Needles

I have been attempting to knit a Christmas bauble from this book which is my first go at using 4 dpns. It looks quite innocuous when sitting there on the side:

But when I am actually knitting, I see this before me:

I should probably wear safety goggles as they are a bit long for the task but I keep smiling at myself as it is the most un-dextrous thing I have ever done and frankly, every stitch is a small victory. I have a nasty feeling they are going to look a lot simpler than they actually are, unlike the Nordic hats which look terribly complicated but are ok as long as one can count:

Maud isn't very well; she has an impacted crop and I have tried a few home remedies but we'll see how she goes. Amber fed her some softened mash this morning but I hope she'll perk up over the next few days. I let the duckles out for their regulation lawn-destruction exercise:

And walked the dog up through the field which is all a bit squidgy after the drizzly weather but it looks beautifully verdant which is welcome in the gloom:

Mary has been keeping a close eye on the broad beans and generally treats the chicken wire around the vegetable beds as a sort of refuge from the chicks:

The big hens went out today too as their enclosure is revoltingly muddy and they need to graze. Note they are in the field but only the headland; they aren't scrabbling at the crop...honest...

It's Autumnwatch and Gardeners' World this evening which hopefully I'll be able to watch without too many interruptions. I'm really starting to notice that I'm not getting my usual Friday evening off since the girls started Stagecoach, and it's been half term so there is no contrast with the holidays with home-ed as the whole staying-in-pyjamas-all-day thing is a pretty frequent occurence! I was rather distracted before the week off anyway as I had my exams so they have not had to be terribly focussed. However, I was listening to Farming Today and there is a big drive to get children into the countryside and understanding where our food comes from and what is involved with agricultural practices. Apparently an astonishing number of children (and some student teachers) thought that bull calves went into the milking herd with the cows! Presumably they also thought that cockerels laid eggs...

So in fact, if one takes all the activities my children are involved with on a day to day basis, we would beat the National Curriculum by a country mile :-)