Month: December 2015

I have a spare five minutes to sit and ‘blog’ 😃 I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year and all that it brings. Our Christmas present arrived on the Solstice, 22nd December, a totally gorgeous little grandson, Mum and Baby doing fine, we did think we would still be waiting but he decided to get here before the festivities, just! 

Daily chores still have to be done regardless of new arrivals or eating, drinking and making merry. We had Christmas dinner at our eldest daughters and the youngest daughter very kindly looked after the animals in the afternoon and evening so that we did not have to rush back, very much appreciated it was too. 

At this time of year we are pretty much ‘treading water’ so to speak, feeding, cleaning, feeding, cleaning, that goes for the animals inside as well as out 😉 although I must say we have had some lovely sunny days that have prompted a bit of weeding and some general tidying up to be done. I would get excited and say that the daffodils are coming up nicely and that the primroses have flowered but I know that this is likely to be disasterous if we get a cold snap now, everything has been lulled into a false sense of security, even the pigeons are ‘at it’ 

We are expecting storm Frank over the next 48 hours, hopefully it will only mean some rain and and bit of wind for us, those further North are not so lucky and I can’t imagine what it must be like to be battered and flooded over and over again, bad enough in towns and cities but for small holdings and farms times will be difficult and hard work. 

I had an unexpected phone call from the owner of one of Mia’s puppies (Dave, that’s the puppy not the owner lol) to let me know he is doing well, they were a year old on the 14th December, it was lovely to hear from them and they are hoping to come and visit sometime in the new year so I will look forward to that although it may be chaos 😝

A Happy 2016 to you all, and I for one will delight in the nights drawing out again as we move into the New Year. 

🎄🍼👶

We have been here six years last month and finally got round to do something we have put off all that time! The time had come to dispatch the duck with the bad foot, I had tried to help it recover but it was getting worse meaning that he was mostly flapping around on his belly which was very unfair on him. He was only just over a year old and a dual purpose Cherry Valley  duck and so I felt that it would be sacralige to just cull and dispose of him and so the intention was to eat him. In all the time we have been here we couldn’t bring ourselves to eat the ducks, they have very soulful eyes you know, we have raised and eaten many chickens but not the ducks lol.

We made a snap decision to do the deed and decided that as the necks are pretty strong, decapitation would be the best way, this is still legal although not ideal but as we don’t have a bolt gun then an axe it would have to be. To be honest it was not that bad and very quick as you can imagine, once we had got over it I went on to pluck it, hang it and eviserate it the next day, then it went in the oven that evening with garlic, celery, bay leaves and oranges,  it was delicious and I am glad we didn’t waste it. We probably will do ducks again but I am not in any hurry to rush out to the pen and round them up they will be delighted to know 😝

On a whim I decided to add six bunnies to our farm, we had already decided to get some next spring and build an outdoor area for them, but an opportunity to good to miss presented itself and within two hours they had arrived. Someone was looking to re home, a male, two unrelated females and three of their babies, plus two huge hutches, some may think I am mad to do that, I think I would be mad not to 😁 

I learnt two very important things this week related to farming in general, firstly last month saw the end of grandfather rights. For those that have never heard of these, it gave anyone born before 1964 the right to buy and use various chemical sprays without a certificate, Hubby just came into that category and secondly that rodencides will come under strict regulation next year, you will also need a certificate to buy and use those. How will this affect us? Well as we  only use chemicals as last resort, and only once in the last six years, the spraying probably won’t be a problem, besides our eldest daughters partner has the correct certificate if we need to call on him, but the rodenticide issue is a different matter. I have already noticed the increase in rat activity on the farm, as soon as winter arrives they tend to move closer to a food source and with chicken feeders around,  the obvious place to set up home are under the huts. Even a concreted floor does not stop them digging under and squating, waiting till dark and coming out to pick up any leftovers. Obviously good husbandry is the key but getting the amount of food right so that the chickens have enough to keep them full and not leave any is a tricky balance. A rat population can explode pretty quickly, at the moment it’s not a problem here but I need to keep putting bait down to prevent it getting out of hand. Sometimes I use bait boxes but you have to put them in the direct path the rats use otherwise they won’t go near them, usually I locate their exit hole and fill it with bait and then place a stone securely over it so that the chickens can’t get at the bait, you would be amazed at how much the rats will eat every day. So next year I don’t know how we will go about getting rid of them, paying a contractor to come in is not going to be cost effective on a place this small, we may have resort to sitting out at night and shooting them or getting a small dog for ‘ratting’  purposes! To be honest I haven’t fully looked into the rodenticide issue you may still be able to buy household strength poison but I will cross that bridge when we get to it. 

We are still waiting for the arrival of our Grandson, the due date is tomorrow, hopefully for our daughters sake I will have news on that front in next weeks blog, we also found out last week that our other grandchild due next April, will be a little girl, how lucky are we to be blessed with one of each 😘

  
  
Have a fab week 🐭🐇🍗

Good morning 😃 the sun is shinning beautifully this morning which is cheery although the downside is that I can see how much my windows need cleaning 😜 We have been luckier than our Northern neighbours with the weather and my heartfelt wishes go out to those who have lost livestock in the floods this week.

The strong winds have continued to dry up the ground which is very welcome and given me an entertaining moment one blustery morning when letting out the geese. Normally when I let them out they have a little run and stretch their wings and I don’t know who was more surprised me or the one of the geese when she suddenly became airbourne and went up about eight foot lol. 

The guniea fowl that arrived by them selves decided to leave by themselves just like that, I went out to feed one afternoon and they had gone, I did think I had heard them in the back field that day but it didn’t really register until I went out later and there was no sign of them. Something has killed two of the quail, something small enough to get through a 1/2 inch square wire so I am guessing stoat or weasel, luckily two others were hidden in the house and I have now moved them to a place of safety indoors. 

Hubby finished work early on Friday and so I took the opportunity to get the apple tree in the front drive pruned. It was last done two years ago and so needed about a third taken out, it was a bit windy and at times drizzly but we persevered. The result is not quite as I would have liked as far as shape is concerned but it’s quite difficult giving instruction to someone up a tree but it’s not bad. 

This week I have also got on with bottling the Christmas presents, sloe gin and rumtopf, the latter tastes amazing and I am glad there was enough left for us to drink at Christmas. I didn’t throw the sloes away, I have reused them in a whisky infusion for sloe whisky next year, I think I will do an apple brandy as well, a good duo I think. 

The egg situation has not picked up yet and the chooks are just about coming to the end of their moult now, I have mixed together all the powdered spices I ordered and they had their first batch last night which went down very well. They have aniseed, fenugreek, ginger and turmeric, I coat some wholewheat in oil then put a spoonful of powder in and that sticks to the oil. I hope egg numbers will improve soon as the amount of customers far outweighs the amount of eggs at the moment, already this morning five cars had driven up before 8.30! We have become very popular over the last year however I am reluctant to increase the number of birds as it would take us to the next level of regulations which would enevitably increase costs, besides it was never part of the plan to become an ‘egg station’. 

The photos are before and after, plus Hubby up the tree lol and the Christmas tipple bottles.    
    
   
Have a great week 🐓 🍏