The Credit Crunch ends!

In celebration of the official end to the Credit Crunch and the Country showing growth for the first time in over a year, I decided it was a good time to take my life savings (loose change in my bottle) down to Sainbury’s and cash it in their wotsit machine.
The total amounted to a grand sum of £16.67, which according to the sum of growth announced, it is worth 1.6p more.

Big Ron nursing his wounds

Winter Work

It seems the same thing happens every year, I get a lot of work about 4 weeks after I really need it! The financial situation has been a tad tough of late and I’ve been doing balancing acts and a bit of dodging as well.
With just some 8 weeks to the start of my Summer job at Kent Cricket Club, I am asked if I can decorate the whole of a 4 bedroom House, but can’t start until mid February.
Because of another couple of commitments and presuming the house is ready to be done, I can’t start the work until 20th. February earliest, giving me 4 weeks, maybe less, to do all the work.
I now await more information as any date after the 20th. would be too tight and I’d have to turn it down.

Down the Lane Website

Website wise I’ve been going at ten to the dozen; the Earning More Money, Frugal, Vegetable Garden pages have all received their face lift and the Chicken section should be finished by tomorrow night.
Looking at those pages you will see they are wider than before and where possible, I’ve included new pictures and added to the articles a bit at the same time.
Each page takes between 20 and 40 minutes, the maximum I’ve achieved in one day has been eleven.

Yesterday Leo and myself popped down to Hastings for the afternoon, not for any specific reason, just to get me out of Ashford for a while. I worked it out that the last time I went out of the area was on 22nd. December. Ashford’s OK, but you can have enough of it.
As always, I went with a few pounds spare in order to treat myself and came back with nothing. Leo on the other hand totalled a mixture of 6 DVDs, blu-rays and a game. So be it!

Big Ron the Cat visits the Vet!!

Poor Big Ron has been worse for wear. At about 4am one day the week before last I was awoken by cats sparring up with their moans and growls. I went outside to find Ginger being close range eyed up by a Feral. Ron upon hearing this, poked his nose out the back door, saw what was happening and in one leap went straight over Ginger into this other Cat.
I don’t get shocked very often, but it really was violent and only stopped by me spading up some snow and throwing it all over them.

The result was that Big Ron got a head wound and needless to say, three days later he became lethargic and was obviously not right.
A visit to the Vet put him right, a quick clean up, an anti-biotic jab and after a day was back to his rather scarey eating habits.
They weighed him whilst there – 1 stone 4 lbs, so at least he lost a pound by being off his food!

The Chooks are still not taking much notice of the weather. One of them has been moulting and even she seems quite happy. Can’t understand them sometimes, but these ex-batts are made of hardier stuff than we imagine.
The worse part of the winter for chook keeping is me having to feed them at 7am and cleaning them out once a week !

So, the next two weeks will see me majoring in on more website pages, still not a quarter of the way there yet! In betwen I have a few bits and pieces to do over the Lane and have to pop over to the Cricket Club sometime to sort a couple of things out in the Dressing Room.

It’s about this time you change your opinion of Winter. From the end of the Cricket season to the year end seems an eternity, but now it seems that time has shot by.

Another trip to Belgium

Another little job I have to do is pop over the Channel for some bunty and take in a couple of WW1 places whilst there.
Last time we visited Fromelles where they have found the 400 Servicemen buried. When we were there, the new Cemetery was just a building site with a few diggers in it.
Having seen the Ceremony on TV last Saturday in which they buried the first Soldier, all credit must go to the Ear Graves Commission and the people of Fromelles. The speed in which they have taken action to ensure these men lay to rest correctyly is amazing.
Let’s hope they find out some of their identities, many people have been DNA tested in an attempt to give their Headstones a name and, at last, for the families living now to know what exactly became of their forebears.

It’s up, up and away down the Lane. I just hope these next two weeks aren’t too much the quiet before the storm – but, I need the cash!