Monday 14th October: Not raining this morning and it hasn’t rained overnight 😀 although by 12pm Mother nature just couldn’t help herself 😜 However I did manage to get some good jobs done before the rain started, John had cleaned both the big hen huts over the weekend and so it was my turn to clean out some pens. I started with the duck hut, got all the wet soggy straw out and put nice clean stuff back in although it won’t stay like that very long 😐 next it was the turn of the quail, clean out all the wet, dirty soggy stuff and refresh with clean, dry straw. I also got a piece of polycarbonate (which actually was for another job but I can get some more) and stapled it to the side of the hut, putting the dogs away first of course otherwise Mia would take off 🤪 The polycarbonate is to stop the rain blowing in and this making a nicer environment for the quail, it’s see-through which is perfect for letting light in but keeping the wet off. They seemed pretty happy with it all, I also gave them a bit of a treat with some wild bird seed. Next onto cleaning out the Turkey pen, I let them out to roam as it’s easier to do it without them in there, there are signs of rats so I need to sort that out.
After that is when it began to rain so I tackled the small poly tunnel, Monty Don says the tomatoes won’t ripen anymore and I am inclined to agree with him, so I picked all the remaining tomatoes, green and ripe ones and cleared the plants from the tunnel. I have put the basketful in the shed as he says they may ripen in the dark, I’ll give it a go and if they don’t it’s green tomato chutney time 😀 I put in a top dressing of fresh compost and planted the left side with garlic bulbs, the two small tubs I have sown some giant winter spinach and hopefully they will all grow well. I did notice some mouse activity in there, clusters of eaten hazelnuts and tell tale holes so I have set the mousetrap 😏 I don’t want the garlic bulbs all eaten before they get going.
With that job done I then picked some broccoli and purple sprouting spears for dinner tonight and picked a few bits that had gone to seed and gave them to the rabbit/guineas who squealed with delight lol.
I took a couple of other photos while I was out there, the first was a little ‘shroom village’ I love his time of year when these appear all over the place, I like to imagine that they are indeed little villages 😜 The second photo is of our ducks making the most of the recent downpours which has left a small lake in the corner of the paddock. The river that goes with it has now gone but it has left a playground for them to enjoy. Late last night when we were stood out there we could hear wild ducks also enjoying the temporary feature.
Lunchtime 😀 then tidy and clean the boot room, I have been looking at ways to improve this room, gently showing pictures of a built in thing to John lol. Ideally I would like a bench to sit on when getting boots on and off, mostly for the grandchildren 😉 and I have a few other ideas that would make the room more workable than it is at the moment, we will see, it may never happen but it just might if I’m lucky ☺️
Well that took me all afternoon and then some to tackle the boot room 😜 I managed to bin a black bag full of stuff and a black bag full of old coats, gloves etc for the clothes bin and now it looks a whole lot better than before. I have also secured a date from Martin to do some carpentry out there 😀 Hopefully I will eventually get a room that works rather than a room I have to work around 🙄 The only problem with getting it sorted is that a lot of it got put out into the next undercover bit lol so guess what is on the jobs list for tomorrow.
A bonus of tidying and sorting was that in the preserves cupboard there is mincemeat and I found a couple of bottles of sloe gin I have made either last year or the year before 😀
It hammered down again this afternoon and John came home early to a few jobs lol, the eggs and feeding because I was still knee deep in boot room junk, then rod the drain out the back because the water was starting to come in, change a light bulb (not an ordinary one or I would have done it myself) haha no peace for the wicked 😜
Dinner, animals shut away, dogs washed so they can come into the clean boot room and the day is done. And still it keeps on raining 😏
Tuesday: So as stated the job on the list this morning was the undercover back area but first the animals all need feeding and letting out. On my first trip up to the small back paddock I can see that Jack has let himself out into the large paddock, Biscuit, bless her has stayed where she should. She is a very sweet little Shetland pony, they can have the affectionate term of ‘shitlands’ 😂 but she is not of that ilk…..not yet!
Onto the job in hand and starting to sort out what needs keeping and putting away and what needs throwing out. Over the years we seem to have accumulated a huge array of gadgets and gizmos that do various jobs around the place, sometimes they may only get used once a year, sometimes they are in constant use just depends on what needs doing. One thing we do have a lot of is horse paraphernalia 🙄 anyone who has horses or has someone living with them will know that they don’t throw anything away. They also get given old stuff from people giving up the horses and so it continues until the place is stuffed with numnahs, bridles, head collars, saddles and rugs of every type, one for the wet, one for the cold, one for a bit wetter or a bit colder, one for -5 -10 -15 one for the summer, one for the flies, its endless, pretty sure the horse couldn’t give a flying **** about being trussed up and would love to just run free 😜 That said I have found spaces for it all and the rest of the stuff and it’s looking a whole lot tidier out there which in turn gives me a clear mind and a happy disposition, objective achieved 😬
Yesterday when I was tidying up the boot room I was sighing at the amount of alcohol that was in the preserves cupboard, we don’t drink that much, some of it came from Johns Mums house, most of it from birthdays and parties that didn’t get used and is still there. Then I looked in another fridge we have out the back that is not plugged in and more bottles of various alcoholic beverages, I’m thinking of having a bottle stall 😜
I have discovered a leak in my greenhouse 😏 not a big one but with all the rain we are having it’s finding it’s way in, I have mentioned it to John and it looks like a roof window so as soon as the weather backs off we will fix it.
The sun shone beautifully this afternoon and it was most welcome in fact I went out to the front and just stood there letting it warm me, it had a good bit of warmth in it too considering the time of year. It made doing the afternoon rounds a pleasant job instead of drudgery.
Wednesday: Turned out to be a lovely day full of sunshine. In the morning after the rounds I did a bit in the big tunnel, I can’t do as much as I want to get done because I want to protect the pathways with the wood chip before I start barrowing manure into there, so I did some cutting back and tidying up. I sorted out some tomatoes and the little bit of remaining veg to go out for sale and found a bucketful of greens for the rabbit/guineas.
The guy came with the wood chip which was handy, the pile is huge and he has more if I want it. I got stuck into moving some of it straightaway, 15 shovel fulls in each barrow, around 30 loads, backwards and forwards until I was a bit pooped lol, and hot because the sun was still shinning fiercely. It should easily do all the pathways in the veg garden with a good thick cover which will kill off the weeds and make walking round the garden a lot less messier after the rain 😀 a quick rest and cool down before the afternoon feeding gets done.
It took me half an hour to cool down and another 15 mins to be able to move 🤪
I did think that after doing the rounds I wouldn’t be able to do any more woodchip moving but I found a bit in the reserve tank and did a few more barrowfuls. The sun was beginning to sink lower and lower, as it was still sunny the gnats were up and dancing into the night and I have enough issues to process without all over bites adding to the mix so I called it a day.
At dark John usually puts the animals away to bed, when the clocks change and it gets dark early it will be my job but for now it’s his. Tonight he called on me to help him as Ted was up on the roof, who is Ted I asked him, Ted the Turkey he replied 😂 I had no idea he had named him, just him it seems as he is the only one of the three that won’t go to bed nicely lol.
Thursday: A cold night and a ground frost this morning, I made the mistake of thinking because it was sunny yesterday it would be warm enough not to light the Rayburn, wrong, it was cold and a tad damp which is even worse 🙄 So it will probably get lit every night from here on in and eventually will be running all day and night.
I did the morning rounds and then went to check on the torts as I do each morning, I can’t find Billy 😏 he was there yesterday and they can’t get out, I will do another good search later but judging by the ground disturbance where I last saw him something has taken him, he is pretty heavy mind you and I wouldn’t think an animal would get far with him, also he would be pretty difficult to eat if not impossible.
I went out to get my hair cut with Shelley and when we came back Sam was here with the twiglets. Shelley went to have a look for the tortoise and crisis averted it seems I didn’t look hard enough 😂
The chap with the woodchip came with a second load 😬 and now I literally have heaps of it.
Did the afternoon rounds, lit the Rayburn got the dinner ready and sat down with a cuppa 😀
Friday: Repeat blood tests this morning so up and on with it 😀 I went to Shelleys afterwards where we put together a new toddler bed for Florence and then had some soup before returning home. Shelley stayed for a bit and barrowed some woodchip with Josh and Flo helping until they got bored and cold lol. This evening we are going to Sams for tapas so I made those, I did dates stuffed with sheep’s cheese and wrapped in prosciutto and some gluten free mushroom pin wheels, I also roasted a bunch of grapes to see how they would turn out 🙄
I bought some kefir the last time we went shopping and I had a sup today but I have found it makes me feel sick, it’s the second time I have tried it and the same result so I maybe won’t be trying that again. Kombucha I can tolerate so will stick to that I think.
Saturday: A dry start to the day, John did the morning rounds while I did housework, a bit more in depth than a run around of the hoover and a flick of the duster this time 😂 So that took up a large part of the day and I can now see the top of the kitchen table which had got clogged up with ‘stuff’ John meanwhile did some cleaning out of the hens and cut back some tree branches that snapped off last winter and were overhanging the neighbours field.
In the afternoon we watched the live parliament debates wondering what the heck is going to happen with Brexit and hope that they sort something out sooner rather than later.
It was Johns 40 year school reunion this evening which was great fun, considering it wasn’t my year or even my school I knew quite a few people there, having never moved away we both still see a lot of old school friends locally.
Oooo yes and Charlie and Macca got engaged today 😀😀
Sunday: A clear night last night meant a cold start to the day this morning 🙄 John did the morning rounds while I did some mundane household jobs 🤪 Then we went out for breakfast which made a nice change. John went off to visit his Mum and I took the time to get into the greenhouse and pot up a few plants that my Mum had bought over, some stocks (a nice cottage garden flower) and some dancing ladies which are rose campion but in various different colours. I just need to decide where I am going to plant all these flowers lol and also decide if I am going to totally rearrange the garden (which will be a mighty task) or just to modify it.
Tea and cake in the afternoon at Mums for my niece Zeraphina’s 3rd birthday and not is that another day done but also another week.
Take care and take time to enjoy something everyday however small.
frieslandfarm (flowers) 