Welcoming little Devon to the world

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, our little boy Devon was born, one day shy of his due date. I'd been having irregular contractions on and off for a few days, but Tuesday night they started becoming regular and stronger, so we drove to the hospital. I was 5cm dilated when we arrived and he was born 2.5 hours later! Labour was quick but extremely intense!

And here he is, our little son Devon, weighing in at 3.24kg.

Thank you for all of your lovely words and congratulations. So far we are loving being parents! Devon is a little dream to look after; feeding, sleeping and pooping regularly!

Offroad Jaunt

The company I work for like to encourage their staff to get involved in their spare time; and when the company you work for is KTM, that means getting dirty out in the bush on an offroad motorbike. How could I refuse. So a few of us headed out into the wilderness about an hour and a half from where we live. Some people were camping out and riding on the Sunday as well, but I headed back on the Saturday after the ride. Partly because I didn't want to stay away in an area without mobile signal when Em is only a week away from her due date, partly because I didn't want to slow the pro's up for a second day, and partly because my arse hurt after a few hours in the saddle LOL.

Here is where we were (indicated by the red pin).

It was raining on and off all day, so it was nice and muddy (and slippery). The route itself was a 20km enduro track, sometimes used for competitions. It took us 2 hours to get round, but that was with myself and Beck who are novices, and with a few stops on the way round to rest aching hands and arms. I believe that during an event the riders can do a lap in about 30-40 minutes.

It was the first time I'd ridden off-road, but it didn't prove too difficult; but then I wasn't going as fast as the other guys, who have been riding for years. One of them even participates in race events.

Although I agree I look angry in this photo, I'm not. I'm just squinting due to the rain (I didn't like wearing the goggles).

In these next two photos, compare me, pottering round the bend, with Isaac (the racer) sliding round at speed.

The bike I used was a 350 Freeride. Designed to be more forgiving and versatile. A good bike for beginners.

Part of the KTM family.

In the garden

Disaster struck Friday night as someone (naming no names) forgot to close the door to the chicken pen. All that was left on Saturday morning were a few feathers and a probably very full fox somewhere.

We were all a little bit gutted as they were doing so well and had improved so much in the few months we had them! At least they got to experience the free-range life if only for a short while.

It did, however, give us the opportunity to rescue some more ex-cage birds, and my parents went out on Sunday and came home with three new girls for the chicken pen.

My little brother, who never wears shoes if he can help it, was not being much help.

Our new hens are called Belinda, Betsy and Beryl (because they are the 'B' flock) and are doing nicely. They seem much healthier than the first two we rescued, and have already started laying eggs for us.

Spring is fast approaching, with the days slowly getting longer. We've had a lot of rain, which has meant the garden has got a bit neglected and the weeds have gone into overdrive. I haven't been able to keep up with working on the veg patch as getting up and down from kneeling has been difficult for a while now!

Somewhere in this mess are some squash plants. I'm hoping there will be some huge squash fruits but more likely the snails have got them.

Meanwhile Nick has made it his mission to grow a lush lawn on this bare patch next to the patio, and has sown 6kg of grass seed here.

Surprise snowdrops have sprung up under this tree.

And all the rain has got the little stream at the end of the garden running again. We even saw some ducks in it the other day (although the naughty cats scared them off).