Friday 30th March 2012.

Busy day! after dropping the kids off it was straight to sarah and andy's place to continue with the rabbit hutch,a great day to work out side and inbetween the traffic i could hear the chaffinch and skylarks in the fields.
 Mrs harrison the teachers assistant in charlies class was upset today as her son George left for Afganistan this morning,he was at church the other week in his uniform,looked very smart,i hope he isnt mentioned on the news.
 By 6pm the hutch was done,and it is a big one ,the rabbit will be lost in there! after this it was a rush to get Ben to Nannys for the weekend,they are off down to weymouth to stay with lin and bob.
 We arrived late at barn buddies but still in time for tuck shop! tim and i started the big tidy up ready for easter sunday,the garden is ready and i am very happy with it.
 The threat of a fuel delivery strike has gone mad,every petrol station has run out in the area!

Wednesday 21st March.

Up with the larks today,David and I are going fishing over at shearwater today,we are picking him up after the kids are dropped off.
 David was ready for the off and was waiting at the door with all his ephemera,we arrived at shearwater in no time and we set about setting up,within an hour david had hooked into the biggest mirror carp of his life (all 54 years of it!) we estimated it as low twenties,and that was the last fish of the day! i blanked in style and david was just happy with the carp he had!

Monday 19th March 2012.

Awoke early ,cold still bad but on the up note the weather is glorious,bright warm sunshine with little wind at all,we dropped the boys at school and then we attended the class assenbly for jack,it was all about india and the kids all showed what they had been doing,jack made an incredibly good elephant out of clay,when we got back home shawn was here ,so we had breakfast then i got sarah to drop me off with my kit at shearwater for a session sat in the sun,it was glorious,i took scooby with me and she did an excellent job at keeping the ducks away from the swim,the air was full of the busy chatter of the finches in the trees and the crows nesting in the beeches too.managed to hook 2 big carp but they got off,this scared them off for a couple of hours,sarah poped back with skippy and then took the dogs for an amble round the lake,mean time i landed a common carp of about 11 lb,it faught well and when landed i saw it was the very same fish i caught on a previous session.

Sunday 18th March 2012.

Sunday came early,jack awoke me asking if he and his brothers could go and pick some wild daffodils for Sarah it being mothering Sunday and all,it was 7:30am,i dozed,next thing i know its 9am and jack is badgering me to supervise his cooking a full English for Sarah too,soon done and the desired effect had.Slowly we get ready for church but i have no clean clothes owing to a minor domestic oversight,as i have a cold i said bugger it and went back to bed Sarah and the boys went on to church without me.
 12 noon and the sound of the boys excited chatter awoke me again,its not a bad way to wake.I went down stairs and chatted with them and Sarah had a coffee and set about some spoon carving in ash.Pm we took the dogs over to the old site of RAF Hummingbird and the boys climbed bales of straw in a barn and excitedly ran along the tops of the dumped rubble playing soldiers.After this we went to Morrison's in warminster and got some ingredients for the curry tonight,on the way home we dropped into shearwater for the dogs to have a bath and the kids to tire themselves out,the carp were on the feed too made me wish i had my rod! on the way back home we spotted a black pheasant just up the road from the game keepers cottage.The sun was warm so we sat in the garden and had a cup of tea whilst i continued carving.Jack prepped the veg for the dinner and did a fine job too whilst Robin washed up.

Saturday 17th march 2012.

Late start to the day but hey-ho its Saturday! after breakfast we went to Tim's mums to do some more gardening,managed to burn 2 whole piles of twigs and saw up and remove a good deal of wood incl ash for burning now and carving.we felled 3 trees and one was a very nice straight piece of Hawthorne for Andy to make into a didge.When all this was done it was home for sausages chips and beans,a rare thing is the chip in this house! after which we cut the ash for the fire and i started a new big spoon for cooking with,the boys were busy carving too and robin carved a fine small spoon for mum as its mothering Sunday in the morrow.PM we went out with the lamp and gun hoping for a rabbit but we only saw one ,then we bumped into Ben and corvette at Morrison's ,twas good to catch up.

Thursday 15th February 2012.

Today saw a continuation of the fog,real pea souper! got the boys to mere ok,charlie is off school due to a leg injury sustained at school by some kids,he woke in the night and can barely walk,off to DVLA in Bristol next to register/tax the car.
 jack and Ben have after school football clubs so sarah and i put up the bird table i made for the school,Mr Perry was very pleased with it,hope the kids will too.
 When home i was looking for seasoned wood in the outhouse and found Gareths old air rifle,a webly viscount,remarkably still in A1 condition despite being outside in just a gunslip for 4 years,seems to be quite powerful too,just waxed the stock and its done,as its .177 i will need some pellets for it,this could be the end of the rabbit problem or lack of.
 Pm we went back to the school for the musical extravaganza,Ben is in the choir and i was asked to be official school photographer,it was actually really good and one or two kids were exceptional,especially one little 7 year old girl with red hair,she played like i would imagine a teenager could.

Tuesday 13th March 2012.

Once the boys were dropped off at school we popped over to gillingham for some bait and munchies,today is the first fishing day of the year for me! back home we had a breakfast and then its off to shearwater,the fog was very thick,down to 20 yards mostly,once there it was great you couldn't see the float if you cast too far! today i was fishing with my cane rod and my 1890's reel and one of my home made floats.Within 20 minutes the float slid under the water as i picked up the rod i connected with a carp and 10 minutes later i landed a 5lb common carp it was a fish i had caught before,recognisable by a deformity in its mouth.The water fowl were a pain and were hard to convince to bugger off,4 hours 3 pies and a can of fanta later and  the rod was pulled from the rest and i just caught the rod as it near went in the water,this was a far more powerful fish and i did recall the rumours about catfish having been illegally introduced into the lake,but this just wasn't that big,none the less i fought for a good 20 minuted with 40 yards of line being stripped at times before i even got a glimpse of the fish,it was a mirror carp and incredibly no monster.After another 5 minutes it was landed a nice fish a real power house of piscatorial joy ,once photoed it was returned. Time to pack up the fog was thickening again and getting very cold,not the best days fishing i have had at shearwater but enjoyable and a chance to de-stress and at the end of the day that's what fishing is all about isn't it?

Monday 12th March 2012.

Over to the Worthington's first thing with Shaun to see if he could fit the new alternator to the skoda,after 3 hours it appeared to be impossible due to one specialist tool.This is very stressful,the thought of being stuck here with no car again is scary,no shops within 5 miles and sod all public transport,and the council wont bother laying more on kilmington gets left behind on every thing ,its a wonder we have electric and running water!
 I got back first ready for the kids to get home,its club day so we have a few lifts sorted,first home was charlie thanks to Andy and Sarah,they stopped for a gas and catchup,then our Sarah came back with Shawn,we decided that we would enquire about buying Keith's car,they were talking about £200 for it so Sarah went over to theirs to see about it,meantime the horrors got back thanks to Lou from church.About an hour later Sarah came back with the car,mot'd till November too but the price went up to £600 as we could pay on terms,so the transport problem is solved,ime sure God had a hand in this.

Sunday 11th March 2012.

Sunday school for the kids today which we like as do they,it also means we get the chance to actually concentrate on the service instead of the kids,today we had a stand in vicar ,an old boy and clearly a veteran of sermons.
 After church it was a rush home as Elijah and his mum were coming over for a cuppa and to play in the park,i made a plate of sandwiches and jack took them over they didnt last two minutes with 5 hungry boys! whilst they were over there i did some wood carving sat in the sun,then i got the rotavator going and rotavated the first bit of the back garden,the rotavator is not running as it should and this is worrying as it needs to do a lot of work.
 At 5pm we went over to tamsens for a cuppa and to drop the knives over to her that tim gave and i sharpened.

Saturday 10th March 2012.

Finally a night without a tooth ache! the new pills seem to be working.Once we had breakfasted we went to semly to pick up the new alternator for the skoda,then over to Bourton to see about fitting it,this proved to be a very difficult job and i have given up till we get a manual for it,there is just so many things to do to get to it.
 Whilst there we had a brew with the Worthington's and a chat,David said he needed a cover for their well so as to make it safe for Elly their grand daughter to play around,they had had the electricity board cut a bow down from their willow and i was offered some of the wood,so jack Ben and i found some nice bits for spoons,when we got home i set about making a spoon whilst the boys chopped wood for fun and Sarah sat in the lovely spring sunshine,poor girl is having a bad time with her knee and depression.
 later in the afternoon i made the well cover for the Worthington's and also the bird table for the school in mere,i am quite chuffed with how it came out .
 PM we went to the Worthington's for dinner at 6,Caroline had made a fine sausage casserole with rice followed by banana meringue,after that it was parlour games and chatting till late,the boys fell asleep in the car on the way home and are now in bed nice and quiet.

Friday 9th March 2012.

A cloudy day today but we have plenty to do,a couple of hours at wincanton gardening,my strimmer wont start,even earned a blister trying! so we burned loas of cuttings which is making the place look better.
  later in the afternoon we went to semly scrapyard to see if he had an alternator for the skoda,and he did,this is to be picked up saturday am.Tea was early so we could get to barn buddies early to do some maintenence jobs,jack had a bonfire which was great,barn buddies was a lot better and quieter tonight.

thursday 8th march.

skipped a couple of days on the blog,part reason being the tooth infection has wiped me out ,or rather the codine to fight the pain,today i returned to the dentist and he agreed that the steroids i had have lowered my immune system and thus the infection is far worse than we thought,he gave me a local anaesthetic in the nerve and a course of metronizadol antibiotics to use in conjunction with the amoxicillin,maybe i will get a nights sleep tonight!
  latest news being that we have baby rabbits from buttons ,6 of them and thyre eyes have opened now and are very cute we are to be taking them into the school next week for the kids to see and hopefully they will nag their parents into buying one or two.....
 mid morning we went to David Worthington's house to finish some repairs to his bathroom basin tap,i had spent the whole day there yesterday mending his bath,bog and taps. Then we went down to sherborne to see Shawn and on the way home we cut some more wood that we had previously found at the side of the road.
 Tonight i am accompanying David and Caroline to Westbury to a do for making Viki from upper stour parish and Mary Merrel lay parish assistants.Got back home at 10 pm ,the service was excellent and Incorporated communion,the sermon was by the Arch Deacon of sherborne,a really nice chap,after the service i had the chance of chatting to him at some length,he shared my views on Canterbury cathedral charging folk to enter.
 Hope that i can get a nights sleep without the toothe ache!

Monday 5th February 2012.

 Shawn came with us to drop the boys at school,whilst there i got an appointment at the dentist ,i have an infection of my rhs canine that was crowned last year,so back home for breakfast then back in for the appointment.The dentist took an xray and gave me a prescription for some amoxycillin,i am sur that this is linked to my body immune deficiency post steroid course.
 On the way to drop Shawn back at sherborne sarahspotted some core wood at the side of the road and on the way back we had a look,it was pine but clarlydumped as apposed to stacked,in all ide say a good tonne of it too,so as we had the chain saw in the car we loaded it into the car,we soon arrived back at home ,and first thing we did is cut a load and split it for Anne Foxgold,we did so in her garden to ave the mess in ours! she was very grateful ,in fact near to tears.
 When we got back the Wessex electricals electrician arrived to do the landlords safety inspection,he was a delight to have in the house and he did a most thorough job,usually they stop for 10 minutes ,this chap was here for about 2 hours,he fitted all manner of fulty stuff including the smoke alarms we haven't had for 5 years.,turnes out we were both brought up on Bemerton Heath he being 10 years junior to myself.
 As the afternoon was so nice i sat in the garden and started a new spoon,this one is a cooking/server spoon ,i like the big spoons.

Sunday 4th March 2012.

 Actually made it to Church this morning,twas family service far too happy clappy for my liking to me clarinets and guitars don't belong in church,at least we don't have drums ......yet! on the way home it started to snow we were  very surprised however it didn't last long which i am glad of,its too late for snow now ,i am in spring mode all the prunus trees are in flower and itd be a shame to lose the fruits.
 Pm the sun came out so i carved a spoon and then started another,just before dinner we went to pick up Shawn ,he is stopping over tonight .At 7pm there was a knock at the door,it was Anne Foxgold from over the road with her daughter Megan,they haven't spoke for 5 years and have done us a few wrongs over that time,but today they were in need and so we took them in and gave them a cup of tea,they have no fuel for the heating and were really desperate,they had tried all their neighbours and had been turned away we were the last house they tried,since her husband dies they've had it hard with the council and jsa doing their best to fcuk them over,still today we managed to give them some wood. Megan asked one of my neighbours son whom she knows for help by way of a lift and he said only if she sent him pornographic pictures of herself to him! and to think that Julie holds her head high and looks down her nose at us!

Saturday 3rd march 2012.

An early start today as David Worthington was picking me up at 7:45am for the Cristian breakfast,en route David was berating me about being on best behaviour and not telling any offencive jokes,once there at the inn i saw why,6 of the straightest laced chaps i have ever met! and i was sat next to a glove maker and oh boy could he bore the nuts off a walnut tree,next time i want to sit between the stamp collector and the bus spotter! after our full English was downed with some fine coffee we retired to the pool room,here we discussed the faith and in all honesty people like them are really the reason folk wont go near a church all talk and no action and when i had had my rant there was a silence......
 Then it was back to Davids house to have a look at the skoda that needs fixing,the alternator belt has come off and the belt with it,so we looked on line to see what a new alternator would cost,after some faffing it turned out that David and Caroline are giving the car to us and it has mot and tax til end of June this year all we have to do is give them the cash when it is scrapped,this is the most amazing act of christian kindness and will not be forgotten,truly a prayer answered and all we need do is bodge the alternator pulley.
 Once home we all took a trailer of rubbish up to the dump,good job done ide say and we bought a few nik naks there too amongst which were some vintage 1950's - 1970's darts,then home to have a cuppa and fix jack and Ben's bikes,

after this i made a spoon from some of the ash i have had from Tim's mums place.
 After a nice liver and onion dinner i set up the dart board in the kitchen,we got some very vintage darts at the dump and so Robin,jack and Ben had a match,and jack won! this reminded me of the dart board at my old mate Neils house and the matches i used to watch in his smokey kitchen back in the 80's,once the young were off to bed Sarah and i had a game ,she won hands down,Sarah and robin are playing as i sit here next to the fire.

 So all in all a productive day and i am looking forwards to church tomorrow.

friday 2nd march 2012.

 Got word today that a taxi firm can take the boys from zeals to mere,saving us half the distance to cycle,this is a result.then later in the afternoon Sarah and Andy say they can give the boys a lift for the 12 weeks,which is so good of them,seems like putting out more than one line means more chances of a bite!
 pm we picked the boys up and went over to barn buddies at west knoyle to do some more gardening,after a hour or so we stopped for tea and used Tim's BBQ to cook some sausages,the kids loved this as did Sarah and i it was so nice to be i the sunny outdoors.,the garden there has been transformed over the last few months of work and is pleasing Tim very much.Barn buddies started early ,there were about 14 kids turn up,there was a bad feel to the kids tonight,one bigger teen was rough play fighting with the younger ones .
 Tim is burying his dad on Monday ,he is dealing with it well,on the surface anyhow,with the altzeimers he has said his goodbyes 2 years ago,tis very sad.Tim let me read the eulogy he wrote for his dad and it was very touching.Tim asked that Sarah and i clean barn buddies next Friday evening before it starts.The youths seem to be taking the facilities for granted and were told so tonight by Tim,i think it was just one more straw on the proverbial donkey.

Thursday 1st March 2012.

  Pinch punch for the first day of the month! where has the year gone? the hedgerows are looking good with wild garlic showing in the shady spots,i will be digging some real soon.
 Signing on day today ,even the job centre couldn't find a job for me,they did a back to work work sheet for me to see if i would be better off working self employed again,worked out ide be £40.00 a week down plus another £40 worth of school dinners to pay for,great times we live in.
 After that we dropped in to see David Worthington for a cuppa,was very good to catch up with him,he is taking me for a christian breakfast on Saturday morning,i am looking forward to it,it would be nice to meet some new faces.Jack and Ben had after school clubs so we went to the park with charlie,being a bright sunny day the park in mere was full of kids for a change,at 4pm the two boys were ready and we came home,we did a lot of tidying in the front garden which went on till a late 8pm tea,the garden is looking better now!