I think that you can tell how good a retail company is by not only how good their products are, but by how they cope when there is a complaint.

I wrote on this blog a few weeks ago that i'd asked for goat socks for Christmas.  My Sister acting on my advice, ordered them online from Wiggly wrigglers.  She then had a computer crash crisis in the week before christmas, and only realised on the 23rd Dec that they hadn't actually arrived, she phoned and was told that they had been dispatched the week before, and hopefully would be with her in the morning, and if they didn't arrive, to please get back to them. - Well Christmas eve came and went without goat socks, so i didn't get a present to open (although William would have had to open them for me anyway!) Louise got back to them by email on the Saturday after new year to confirm that they hadn't arrived, On Monday she received an apologetic email, and the socks were resent, - directly to me this time, and they arrived on Wednesday. So unfortunatly 4 weeks after being ordered, I do have goat socks and  I've been very grateful for the extra warmth this week. Even in my wellies, kneeling down weeding, my feet were just cold, not blocks of ice, and when i've been walking around in my regular boots, my feet have been toastie, i've found that they work best worn as normal socks next to the skin, not as an over socks like hiking socks.
Thanks Lou.

Well I can tell it's December because my feet have been cold inside my wellies for the last 2 days, - even 2 pairs of socks havn't helped much (and they make my boots tight), so i've put some Goat socks on my christmas list.  I've been hearing lots about these, - they are made of goat mohair, and are very warm, and don't smell, which is just as well because at £10 a pair, I won't be getting one for each day of the week, - i'll let you know if they work.
My hands have also needed some extra help to warm up, so i've got out my skiing gel packs.  These are a plastic pack which when activated by clicking the metal disc in them swell up with hot gel to slip inside your mitts. Just the thing for a mornings gardening, even when you need 7 layers of clothing.

What do you do when your son gets sent home from School with a virus , but doesn't stop him running around? - go and plant seeds in the garden of course....  William had only been at School for 1/2 hour when I was called this morning - my only morning off in the last couple of weeks was spent at the doctors, and the playground, - but as the doctor said that there was no need for him to be off school any more (he's past the contagious stage now) we went home and spent the afternoon in the garden.  Our link-a-bord raised vegetable beds, with the great topsoil in them thanks to the Bury Hill topsoil that was delivered on Friday  - www.buryhillsoilandlogs.co.uk  - plus William and Ashley's wheelbarrowing skills, was planted this afternoon with french beans, mangetout, radishes, potatoes, lettuces, coriander and strawberries.  The last one is the most important to my 4 year old son, and they were lovingly watered in with his yellow watering can. I'm really excited about my raised vegetable beds, which are 3 times the size of the space I had in the last garden, so i'm going to squeeze in as much as possible. - i'll let you know when I get my first harvest.