Hygge, Hops and a Hedgehog 🦔

Monday 24th September: The Autumn equinox has occurred, the end of the light time of the year and the beginning of the dark time is upon us. Time to reflect and look back at what has worked, what hasn’t and a time to look forward and think about what to do next year. A time of myths, legends and rituals of all kinds, harvest is one of my favourite times of year, the word derives from an old English word meaning Autumn. I like the fact that it gets dark early and you can hunker down inside all cosy and warm having fed everyone with a hearty supper, Hygge as the Norwegian and Danish would say.

Talking of myths we heard a lovely one in Guernsey, some of the older houses have a large stone protruding from the chimney of the building, a witch seat, the belief was that a witch out flying on her broomstick could rest on one of these stones and get warmth from the chimney and if you provided one of these you would be spared of any witchy spells she might inflict 🧙‍♀️

The temps plummeted last night and I think there was a grass frost this morning, good job the Rayburn is ready when we are although the temps are set to climb again during the week.

John did the main of the birds this morning then it was just the orchard lot for me to do, my main thought is to lock up the house while I’m out on the farm, sad times but I’ve heard another report from just down the road that occurred yesterday so there is still skullduggery going on and best to be safe than sorry.

There were plenty of walnuts all over the floor so I have picked them up, washed them off, rinsed them in white vinegar (to stop mould forming) dried them off and put them in open trays in the kitchen to dry off. Quick coffee then outside again to see what else can be done, Sun is shinning this morning though you can feel a real nip in the air.

Managed to get a good bit done, two loads of muck into the polytunnel, plant a shrub in the duck pen and secure round it, plant a bush in the orchard and secure round it, pick a trug full of greens for the rabbits, harvest all the small broccoli florets and collect eggs and put them out for sale, the biggest pain in the arse though is keep locking and unlocking the doors to go in and out!

Tuesday: Mia arrived early in the morning, I had managed to just get the orchard lot fed and watered so that was ok, we did go out about 10am to pick up some eggs but apart from that we spent the day inside. Mia is in the middle of potty training so it doesn’t do to venture too far from the bathroom at the moment although she is doing very well, amazing, as I keep telling her 😀

I am practising Hygge tonight, an extra cardi on, a nice cup of milky coffee and my Norwegian slippers which are very warm and cosy, I have already worn them out once and Mum kindly re-felted the bottoms so I could carry on wearing them 😀

Wednesday: Another sunny, dry day 😀 After doing the orchard lot and re filling some of the bedding in various houses, I decided to try and start sorting out the garden in preparation for the winter. The garden gets ravaged either by the weather, the ducks or the chickens and so putting everything away or securing everything is a must, especially any plants in pots that you want ready for next Spring. The ducks walk over everything squashing it all, the chickens kick everything over then scratch through it and the wind just blows it all around, so it seemed like a good day to start organising stuff. I now have two areas that have plants in that are cordoned off and covered with mesh, I have planted a few more bits along the edible hedge in the orchard, when I say edible that includes food for the birds and bees as well as the chickens and ducks 😀 A bit of egg collecting and sorting in between and suddenly it’s already lunchtime.

I have decided to pull the plug on the new greenhouse for now, we haven’t got round to dismantling it and putting a base down and to be honest I’m not sure I can justify the money really, so I will use the old one again next year and see how things go. No point spending a fortune on something if I’m ill again and can’t get out there to use it to it’s maximum so for now it’s on the back burner.

I’m quite tired after all that so going to have a sit down and maybe a quick nap 😀 I’m am very fortunate to be able to stop and rest when I need to if I had a regular job I think I would have got the sack by now 😝 Don’t get me wrong, what I really want to be doing is ploughing into jobs, the mind is willing, the body is most definitely not!

I tried a little shut eye but I couldn’t so I thought I would read the rest of my book instead, after visiting Guernsey the obvious choice for new reading material was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. What a delightful gem of a book 😀 I thoroughly recommend it if you are a reader, now I just need to watch the film and see if they managed to capture the essence of it? (I watched it, they didn’t)

I have been eyeing up the light Sussex chickens, they are pretty big now but need to put on weight before we process them, ideally I would like them to get a couple of months on the garden free ranging, some will be selected to hold back for breeding for the next batch and I think there are at least 4 cockerels in there. The joy with writing a blog diary is that I can look back and find out exactly when they hatched, on investigation I find that they are 16 weeks so plenty of growing time left yet 😀

Did a bit of hoovering, polishing and cleaning, the place needs a proper good going through really but I will save it for rainy/colder weather.

I’m still picking up walnuts and there are still loads left on the tree, I need to make a real effort to use them this year especially in cooking but by the time I have cracked them all open I have lost the will to cook 😝

Did the afternoon egg collecting, the pullets are laying really well now, at least half of them, though the eggs are small they are still mighty fine eggs 😀

I need to decide about Tuesdays, it proved quite a logistical event especially as its potty training time as well as having to lock the doors behind me, I can no longer, nip out so I’m contemplating putting a notice out to say there will be no egg collections on a Tuesday until further notice, it would give me a bit of a break from the pressure of having to get them out there on time and who knows we may be able to catch up with sales instead of constantly selling out.

Think it, do it, lol, that’s what I have done, put a notice out, no eggs on a Tuesday for the foreseeable future.

I lit the Rayburn 😋 just for a couple of hours to take the chill off the air during the evening and I must admit it will be nice to have dry, warm towels again. The problem with this time of year is that it’s not quite cold enough to have it full on but it’s too chilly not to have it at all, probably be sweating in bed later lol.

It will take a while to get to know how she has decided to perform this year but I’m sure we will all settle into a routine soon enough, the one regret I have is that there is not enough space to have a chair right next to her, that would have been perfick 😋 mind you, you would have found me sat there all Winter long 😝

Thursday: Fabulous morning, sunny with a hint of mist rising from the ground, beautiful. By 8am I had done my morning bits and was stood having a coffee outside. My neighbour had ask if I have anything for the harvest festival display so I went round and had a look, some hops, a few little pumpkins and some sweet corn stalks is about all I have this year, hopefully they will be of use. I cut down all the hops and put some aside and the rest I have harvested ready to dry, I want to make hop pillows and need to dry the heads. They are very tactile little things once they are off the vine and as light as a feather, I will leave them in the sun for today and finish them off drying indoors for a couple of days. I don’t have very many as I try to keep the vine under control, it’s suppose to grow along the fence but it keeps creeping up the pear tree and strangling it!

Did a bit of pottering about which was nice, I watered the shrubs I had planted on the front paddock fence line and the apple tree, collected a couple of ‘keeper’ apples there are not many this year, sat and ate the last pear I found hiding on the tree, beautifully succulent and tasty 😋 picked up some eggs and put them out, saw a dragonfly which made me smile, a fab day for pottering out there.

I have a large amount of tomatoes to use up so I’m going to roast them with some olive oil and garlic then sieve them and freeze them for winter use, it’s such a good year for them that you can’t even give them away let alone sell them lol.

I ordered a bulb planter for the daffs, it’s a good strong one which I was surprised as it only cost £24, I took it up the back paddock to have a go but the ground is still much too hard! It needs a bit of rain on it dare I say 😋

Friday: No sun as yet this morning but it’s still early, John was up and out to do the birds just as it got light, patch the dog was barking incessantly, I got up to investigate couldn’t see anything, when John came in he told me it was a hedgehog 😀😀😀😀😀 A hedgehog, I couldn’t be more delighted 😁 they are in decline here in the UK and I haven’t seen one on the farm for about 5 years now so it’s an exciting find and puts paid to any idea that I had about using roundup on the veg garden paths, it will have to be hoed instead 😝

The wildlife has steadily increased over the years, frogs, toads, hedgehogs (well at least one of each) multiple different garden birds, the sparrows that seemed to have gone over the last few weeks have suddenly all come back to check out the roosting areas they used last winter, dragonflies, butterflies, insects galore, it’s a great feeling to nurture nature.

I’m walking back from doing the orchard lot and what do I see in the middle of the driveway but a rolled up ball of prickles covered in leaves, the dogs must have managed to roll it out to play football with it! So I went and got appropriate hand wear and picked it up and took it to the greenhouse along with some cat food, it’s not hungry and I’m pleased to say it looks in good condition, no ticks. I watched it walk around looking for a way out and so went and built a quick hedgehog house out of wooden posts and a broken slab with some leaves and straw for bedding, and then popped it in there. Hopefully it will at least hang around, taking care to stay out of the way of the dogs in future 😋

Blood tests this morning, I was supposed to have them last week but didn’t ring up in time.

Popped in to see my Mum and Ken as they have just come back from caravanning in the south west, came home with lots of killer jars and a couple of shrubs 😀

Went for a walk along the downs road with Josh, Shelley and Flo this afternoon, we played hide and seek behind the trees, ‘room on the broom’, ‘pull me out of the rabbit hole nana’ and conker football 😀

The woodpecker is about, I spotted him hammering a tree trunk this morning, then when I was out doing the afternoon feeding I heard him and then saw him take off in the unmistakable, undulating flight back toward this mornings tree. It is a greater spotted woodpecker the green ones tend to stay more in the hedge-line at the side of the long paddock so I don’t see them as often, one day I will get a picture but they are very quick.

Saturday: Another lovey sunny Autumn morning, I know the bubble is going to burst eventually but loving it while it’s here 😀 Today we are off to the local ploughing match, heavy horses, tractors galore and plenty of ‘Old McDonalds’ for Josh to see 😝

Fabulous day, glorious weather and bone dry under foot, we have seen heavy horses in their finery, steam engines galore, tractors old and new, eaten ice creams, doughnuts, hot dogs and baked potatoes (some of us ate some of them, not all of us ate all of them 😜) had a beer, looked at the produce competitions, watched some old crafts, thank goodness there are people who keep these going and chatted to friends and acquaintances, all in all a great time had by all. I am pretty sure Josh will fall asleep early and not wake up till morning, dreaming of the vintage tractor parade 😀

I bought a Hardy plumbago plant while I was there, mine died over winter and it’s a plant that I miss.

Sunday: I almost forgot it’s blog day! Perfect day for me outside for getting some work done, pleasant enough, not much sun but a hint now and again. I have been planting, barrowing, weeding, covering and generally trying to get things in order ready for Winter. Plants that I have bought and needed to plant out or on, barrowing muck from the heap onto beds, weeding the pathways and covering bare soil that has been weeded. By 2pm I was quite exhausted but feel I have achieved something at least. I pulled some carrots, they are in a raised bed and so not getting waterlogged (chance would be a fine thing as rain is mostly a distant memory this year) I’m hoping to get some cooking and baking done this week and tomato soup is still on my radar, carrots add a great bit of flavour to the soup. I am still picking outdoor tomatoes though it won’t be long before the frost gets them, I would make green tomato chutney but we have enough pickles to last us a while. My Dad always says ‘you should try green tomatoes fried’ hmmm not sure on that one, maybe I should at least try them?

John has been busy, tidying up and burning the bits of wood that couldn’t be cut up for the fire, we always seem to have wood lying around that needs burning, then he cleaned out the front hens and he has a plan to move them off of the front paddock and make a bigger pen where the hens for sale used to be housed seeing as we won’t be doing that anymore. He has now gone to do his Mum and I’ve sent him with a shopping list so I don’t have to go 😜

I washed and dried another load of walnuts today, that’s it now I’m not gathering any more! It’s weird because when Johns Dad was alive he used to ask me for walnuts and we never had that many, the two years since he died have been bumper years and the squirrel has been nowhere near, coincidence? Or is he giving me a helping hand?

I saw a green woodpecker flying around the farm today 😀

Definitely going to light the fire tonight, it’s chilly indoors at 3pm already.