It has been a while, it wasn't until Elaine  asked me earlier today if there was 'any sign of a post on my blog' that I realised how long I had neglected it. Its been over a month. I have no idea where the time went. It terrifies me how fast time marches on.

I have also become very, very forgetful lately. This has a lot to do with the amount of pain I am in. Its not supposed to be happening, its only a month since I had my sense of humour top up which is supposed to keep the worst of it at bay. My right arm has been giving me hell too for some weeks. This means  I have had to stop knitting, and stop making jewellery as I find the fine motor movement required to do these things agony. I try to get by with Solpadol, then I end up adding Tramadol, and Diclofenac and well, days go by like wispy clouds blown by the wind.

I havent been sat at home mopping though, oh no, not me. (OK - I know  I do mope, but hey, I think sometimes I am allowed)  I have some new hens, well, I say some, I have another 11 new hens! 6 hybrid ladies came to live with me in late May, 2 Speckledys, 2 Black Stars and 2 Sussex Stars. Then the blue egg bug struck, and it became an imperative to have a blue egg laying hen. I now have 3! Gorgeous puff pots of silver-grey fluff.  They are 15 weeks old now, and come under the heading of Lavender Araucana - a breed from South America originally.  They seem timid compared to the bawdy ex batts and the feisty new hybrids.  They have me in mind of gentile Edwardian ladies, waving their fans and sniffing their smelling salts in mock outrage at the common girls antics.  At the moment I keep them separate from the  larger hens, because although there is only about a 3 week age difference, they are only half the size!  They are supposedly large fowl, but I think in the case of Araucanas, they are more aptly described as 'Somewhere in the Middle' Fowl, as they are a bit bigger than the Bantams, but noticeably smaller than the hybrids and ex batts.    Somehow  a couple of cute little chocolate Orpington Bantams snuck in the pet carrier too, and they share a pen the Araucana hens at the moment.

What else have I been up to.  We had a fabulous knees up to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee over the long weekend with friends and neighbours, and despite monsoon conditions a great time was had by all as you can see.

I also managed to acquire some of the plants that had been on the Queen's Barge which was part of the Thames Pageant. Rachel de Thame and others produced some beautiful floral displays for the barge, some of which were created from live plants, and others as amazingly beautiful swags of cut flowers and foliage.  Two of the Munstead Wood roses, and 6 of the Hidcote lavender, complete with their severed bottoms (if you saw Gardener's World that week, you will understand)  are now resident in the garden here.  I also got a tray of the tiny purple African violets they used to create the EIIR emblem, and gave each of my neighbours a plant as a souvenir of our Jubilee celebrations.

The Garden comes along in leaps and bounds, there are roses, lilies, clematis, campanula, geraniums, and penstemons all flowering in Rose World. Chicken World has lots of fruit swelling on the trees I planted this Winter. Next comes 'Woodland World. We have killed all the grass, and started to plant borders and beds, and are seriously contemplating water of some kind.  We can't decide whether to go formal or natural, so until we do, it's all rather stalled as there doesn't seem much point laying turf and the like, only to dig it up again!

The Allotment hasn't had the attention it deserves, but we have been busy at home. Saying that though, the Gooseberry and Rhubarb crops have been generous, and the blackcurrants, raspberries, and blackberries look set to produce bumper crops too. Spuds are coming on too, but for some reason I can't fathom, we lost all the peas and beans. They just curled up their toes and died.  I am going to try to plant some runner seeds this weekend, as the season down here is long enough to attempt a late harvest - that's assuming we get some summer!

Speaking of harvest, I am also anticipating a honey harvest next month. Its been a difficult year for the bees,  feast or famine. It was either too hot and dry, and the plants didn't produce enough nectar, so I had to feed the bees, or it was too wet and the bees couldn't get out to forage, so I had to feed them! The colonies have continued to grow and thrive though and I hope to take one super at least of Boudicca. That should yield me somewhere between 20 and 40 pounds of honey. If I am lucky  I may get more. One of the hives has espcially aggressive bees, and having collected 10 stings in as many days, I am afraid that Queen Freya's days are numbered.  I have ordered a new Queen from a reputable breeder locally, who is noted for his docile stock.  I will re-queen Freya sometime in the next week or so. This may sound brutal ( it involves killing the existing Queen), but an aggressive hive is not easy to work, and worse still the aggressive genes will be spreading amongst other colonies, via the drones mating with virgin Queens on their mating flights.  I'll let you know how I get on as this is the first time I will have attempted it. It could all go horribly wrong and I end up with a queenless colony. Wish me luck!

Hope I haven't bored you too much! I'll try not to leave it so long next time X