Never a dull moment!

Phase one of the pond clearance has been done with a thick layer of leaves and mud having to be taken out. This is now staying by the side of the pond and burn to allow any pond life to return and also, hopefully to dry out a little before being composted. There will then be a second session once the water has cleared and we can see a little more what needs to be taken out. Richard was wearing a pair of ordinary marigolds but they really weren't up to the job and he has earned his 'grown up' gloves which come up to his armpits.

To those of you who tried to contact me last week I have a confession to make - having spent the day gardening in the rain I went back to Culloden, stripped off my wet clothes and put them straight in the washing machine while I went to have a bath. On coming downstairs I heard a banging noise coming from the washing machine and realised that my mobile phone was still in the pocket of my jeans - more haste, less speed!! Needless to say, it doesn't work, although my sim survived, so although I now have Tims old phone I have lost a number of contacts which were on the phone as well as all my photos and texts.

We had a busy trip down South again with a funeral on Friday, a visit to the 'Grand Designs' show in London on saturday, dinner with Matt on Saturday evening and then down to Winchester on Sunday, having picked up our Chicken coop and run from Richard and Judith on the way. It was Ruths birthday and we were looking forward to a relaxed couple of days with them but it wasn't to be......

We had just sat down on Sunday night having put the children to bed and were in front of their log fire as the boiler had failed a few days before. We noticed some tar dripping from the chimney and Tim suddenly said 'I don't want to worry you, but I think the chimneys on fire', with which there was a roar from the chimney and smoke and flames began to pour out of the fireplace! As a team we did well with Richard calling the fire brigade, Ruth and I scooped the children up, the lodger closed the doors and Tim threw several pans of water on the fire by which time the room was filled with smoke to within a couple of feet of the floor.

The fire brigade arrived in about five minutes and went in with breathing apparatus. Tims quick action had put the fire out and the firemen were just about to start a huge fan to clear the smoke from the house when the fire broke out again and the firemen had to go back in. Fortunately it was able to be extinguished quickly and we were amazed, when we were able to go back in, at how little damage there was. The house smelt very smoky but we were able to go back in and sleep there although neighbours had offered to put us all up for the night. The firemen returned at 23.00 to check that the chimney was cold which was reassuring. They said it was one of the more aggressive chimney fires that they had dealt with and that we had done all the right things. Perhaps all that mandatory fire training is useful after all.....Once Bethan had recovered from the shock of being whisked out of her bed while soundly asleep she was able to watch proceedings from the house over the road and was very interested to see the two fire engines.

We were able to wash all the curtains on Monday but spent most of the day out of the house allowing the smell to clear and it was noticeably better by the time we left to drive back overnight.

I brought young vegetable plants with me which Bethan helped me plant and dropped some off with Daniel and Julie on the way past Eynsham arriving back at Moy at about 06.30 to drop off the coop and then on to Culloden where we stopped just long enough for breakfast and a shower before returning to Moy to assemble the coop. The dehumidifiers are now in place and the firm are optimistic that it may well only take a couple of weeks to dry out the house so we are hoping that the re-instatement will be able to start more quickly than we thought.

The chickens are now installed in the coop - we intended to buy four initially but somehow ended up with five!! One of them laid an egg on the way back to Moy which was very exciting. We are looking forward to a regular supply and once they have got used to their new home we are hoping that they will be able to be free range. Part of that will be getting them and Rhema used to each other before we can let them loose together. Initially Rhema was very excited but this morning she pretty much ignored them so I am hopeful that it won't be too long before we can let them out together.

Sarah and Joe were supposed to be moving into their own place in Culloden today but due to some communication breakdown the existing tenants aren't moving out until Monday which was a bit of a blow as the furniture is arriving this morning......should be interesting...

Like many people we stayed up to watch the election results come in but when it was clear that there wouldn't be a clear result I gave up and went to bed at about 3.30...after all I'm now a farmer and have chickens to let out....