Wednesday 20 May 2015

Lately



Oliver has spent a great deal of time constructing a home for snails. It all started at the weekend, as I wandered around the garden cursing them and their destruction of my Hostas. He got hold of a bucket, collecting as many as he could find. He spent ages studying them. Now I'm not a great fan of snails, being a gardener and all that, but they really are amazing creatures. Their construction for a start. That perfect whorl of their shell. Their eye stalks. The way they get around on one foot and the sticky mucus that they create and use to such fantastic effect. Anyway the net result is that we now have a snail sanctuary in the garden. I have pointed out to Olly that he may well have to liberate them in the next couple of days, but they seem happy enough for now.

Sam, Alfie and I sat on my bed last night, giggling over offensive tweets sent to our PM from members of the public. Is it a thing peculiar to the British, this constant satirising, scrutiny and just plain old poking fun at of people in high places. I've heard that those that serve us, adore programmes such as ''The Thick Of It' and many of the very quotable lines are voiced during their debates. Margaret Thatcher's favourite tv show was ''Yes Minister, which kind of indicates that even the iron lady had penchant for satire.

I sometimes feel that I don't mention Sam and Alfie enough here. Honestly they are a constant presence, what with their eating me out of house and home, and being so tall. Sam is revising furiously at the moment. His exams start at the beginning of June. He had a 'I'm going to fail everything' panic the other night. He won't. He's worked too bloody hard. I am in awe of his work ethic and his commitment. I also feel a little sad that it has taken precedence over other things. But he's his own man (nearly. He's eighteen next week), and sometimes I need to remember that.

Alfie continues to keep me on my toes. How the most loving and affectionate child can turn on a coin into a vile mouthed brute, I will never know. Feisty is an understatement. The waters had been rather calm until this week. We had words on Monday, which escalated with lightening speed into a full blown shouting and slanging match. I'm not much better than him, once we get going. The light at the end of the tunnel is his readiness to apologise. It may come a day after the event. But it is genuine, and I can handle that. I think Alf's process into adulthood is going to a complicated mix of holding his tongue versus letting rip at any given opportunity.

We have had some sad news. Jean the chicken has died. She was most likely eaten by a fox. Beryl and Jean had been over-wintering at my sister in laws house, and were due to come back any day now. We think that it will be better for Beryl to remain with Maisie, Godfrey the female turkey and Rosie the duck. I'm not sure whether I will get any more chickens. We shall see.

I remain rather overwhelmed at all your responses to my last post. Such words of encouragement, practical advice, gentle short shrift, and very, very kinds words have really left their mark. So thank you. You will be pleased to know that I have been to plot number ten a few times, and that all seems to be growing away. Olly's carrots haven't been eaten yet. Although I have a cunning plan should that happen. In fact I'm off up there in a mo, to weed and stake. If the weather holds.

Oh, and CT, is that a Painted Lady? I thought it was and have duly logged it on my app. I'm already down on last year, and she would boost my points no end.

Love and kisses,
Leanne xxx


This seems a rather anti-climatic post. I think I've lost my blog swing. Must try harder. Or perhaps I must try not so hard.





18 comments:

  1. Just right! Aren't the bluebells amazing at the moment? It's like they're on steroids or something, I'm so glad you've included some pictures and I love hearing about your snail tales and twitter snorts. Big wave from over the hills, Antonia x

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  2. You've just brought back a childhood memory of mine, collecting snails and giving them lettuce to eat. I don't think my mum was too happy about it but left me to it. Sad news about Jean, that's always the risk with chickens but still upsetting when it happens. Their names made me laugh, two of my mum's sisters are Jean and Beryl. Good luck to Sam for his exams. Eleanor's half way through her AS levels at the moment, she's on study leave now and revising hard for the remaining exams she's got left, four down five to go.

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  3. Love your photo collage and the idea of a snail sanctuary! Good luck to Sam in his exams; I'm sure he'll do brilliantly. It makes me sad too when it's a sunny day and they are stuck inside revising - hopefully, it will all be worth it in the end and (touch wood) the Summer holidays will provide us with plenty of lovely outings to compensate. Have a great half term xx

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  4. Hi Leanne. What a lovely post, just what I like to read. The snail sanctuary sounds like fun. Did you know that there is a Swiss old wives tale that snail mucus is good to get rid of warts? I tried it as a child but can't for the life of it remember the outcome. Alfie sounds like my Annie, a good heart buried in a volatile personality. Handle with care because you never quite know when the next blast comes :-) Annie and I often shout at each other. The transition into adulthood is easier for some, isn't it? I think my own was quite troubled and I try to remember that when Annie has one of her moments. Not always successfully. I am sorry about Jean, I hope she didn't suffer. Keep it coming my friend, you haven't lost your blog swing, but maybe your expectations about what the blog means to you has changed? Lots of love from rainy Glesga. Christina xx

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  5. A snail hotel sounds huge fun not that I will be building my own of course! I do however have a pet snail outside on the wigwam thing built in readiness for the runner beans to be planted next month. He has a home until then! I have a book somewhere that advocates collecting snails in a safe secure location & feeding them weeds & old lettuce. Their droppings if they have such a thing! & if I remember correctly make good compost additions! I wish Sam the best of luck for his exams & my youngest Harry sounds so like Alfie with his ability to recognise the need to make a genuine apology. Not such a bad ability to have x

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  6. Certainly a painted lady, it is possible we are in for a miajor migration of them again this year, like 4-5 years ago when they were everywhere.

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  7. I'm terrified of snails, can't explain it, it's irrational. I can deal with spiders, the occasional snake and the alligator out back, but not snails.
    Kids can be so different. We had only one, but she once claimed, in a fit of sibling rivalry, that I liked the cat better than her.

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  8. The best posts are those that just go with flow sometimes if I try to think of something too hard it just doesn't happen. I have however put one of my many note books to good use and if something funny happens or I just think of something to write about I'll jot it down as I am at that age where if I don't write things down it's gone in an instant. So glad that you decided plot 10 was worth hanging onto. If nothing else you can take a deck chair down in the summer sit amongst the weeds and read your book.

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    1. PS thanks for clarifying on the painted lady front. I get a lot of these in the summer and I've never been sure what the name of them is.

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  9. Definitely painted lady. I think it's quite healthy that Alfie feels able to voice his anger and frustrations, I never could and it made a very unhealthy relationship with my parents which never recovered. Keep the channels of communication open, you are doing a good job. Being a teenager/nearly teenager is horrible, so much hormonal pressure, peer pressure and academic pressure to cope with, at least you can let off steam with your mum safely because you know she'll keep loving you anyway. Sending you a hug. x

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  10. Your blog is wonderful and so are you. One of my favorite things about you is your unpretentiousness. If that is a word. Anyway, you have it and I like that in a person, perhaps more than any other single quality. I like hearing about your older boys. I worry a lot about raising a boy and what that will be like as he gets older. I'm the oldest in my family, with two girls after me close in age (they are twins, actually), and my only brother was born when I was almost nine years old, so I didn't really get to see him when he was a teenager much; I went away to college when he was ten, and was married by the time was 15. My son is very even-tempered now, but who knows if that will last. It's his sister who gives me a harder time so far. He has no opinions on anything, she has one for everything under the sun, which is exhausting already and she's only six!

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  11. I encounter quite a bit of fury from boys here. No idea how I will get them all the way to adulthood. I hope Sam has a good birthday, and maybe a tiny break from revision. And I do hope his exams go well. All of that revision will be very well worth it. My biggest boy was looking over my shoulder when I opened your post and said, "That's a painted lady", so you may well be right. Well spotted, and more than that, well photographed. I can't get near butterflies, it's SO frustrating. I shall pop back and see what CT says. Love that middle photograph, it's wonderful. And the lighthouse. I've been craving the sea a little lately. Enjoy the rest of the week Leanne. CJ xx

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  12. I love your blog even though my commenting has been sporadic (to say the least!). Weirdly I thought my children might be very similar - but they're so different. One is very cautious and reserved, the other has absolutely no fear! However, they're both very opinionated! My eldest (aged 5) is already working on her teenage tantrum!
    My smallest loves minibeats...shes fascinated. Not so fascinating for me when I'm presented with a slug!!
    xx

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  13. Is that a photo of Tremenheere Sculpture Garden? We visited last week and had a lovely bowl of soup. My favourite bit was the green roof on the plant nursery shed. The elliptical chamber from which you view the sky was an interesting idea and I got a great photograph but they were installing a light show while we were there and it made me wonder why. If I was local (I wish!) I would go back at twilight to see the full
    effect. Don't worry about your boys, it all sounds quite normal to me, and enjoy the allotment. My children were five and seven when we found the allotments in the next village on a bike ride. We used to have so much fun, we had grass snakes in the compost heap, baby rabbits galore and a buttercup meadow. I'm a little more organised now.

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  14. What a wonderful robin picture. The robin in my garden flies in to the conservatory if I leave the door open - to remind me to feed him, or help himself if I've left the bird food open!
    Lots of studying here too - AS levels for Matt. Good luck to Sam - I'm sure all his hard work will pay off. It's only natural to have the wobble beforehand of "I'll fail everything" - that's what I tell Matt too. x

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  15. I wonder if detect similarities between you and Alfie and if that is the case, he will turn out to be just lovely - like you!! So with the other two boys!! Not sure about that snail sanctuary though - any that I find get thrown over the fence to next door - there is lots to eat there, so it is a service to them really! All part of the good fun of being a little boy though. I hope that Sam's exams go well for him! xx

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  16. I knew I missed something when I commented before. It was bothering me for the past three hours. I'm so sorry about Jean. I love my hens dearly and I would be very sad to see one go. It will happen eventually, but I hope not soon. Poor Jean. I hope Beryl enjoys staying on where she is, it sounds like a real paradise for our feathered friends.

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  17. I always love to know what you have been up to my friend, you are always honest and funny and genuine. It's nice to hear what your boys have been up to. I like the image of you all reading tweets together and giggling. I'm sorry to hear about Jean,. I heard a bonkers report on the radio yesterday about people who feed and encourage foxes in their gardens, and all I could think was "what about the chickens?" xxx

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