Life in March

Plucky, Tiny and Star, enjoying fresh grass clippings

We made it through the winter without losing a single chicken.  We ate Lavender the cockerel in November, clearly still in autumn.  We have a couple of old ladies in the flock, but they're still happy and interested, though Plucky at about 4.5 years old is noticeably slower than the rest.  However, she went through a big molt late last year and has a full set of soft new feathers, so we assume she'll be with us a bit longer.

Franklin had his seventh birthday this week.  He helped make his chocolate cake (we made our favorite brownie recipe, actually), and also picked out a cake from the shop to take to school.  I'm not prepared to organize another birthday party for him (once was enough for me!), but the three of us are going to Manchester Legoland Discovery Centre at the weekend for his special birthday treat.  Manchester is about a 60-90 minute drive from us, but it should be a fun day and luckily Partner's doing the driving.

I work in a school kitchen now instead of the hotel restaurant.  Most of the local schools are run by the same catering company, and over the course of the last year and a half I've worked at most of them!  But I got a permanent contract at a school a few villages away starting last September.  I've really enjoyed this little school and have got to know many of the children there at lunchtime.  However, the company has lost some staff recently so there has been a reshuffle and I'm temporarily working at the local village school where Franklin attends.  I've been told it's until more staff are recruited, but I suspect I may be there for the rest of the school year (July).  It's nice to be able to walk to there, though it's a bit harder work seeing as they cater to more than twice as many kids as my old school.  Still, I'm enjoying it while it lasts, and it's nice to get a wave and a smile from Franklin during lunchtime.