The chooks have arrived!

Here are the girls who arrived yesterday. The black one is Beryl and the ginger one is Hilda (don't ask). Everything seemed to be going smoothly until it came to bedtime. Beryl would not put herself to bed in the coop and I had to stand out in the pouring rain until lots of coaxing (i.e. a broom handle) made her retire for the night. We were at it for about an hour.

This morning I made sure I opened the door nice and early (6.30am!) so they could get out and about but they refused to come out! I can see this is going to be a difficult relationship....

Reading - with gusto!

2010 seems to have rekindled my reading mojo. I have been devouring books quicker than ever and have been perusing book blogs to find inspiration for new material. Here's a quick update:

To be read

1. The Angel's Game - Carlos Riuz Zafon
2. A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini
3. Brick Lane - Monica Ali
4. Then We Came to the End - Joshua Ferris
5. The Mist in the Mirror - Susan Hill
6. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
7. A Murder is Announced - Agatha Christie
8. On Beauty - Zadie Smith

Finished

January

1. The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
2. The Jewel Garden - Monty and Sarah Don
3. The Guernsey Literary and Potato peel pie society - Mary Ann Scaffer

February

1. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie
2. Divas Don't Knit - Gil McNeil

Currently reading

1. The Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle

Chickens and allotmenting!

Finally, it is all coming together. The chickens are arriving next week (eekk!) and I've emailed the local parish council who said they should be in touch with me about an allotment very soon as they have been clearing some land. I've been on the waiting list for nearly three years so I'm very excited. I've been gazing longingly at seed catalogues and now I can start my planning and ordering for real!