So Dan pestered me to blog about something which isn't Sound Juicer or Devil's Pie, so here I go. What's been going on recently? Quite a bit really, and it can be summarised in three words: house, dog, chicken.

House. We've finally found a house which isn't too small, or too expensive, or too damn minging (and we saw plenty of those) to move into, so we're finally about to step onto the property ladder. Hopefully we'll be moving in sometime before Christmas, assuming everything goes to plan with the mortgage, surveys, etc. The house was build around the 50s, has a 40' garden, good size lounge, two bedrooms and a kitchen/dinner. Oh, and the foulest carpet in the front room imaginable by man.

Dog. To make a mess of our new house and eat all of our new furniture we're also trying to find a Cocker Spaniel puppy to buy around New Year. There are several potentials at the moment and if it's male, he'll be called Henry. I hope he is male, as we've totally failed to think of a good name of a female dog...

Chickens. Many years ago when we were living in South Norwood Vicky saw a documentary about people who rescue dying chickens from battery farms, and nurse them back to health. After a little treatment and care, they generally recover and will live for many more years. Vicky really wanted to do this, but a third floor flat isn't the idea place to keep chickens. Now that we are moving into a house with a decent sized garden the dream of rescuing chickens was revived, and co-incidentally a friend told us about Omlet, who make home-friendly chicken houses amusingly called "eglus". This is also on the wishlist now, although Vicky won't let me name the chickens Fried and Roast...

NP: The Essential Billie Holiday