Yes its true i have an advent calendar, old as i am i still love christmas and have had calendars for as long as i can recall.  I dont buy the chocolate ones though, they are not remotely christmassy.

The countdown to christmas has begun and advent is a time of waiting, so its time to begin preparing for the finest season of the year.

And as you can see behind No. 1 was a nice set of warm mittens. We always try to guess what is behind it before opening and if anyone is right they get a chocolate tree decoration, once the tree is up that is.

The First Candle (The Candle of Prophecy/Hope)

The first candle is sometimes called the candle of prophecy because it symbolizes the promises the prophets delivered as messages from God; promises that foretold Christ’s birth. Others consider the candle to be a symbol of the hope we have in Christ and so it is called the Hope candle.

I lit the first candle today on our advent wreath, i love the smell of wax burning and especially the smell just after you extinguish it.

www.essexhens.viviti.com

Today i had a go at making some lemon curd using a recipe given to me by a good friend.  I have only made 2 and a bit jars but it took me ages. I thought it would never heat up and when it did it never seemed to thicken but i finally made a decision to turn it off and pour it into the jars.  I now have to wait and hope that it will be spreadable and not runny in a few hours.  Not sure i would make it again though as unlike jam you have to stir it all the time. I am sure i now have RSI in my right wrist, it had better taste as good as it looks.

These are what i’m currently selling on ebay. They will be available for purchase until Sunday 22nd November

Item 1 Daisy flower pattern

Item 2 Flower and leaf pattern

Item 3 2 x Hand prints

Item 4 Fluffy chick

We would like to announce our new website

ESSEX HENS

We are starting up our own business venture breeding chickens

Please take a look and let me know what you think by leaving your thoughts on the “Comments Page” of the website

Thank you

having just candled the egg again i am convinced that it may have died in shell just like the previous batch in April.  It hasn’t grown in the last few days, is not moving at all and seems stuck to one side of the shell.

This is the last time i am going to use this homemade incubator, if we are serious about breeding we need a proper one to do this sensibly.

Feel very sad at this moment in time

The only fertile egg out of 7

With just 6 days to go until hatching we have one egg in our incubator.  It is going to require lots of tlc when it hatches at least for a week or so wheh we plan to buy some newly hatched silkie chicks to keep it company

Last night hubby and i candled the 5 eggs we currently have in the  inci and found only 1 of them to be fertile.  We had virtually given up on them being any good when the final one showed us a tiny wriggling embryo surrounded by a spider like networks of veins.

It seems we are destined to only hatch one at a time so we are considering puttin another 2 in today, providing my girls supply them. It will mean that they will be a week apart in age but at least this little one if its makes it will have some company.  Hopefully someday we will get a successful hatch and many little chicks at the same time.