And off I go again !

After 2 nights at home, the freezer stocked and the fridge packed to capacity, I left Llaingof again, this time for ma week in the sunnier and more noisy climbs of gidea Park and Basildon. So leaving the home team ( David, Michelle, Mark, and Deslyn) with a list of jobs as long as my arm ( which is very long as any one who has had to knit me a jersey will know), and off I went again. This was a bit of a test for myself, as I am not fond of driving long distances, and I had a journey of almost 300miles ahead of me. I managed the journey n about 5 hours with plenty of stops at services along the way for a bit of a breather. The roads and the services always seem so busy, and then I get to wondering if any one is actually ever at home, or wether we all live in our cars most of the time. Hotel Gunn was open for me as usual, almost my second home, thanks lorraine and Graham. Dad has not been well, so I was hoping to offer both Mum and dad a bit of support and see what I could do to help them. Actually it was a real break for me, as their garden is postage stamp size, and once I had potted up a few plants and a few baskets, it felt like I had actaully managed to do something. I was also able to celebrate Dads 82nd birthday with them. I suspect that Dad has had better birthdays than this years one, and am sure he will have better ones in the future.
Friday 30th April dawned, the day of the Royal Wedding. I spent the day watching telly with Mum and Dad, not wanting to miss out on any detail. I thought that Kate looked wonderful, and hope that the Royal Family appreciated the fact that I had my lucky wedding knickers on. Instead of buying a hat for various functions, I buy knickers, so I have white lacy ones for weddings, pale blue or pink ones for christenings, sparkly ones for going to discos and black ones for funerals, much cheaper than a new hat each time and at least I will not look as silly as Beatrice at the wedding, I thought her hat made her look like Tinky Winky form the Telly Tubbies. Anyway, it was a lovely day, and I had a great time watching with Mum and Dad.
The day following the wedding, I attended my first ever street party, in honour of the royal celebrations. Fairholme Ave sure knows how to rock, and there are some very talented local kids about as well. Lorraine deserves a medal for all the work she did and over 100 people attended and had a great afternoon.
In the meanwhile back at the ranch....
The Chicken Arc finally arrived, and was given a coat of paint by Deslyn .. thank you
One tonne of sand arrived and was put into place lining the wild life pond, the underfelt and liner were placed and the pond was filled up, thank you Michelle and Mark.
Loads of plants were either transplanted or potted on, thanks Michelle, Mark and Deslyn
4 more raised beds were completed and filled with compost and potting soil, thanks David .
David also managed to place 300 meters of sheep fencing , attaching it onto exsisting posts. We are still waiting for Brian the grave digger to come and put in the new fence posts and new fencing..... hope hes a bit speedier with his other job than he is with the fencing, or there are a whole lot of people waiting to have a long lie down... well I suppose they have all the time in the world .
And David became the proud foster father of 25 sheep, who will be staying on our fields for a few months. Thanks Heather and Derek for the loan of the sheep.
And me, I managed to do a few little jobs, all indoors, did a bit of shopping with Mum and did lots of sitting, do I feel guilty... no not really.
After a week in Basildon it was time for the great trek home, didnt seem so long going home, maybe i was not quite so nervous of the journey. Again, it was wonderful to get home, and sleep in my own bed.Heaven.