The beauty of the P-Patch.

Well as you know, I am currently on vacation with Denise.

Today we went to a "Pot luck" at Denise's P patch (Allotment) which basically is an evening where all members of the P patch and their families are invited to bring a food dish and then we all have a communal meal.



It is absolutely GORGEOUS there, there were so many flowers and vegetables and plants over there. What makes it so special is knowing that no chemicals of any kinds are used on them, and they taste SO much better for it.

A VERY EXCITING THING. HONESTLY

Well I have a gift for people.

I've written a song, my first ever REAL song.

....

Wanna hear it?

Ok then.


There is a really weird gap towards the end where I screwed up and had to re-record a bit of it, so apologies for that.

Introducing the first of 12 monthly slideshows....

This is a collection of all the pictures and vids I have taken this month, put together in one neat package for all of you to enjoy.

so ENJOY!

Seattle reaches the record books with the highest temperature for Seattle in its history.

Today was a COOKER. Honestly, it was just obscenely hot. In fact, the news channels over here are completely raving, saying that Seattle has broken its all time highest temperature record.

Today it was 102 degrees, that's 40 degrees celcius.

YEOWCH!

And if that wasn't bad enough, instead of staying inside and keeping cool, I was outside working all day on the fence line, I've taken three showers and nearly fainted twice, drank a ridiculous amount of water and just sweated it out again. Great.

The heat is wreaking havoc EVERYWHERE in Seattle, with the state capital, Olympia, reaching 104. There have been forest fires, power shortages, worries about the water supply and freak lightning storms everywhere.

You think it's hot and sunny over there? Try this place on for size, through the night it's still going to be in the upper 80s, which means no sleep for me at all.

HOORAY!

In loving memory of my Ipod.

Today I did something rather stupid, in fact, it was so dumb I wish I could turn the clock back just a few minutes to prevent it ever happening.

It was THAT stupid...

I put my Ipod in the washing machine.


Not on purpose I should add, I just didn't check my pockets and ended up washing away a good oh...150 quid.

It does not work, and I've lost all my music. I was planning on upgrading anyway, but how am I going to get all my songs on it? There's no point. I have to look forward to a bleak year with no music.

It will be sorely missed.

New song and a birthday greeting!

Hi!
I know a lot of my blog has been videos, this week I simply have not had the time to sit down and write anything about what I've been up to.

We have been putting up fences around the entirety of Susie's property. This may not sound like much, but it's the most work you will ever have to do.

Seriously.

Anyway, today is Julia Hedges's birthday! She is 21, gosh, it's nearly time to start thinking about a pension you old timer!


And another song I recorded yesterday for you all.


Have a great day Jules!

Song time!

Just did some recording today while Susie and Rex went to collect the chickens from the second pasture.



This song is dedicated to my very best friend Jennifer Rebecca Ingram. It's our song Jenn!

I miss you....

:(

Carnival time!

Well halfway through driving to the second pasture today I got a call from Lloyd asking if we wanted to go to the carnival in Harvey field tonight. I of course leapt at the chance, when we finally got over there it was TINY.

Seriously.

I'm talking about 6 rides max.

Ah well, there was one ride called the sizzler that just span round and round and round. Me and Lloyd's wife Mollie decided to go on it, cos it looked so fun.

It was fun actually.

The next awww moment we had with Caleb was when Lloyd took him on the carousel, he seemed to enjoy it, even though he got slightly frustrated at the fact that it clearly was not a real horse. But it seemed to suffice.


After that we went back to Lloyd's and Mollie's where we played in the yard for a while until it was bed time. Caleb kept passing me the ball and then squealing with glee when I threw it away again.

He's so darn cute.

Go Caleb go!

Well today was a very slow day. As a consequence, I spent most of my day like this.


But at around lunchtime Lloyd's wife Mollie stopped by with their son Caleb. Caleb loves the machines and wondering around the shop, where he discovered the ladder. It was as if he had been climbing ladders for years, he instantly approached it and started climbing it.


It was very impressive


And he seemed to really have a lot of fun doing it

Working with Marie

Well today was a hard job and a half. We've been working on the babies trying to get them halterbroke in time for the fair. Marie seems to be doing a good job with me but she is incredibly stubborn.

I finally got the chance to pet on Marie and brush her. She was reluctant at first but when I started singing to her she calmed down.


Susie also attempted to take Veronica for a walk with moderate success.

Second Vlog is now up and running!

Hi guys!
Here is the latest blog that I recorded this morning for you. It introduces two of the cows, Sprite and Shannon, and also gives you a good look at the babies.

Have fun and enjoy your summer!

Cows, how I adore thee.....

Today after work we went back to the cows and I was able to pet on some.






It was really good fun.

I'm very excited because we're looking into me volunteering at a local wildlife center that looks after bobcats, eagles and deer. If it pans out it's gonna be SO awesome!

Feeling hot hot hot!

Today we had another day off from work at the lot. And I was under the impression that it would just be a simple move of the cows from Sedro Woolley to Granite Falls. Today was just BOILING and we had the luck of having yet another lie in. I stayed in bed until 8!

I had another gourmet breakfast of eggs, sausage patties and plain yoghurt with chopped strawberries . We took a while to get going to Woolley, it's like an hour and half drive. The drive was very pleasantly scenic, we passed a red truck with a huge stars and stripes flag staying "Support our troops, we're winning! Political correctness will end the world before we do"

riiiiight.....

When we arrived at the old farm, the heat was already pretty high. Luckily I was adequately armed with a baseball cap and shades. I was under the impression that all we were doing was moving the four remaining cows in the old farm to the second pasture in granite falls. This was actually a completely different story as Rex was expecting us to load the two pickups completely full of all of the remaining stuff left in the chicken house and the barn, and the sixteen foot fence panels enclosing the cows.

I wasn't feeling well at the time and the heat definitely didn't help. This was really strenuous work, we were lifting really heavy stuff COVERED in dust and dead spiders. I had to take frequent breaks just so I could stop fainting and pathetically keeling over. You should have seen me, sitting on a muddy stacking box, munching on an apple, wearing a baseball cap and a flannel shirt.

I could not have looked any more farmery if I tried.

Two families came round to look at the house while we were there. Their young children were very interested in me, and goggled at me like I was something in a zoo. But they were still very tolerant of me. By the time we were finished which was four o clock, I was RAVENOUS and ready to eat one of the cows (Just joking) We stopped by burger King on the way and grabbed a burger. Rex who had the trailer attached to his pickup stopped off at McDonalds and we could hear the cows frantically mooing from across the street as we ate. I just thought it was so bad that we were driving through McDonalds and burger king while transporting some rowdy cows.

When we arrived back I changed my sweat drenched clothes into something much more comfortable and we were able to cool off considerably. Because we had eaten fast food so late we had a small dinner of salad and bread, and chillaxed before we had to unload the pickups.

Thankfully this didn't take much time, and we were all done before dark, just in time to observe the four cows we have in our pasture at the minute. Sprite was being such a spoiled brat, headbutting her own baby to get to her share of hay. She's turned into a real piece of work and that must be sorted before the fair else we're gonna have serious attitude problems.

Got back in time for the nightly popsicle ritual and a glass of hershey's hot chocolate and then off to bed.

Happy 4th of July!

Well as you know today is independence day. It has definitely been a rollercoaster of emotions today, from total joyous patriotism to absolute sadness....

We got a chance to sleep in today as the rental lot was closed for the festivities. For a major treat, I got up at 7am :O That is a big deal by the way.


Rex was busy in the kitchen (Which is another big deal too) making his "Sunday morning special on a Saturday morning" as he liked to call it. This was a YUMMY brekkie of hashbrowns, sausage patties and eggs.


And it was goooooood.

We then rushed down to Sedro Woolley to meet my cousin Jake and his wife Stacey with Baby Rex and Roz. We were told that it was gonna be absolutely boiling or as Rex liked to put it "It would bake the balls off a rattlesnake!"

Riiiiiight.

Anyway so we all greased up and were all smelling of tropical mango or that horrible suntan lotion smell, yuck, and we tried to find a good spot to watch the parade, which is the longest 4th of July parade in the United States. The parade itself was awesome, we had lots of trucks and army presentations and church bands and whatnot. Baby Rex seemed to like it which is all that mattered.



We then popped over the street to watch the chainsaw carving competition. I love woodwork anyway but to know that these amazing sculptures had been done with a chainsaw was still something all the same.


Amazing.

Then we all went to Johnny Carinos for lunch. Carinos is an Italian restaurant or as I like to put it an "American Italian restaurant" The food there was ok, but because there was hardly anybody there the service was incredibly disappointing. Normally we would be in and out by an hour at the very most but this took two and a half hours! Honestly, we were not pleased.

Me and Susie headed back to see the herd on the second pasture to check up on them and make plans for tomorrow's move of the cows on the third pasture to the second. Susie went back to the car to get something and that's when I saw it. Something really weird and white was drooping out of Mercy's butt and then it just slipped out. I shouted to Susie saying that Mercy had the runs but when I walked up to inspect it, it was a completely different story. Tiny little baby hooves were poking out of something white and jelly like.

I have very limited experience of cows, but I knew exactly what it was.

Mercy had a miscarriage. Susie explained to me that that made sense because two months ago Mercy was beaten up by all the other cows so badly that she was lame for two weeks. During the beat ups, her baby was probably lost.

It affected me so much, especially when Mercy and her other daughter came really close to it and sniffed it. I cried and cried, even after Susie had buried it. It was one of those harsh reminders of nature, that it isn't always a fairy tale, and the aggressive side of nature can sometimes rear it's ugly head.

The drive back home was a very awkward one, both of us were feeling emotionally drained after consoling the other cows and burying the baby. We were going to go to the demolition derby in Monroe but we couldn't because it was way too hot. So instead we had a quick makeshift dinner (I made my own trademark chicken nugget salad) and drove out to Stanwood to watch the fireworks from a parking lot. They were really pretty, but this got boring after a while so we called it a night and went home. Apparently tomorrow I'm gonna get worked really hard so I should probably head off. Bye for now!

Back to work on the lot

Today was just completely mental!

We got up early so we could get to work on time today, because we have moved it does not take as long as it did to reach Rex's rental lot in Snohomish, so we had a bit more time. I had a quick breakfast of a poached egg on toast with some orange juice and a good cuppa joe which went down like a treat, and we were off.

The scenic drive was a very nice one, we passed a lot of fields and trees dotted with the occasional espresso stand. When we arrived I was immediately set to work cleaning a bunch of tables and chairs that had been returned, I did this with aplomb and quickly returned back to the desk to be given my next task which was (tadaaaaaaa!) Paperwork. Filing.

Bummer...

This took HOURS to do. I had to take several breaks and fell asleep in the filing cabinet a few times. It was incredibly draining and long winded but about four hours later I was finished. I had to gulp down a soda midway through to restore my blood sugar because I was getting so many headrushes from kneeling and bending down again. Honestly, I never want to see another file in my life.

Without mercy Rex sent me back to work cleaning the paint of some airless paint sprayers using a product called "goof off!" Seriously, it STANK. The work was incredibly tedious, Lloyd popped in to scare me with a BB gun that he was gonna spray paint orange so we could take care of the pigeon problem on our roof. Washing the paint sprayer took a very long time and it was no fun at all. Rex would pop in to rattle my cage and bug me whenever he got bored, which was always very entertaining.

When I had finished it was time for lunch. We had a huge conversation about where we were going. It was another one of those conversations where everyone was going "I don't mind" or "I don't care" Finally after what seemed like an age consulting with Rex and Susie we settled on Burger King.

Apres avoir mange Rex had another surprise for me, another dirty paint sprayer! This one didn't take as long but the fumes from the "goof off!" did get too overpowering and at one point I even fell asleep over the machine. I was out for ages until I was woken up unintentionally by Sheila making a comment about me drooling all over the machine. In my wakened state, I just sat around as there was nothing else to do, until Lloyd took me with him to pick up a bobcat skid steer loader. We were in a MASSIVE truck that was really noisy. The drive out there was really nice, me and Lloyd had a chat about what is so different over here and I said the cars, the cereal and the people. It's so true, Britain simply doesn't do cereal like they do over here.

We then returned home and had a gourmet meal of hotdogs AGAIN. Honestly, I love hotdogs but they can get repetitive over three days.....



We went back to check on the shade structure and see if it was being put to good use or not. We also wanted to refasten the panels with proper clips instead of just plain old wire. The cows seemed to be doing fine with the structure. With some of them even trying to eat the tarp on top.


Yummy.

When we returned home there was nothing we could do except grab a popsicle and go to bed. We discussed what we would do tomorrow. Independance day. Gonna be good.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOE! (And other events)

As I hope some of you are aware, it is Joe's 18th birthday today. So I went outside and grabbed my camera to record him a special message.


Originally we had plans to go to Rex's rental lot but I was woken up at half past six only to be told that Frankie had been sick another three times during the night and now he had the runs, so I had to stay at home to look after the poor guy while everyone else went to work. Obviously, because it was my fault that Frankie was sick in the first place, I agreed to stay.

Therefore the day SNAILED on. There wasn't really anything to do, except forage around for food and watching A&E on TV. They had a marathon of "Cold case files" going, documentaries that take you through former cases that have hit dead ends. I had an amazing lunch of chips and salsa and beef flavored noodles, before switching to TNT which had a marathon of one of my fave shows, "Bones". Frankie had perked up considerably since his little episode, and did not show anymore signs of illness. I took Susie's guitar out on the porch and strummed in the sun singing away while the cows looked over the fence in curiousity. It's so peaceful and beautiful here.

I flitted inbetween cold case files and bones for quite a while, until I discovered the Matrix. I haven't seen it in so long! But I cracked up during the Kung Fu practise scene as it reminded me of this video.

HILARIOUS!

Susie and Rex finally came home and we decided on hotdogs for dinner but we had to rush because Susie rubbed her hands together and smiled, which is scary because when she's got that look in her eye you know you've got a lot of work to do. I did. We drove out to the second pasture with five sixteen feet wire panels. We built a shade structure as we were told that tomorrow was going to be 92 degrees and in that field the cows would just bake. Once again, this was VERY hard work. The panels were incredibly heavy and all we had to secure them were pieces of wire. The cows were very interested with what we were doing but unfortunately we were working against the clock to get it done. It stayed light for a bit but when it got dark, it got DARK.

I was SO tremendously out of shape and couldn't lift anything. Right now I'm complete chicken shit, so I've got a long struggle before I can be as big and buff as Susie. I felt terrible and constantly worried that I let her down, but she reassured me, saying that this was a completely different lifestyle to mine at home and I'll get it eventually.

When we got back, it was about 11, we ate a quick snack of strawberries. Susie put some whipped cream on hers but I settled for chocolate sauce. YUM! After today I am totally beat so I bid thee goodnight.

Let's talk about Tuna

I just want to take this time to talk about tuna. Mainly because yesterday's trip to the supermarket got me thinking.

Did you know that unless we do something immediately, tuna will be extinct by 2012?

That's three years.

in three years, no tuna.

Doesn't that scare you a bit?

Blue-fin tuna stocks are in massive trouble, and now as a result we have to switch to other species of tuna to fill the demand for it it worldwide. Albacore and skipjack are now being used in place of bluefin, but we could endanger their stocks if you we continue to do this.

To do your part, simply STOP eating tuna. Until tuna stocks show some kind of recovery, people need to stop eating it. The demand for them will go down, meaning less will be caught, meaning their population might start to come back a little. It is quite frankly astonishing how close we are to an extinction and yet we choose not to do anything about it.

Do your part, DON'T EAT TUNA!

For more information go to http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1170113/Tuna-wiped-2012-overfishing-stopped-say-environmental-groups.html

Or http://www.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/mediterranean/about/marine/bluefin_tuna/

Cows, poisonings and barbecues. ..OH MY!

It's all been go today, honestly. I've had no time to put my feet up all day, except now. CRAZY!

Susie is a really early riser so to try and make a good first impression I get up at 6 and I am reading to go by 6.30. I was very proud of myself. I thought I'd done a really good job. I had an amazingly rewarding breakfast of two waffles, eggs and sausages and practically a jug of tea to get me really raring to go. We were planning on going to the supermarket first thing but Susie wanted to check her debit card statements, so she tried to log on to the internet. It turned out that their phone and internet service provider, Verizon, did not receive a payment from them and therefore with no notice cut their phoneline and cancelled their internet. Charming. It took AGES to sort it out, seriously.

I vaccuumed the entire house to get rid of all the dog hair in preparation for our guests this evening, unfortunately, I did it with too much gusto and vaccuumed up one of my socks, thinking naively it wouldn't be a problem, I continued, only to find out that it had jammed and overheated the entire cleaner. I enlisted Susie's help in a dramatic rescue mission to free the sock of its hairy dusty prison. We were successful.

I then got really excited, cos we had to go out and feed the cowies for the first time since I've been here. I have missed them so much, as soon as they saw hay they were galloping across the field to eat. They are SO CUTE. The babies are adorable, they were very curious of me, but as soon as I started singing to them to started to get really intrigued, and some were really brave and wondered up to greet me.

We started to make some preparations for today's barbecue early on, so we cut some fruit and veg for some salads. Then we had to go get some stuff from the supermarket, so we hopped in the car to safeway and had a little exploration of the MASSIVE varieties of food they have on offer, honestly, it's crazy how much stuff people have to choose from over here. In some cases the products did make me feel slightly nauseous, the sheer size and horrible fatty nature of them was kinda icky.


This photo made me lol so much, how many classic American stereotypes can you see on this packaging?


So after we bought a freight train's worth of food and groceries we went back home to start making the potato and macaroni salad for today's barbecue. There was a lot of work to be done so we got right on it. I had to peel and slice the boiled eggs while Susie in classic Susie fashion was doing everything else. I do worry about how hard she works sometimes.

As we were cooking, one of Susie's dogs, Frankie, was crying and howling and pathetically loafing around the kitchen area. This is highly unusual behaviour for Frank, and we started to get pretty worried. Susie felt round his tummy area and noticed that it was very tight, she told me to look around places where he might have found something to eat. Then it dawned on me.

Oh crap.

I brought a massive bag of pick and mix sweets from England with me. A HUGE freezer bag full of fizzy cola bottles, apple laces, gummy snakes, licorice wheels, gummy bears, and drumstick lollies. He had eaten the entire bag. He finally puked and the smell was horrible. It STANK of chewy cola bottles, basically, his puke stank of the smell of pick and mix sweets. Poor little guy, his pulse was RACING. Words could not describe how guilty and terrible I felt, I nearly killed Frank, I poisoned him! DEFINITELY not the best thing to do on your second day. He seems to be doing alright though.

We ate a quick lunch before my cousin Jake and his family arrived. He has a wife called Stacy, a daughter called Roz and a baby called Rex, named after my uncle, his dad. I'm REALLY not gifted with small children, so I laid low while he played with all the noisy toys. Greg and Lindsay arrived later and she looked fabulous! I've never met Lindsay before and it's been a good ten years since I saw Greg so to see them was really good. They all seemed very cheerful and happy, and when Rex arrived we went straight to cooking the meat. Rex's dad, Bob, arrived shortly afterwards and we had a chat about Kettering. The food was AMAZING, REAL burgers, REAL hotdogs, REAL company. Lindsay and I had a good chat about my plans and how exciting this trip is gonna be for me. I must say I agree, it's going to be fab.



By the time everyone left, I was completely knackered and ready to call it a night, but I had to get on and blog about today. I chomped down a popsicle and sat down in front of the laptop to talk to you guys. We don't really have a solid plan tomorrow, except that we are going to Rex's rental lot, which means another early rise, so goodnight!