was beating down, even at 4.30 pm. We were then taken to the reception at a gorgeous restaurant and were fed a whole feast of courses between 9pm and 1.30pm. The speeches took the longest time as they had to be translated between italian and english for the grooms family and Rebecca's.

It was generally a very romantic break and had me and Jilly wanting to tie the knot...maybe next year!

The Long Weekend

It's been a long weekend due to the spring bank holiday so we've got lots to report.

Firstly, Skye turned 6 months old this week and remains the naughtiest pointer around...she's still incredibly loveable though.

We spent a few hours up at the allotment both saturday and sunday so got plenty done. We dug out another bed for the main crop potatoes and covered it to keep the weeds down. Then we made another bed where we planted out the sprouts, brocolli, carrots and parsnips. Jilly put some mesh around the peas and tied them up so they are no longer trailing along the ground. I also put together a very slanted compost heap out of pallets, it may not be pretty but it serves a purpose!

The chicken ladies are doing well and i found 2 eggs when i checked today. I expected 1 as Tallulah always makes a tremendous noise when she's laid an egg, alerting everyone to how clever she is! They've had the run of the back yard for most of the day and have discovered my lavender plant, as well as knowing exactly when the back door's been left open.

Hope everyone else had a good weekend!

Night time ramblings

I'm on my lonesome tonight because Jilly's doing a night shift, so i've got Emily for company (hope she doesn't thrash around all night like the last time she was in our bed!). Anyway i hate spending nights without Jilly so am pining for her...i'm a big smush, i know.

The chooks have settled in now, although after getting 5 eggs from them in the first week, we have had none since monday. The weather is horrible and raining loads, which i dont think they're very impressed by! Oh well, on a plus side the veggies will be loving it. Hopefully we'll spend some time up at the allotment at the weekend.

Here's a pic Jilly took of Emily with her chicken, Tallulah. They go together perfectly as they both like talking!

Chickens in the kitchen

We have our ladies! We picked them up last sunday and we're loving them. We managed to build the house and run in just enough time to go and pick them up. We have had three eggs in three days (delicious boiled with soldiers this morning) so we are chuffed with the girls. Their names, by the way, are Tallulah, Blousy Brown, Velma and Bangles and they all have different personalities. Tallulah is very friendly, but appears to be hatching an escape plan similar to Chicken Run! We found her in the dining room the other day! Blousy Brown seems to be the top hen, however Velma is a bit of a bully. And Bangles has taken a while to settle in but she's very friendly too. They all like it when we open the run and let them stretch their legs (and often wings).

All in all they have settled in very well, as have we to the new house.

The fabulous house and run that Jilly built...she's so clever!

Up at the allotment, the potatoes and onions are doing very well, as are the fruit bushes and strawberries. Unfortunately, the beans have bitten the dust, and the peas are looking a bit scabby. Some of them may survive once we have tied them up to the poles though. We've got some more seedlings we're going to go and plant out this weekend and we've cheated a bit and bought some brocolli, carrot, sprouts and runner bean plants from B and Q.

Hectic week

Quick update....

We decided we would rehome 4 ex battery chickens from Hen Rehomers UK http://www.henrehomers.net/. They are due to come to us next saturday. We bought a chicken coop off ebay and took it up to the allotment to build. Then the other day we went up to the plot to water the veggies and to our horror, the coop had been stolen! We were devastated and are pretty convinced it's a new man on the allotment who has pigeons and is up there all the time.

So plan B...we are still having the chickens but are going to keep them in our back yard (god bless our new landlord for letting us!). We have been skip raiding etc and have got pallets to build a chicken house and run. We're currently building it and will post pics of the finished product.

Aswell as all that, we are moving house at the end of next week and have not done any packing yet due to working. Thank god we are only moving down the road and i am having monday and friday off to do things.

As for the veggies, the onions are coming through well but the beans and peas are looking a bit pathetic and i think something's been eating the peas.

And on a happier note, yesterday Jilly and i have been together 18 months and she bought me a little 'anniversary' album and put photos and mementos in it. It is so lovely and the best present i've ever had. She really is the most wonderful girlfriend and partner you could ever wish for.






I love you so much Jilly.

Girls on film!

Our girls entered an easter bonnet parade on Easter Sunday and were photographed for the local paper. Here's what they wrote in it...

Sisters Jennifer, aged 11, and Emily Barclay, eight, on Blair Athol Road, Greystones, who both attend Greystones School, were up early yesterday morning to get cracking on their hats. Mum Jilly said: "They made their hats this morning, while eating Easter eggs of course."

Planting, Poles and Poultry!

We finally managed to get back onto the plot this afternoon and were pleased to see that the council had finished clearing the edges. Our real purpose for going up was to plant out some of the seedlings that were getting too large to stay in the seed trays and to get the early potatoes and onions out as they were more than ready.

We firstly prepared some trenches for the potatoes and added some horse manure and chicken pellets, before using some bricks to mark out the bed. The onions went in next, some of which were already sprouting.

Jilly had an ingenius idea (as usual) for how to grow the peas. We made wigwams out of seven canes tied at the top and planted a pea seedling at the bottom of each cane. They look really good.

The borlotti beans were a bit more of a challenge, but after some deliberation we decided to grow them up canes with some sticks weaved in between for support. Hopefully they will withstand the elements!

Lastly we got our fruit bushes in the ground. We have two raspberries and a redcurrent which have some foliage on already.

We've been offered our three ex battery chickens for collection on 2nd may, but we're moving house the same day so are not sure it's the best time. It would be great if we could get them tho, and free some ladies. We'll keep you updated on that one.

Lantern Festival

We all went out on sunday night to a lantern festival. We met up at a place called Mount Pleasant Park and once it got dark we all paraded through the streets. We had our very simple lanterns, but some of the others were absolutely amazing. It looked fantastic to see them all lit up, and the kids really enjoyed it (have to admit i did too). Here's a few pictures. Hope everyone has a happy easter.

Sowing our seeds

We have sown lots of seeds now and our dining room window sill is covered in seed trays. The peas have done a bit too well and we are swimming in them, the cabbages parsnips and sprouts are also doing very well. We're trying out borlotti beans and they are looking like little aliens, but very healthy!

As for the allotment, we went up last week and found that there is still work for the council to do. We hope we will be able to get on with re-marking out beds and planting out seedlings.

Here are some pictures of the peas and borlotti bean seedlings.

All you need is a JCB

We went upto the plot today to be greeted by a man from the council and a JCB.

We had planned a productive day after collecting some fantastic well rotten manure from a local farm to dig into the beds that we had marked out last weekend. Instead are plans were thwarted by a JCB digging up the large trees at the end of our plot.

I have to admit we were a little gutted. I know its going to save us a lot of time and hard work in the long run, but we have got so far clearing the plot ourselves that its a little disheartening to have a JCB come in and clear it in a day!

The council are going to chop down the hedges at the sides for us, pull up the large trees and rotervate the whole plot. Luckily we managed to save the strawberry plants that we had planted.

A Fruitful Day

Hi folks,

We've finally managed to get back on to the allotment today after all that snow, so thankfully it was a beautiful sunny day. We've had a very productive day with lots of digging out of weeds and roots (as demonstrated by me in the photo below).




We also marked out a bed for potatoes and one for fruit, the latter as a result of some neighbours offering us some strawberry plants. We also have some fruit bushes which we plan to plant in this bed aswell.

We had the opportunity to try out my new trangia stove today, which my dad sent me for my birthday. We heated soup on it for lunch and it worked fantastically!

Let it Snow!!

Well it's been heavy snow showers here in Sheffield for most of the day and the dogs and kids have had lots of fun! Here's a few pics from today.

Emily making her snowman, which she was very proud of, as were we!

Skye and Bailey playing in the snow.

Skye

We've got our new baby. She's called Skye and is 7 weeks old now. She's a german wirehaired pointer and is a little tinker. She loves playing and the whole family has completely fallen in love with her. She's got so much energy, it will be good when she has had her vaccinations so we can take her out. Hope you like the picture.

As for the allotment, well it's probably feeling quite abandoned again as we've been too busy with coursework to go up there. Hoping to get a good few hours spent up there this weekend. I've missed it!