Thursday 17 February 2011

Recycle your roses, chickens, Skibby and sewing - random post warning


Firstly thanks for all your good wishes for Skibby.  He is still with us and has had an antibiotic injection, is on antibiotic tablets and also has local antibiotics which we have to pop in his eye.  He has a abscess on his eye (probably scratched it on a twig in the garden) and if it doesn't heal and goes through the eye he will have to be put to sleep as that could lead to meningitis :-(   His breathing is a bit laboured today so I am hoping that won't get worse - he is too cute to leave us even if he is an old man.

Roses

Mr Sweetpea bought me some roses a couple of weeks back and now they are coming to the end of their life it reminded me that many others may have roses that may be thrown out soon.  Instead of throwing them away why not recycle them?  Last year we went to a wedding in June and instead of buying confetti I got some rose petals off our roses and dried them, I put them in a cute little paper bag and they worked wonderfully as confetti (if you buy that sort of confetti in shops it costs a fortune!).  Not only did it look lovely but it bio-degrads after a little while so is a great eco style option.

You could also dry the petals and pop some rose oil on them for a lovely potpouri.


Chickens
 
We have had a very rare couple of lovely sunny days here in Cambridgeshire.  Oh how I love to hang my washing out on the line and potter around the garden.  This week I was joined by our chickens, they absolutely love the sunshine and sit basking in it.  They also had great fun having mud baths together, Mr Chicken was making sure the girls joined in :-)  Ironically they do this to clean themselves and get rid of any mites that might be on them.


I flung the doors open to let the fresh air in but I did have to keep an eye out for unwanted guests arriving (although they are great company they do tend to poo on the carpet!) :-)


The two old ladies of the group weren't so interested in going out, they were enjoying some peace and quite indoors.


Even the African Greys were loving the sunshine and wolf-whistling the day away.  My husband bought these when he was in his teens and thought they were a pair (both male and female of this species look nearly identical).  We sent a blood sample off for DNA testing some years back now as they do a mating ritual but have never settled down together, it came back that they are both males :-)  They love each other so much however that they have stayed with us as a pair.


Sewing

I have managed to get a couple more sets of hairclips made recently which I really enjoyed doing.  They seem to be very Spring like - Spring is in the air yey!  I have popped them in my bloggy shop :-)
 
Middle Sweetpea has been creating with her felt and sewing kit that we bought her for Christmas, I just love the bright colours she used :-)  The frog is a little pin-cushion, so sweet!


I hope you are all having a lovely week.
xxx

16 comments:

  1. Do hope the antibiotics do the trick for poor old Skibby - the older they are the more time you have had to grow to know and love them so it's harder when they do leave isn't it? Let's hope you have a while longer together though. Had to laugh at your chickens wanting to come indoors - remember seeing a Country Living cover in which there were chickens pecking round the Aga in the kitchen and one perched on the back of a chair and I had to wonder how many of what my daughter used to call "ploppings" they left behind after that photo shoot. It's wonderful to be able to get outside in the sunshine and to see all the new growth isn't it? Love the rose petal confetti idea - not that I go to many weddings myself these days!

    Jane

    ReplyDelete
  2. Middle Sweetpea's definitely got her mother's flare for crafting - she's made some lovely creations :0)
    Hope Skibby's antibiotics do the trick. x

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love random. It's a much used word here at BeanTowers. More grey in Cambridgeshire today. BORING. I want sun. Now.
    Ax

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fabulous slice of family life - with all its ups and downs - sprinkled with lots of loveliness. xxx

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hope Skibby is feeling better xx
    Love the clips and the lovely things your girl is creating!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lovely mixed bag of a post, the clips look gorgeous and it's nice to see middle sweetpea following in her mothers footsteps and lets hope skibby is back to normal soon.I'd love to have hens wandering around my garden.
    Sue :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love the rose petal idea - I used to make all kinds of pot pourri with roses but haven't done it for a while. You are so lucky having those lovely chickens! I found a blog you might like, with lots of green cleaning tips -
    http://cameroncrowder.blogspot.com - I'm following some of them myself! Have a lovely weekend with your sweetpeas. Helen x

    ReplyDelete
  8. I like random posts :)

    I hope theres some good news for Skibby soon.

    If you still have the sunshine please can you send my bit back as our coastal strip has gone grey & misty :(

    Love middle sweetpeas work - that frog pincushion is fab :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great random post! Good wishes re Skibby. We used dried rose petal at muddle daughter's wedding a few years ago - they looked great, were cheap and biodegraded as you say. I made cones to put them in from a roll of drawer lining. re your comment on my blog - I got the sewing box from a flea market for £3.50 :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great post :0)
    Good to hear that Skibby is still with you, fingers crossed that the antibiotics do the trick.
    Love the idea of the dried rose petals and middle SP's make are fab xx

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hope the antibiotics work for Skibby, poor thing. I love those strawberry hairclips, they're so pretty. I see that Middle Sweetpea takes after her mum in the crafting department, her makes are wonderful. I especially like the frog.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Beautiful little makes in felt, I adore the ladybirds :)
    Kandi x

    ReplyDelete
  13. hope poor puddy cat gets better. If it's any consolation, I think you're doing ABSOLUTELY the right thing by him.

    Chickens look happy. Mine have been enjoying the sunshine here in Norfolk and I've even got a couple back in lay. Shouldn't be too long before the rest start

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh poor Skibby...I think Evie knows how he feels :-( LOVE the knew hair clips !! Nic xx

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi sorry to hear about your dear old cat..hope he is doing OK. I enjoyed your random post and loved to see your chickens!
    Enjoy your weekend.
    Jane

    ReplyDelete
  16. Very nice to see. Akums Drugs has acquired recognition among world-wide for offering confident quality tablets. We ensure that our tablets are firmly screened on unique chemical structure before their final appearance. Antibiotic tablets

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for spending the time leaving a comment, it really does make me smile :-)