The Easter Egg!

Indulge me please!

Yesterday we got incredibly excited about an Easter egg of a very special kind.

Nestling in it's own pink pod.

 Our very first bantam egg from one of our new girls. The ginger one we suspect.

 It was a miserable old day weather wise so the girls didn't get too much attention. They do seem happy though and hopefully the egg is proof of that.

I made myself knuckle down to a customer order for a quilt.

So pleased to have broken the back of it!

Today the little jammers are showing off the chickens to their friends.

hmmm!



Here come the girls...

It's been a year now since our short lived time as chicken owners. We inherited Dusty with our house last year, but sadly she vanished after only 3 months. It was however 3 months of sheer delight for the little jammers. How they loved it when they came home and she dashed up the garden to the kitchen door to greet them. How they shrieked when they discovered the cheeky girl in the living room. How they enjoyed carrying her around the garden on their shoulder. Poor old Dusty. One morning she was there, that afternoon she'd gone. As Little Jammer said "she was my favourite pet". Cover your ears Hectic, 15 years counts for nothing!

So, I've been looking at safer options than complete free range ever since. I've ogled the Eglus in all their pretty colours and added them to my Ebay watch list. As Easter crept nearer I was running out of time for my grand plan. It was time to be bolder, time to ask for a buy-it-now I could afford. Would you believe it, only second time of asking and luck was on my side! On Monday night I became the proud owner of a lovely posh super safe PINK Eglu. Thank you Tania (who turned out to be a customer from the vintage market)! 

One step closer. All I needed now were the bantams.

Courtesy of Jo at Dorset Traditional Poultry I was sorted.

The Eglu however took a little more sorting. Manoeuvring it from the van where it had been hidden and trying to build it in the dark proved infuriating. In the end the poor bantams had to spend the night in the spare guinea pig hutch and that is where the Little Jammers found heard them this morning! Their noise gave them away.

Still in PJs (and looking rather sleepy) they couldn't wait for a look.

15 minutes in daylight saw off the Eglu and the girls got to transport their girls down the garden.

"I'd like the smallest" said Little Jam.

That's a Silver Laced Wyandotte if you please.
Eldest Jammer plumped for the slate and gold Pekin

Leaving me with, you guessed it, the ginger one!

Or Buff Pekin as she prefers to be known.

Off they toddled to explore their new and very pink home.

Later we let them out for a spot of supervised exploring and I remembered all the chickeny habits they have...

Happy Easter Monday. Hope you're having a dry one?!

Love is... II

...not minding when she sleeps on your stash!

Much to our delight

I had a lovely surprise on Sunday morning, a surprise of the long eared visitor variety. I was loading the washing machine, glanced out of the kitchen doors and saw this lovely chap sitting in the middle of the lawn! I had to look twice to make sure but yes it really was a floppy bunny.

So with shoes put on in haste, we followed him down the garden to see how friendly he was. The answer was about as friendly as a rabbit can get! He let us stroke him and made himself at home in the vegetable bed whilst we ummed and aahed about what to do next...

It was obvious someone would be missing him as he was so tame but we dreamed about how someone might have left him for us, after all our garden is enclosed how could he have got in? We settled him into our old chicken run and went to pop leaflets through the neighbours doors.

We waited and waited and secretly hoped no one would call and that actually Father Christmas had delivered early. Even Mr Jam who had arrived home in the midst of the bunnymania was talking about where to put him at night and would he get on with the guinea pigs. Then a phonecall, a false alarm, the wrong rabbit, hurrah!

But finally she called.

The lovely lady who only lived two doors away who had been out and hadn't realised Jasper had gone visiting. 'No rush', we said but she came straight away with her little boy and carried him home!

Naughty Jasper, thanks for coming to visit. In fact, come again anytime...

Highs and Lows

Things have all been a bit up and down round here recently. If you've been reading for a while you might remember that when we moved house earlier this year we inherited Dusty, the world's friendliest bantam. She quickly endeared herself to all who met her, even those who said they didn't like chickens. Sadly she disappeared last week. We let her out in the morning and when we got home she wasn't waiting at the back door as usual. We knocked on doors but with no luck. Not a feather in sight. We assume she was taken by a fox or maybe a cat although she's lived here for several years free range. Obviously we were all a bit gutted as she was such a character. We'll have to think carefully as to whether we get any more as I'm not keen to have them in a run all day.

On to brighter things. We took a trip to West Bay on Saturday and to this shop in particular. I had met Jackie, one of the owners at a vintage market and she wanted to stock some of my things. The Beach Hut is a nice mix of vintage and new children's clothes, toys, books, gifts... and well worth alook if you're in the area.

On the way in the Jammers spotted a new play park and what a nice one it was too. All wood and ropes with some more imaginative equipment. Even Mr Jam couldn't resist this swing thing.

After all that swinging we were in need of a spot of lunch and tried this sweet little cafe in the old station building (right next to the play park).

When the rain came I set to work on finishing off the smallest Jammer's quilt. I made the Pussy Willow patchwork weeks ago and she has been patiently waiting for me to do the sandwiching bit ever since. At least she can sleep well now! You will notice yet more Lloyd Loom sneaking into this shot. Thank you for all your comments on my last post.

Now for something completely new - well to me anyway. People often think I sell jams and jellies given my name so after picking a huge bowl of strawberries I thought I'd try my hand. I must admit I was a bit hofified at how much sugar you had to put in!

And the boiling bit got a bit scary. Lucky the pan was tall or we'd have been in a right mess.

It seems to have turned out ok but of course the proof will be in the tasting and I've got a couple of eager volunteers lined up to try it.

Next project is a baby blanket for the new arrival my sister is expecting any day now... better get sewing this weekend. Enjoy yours whatever you're up to!

New additions

Easter came early for the Jammers. One of our reasons for moving house was a garden with grass for the much wanted guinea-pigs. Imagine our (ok make that 'my') delight when we heard a breeder lived in the street! So off I went a couple of weeks ago to reserve two for Easter. Eldest Jammer had requested a toffee coloured one and Smallest Jammer a beige one!

So last Saturday we all toddled up the road to pick them up... 'Fudge' for the eldest,

'Jack' for the smallest...

...and this cute little grey one for me! Well, they're brothers and it would have been cruel to leave one behind, wouldn't it? No name yet, any suggestions welcomed!

Mr Jam spent last Friday constructing a lovely run for them and just in time to. Little did he know he'd get a call from the hospital on Monday inviting him in for an op on Tues! So plans have changed and we've been busy with 'at home' activities this week whilst we take turns to play nurse.

The Smallest Jammer's drawing is coming on a treat. This is her version of the Pussy Willow design from her curtains.

The longest game of Ludo - ever!

And lots of Simnel Muffins to be decorated.

Just right for busy little fingers!

Now I'm chief lifter and shifter for the next few weeks I thought I'd set this stunning pair of sleigh beds up for a photo shoot. If you're after furniture, all mine has 20% off til the end of the month!

Don't forget the Bridport Vintage Fair on Saturday 23rd and Bridport Vintage Market on 24th April.

Thank you, Dusty!!

We've lived in our new house for almost a month now and for that month we've been the proud new owners of Dusty the bantam. Every morning the Jammers let her out and check just in case she should have laid an egg. Sadly we'd not had any and began to wonder if we would. However what we didn't know was that Dusty was waiting for Pancake Day!

Lots of excitement in our house today when we found this tiny but perfect little egg!

So we could have pancakes after all. I think Dusty's would have fed a doll so we topped up the eggs with a shop one.

I was surprised at the difference in yolk colour. "My what orange yolk you have Dusty!" "All the better for making pancakes with".

From this ...

...to this...

...to this...

How do you eat yours?

I can't wait for a day off now as I've got this lot just waiting for me to get my hands on it! Roll on Thursday...

Finally we're here!

Well I thought it would never happen but ten months on and we've finally moved! Not to where we'd originally hoped, or the one after that, but to something completely different. A 1930's house that ticked all our boxes; garden for guinea pigs, more downstairs space, parking and a workshop. Sadly less character than 'Pinky' but we have anew addition...

...Dusty, who came with the house. Possibly the world's most expensive bantam! She has been a great distraction for the Jammers this week whilst we've set to work on their bedrooms.


She doesn't mind any of this kind of stuff.


Or this.

And follows us all about the garden! Welcome Dusty.

Meanwhile I had a stash of fabric with the Jammers name on it. Firstly, the eldest. She plumped for Sanderson's 1930's panda fabric. I'd collected quite a lot and although I think she'll outgrow it very quickly she loves it. 'Panderson' as it's known in our house was destined to be turned from this...

...to this.

With a quick memo board, cushion and some mini curtains thrown in.

Such an odd print with the strange looking little boy and his panda friend getting up to all kind of antics.

The rest of the bedroom kept us busy with a paint and wallpaper job. Hopefully once she's outgrown 'Panderson' we can add in something a bit more grown up without having to redecorate. Not having wallpapered more than an alcove before we were under pressure as I'd booked carpet for the following morning and we began our two walls at 6pm! Eldest Jammer was delighted with the excuse to stay up late as her useless parents slowly worked their way round the room, wishing they'd started days ago... 10.40pm and she finally got into bed as we cleared up around her. Oh well, it is half term!

Doesn't look too bad for a first attempt. One whopping bubble that shows in daylight is causing me slight concern. Not sure how I'll get the whole strip off to replace it without wrecking the rest? Might have to live with it I think.

Anyway there was loads of wallpaper paste left and I'd just read Hen's blog http://henhousehomemade.blogspot.com/2011/02/fabulous-frome.html and seen some fantastic paper mache creations from Julie Arkell. Eldest Jammer had a half term homework to create an Egyptian artefact so all inspired she typed up lots and lots of facts about pyramids and printed them out in interesting fonts. Mr Jam helped turn a packing box into a pyramid - just like that - and it was left for her to get pasting. Must admit I rather enjoyed helping. Took me back to my college days.

And here is the finished creation... still drying ready for school tomorrow.

I'll leave you with a taster of what's to come in the smallest Jammer's bedroom... Mmmm my favourite and my best!

Check back soon to see the whole room once I've finished sewing.