Job Application Musings, Seeing Clearly vs Seeing Woolly & Chooks and Garden Update

It's mid week, well Thursday, just past mid week. I'm working this afternoon and at the hairdressers this morning. I'm also hoping to get a couple of letters written this morning. Not to mention the housework.......


I'm feeling a little frustrated about a recent job application. I went to interview a few weeks ago. I had an email yesterday stating that I was successful at the selection event and my application will be progressing and HR will be intouch to confirm the next stage of the application process. WTF?! I'd want to read between the lines and think this is a conditional offer pending clearances and references - but it doesn't say it is. Or is it just the language I'm not used to? It's certainly not the usual NHS/Healthcare Jargon. I just don't know whether to get excited or not! Although I do think there is room for a little excitement. On the flip side of it, if I had another job offer, then I would be sorely tempted to go for that one as this one seems longwinded and the application process not clear. At this stage of events a conditional offer should be made, but is this just a process that is unfamiliar to me as I haven't worked for this company before and undoubtedly has it's own 'language'.

WonderWool Wales 2009 is looking rather like WonderWool Wales 2010 for me. On Saturday I went to have my eyes tested as I've had a few visual disturbances. £22 for the test seemed a snip, I even paid an extra £10 to have a digital image taken of my retina's. Which in turn suggested I might have high blood pressure. So the upshot of it is - my eyes are straining and I'm starting to be longsighted. I don't need glasses to correct my vision but might in 4 years (happy 45th birthday!). However I do need glasses to help with the strain. £22 became £240 and WonderWool Wales 2009 became WonderWool Wales 2010!

On a plus note, I'm on a promise for a couple more chooks on Saturday! The girls are doing well at the moment. They are having extra grit, mainly because little Roast is not eating enough grit and has tried to lay a couple of soft shelled eggs. Guess had a bad night a couple of nights ago and had an off day, but she's back to normal now.

Things are sprouting in the garden. The early potatoes are starting to put in an appearance, as are the radishes, beetroot and lettuce. The courgette seedlings are doing well - anyone want a couple?! My fenugreek seeds are a bit dodgy, but the smell is nice! I hung my uniform to dry near them and I smelled of fenugreek when I wore it....... I have one jalapeno seedling and five or six of the other variety. The rhubarb is doing grand - rhubarb pie at the weekend I think in a sweet pastry perhaps, hhmm.

Knitting? Not had much (read 'any') time for that this week so far. I'm still working on my Stolen Moments Wrap. I started the Mystery Shawl from Lets Knit on Monday. I need to get cracking on a couple of cloths for a Round Robin - work for this weekend, in between worring about my new chooks!

Easter in The Garden

We have been spending more time in the garden - planting and sewing. HobbitKeeper has constructed netting cages over the beds that we've sewn to keep local cats from planting their messages. They seem quite effective so far. There is nothing worse than seeing a freshly sewn bed with cat poop in it, then knowing that whatever is sewn there probably wont grow.
Let sleeping dogs lie! Rhinog taking a nap, days in the garden - following HobbitKeeper and Momma around, watching for Fairies (cats) at the bottom of the garden as well as keeping an eye on the chooks can be very very tiring!

Oregano, parsley and corainder seeds germinating along with HobbitKeepers tomato seeds. My toms are on the window legde in the back bedroom (aka my knitting room) and are doing much better. I've also got cress, mustard fenugreek seeds on the go, as well as two types of chillis.

These are the courgette seedlings. We've done very well with courgettes in the last couple of years, so I've got high hopes for these! A lot of the plants will be given away, as we only need a couple of plants but it just seems such a waste not to plant all the seeds in the packet.

I'm transplanting some strawbery plants into guttering. The frame is for raspberry canes - of which we've planted three. As we've got a small garden we try to maximise space and think three dimensionally. We grew some strawbs like this last year rather sucessfully. The slide in my hair is from Tavish in Tonawanda!

In the bottom corner of the garden, where the arbour is, we're going to make into a secret and quiet area of the garden. So HobbitKeeper has built the frame. He's also put a conifer in a pot. The area will have 'pretties' in as well, so it will be more of a proper garden rather than a funtional garden.

The chooks are finding it very frustrating at the moment as we can't let them out of their run so they can have free range of the garden. Not only would they eat every worm in sight but they would eat every seed as well! When a worm is dug up, they are given it though, so they don't miss out on that score! The chooks are doing well however! Young Sage has made a full recovery from her frostbite in her comb. She is laying now, so the worry levels are down for me!

The Early Bird Only Gets The Worm If He Digs Where The Chooks Can't Get Too (Yet!)

Now, this afternoon, we spent a few hours in the garden. It has been a bit of along standing thing that there is stiff competition between HobbitKeeper and the Chooks to see who get the worms first - it's nothing to do with the early bird!

HobbitKeeper thought it would be amusing to get to the worm first, by digging in an area that the chooks can't get to - or sussed out how to get to yet!

This is HobbitKeeper dangling a worm for Guess (with Radar in the background).

This is the action shot of Guess jumping for the worm! Yes she did get it!

This is me, knitting, surprisingly enough! I'm knitting a cloth for Tavish. The design is 'Waves on the Shore' by Maile Mauch, using Peaches & Creme.

Prior to this photo being taken, HobbitKeeper lifted the pot, which is forcing some rhubarb. Radar and Guess are sure they saw something green, pink and tasty, hence the search! They know it's round here somewhere!

Chickens love freshly dug soil probably more than cats do (although I'm sure come tomorrow morning there will be cats prints all over the beds along with the ubiquitus cat poop)! The Three Muskachickens will be there in a flash when the ground is being turned over. This is the only way HobbitKeeper can keep the girls off the fresh soil. As you can see, they don't take a blind bit of notice!

For the knitters amongst you, HobbitKeeper is wearing a Noro Cash Island Beanie Hat, from Noro Mini Designs.

In another week or so, the seeds will be being planted and the garden will slowly come back to life and become much greener. How many chooks can you see??!!