An Organic Lifestyle (Organic Growing Pains)

 I headed up to the plot early this morning as it was promising to be a really warm day, I put my 2 surviving hens into a box and took them with me. Two have died during the past few months from what I can only presume is old age, they have stopped laying now and are like 2 elderly dowagers. I had a rather romantic notion that they would like  to spread their wings, feel the breeze in their feathers and romp in slow motion through the long grass of one of the unused plots?!  I left them out, they investigated the long grass for all of 20 minutes grumbling loudly and proceeded to stand by the gate with their heads buried in the long grass with their tales sticking up for the remainder of the morning ! I had worried in case I would not be able to catch them again but they almost hopped into the box for me! Back in their run they marched up and down squawking loudly, my hens do not do foraging they like their food and water provided! I painted the gate a ...

Back home after the weekend in Leamington Spa. I discovered we were only a 45 minute bus ride from Stratford on Avon which is Shakespeare's birthplace so we set off on Friday to visit.We had just landed on the open topped, hop on hop off tour bus when the heavens opened for a two hour deluge so our hopping on and off the bus was severely curtailed!I heard one lady remark " thats not just rain, its the wrath of God pouring down"! The houses in the photo are preserved in the town centre and the one to the far end is the house where the bard was born.A lot of houses of the period are very well preserved and newer ones built in a style sympathetic to the period. It is not a quaint old village but a very busy tourist town. We could not visit all of the places associated with him but made a point of stopping at Anne Hathaways cottage.It is a beautifully preserved place and a guided tour goes through the rooms which have been furnished in the period style. The cottage had a farm...

One of the many flower displays around the town ,this one is at a roundabout. It looks like bunnies made of small succulents and are dotted around the flower bed. The hanging baskets were stunning and hung everywhere. Some of the house names are quaint and whimsical and in keeping with the tourist attractions.The shops and houses are kept in theme with the whole Shakespeare tourist trail. The house is Shakespeare's birthplace and these students were getting in the name plaque to prove they were there! The house is entered from the side by going through the Shakespeare Experience and paying £12 to see inside.I would wonder how long more it will survive with the volume of tourists tramping through it each day. A permanent Christmas Shop! The smell of cinnamon or pine I am not sure which, hits you as soon as you walk through the door.Selling ornaments and Santa's in June.Business was brisk when we went inside. Lots of people were taking photos and going inside this particular sho...