Svelte Chicken Lives... for mistletoe and no whine

It's Christmas time again, yahoo.....

I quite often hear that it's a busy time and catches up on you quite quickly.

This year I would have to agree, I seem to be under more pressure this year, my new fishtank, although a good place to work, certainly has pressures that are quite different than my old fish tank.

In my new tank I don't really feel as in control which adds quite a bit of stress. All this adds to looking forward to Christmas more than usual (and for me that has always been a lot). I can't wait to just relax and do whatever (fishing anyone?).....

Yahoo, tradition time, that came around quickly, up goes the tree, decorating as a family and recording the festivities for prosperity.

Once again we do not have batteries charged so we used normal alkaline batteries, which don't last very long. Our movie is in a couple of parts. I need to stitch it together, perhaps when I am holiday, relaxing, I'll do it right after I have done Christmas 2014 (and probably 2013)..........

The tree is now tiny in comparison to my giants. I have included a picture of just the tree. Something we don't seem to have much luck with is Christmas lights, our multi coloured fancy ones had a stern talking to, would not perform so were voted the weakest link and kicked of our island. This year we only have little green light bulbs, they don't flash, they aren't flash (aww poor we things) I think we took pity on them when we bought them. Still they make the tree look very green, almost environmentally friendly (if you squint and spin your head rapidly from left to right).

Also included in the snapshots are Angry & Saucy Chicken, looking very festive and right into the season.

Merry Christmas from the Younger Drummonds

The Tree - Beautiful





The Chickens





Svelte Chicken Lives.... for mistletoe and no whine

Svelte Chicken Lives.... for the happiest of noises

It's the school holidays (again!) and I am just making myself a cup of coffee in the kitchen.

What would you say is the happiest noise? or, perhaps what noise(s) makes you smile, makes you happy?

I'm pretty sure for me it's hearing my children laugh. All three of my kids have a different sounding laugh, all three of them bring me the same level of enjoyment, I can't help but smile, it lifts me up inside, on the spot. Actually, perhaps it's laughter in general, the light of my life has the same affect on me.

Anyway, you should hear little Em laugh, I don't know what she was watching (plugged in to a tablet, probably you tube). The happiest of noises, I'm still smiling.

There is another noise that makes me smile, Daniel giving his wobbly version of the doctor who theme (at the start of the show). It sounds like he's gargling something.

Svelte Chicken Lives.... for the happiest of noises

Svelte Chicken Lives.... for frolicking in green pastures

Well what a year I've had, I'm back, actually I never really left......

The fish tank where I worked, swam around so magnificently, encouraged all the lovely worker fish, developed a crack that could not be repaired.

The result was a slow and lingering challenge that resulted in trying to hold things together, maximising throughput and lets face it, minimising losses hoping there would be enough in the kitty (pardon, aren't we fish?) so that we all got sprinkled with the fish food we were owed and deserved.

Still it didn't matter what we did, the water level kept dropping, and with it, my lovely worker fish leaped out of the tank to go and swim in new tanks, making the position even harder. Still as the water level dropped, having less fish was also a good thing, a bit of a double edged sword. I am pleased to say that in then end all of the fishes made it safely to new tanks.

And then there were two fish remaining, both pretty management fish, swimming around the bottom of the tank for a few months trying to make a difference, loyal, waiting around to see if the tank would be repaired and be reborn from the ashes (not an easy thing to do with a fish tank with a bit of water swishing around the bottom).  With hindsight, the only pretty thing about the two loyal management fish that remained is that they were pretty stupid! Seems the loyalty was only one way....

In fact what I want to know is after all of the effort we put in over the years, where the fuck is all of the fish food we are owed? (and are still owed 8 months after all of the other fish were fed), arseholes.

Well I must say that feels better.

Well it all fell apart in a big way, My family and I had dip quite heavily into our savings (retirement savings!) but we pulled through it and I am pleased to say that I am now employed in a career that I also love, just as much as I use to love swimming around my lovely tank....

I owe my new boss a great deal of gratitude, the timing was impeccable.

Svelte chicken has made it too (thank goodness) and lives for.... frolicking in greener pastures