Panic - Not now dear....

Wednesday evening I noticed there was something sliding down the flue of our wood burning stove.

Not now - please - I need your warmth.  I went into panic mode.  Is it going to kill me?  My eyes were watering.  But the Carbon Monoxide Alarm remained silent.  We let the fire go out.

Fortunately our supplier was totally laid back, recognised it as being, "You have not ensured your wood is dry."  and handed over a pot of stuff to throw on the fire, when lit, which would sort it.

We then got pyrotechnics.

Which nearly set me off again.  But on reading label of pot this was forecast.

We are now burning peat for a while (the DP being sensible he says - I prefer to see my fire with roaring flames not just sulkily smouldering.)


We have to throw this stuff on every day for so long, then have a gap, I assume at some stage we have to hunt down the only chimney sweep in the North East (hopefully not lambing yet) to come and sweep the flue.  Which will mean no fire to let it cool down..... Ah well the sweep is from Yorkshire and so am I so we usually manage to get him to come. (Barring lambing or calving)

Speaking of lambs, well our new neighbours are not lambs anymore.

Can you see that the transporter is a Three Decker?!

Hope he presses the right button or they are all going to get very squashed.

Wheeeeeeee!

The sheep are feeding on Neeps.  (Swedes in English or big turnips if you aint)  Which apparently are costing the farmer fortunes, doesnt everything cost Farmers fortunes?  If he hadnt had the sheep, which he grew the neeps for to eat , then he could have sold the neeps for vast fortunes down in England as their weather has meant they havent got any.  Follow that?  Also he bought the lambs at £60 each, and after feeding them up for months they are selling at £65, oh dear, but he thinks the price might increase as no-one else has neeps - or whatever, I lost the plot after that.  

Cannot remember which blog I was reading recently complaining about being woken up by the Woodpecker bashing hell out  of their soil pipe.  I thought about the Tawny owls at night, the geese at dawn and sunset honking over, not to mention Whooper Swans whooping, oh and yes we do have Woodpeckers, but they stick to battering the electric pole which says quite clearly, "Danger of Death", but then they cant read, and now we are to have baaa-ing.

This is taken from our bedroom window.

Robins have lovely singing voices.  Remember our garage robin?  I have attempted to immortalise him, without sound, apart from the swearing of the artist of course.  

There are currently four Robins in our garden.  Unusual as Robins are very territorial.  But given the weather they are all being very tolerant to each other.

So, no panic there, and none here now.  Stove simmering away, lovely smell of peat.  More snow forecast, one of four daughters arriving Monday, now should I start to panic...........