Month: October 2020

Posted in Friesland Farm

Darker nights, Halloween and another lockdown.

Posted on by frieslandfarm

Monday 26th October 2020: Having been somewhat absent from the outside last week I thought I had better do a few bits today. But first there was a cake to cook and jelly to make for the VIPs, chocolate cake today as requested by Josh and strawberry jelly this week. I got some dusting and hoovering done while I was waiting for the cake to cook, put some washing in and got a beef stew on the go for our dinner tonight. I was intending them to go out but first I had to do a couple of invoices and I have reverted to the laptop for those as other methods seem to be failing 🙄 Finally it was time to get out and do those things that had been on my mind, filling the bird feeders for the garden birds was the first job. I stop feeding them in late spring but I want them to stay around and so begin to feed them again now that food is more scarce. This year I have positioned them so that I can get good photographs of them feeding, they were behind the oak tree before and I could never get a good angle without going out and frightening them off. It started raining just as I went out and I figured someone must have been watching and said ‘she is out turn the tap on’ 😜 but it soon passed. Then I had a look and picked and what produce is still left growing, a lonely courgette, a few indigo rose tomatoes, some raspberries, the brassica cage has enormous plants in there and I think they are sprouting broccoli so they won’t be ready until next year, one plant is about six foot tall! There are still lettuce and salad greens growing as well as radicchio, the oranges are almost ready to pick I think and the (one) loofah is still going strong. I fed the blueberry plants some sulphate of iron and replenished the top of the pots with fresh ericaceous compost, that will hopefully make them good and strong next year and produce plenty of blueberries. Then it was onto seed collecting and I gathered, cornflower, marigold, red flax, poppies, geum, bronze amaranth, love in a mist, nepeta, chick peas, achillea and sunflower seeds, bagged them and labeled them because I will have no idea what they are by next spring if I just leave them 😂 There are plenty of other jobs I want to get done but I don’t have time today, now the clocks have change it will be a short afternoon. Time to come in for some lunch and wash up the baking things before the little guests arrive.

Tuesday: Raining 🙄 That means only one thing, paperwork 😂 and I’m pleased to say I have finished and it’s all up together and ready to go to the accountants 😃 I worked on it until 12.45, I had literally just finished and packed everything away when Shelley messaged saying she was taking the kids to the garden centre for cake and would I like to go, yes indeed, I think I’ve have earned it. By the time we got there the kids had fallen asleep in the car and it was hammering down so we sat there for ten minutes before deciding to wake them and make a dash for it.

Back home in time to quickly light the Rayburn and then go and feed the hens and collect the eggs before putting them out into the shed. John came home in time to shut the birds away which is now about 5pm. We had dinner, went to get a bit of shopping and popped in to see Mum and Ken for a cuppa. And that’s another day done, but a good one because I can now think clearly about anything else I have to do rather than having the paperwork at the back of my mind all the time 😌

Wednesday: Time goes by so slowly….🎶 that’s what I have been thinking ever since the clocks went back, time seems to be slower. It’s 9.15am and I have already done all the morning jobs, got a batch of leek and potato soup well on the way and done some of this years accounts. I swear I look at the clock, go and do what seems like a hundred things and then look again and only five minutes have passed 😂 John was up before the alarm went off this morning, had his breakfast and then did the animals, he got caught in the biggest downpour 😣 I have Josh and Flo this morning while Shelley has to work so just having a quick coffee before they arrive, she will be back at lunchtime and then we will go for a walk I think providing it’s not pouring down again.

Walk cancelled, biggest downpour/hailstorm and thunderstorm ever 😂 stay in the warm and watch a film seemed like a much better option. Luckily I managed to dodge the rain showers when I was feeding the hens and collecting the eggs. Not got much done in the way of outside work today, but I had a couple of deliveries of more bird seed and fat balls and seem to have way over ordered, I might put them out for sale in the shed.

Thursday: Finally got my backside into gear to get a bit done. This morning after the usual chores a shower and some meditation I went outside, I cleaned out the guineas and both light Sussex houses. I picked all the remaining green tomatoes and bought in the pumpkin for carving. I carved the pumpkin first and I know I should have made something with the inside but I’m not a pumpkin lover and the flesh is hard to get out when you want it left whole. Faced carved, not scary cos it will frighten the babies, we have some extraordinary pumpkin carvers in the family but I’m not one of them so it’s basic 😜 Next job was the green tomato chutney, I have used the indigo rose toms, it produce loads of fruit but it was late and about 2/3rds of them haven’t ripened and it’s too late now. Out came the cauldron 😀 and in went the ingredients, green tomatoes obviously, cooking apples, red onions, malt vinegar, dark brown sugar and a spice bag with ginger, peppercorns, and chilli in. You can put whatever spices you fancy, cardamom, coriander, all spice, star anise (which I often use) but this time I chose cumin, for a warming taste, to go along with the other flavours, fingers crossed it will be good. You can’t really go wrong with a chutney it just depends on what you put in if it turns out to be a good one or a great one. Chutney has its origins in India but the British love a good chutney, its basically a mix of fruit, spices, sugar and vinegar in whatever blend you like, it’s great for using up gluts and stores well and of course goes brilliantly with cheese and is nearly always ready in time for Christmas. I have a chief taster for the chutney in Macca, he loves it, it is a paradox though (I think I can safely use that word here) because he doesn’t like cheese 🤷‍♀️

Chutney making process

You may have noticed that I have already used the C word 🎄 and it’s only October, normally I won’t even entertain it until December BUT we have had a tough year this year and although I won’t be going as far as to put up my decorations this early I concede that we need something to keep us cheery at the moment and so I have relented and I’m going with the flow. That reminds me I must get the cake out and give it a drink of brandy 😜

Halloween is not going to be quite the same this year but we can still make it an occasion at home, get a pic n mix bowl and watch a scary movie 👻 The grandchildren are coming over in the day time and we will be dressing up, apple bobbing and eating doughnuts from a string and of course there will be sweet treats 🎃

Oxford has just moved up a tier 😏 as an outlying shire we are still on tier one but with the cases rising rapidly I don’t think it will be long before we are joining them in further restrictions. The second wave, as widely predicted, is bigger than the initial outbreak but I’m guessing they have more knowledge of how to treat it successfully in most cases now, I hope so anyway. France and Germany have gone into lockdown measures and both countries admit it is out of control, as I keep saying luckily it’s not airborne or that could have been the end of life as we know it, I think the world is finally realising how fragile our existence on this planet really is 🙄

I hate Thursday evenings, I don’t hate it until I have done the dinner, fed the cats and the dogs, got the logs in for the fire and sat down to enjoy the evening, then I hate it because I have usually forgotten to put the bins out 😣 just like this Thursday evening which means having to go out in the dark and the cold to do it. It’s not just a quick nip down a very short path to the kerbside here, it’s not a trek in the Antarctic either but still it’s a chore and a bore if I have forgotten, I’ll see if I can persuade John to do it 😝 (He did bless him)

Had a bit of a Covid scare when the elderly lady next door to Mum went into hospital and tested positive for Covid, Mum had been round there in the week as she had a fall and help was needed to get her up. As soon as she heard she booked a test because, being half term, she had seen quite a few of the family, grandchildren and great grandchildren, and she did have a bit of a cold, luckily the test came back negative 😀

Friday: Not a bad day, a bit spitty and overcast but feels very mild. I did the usual morning tasks and then had blood tests followed by a cheeky visit to costa with Shelley, Josh and Flo. Back home to get some bits done though I haven’t decided what yet 😀

We used to have Sunday roasts with all the girls and partners but since the grandchildren numbers have expanded its difficult to get them all in at the same time so I have decided to do them separately, (and we now have the rule of six of course) it’s a shame as there is nothing better than a full family dinner but there just isn’t room. That’s one of my biggest regrets about moving and not building something big enough but we never gave the expansion of the family a thought really. Hopefully we can get a few in before a lockdown which I think is inevitable 🙄

I spent a bit of time in the greenhouse potting up some allium bulbs that I had been given a couple of months ago. I have not decided where to put them so pot them up until spring and then decide, mind you there are lots of pots so I may sell some of them. I bought the saffron crocus in from outside, I always miss them flowering as they flower late autumn and in my head it should be spring 🙄 I have never managed to harvest saffron from them yet, maybe this year I will get some (if I remember to look 😝) they go over pretty quickly as far as I can tell. The lonely loofah is still doing ok, I’m not sure when to harvest it but I don’t think it’s ready yet, the trouble is that we are getting to the time of the year when things can develop mould when they are under cover so I need to keep a close eye on it over the next few weeks. At the moment there is not much in the greenhouse, I’m mostly overwintering seedlings and cuttings I took back in the summer, drying out seeds ready to bag up and of course the torts are sleeping in a hut in there. The door is open so they can get out if they choose to, Voldy came out one day last week but didn’t eat or drink and I haven’t seen Billy since he went in lol.

Saffron crocus, might get a few strands this year maybe 🤷‍♀️

Now is a good time to take hardwood cuttings and although I am not too good at it I wanted to give a couple of things a go to see if I could increase my plants. Blueberry, cos you can never have too many blueberry bushes, mulberry and olive, it might be a bit late for the olive but nothing ventured nothing gained eh. By now the rain is a bit heavier and it’s not much fun getting a soaking if you don’t need to, there are plenty of times when I have to go out in the rain but choosing to do it is just silly 😜

Hardwood cuttings of blueberry, mulberry and olive

Saturday: It’s 9.45 and it’s turned filthy out there, first thing it wasn’t too bad a bit of fine drizzle but now the rain is heavier and it’s blowy. John did half the rounds this morning and I did the other half, this meant he could then get on with finalising the pathway ready to concrete and even though it’s ready we won’t be doing it in this 🙄 we will wait until it passes over which should be this afternoon. It will be all hands to the deck on the mixer and the wheelbarrow then. Meanwhile I have been doing the usual things, putting washing on, feeding the cats and dogs, washing up, putting the rubbish out , then outside to do the other half of the feed rounds and move the chicken fencing so the horses can eat off the grass that has grown, I also gave them a bit of hay to keep them warm today. They have a shelter, two actually but rarely use them, they are pretty hardy, they don’t come in very often, only in the very worst of the weather. There won’t be many fireworks this year but even then we don’t bring them in, my thinking is that they are better out there where they can see what’s going on than inside where they can only hear frightening noises and have no idea what’s going on, they are fine and they don’t panic because they are used to it.

I did start to bring in the plants that will not survive a harsh winter, dahlias mostly but also some creeping thyme which will do better inside and I think I will bring the olive in (the one in a pot, the other is in the ground) just to see if it brings it on any better than leaving it outside. I say started too but the rain got heavy so the rest can wait until next week when we are supposed to get drier weather 🤞

If we do go into a lockdown, which is looking very likely and as soon as next week, I have plenty to be getting on with but it will be a bit more depressing this time round with the colder days and darker nights 😏 and bang will go my family Sunday roasts though I am doing one tomorrow for Charlie, Macca, Mum and Ken so we will make sure we enjoy it 😀

John went back out to do the concreting and I lit the fire and made bread, I did volunteer but he wanted bread and some warm when he came back in. I got those done and then went out to give him a hand anyway, I did manage to load the cement mixer with around 5 lots before I had to come back in and sort the bread for baking, 56 and I can still shovel into a mixer, I’ll take that 😜 worth my weight in gold as I told John 😉 Josh, Flo and Mia came over for a bit of Halloween fun, doughnut eating, apple bobbing and sweetie hunting then a child friendly, Halloween film.

I am just sat waiting for the Prime Minister to make an announcement any time soon, we are definitely going into a lock down, for a month by the looks of it but how much of a lockdown, that’s the question. Josh was visibly unhappy when we told him that we might not be able to see each other ‘what about Mondays’ he said, meaning teatime at Nanas, I will have send it to them instead 😏

Well that’s it a month of restricted movement from Thursday 🙄 it will be different this time though as John will still be working and I will be here not seeing anyone, not too keen on this but we gotta do what we gotta do, no good moaning about anything just get on with it and hope it slows the infection rate. The good thing is the grandchildren will get one more tea at Nanas in before we can’t see each other for a month.

Sunday: We are having the first and the last (for a month at least) of the Sunday roast evenings tonight so we will make it a good one 😀 Firstly though after we have done all the morning jobs I have an eye test appointment in Witney, not sure if I will be able to pick up my glasses when they are ready though lol. Then I need to pick up a few bits of shopping for dinner later, if there is anything left, reports of panic buying are all over social media, did people not learn anything last time 🤷‍♀️ and then it will be round to Sam and Luke’s for a quick visit as it’s Luke birthday today.

I doubt we will get much done outside here today as it’s raining again but at least the path is down and has cured overnight although the cat has walked all the way along it much to Johns utter disgust 🤣

I went for my eye test, got there gave them my name and they said your appointment is the 5th not the 1st, nope it’s definitely the 1st, here is the email to prove it, a discussion out in the back commenced and finally they said they were fully booked and couldn’t fit me in today 😏 They were apologetic and it will be reported that the online booking system somehow cocked up, I wasn’t too bothered as I have plenty to be getting on with 😀 A bit of shopping though I didn’t really see any signs of panic buying in Waitrose 🤣 and then onto wish Luke a happy birthday and drop some beers to him. Well drop is exactly what happened, as John got them out of the car he appeared to throw them in the air and then not catch them, crash, smash they landed on the floor, luckily only one bottle broke but still a bit of a disaster morning 😜

John spent an hour loading logs into the back area, feeding the birds, collecting the eggs while I prepped and cooked a roast with all the trimmings, a rice pudding and an apple and blackberry crumble for our guests this evening.

And that’s another week done, next week we will be moving towards the partial lockdown in the hope that the disease can be slowed, I do hope so for the sake of the NHS staff 😏 Stay safe everyone and have a good week x

Posted in Friesland Farm

The mighty Oak, lots of paperwork 😏 & procrastination 🙄

Posted on by frieslandfarm

Monday 19th October 2020: Good morning Monday 😀 here you are again, I don’t get the Monday morning blues mostly because I’m not obligated to be at a place of work 😝 So it’s a lovely morning, dry, not too cold, the sun is trying to shine but there is quite a bit of cloud cover. It’s coffee break time but I have already been very busy this morning, making jelly and a lemon curd cake for the VIPs, getting Johns dinner prepped ready for the oven later and making a healthy version of chicken tikka for me. I have put a wash load on, sorted the kittens, taken the recycling out and tidied some bits and bobs, pretty good before 10.30 I reckon. I need to clean out the Rayburn a little, do some hoovering and wiping round and then I will probably venture outside and find some jobs to do out there.

Here is a fact I heard that I find fascinating, I keep trying it and it’s true 😜 you don’t breathe through both nostrils at the same time, each nostril takes it in turn, one will have a rest while the other is working 😮 how did I get to 56 and not know that 😂 And now you are all trying it aren’t you 🤣🤣 your welcome 😀 And now you are googling it just to check it’s correct 😝

I had a shower this morning and again turned the water to cold to finish, at first I thought I won’t be able to do this but I go in with the idea that I will totally enjoy the hot shower and then embrace the cooler water. This is doubly difficult because we don’t have standard heating and so the house is tad cold in the mornings. As the weather gets colder I don’t think I will carry on doing it, but just this morning I heard a report that a study on older people who go into the cold water seem to develop proteins (I think) that help the brain, the study was looking into dementia specifically, interesting stuff 🤔 The reason I had a go at it in the first place was because Charlie was telling me about Wim Hof and his methods, though they are more extreme than I am willing to do, but the whole breathing techniques (not his specifically) I have been doing for over a year now as a stress reliever or a relaxation method so I thought I might as well add another technique to see what it’s like. It’s true that you can only focus on the then and there, the cold water, you can’t think about anything else so effectively it clears your mind I suppose and I do feel refreshed which is great for the day ahead but I wouldn’t be doing it in the evening when I need to wind down.

The logistics of my Monday afternoons have to be on point with the children arriving for their tea at 3.30. I have the Rayburn to light, the hens to feed and eggs to collect sort and put out, the table to lay and sandwiches to make. Sounds easy right but on days like today when it’s not too cold out but I still need to light the Rayburn, the timing is everything, too early and it’s too hot in here, too late and it’s freezing. So my aim is to light the Rayburn about 1.45 that gives me 45mins to get it going, up to temp and then shut back down for it to continue a slow burn. Then I can whip out and do the hens, collect the eggs and sort them out, after that lay the table and make the sandwiches so that tea is ready when they arrive after a busy day at school 😝

I have just sent for a brochure on electric heating and solar panels as this is what we want to move to, it will make my life a whole lots less complicated I can tell you 😂

Tuesday: A more autumnal day today though the sun was out this morning and it’s not cold by any means. After doing the usual household bits this morning I decided on the task of my wardrobe 🙄 going through it and clearing out which took me most of the morning. Neither John nor I are fashionistas 😂 in fact we both have some clothes that are well over twenty years old and probably older, we are not label people either but I do like clothing that lasts and washes well. There comes a time in every wardrobe though when things are way past their best and when your tiny granddaughter says ‘Nana you’ve got holes in that’ you know it’s time to bin it 😀 Two bagfuls for the charity shop and one for the rag bin because no one wants to wear your holey castoffs. Only two items from Johns wardrobe went, that’s because if I throw things out he will ask where they are even though he hasn’t worn them for years, there was a lot more I would like to get rid of but I would be in big trouble if I did 😂 The wardrobe is now sorted and tidy and I know where to find short sleeve good T-shirts, long sleeve good T-shirt’s, short sleeve work T-shirts, long sleeve work T-shirts, good jumpers, work jumpers, you get the idea 😝 I still have another smaller wardrobe to sort but that one can wait, that is the holiday wardrobe, mostly evening wear and who knows when we will be able to get back on a ship 😏

The woodpecker is back, it’s a great spotted woodpecker and I haven’t seen it through the summer months but I first heard it when I was burning the wood. It’s call is very distinctive once you know it and if they are calling they are usually right at the very top of a tree, then as it takes flight the undulating motion is unmistakable, it looks like an undulating torpedo. This morning it is back exploring the Oak tree outside the kitchen door, they say an Oak trees supports more life forms than any other tree. We have many conifers here as well as other trees and yet the one Oak tree is home and host to more than all the other trees put together. There were a few acorns on it this year, I have only seen one mast year in all the time we have been here, that is a year that has a bumper crop of acorns, it happened to coincide with having pigs that were raised for the freezer, they were happy piggies with all those acorns to eat.

Wednesday: Well what can I say, the weather was appalling, rain all day long but that meant I had the perfect day to do paperwork. Well a whole years books actually for both Johns plumbing and the farm, the farm is simple enough, the plumbing not so 😝 When John had a limited company I did it every Friday because there was PAYE, VAT, CITB and CIS to sort as well as suppliers and customers but once that was closed down there was not anywhere near as much to do so it kinda got left 😏 and then the weeks rolled into months and before you know it that’s a year gone 🙄 I spent the best part of the day getting the paperwork in order that’s before I can even start to get it written down. I know I ought to sort myself out a bit and make sure it’s written every week and I will pledge to do that from here on in but we will see how long it lasts 😉

I did do the usual jobs inbetween the paperwork, that’s what makes it difficult really as I have to keep stopping mid flow to do other jobs at certain times.

Thursday: We (that includes John when he got home) continued to work on the books until 10pm last night and so today I am having some time off. I went out with Shelley and Flo, the aim was to find a two piece skeleton outfit for Josh for Halloween day at school. Most rising five year old boys would not even think about the need to pee and how difficult that might be in a one piece suit, but Josh had and wanted a two piece for comfort breaks 😀 Objective achieved we did a little bit of retail therapy before having lunch out, I have to say everywhere was fairly quiet and it felt safe enough to be out and about. Once back home it was time to do the egg rounds, get the Rayburn lit (although it’s fairly warm today) and get tonight’s dinner sorted. The daylight hours are getting shorter and shorter and the clocks change soon, there is talk about postponing it but I can’t see that happening to be honest, the hens are usually in bed by 6.15ish which gives us our evenings back, not that there is much to do socially 😂

Friday: What have I done today, well I did a few household bits then got the paperwork out, yep I’m still doing it and this is why: I’d done about an hour of sorting out what was what ready to (eventually) get it all down in order, Samantha messaged ‘what are you doing today’ I replied ‘paperwork but I’m happy to pack it away’ 😜 and so she came over with the children and I packed it away 😂 We went to the park, played on the swings and slide, had a whip round the supermarket for a few bits and then back home, that’s why the paperwork is taking so long because I’m happy to stop anytime 🤣 There is always tomorrow 🙄

The twiglets George and Lucie

Saturday: I turned the alarm off this morning as yesterday it was going for ten minutes and John didn’t turn it off (it’s for him not me) eventually I had to get up and do it so I thought this morning I will turn it off. John eventually gets up an hour after it would normally go off and started complaining, he was waiting for it to go off before he got up 🤷‍♀️ The thing is that the light can be seen through the curtains they are not blackout ones and so I said surely you know roughly what time it is by the daylight coming through, or is it just me?

Anyway eventually he got up and he got on with the rounds while I sorted out washing, rubbish bins etc. Then I thought I would get the paperwork out and get on with it, I turned off the radio for total peace and quiet, about half an hour in John comes in to make a cuppa but not quietly, oh no, making as much noise as possible then starts asking me inane questions, I stopped what I was trying to do. Tea drunk I managed to pack him off to get some feed and take some bits to the charity shop, I got back on with the paperwork. He returns and does a bit of cleaning out of chicken huts then comes in and decides he is going to watch the news on the tv 🙄 I am trying to concentrate and all I can hear is a reporter with a very irritating voice going on and on and on, so I packed it all away, I give up trying to get this done in peace 😏

In the afternoon his new phone arrived, the old one wasn’t charging and he was due an upgrade, only problem is he is not gadget savvy and so I have to set it all up for him. The problem with that is it’s android which I am not used to and the transfer of information is not as easy as my device. Luckily Shelley, Martin and the kids arrived for a cuppa and Shelley managed to transfer it all from one phone to another, though she did have to google it first. She then sorted out another problem with my e mail, I could get it on my phone but not my iPad, all very irritating but sorted now 😀

I haven’t actually done very much on the smallholding this week at all have I ? Just the basics, sometimes I have weeks like that and this is one of them.

Tonight I am off round to a friends for dinner to celebrate two of our other friends birthdays, I am looking forward to seeing them all again, haven’t seen them since before the lockdown, lots to catch up on.

Sunday: A dry sunny day, lovely actually until about 3pm when it got colder and started raining. The clocks went back last night giving us an extra hour in bed so when we got up it was light again but the downside is that it will be dark earlier tonight.

We had a chap come round and cut the front hedge as it has got rather big and John couldn’t really do it with the electric hedge trimmer. We had a delivery of beef from Emma’s ewesful acres although I was going to get some lamb off the van but we were out when she delivered so I will have to order it and wait for her to be delivering out this way again.

We went out for breakfast this morning and met my sister and brother in law there, lovely breakfast, a bit later than we are used to having it but it was a nice change not to be working. When we got back John got out the hedge trimmer to do some other bits of hedge but it kept raining on and off and the sky is ‘moody’ so I guess that’s how it is going to be for the rest of the day. Charlie and Macca called in for a cuppa and when they left I got the Rayburn lit and the dinner prepped, quite a bitty kind of day but a lovely one none the less 😀

Consequently after having a week of not getting stuff done I now have a head full of jobs that I am thinking about and that will need doing next week 😝 I suppose, because we are usually constantly doing something, that having an easy week is allowed now and again 😀

That’s another week of 2020 done and dusted, I would say that along with millions of others I will be glad to see the back of this year but I have a feeling that next year may not be as great as we are all hoping, unless they get that vaccine. The numbers are climbing and climbing all over the world and seemingly more rapidly that the first outbreak. I still can’t decide what is the best plan of attack really, let people go about their daily business or keep them locked down in various ways, I guess the first option would overwhelm the hospitals and then we would be in even bigger trouble 🙄

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, stay safe and have a good week 😀

Posted in Friesland Farm

I’ll give the sourdough a miss 😝 butternut squash soup and indigo rose tomatoes 🍅

Posted on by frieslandfarm

Monday 12th October 2020: The pandemic continues though I have to say it seems like it is happening elsewhere and I hope they don’t end up being famous last words 🙄 Seriously though we seem to be in a bit of a bubble here, the last outbreak before and during lockdown didn’t really seem to hit our rural area very hard and hopefully the same will be said for this second wave. Today the Prime Minister will announce new measures to try and curb the virus, we wait to see what those will be 😏

Meanwhile life is as normal as is possible and today I have VIP’s coming for tea, the grandchildren are coming after school for sandwiches, cake and jelly and ice cream 😀 I busied myself with getting things tidied, put away (always seems to be things to put away) getting some washing on, sorting the kittens, then making jelly and cake.

The sourdough starter seemed to have a life of its own overnight, it grew so much that it leaked out of the sides, that’s a good thing 😀 I guess it was due to the heat from the Rayburn in the kitchen as this morning it has calmed back down again although it still has life (bubbles) so I have fed it again. The sourdough dough I had in a bowl which didn’t seem to rise was showing signs of activity this morning so I baked it to see how it came out. I can tell you that if I was about to attack a local castle keep I would consider using it in the catapult 😂 it’s a bit solid, however I cut it and it smells like sourdough though heavy in structure, I tasted it and it has that sour taste so I’d say it’s about 70% successful, just need to improve on the technique now.

The measures have been announced and we are going into a three tired system of medium, high and very high risk with various rules for each of those but not a complete lockdown, I’m not sure if any of this will do any good the numbers still seem to be climbing and climbing 🙄

Tuesday: A cold but dry morning this morning. John did the morning rounds before going off to do some proper work 😂 I spent the morning organising food by various means, first I got some butternut squash soup on the go for my lunch today, that’s basically a butternut squash, onion, sweet potato, chicken stock, black pepper and a grating of nutmeg, I will taste it later and see if it needs a sprinkle of anything else such as curry powder or my new fav thing to use smoked paprika 😀 Then I ordered a box of beef from a local smallholder, hhttps://www.emmasewesfulacres.com I have had it from her before and when she delivers I will probably have a look to see what lamb she has on the van. That will keep us going through Autumn and Winter, we have our own chicken and duck in the freezer already plus some venison, goat meat and fish that I still have to use up. Once I had ordered that I sorted out dinner for this evening which tonight is salmon, I will have mine with a honey, sesame oil, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar marinade, then orzo, bell pepper, broccoli, garlic and ginger stir fry while John will have his with potato and veg, we are worlds apart when it comes to food. In light of the fact he will hate having salmon (but will eat it) I got tomorrow’s dinner underway as well (go me) a hearty oxtail stew in the slow cooker. Oxtail isn’t something that many use any more but it has great flavour, it has gone in with carrots, potato, onion, tomato paste, black pepper, beef stock, Worcester sauce and thyme, again I will give it a taste test to see if anything else needs adding. I will slow cook it all day, turn it off over night and then turn it on again around lunchtime tomorrow, stews taste better if they are made one day and eaten the next, so they say anyway, certainly gives it time for all those flavours to mingle.

Butternut squash soup (no filter) lovely vibrant colour packed with vitamin A, C, E & beta carotene, also contains many important minerals 😀

I have let the kittens out this morning, up to now they have only had the run of the boot room but today the door is open to the back undercover area. To begin with they went out and I couldn’t see them anywhere but the next time I went out, there they were and they came in for some dreamies so that’s a good sign that they will stay close by (for the time being) even if I don’t know where they are. Eventually they will get more adventurous and go further afield but hopefully always coming back for some food.

I have come to the conclusion that the sourdough starter does not do very well in our house because we don’t have a stable constant temperature, it gets warm in the evening after we have lit the Rayburn mid afternoon but we let it out mid evening so it doesn’t get too hot over night. The starter seems to be reacting to these temps, first it grows well during the evening but by morning it’s flat again because it’s much colder. I have fed it again this morning and will see what happens later, I thought about making the bread in the evening but again sourdough takes longer to prove than normal bread so that may not work either. I don’t even eat very much bread of any kind so I’m not sure why I am doing it to be honest 😜 just because I wanted to have a go, I may give up on it though and buy the odd loaf now and again 🤷‍♀️

I have also been busy over the last week or so ordering Christmas presents, who knows exactly what is going to happen over the next few months, might as well get ahead just in case it all goes haywire. It’s crazy when you really think about it all, weeks in total lockdown, who ever thought that would happen, now we are all wearing masks when we go out into town, we can only meet a few people at a time, some places have tighter restrictions than others, as I have said before I can’t wait to see the blockbuster film that will inevitably be made about this lol, not quite as scary as The Walking Dead but just as unbelievable (well it will be when they look back in history) Yes indeed we are living through some very strange times 😏

After lunch I went out to the post box and realised it was nice and warm in the sun, it’s often colder indoors than outside here, so I decided to get my gear on and do a bit of garden work. I spent a happy couple of hours cutting back dead stuff and pulling up veg that has now gone over, digging up comfrey (as it’s seeded everywhere) I did stop short on one patch when I spotted ladybirds, probably trying to find a place to hibernate for winter, better make sure I don’t tidy too much 🙄 Back indoors for a quick coffee and a sit down before the afternoon rounds begin. I have seen no more signs of snakes and also sadly I have not seen any frogs all summer, even in the dank areas, I think the snakes have eaten them all 😢 either that or they are hiding well.

While I was working away I was also pondering on what I had learnt this year in the garden, no matter how much you know there is always more to learn. I learnt that yacon are pretty easy to grow here and that they taste very good, I learnt that often when you think a veg plant is ‘spent’ it surprises you with more offerings (I’m thinking about the loofah here) I learnt that the weather can throw you curve balls ( actually I know that but this years was the biggest yet) and that I need to do more to prepare for weather anomalies. I learnt a bit about myself, I like to grow things in order, I am not good with what seems to be chaos in the veg garden but I know I need to learn to cope with it as it’s a better way of growing 😂

I am hearing more and more worrying reports of people who have had COVID for a second time, that’s just plain unlucky and I think we were hoping that if you get it once you won’t get it again. The ‘Long COVID’ is also a worry, people dealing with the effects of it long after they have recovered from it, maybe this virus is every bit as bad as they say it is, I hope we never find out.

I have just googled to see if there is a general trend towards panic buying again, not on the same scale as we saw before but it is there it seems. This would tie in with the increase of egg customers we have had, there have been weeks when we didn’t have a single customer for two or three days and now suddenly we are inundated again, I have seen customers wearing masks again which had all but stopped so there must be some unease out there. Unfortunately it’s the time of year when we have less eggs than usual due to the shortening of daylight time so there will never be enough eggs to go round 🙄 John and I discussed what we would do if we went into another lockdown as the gate sales were crazy and of course we had people who had never been before and haven’t been back since which was really unfair on our regular customers but we were unable to stop it as it came upon us pretty swiftly. It’s a difficult one to determine because although we do know most of our regulars especially the ones that have been coming for years, there are some that we couldn’t readily identify. I think we would initially just shut the gate and have a think about it 😂

Wednesday: Is it only mid week, seems like it’s been a long week already and we are only halfway there 😏 The sun was shinning beautifully this morning but by 9am when I went out to put the rubbish out the sky was looking moody and five minutes later a rain shower appeared, I think that is how the day will unfold today. I thought that perhaps today was not going to be an outside work day so I set about cleaning out the fridge, not a massive task but it’s amazing how many things get left from week to week and before you know it they have been there months. So out went anything that looked well past it’s date, I will keep and use some things that have gone past the best before date especially if they are still sealed but today was a clear out day. Out went a half jar of mincemeat probably used last Christmas, a half jar of plum sauce I made last year and a half jar of pickled onions also probably last used at Christmas, none of them showing any signs of mould but time to throw them anyway. There were the usual culprits in the bottom drawer, soggy cucumbers and shrivelled apples, any thing half decent will go to the geese and guineas the rest will go for composting. Amazing how satisfying it is to see a clean tidy fridge 😂 I also made the decision to abandon the sourdough starter 😭 things were not going well with it and so time to admit defeat, I think if I want sourdough I will buy it 😂

Another thing that occurred to me was that you may be wondering about Ted’s fate as we move closer to Christmas, rest assured he will not be joining us for dinner 😜 he is now part of the smallholding family and has a name so will continue to live freely here. He is totally oblivious to the fate of his fellow turkians though and as a result is not in the least bit grateful still making John walk him back to his pen each night 🙃

Well it didn’t rain in fact it was very pleasant out there and consequently I have had a very productive morning. At first I had no idea what to do, to be fair we have so much to do that it can be overwhelming at times, in those circumstances it’s an idea to pick a starting point and work from there. Did I do that, nope I flitted from job to job BUT I still made progress , or at least I feel like I did. First I tidied up the egg shed area where I put out plants for sale, then I took down some fencing that was screwed to other fencing that will be coming down eventually. I went to put the plant shelves (that were out by the egg shed) away and the shed they go into was a tip so I cleaned out the shed and threw away a wheelbarrow full of ‘crap’ and now I can walk into the shed easily 😀 After that I had a walk round the veg garden and started clearing some bits away, I picked a few tomatoes and then moved onto the big tunnel. I cleared away the cucumber vine which all but spent, there were about five small cues on there so I picked them first, the skins are toughening now and so I could have kept the vine going but the cues would not be very nice. Then I cut back and pulled out the cape gooseberry plants which have turned into triffids over the last two years and I decided I don’t want them in there any more. I must be in a ‘cleansing’ mood at the minute as it feels good to get it all sorted. At times with many diseases but especially Lupus you get ‘brain fog’ this is a real thing just in case you have ever wondered. Brain fog takes away the ability to be able to focus and think clearly hence the standing there wondering where to begin on many occasions 😜 I never used to be like that, I always had a definite plan of attack and some days I still do but others I just have to muddle through as best as possible and hope for a good result 😀

I collected some seeds while I was going about my jobs, some morning glory, which have been splendid and some Sarah Raven California poppies which are just the most beautifully delicate little poppies (must remember that those are still in my jacket pocket 🙄) Seed collecting is one of the pleasures of gardening and an important part of self sustainability, buying the seeds just once should ensure a lifetimes supply of that plant unless something goes horribly wrong. The same can be said with perennials, once you have them they can be divided over and over and you never need to buy it again. Many vegetables will produce seed if left long enough and again collecting those ensure you will have a crop next year, something I need to make more of an effort to do especially after this year when everyone was buying them and suddenly they were scarce. With that in mind, at my trip to the garden centre I bought some seeds that I had not been able to get hold of this year just in case. Red cabbage was one, I tried and tried to find the seeds but I couldn’t get any, the other seeds I picked up were for an indigo tomato. I bought a plant this year and it has been amazing, you may find this in shops but they would have to be niche I think. These toms are delicious and again because of their colour they are packed with vitamins and antioxidants, they have more flesh than a regular tomato and so do not go to mush when they are cut.

Indigo Rose tomato, a superfood 😀

I need to go through my veg seeds and see what I have left, what I have collected so far and what needs to be ordered. I have some little gem lettuce that are going to seed at the minute so I will be collecting those hopefully. The French beans are drying in the greenhouse and the runner beans are still on the plant, when they look ready I will get them in to dry, I have pepper seeds drying on the windowsill and there are some chick peas to be harvested which grew from just three seeds, I have trebled them this year 😀 In theory I need never buy seeds again but where is the fun in that 😜

Thursday: A bright, sunny morning but a bit of a chill in the air, so far this morning I have just pottered about doing various household tasks. Sam and the twins are going to come over today so we will probably go out for a walk round the village, got to make the best of the good days while we can and also spend time together while we can as who knows what this winter will be like with Covid lurking round every corner.

I hatched a plan last night, in fact it is something I thought of doing this year but didn’t so I am definitely doing it next year. I will use the ménage to grow pumpkins and squash and to make sure I do I have already ordered a good selection of squash seeds. Butternut, spaghetti, banana, acorn, and a selection of pumpkin varieties, this year because the ménage has not been used the weeds have taken hold, if I use it to grow sprawling veg that will at least lessen that problem. It’s a massive area for growing roughly 40 x 20 metres 😮 the surface has always been woodchip and it constantly breaks down so there should be some good loam under there, probably the best growing site on the Smallholding 😂

Just had a news update come through and London is moving to tier two on the restrictions 🙄

Went on a walk around the village with Sam, George and Lucie, on the way back we stopped and saw Grampy (John) who was in the village working. Sam fed the kids their dinner when we got back and she had literally left when Shelley and Florence arrived 😀

They said it was going to be warmer today than yesterday but I don’t think it is, there is a definite chill in the air even when the sun is out.

Friday: Dry, overcast and not too cold this morning. Just stopped for a coffee, we are total creatures of habit aren’t we? I was working outside and thought, time for coffee, without even looking at my watch I find that it’s exactly the time I would have a coffee if I was indoors 🤷‍♀️ This morning I have meditated, had a shower with a blast of cold water at the end, fed the quail, the horses and the Guineas extra rations, put clean bedding in for the ducks and the geese plus all the usual routine jobs. The horses are being given extra feed now as the grass is getting sparse, you can tell by the way they start to hang around the gateways that they are getting hungrier. We are trying to give biscuit a mix of cod liver oil, turmeric, black pepper and ginger as she is getting on a bit and it might just help her with her old bones. The problem is Jack (greedy git that he is) I feed them and have to guard her feed as Jack scoffs his quickly and she takes a lot longer, he is then trying to get to hers 🙄 I spotted one the kittens up a tree while I was out there, they are getting more adventurous but luckily they do come running back if I appear. We see Diesel every couple of days, I have no idea where he disappears to but he eventually comes home, not much good at keeping the mice down round the farm though if he is off wandering.

The garlic, onions and shallots I ordered a few weeks back have arrived so I need to think about getting those in, hopefully I will do that today.

I have been listening to a pod cast that is very funny, it’s Lee Mack and his friend ‘I can’t believe it’s not Buddha’ it’s a hilarious chat about a path they are both following with serious intention, if you see me laughing out loud with my headphones in, that’s what I will be listening to 😜

I spent a wonderful two hours weeding and clearing the bean bed. The top quarter I had already done as that’s where the cauliflower are now planted but the rest of the bed needed doing. At the beginning of the year I had some self seeded yellow daisies growing in there so I let them carry on but I had forgotten how big the plants got as a consequence they over shadowed a lot of the peas I had growing so I won’t let them stay there next year. I pulled out the remains of these daisies, a Swiss chard ( I dug that up and gave it to the guineas) that had self set, hundreds of weeds of all types and the dead foliage of bean and pea plants. I had intended to put the onions, garlic and shallots in here but the side of the bed has collapsed and needs re doing (cue John 😜) so I will wait until I get that sorted before planting them. I am glad I have cleared it all as there were a lot of white fly probably settling down to overwinter, they tuck themselves right down in the foliage near to the roots ready for a comfy sleep I suspect, not any more 🙄 I say a wonderful two hours because it was lovely, the weather was just right, warm enough, no sun, no wind, no rainy bits and the ground is dry enough to work on without getting very dirty 😀 I still have plenty more work to do out there but that will be enough for today, time for lunch and a sit down before getting on with the afternoon jobs.

The healthy eating is going well (most of the time) I have lost a stone and a half! Impressed, yep me too 😀 I amazed actually 😜 Many years back I started WW and got to goal then spent about 10 years clerking for them but gradually the weight crept back on and then some. I know what to eat I just didn’t know why I wasn’t doing it even though I wanted to shift the ‘back fat’ and the third boob, the girls will know what I mean by that 😉 So when I started seeing ads for Noom I was intrigued by the psychology aspect it was presenting, two weeks free trail, what did I have to lose 🤷‍♀️ The two weeks came to an end and I thought might as well carry this on, so I did, I am. There is no miracle to losing weight, it’s mainly persistence but I think the Noom app helps an awful lot with that, there are lessons and information every single day digging into your own psychology (sometimes you dig so deep you surprise yourself) learning the best food balance for you and your situation, it’s not a diet as such more the re-set of your mind when it comes to food choices. I am obviously not affiliated to them nor do I suggest you rush out and join, just telling you my experience of it, I think it’s a great thing to follow, it took me a while to get my head around it, I thought I knew all there was to know about dieting but it seems not 😝

I babysat Mia and the twins although the twins were already in bed so MIA and I had fun taking photos, dancing and singing 😀

Saturday: Another dry, reasonable day today, John did the animals and then had to go off to do a quick plumbing job. When he got back he began to dig out the last bit of the path, but I needed his help fixing the side of the veg bed that had collapsed. So we sourced some wood, dug it out and put in new sides, I got on with back filling the bed while he went to finish what he started. I raked and riddled the bed, took out as much bindweed root as I could find and then I needed Johns help again 😂 and I wonder why he takes so long over jobs 😝 I wanted to bury the soaker hose in the soil, it was partly buried but over time had come up, it was also too long and curled around on itself in places, first I had to cut it to length which meant the end now had no stop. The stop on the original bit had failed (I always wondered why there was a puddle) so I asked John if he had anything that would work, being a plumber I was pretty sure he would. It did mean filing down the outside of the soaker hose though so the bit could be fitted, once it was done we tested it and voila it works well. He went back to his job (again) and I got on with burying the pipe down the centre of the bed, this will give me a more even watering than I had before. After that I planted all the onions, shallots and garlic bulbs, 20 shallots, 16 garlic and I lost count of the onions after 40 but I think there are about 50 in total. That’s not the end of the job because of course I then have to cover them so that the chickens don’t scratch them all up which given that they love freshly turned soil, is a dead cert. I got some lengths of environmesh and pegged them down this will also stop the birds thinking the tops of the onions are worms and pulling them out, it won’t stop the worms pushing them up and out though 😂 So that’s all done and I probably won’t have to do anything to them until next spring unless it gets very weedy between now and then. Environmesh is great stuff and well worth the investment, don’t use environ fleece as that just breaks up, the mesh lets the light and the rain in but keeps the birds off it also creates a micro climate by trapping any warm air a bit like a string vest 😜

Hopefully there will be more days like these when the weather is favourable enough to be able to get the rest of the beds under control and prepared for next spring. I have done that bed and one third of another bed only four and two thirds more to go 😣 In total I have the fruit cage, the two tunnels, the brassica cage, five very large beds, one long thin one, a separate raised bed and the birds, bees and beer bed, I need to start pulling my finger out I think 🤔

Sunday: Man o man I am knackered 😜 I have spent all day from about 9 this morning, it’s now 4pm, burning wood 🙄 The cladding that came off the front of the building needed burning so that was today’s job, there were a few branches from some trees that had been there a while as well. First I had to sort through the pile as it all just got dumped there, there was a pile of painted stuff that needs to go in the skip, a pile of wood that was ok and would come in handy at some point and a pile of gravel boards. I then sorted the wood into smaller and longer bits, the smaller bits I started off in the burning barrel but about two hours in the side started to give so then I started a pile on the ground. The reason I didn’t do this in the first place was the wood was too close to where I would be burning and I like a controlled burn, John, like most men I suspect, would have just had a twenty foot pile of wood and set fire to it 😜 Also he would not have thought about the insects and any small animals that might be under the wood whereas I do so if I move it then they have a chance of getting away first. In fact I was stood there and a little mouse came creeping out of the ground, saw the fire and high tailed away elsewhere 🐭 Meanwhile John was busy creating next weeks burning load, he has given the hedge, where we had the trees cut down, a good pruning both the top and the sides as the branches had got long and straggly. Come spring they should bush out really well as well as grow higher, they have good big roots on them so that will help.

Next weeks pile of burnings 😜

Charlie and Macca called in for a cuppa before go out for the afternoon, we should do something I said to John but in the end we carried on working 😂

Posted in Friesland Farm

Sourdough starter, Christmas cake & a couple of little failures 🙄

Posted on by frieslandfarm

Monday 5th October 2020: After the dismal weather at the weekend, this morning the sun was shinning thank goodness, it’s soggy ground underfoot but at least it’s not raining for the moment. John did the morning rounds and my first job was to tidy the boot room and give it a bit of a clean, sort out the kitten area and hoover. From that I went out to give the horses a small breakfast and turn them back out, they won’t appreciate being in when the sun is out, then muck out the stables ready for the next lot of bad weather. I did a quick whip round the veg garden picked some very small courgettes, a handful of runner beans and a couple of punnets of raspberries, I contemplated doing more out there but the ground is so wet I think it’s best left to dry off a bit. It won’t hurt to leave for a while and it will do damage by compact I g the ground if I walk on it while it’s wet so decision made. I had ordered some archive boxes and they arrived yesterday so I went into the office and started to do some sorting out in there. Plenty of paperwork that can be boxed up and stored out in the old caravan until it needs to be burnt ( about 7 years time 🙄) I don’t even know if you need to keep it that long anymore, I guess as most things are now digital it would be possible to find them online if needed but old habits die hard 😂 Why do we keep so much stuff, that’s what I have been wondering over the past couple of weeks, I think I would like to go minimalist but we would need about five skips to get rid of it all I reckon 😜 I am that person that keeps the boxes things come in just in case I decide to sell them, only I never sell them as most things get thoroughly used. Today I have managed to sort all the boxes out and flatten them for recycling, sorted out Christmas decorations I don’t want and put them in an ever growing pile for the charity shop, looked through a pile of other stuff and put it back on the shelf 😏 And still there is plenty of ‘stuff’ I don’t know what to do with lol, I need to get tougher I think and increase the charity pile 😀 You know what it’s like though, the minute you get rid of something, you inexplicably need it!

Good morning sunshine 🌞 nice to see you after a dismal weekend of rain.

I took a break from doing that job and put a home reared chicken in the slow cooker with homegrown garlic and herbs, together with home grown spuds and veg and we will have home grown raspberries for dessert, that’s what I spend my life doing….growing dinner 🥰

I got a sourdough starter on the go, I have been wanting to do this for ages but the process is long and so I could never be bothered, well today I started 😀 I did do it years ago but turned to fast yeast instead for time saving, now we are going into Winter I will have more time so it seems like a good opportunity. It’s very easy, just mix flour with water leave the jar open for a while to ‘catch’ wild yeast (its floating all around us) and then ‘feed’ it for the next six days (not an instant food) then it will be ready to bake with. I put it on the window sill because it needs a bit of warmth to stimulate it, I will close the lid in about an hours time and let it do it’s thing. You can buy fresh starter online but by the time it gets delivered you could be four days into your own batch.

The beginning of a sourdough starter 😀

Another thing I spend time doing is getting into discussions on various topics, the latest one was ‘what time does evening begin’? I would say 6pm others have different opinions but of course this then leads to the ‘time does not exist’ theory. Time doesn’t exist, it’s only what man had created in order to…well, keep order 🙄 There is change, change over a day, night, month, year, decade, millennium but it’s not time, I will just leave that there for you to ponder 😂

Something else that I keep meaning to have a go at and that is fruit leathers, today I finally got round to doing it, never done it before but I have a feeling if it works out well I will be doing a lot more. The main reason I have done it now is because we are lighting the Rayburn daily so I may as well use it to it’s full advantage. The fruit leathers are easy enough to prepare, I used raspberries I picked this morning, put them in a sieve and used a spoon to crush them and squeeze the juice through leaving behind all the little seeds. Line a Swiss roll tin with grease proof paper and pour the juice in, this then went into the warming oven at the bottom of the Rayburn to dry. I’m not sure how long they will take, the warming oven doesn’t get direct heat it basically harnesses the heat from the oven above, it’s not a lot of heat as the oven is well lined but it’s a gentle warm, dry heat ideal for this kind of thing. I often put things in there and totally forget they are there mind you 😂 I have just taken the walnuts out as I put them into dry off, if you left them in for weeks they would be shrivelled up 🙄 like the orange slices I did they were more orange bullets when I eventually found them.

Fruit leather (raspberry) going in the Rayburn for drying

I know it’s only October but I am starting to think about Christmas, more specifically the Christmas cake, I need to get it made soon, that will give me plenty of time to feed it 😀 I always made one, then I had a few years when I didn’t bother and now I make them again. It’s true that it lasts for weeks, John has usually gone back to work after the Christmas break and is still having it in his lunchbox 😂 but it’s great to have if you unexpectedly have guests and nothing else in the cupboards. I will probably use our walnuts and hazels instead of almonds and I still have some dried apple rings from last year in the cupboard so I will use those along with the bought dried fruit, mmmm can’t wait to get it started now, I love the smell of the fruit soaking in orange and brandy 🥰 The Winter months are when I get to use all those wonderful things I have been growing/making all year long, that’s as it should be, traditionally long before the time when you could pop to the supermarket or have stuff on next day delivery, you would have worked towards stocking up your winter stores and especially for that marvellous mid winter feast that has now been thoroughly taken over by commercialism 😏 I try, as much as possible, to still have a traditional Christmas, it’s all about good food and good company and I think I have successfully passed on that to my children just as my Mum did to me 😘

I have to do the feed and egg collecting rounds today as John is still working, bloody typical then that it has just started spitting with rain 😜

Tuesday: Dry and sunny again this morning although it did rain a little last night. This morning I got up had breakfast, a shower, sorted the cats out, got something I prepared earlier out of the freezer for dinner tonight, fed my sourdough starter, put some washing on and hoovered up. Now I am off out for a walk around Blenheim, we bought annual passes this time last year 🙄 luckily or unluckily depends on how you see it, they were extended until April next year, not because of Covid and the fact we couldn’t use them for half the year but because they cocked up sending them to me in the first place, not once but three times! Basically the only times we have been able to use them is when the weather is cold 😂 even then we have to advance book an entry place, never mind at least we can 😀

The sun was shinning the rain stayed away and we had a lovely walk around the Blenheim grounds, George even did a little bit of the walk himself 😀

Back home it was time to do the egg rounds, get the Rayburn lit and get the dinner on but not before a lovely cup of tea ☕️

John was telling me that this morning when he went out to do the birds there were two large white birds in the standing water in the paddock, from his description (shame he didn’t have his phone and get a pic) and looking online we think they were a pair of Little Egrets. There is only a heron that looks similar and they are grey, he said these were pure white.

Stock photo of a Little Egret

Wednesday: Cold but dry this morning. I have fed the sourdough starter and it’s beginning to take form, you can see the yeast is working that’s producing the bubbles and the smell is acidic which is exactly what we want it to be at this point.

I went outside and picked a few raspberries and a courgette, that’s about all there is as the moment, I bought in a butternut squash and I think I will have some of it roasted for dinner tonight with a lamb chop and other veg. It’s a tad cold and as I don’t have to work in the cold I thought I would wait until it warms up a bit. That’s the joy of being my own boss with nobody waiting for me to do anything 😀 I have the complete freedom to do what I like when I like although as I have mentioned before you do have to be a little bit disciplined otherwise nothing would get done at all.

The fruit leather didn’t work out, my fault as there was not enough pulp so it was a very thin layer which basically just stuck to the greaseproof paper, I will try again at a later date.

Charlie called in for a cup of coffee, she has a week off and so that was a lovely interlude that we don’t get very often 🥰 After that I went out and had a look at the bird boxes that we had taken down when we did the front. I want to put them back up somewhere but I’m not sure where is high enough for their safety, I cleaned them out and I will keep looking for places to put them. Then onto the veg garden, I find if I don’t have a definite plan I bimble a bit, so I started off bimbling 🙄 and then got into my stride. I have now cleared all the small raised beds, put mushroom compost on the top of them and covered them with the bio degradable black plastic, that’s how they will stay for overwintering. I then cleared the rest of the dwarf French beans and put a few of them in the greenhouse for drying, I can use the seeds again next year. Then lunch and a podcast Charlie had sent me a link to. I feel a bit tired today and on those days have to force myself to do things and also to eat well, the temptation to grab anything is high but I got myself something nutritious and so after a small rest I will hopefully be re energised 😀

Next job was to soak the dried fruit for the Christmas cake, it’s an easy five minute job and the fruit can be left until you are ready to get the cake mixed, I will probably leave it 24hrs. I have 1kg dried fruit, orange zest and juice, a good splash of fresh orange juice, and then some alcohol if you like it, if not add more orange juice. I used some rumtopf I had left from last year and a tiny bottle of blackberry wine that I had in the cupboard. You can use whatever you like really, it’s all going to taste great in the end🥰

Various stages, soaking the fruit, the mixture and the end product.

I made a skinny version of banana bread, all I can say is don’t bother not if you are expecting it to taste delicious anyway 🙄 I did have a piece but I squirted some skinny syrup (0 calories) on it and it filled a hole and was ok but only ok 😏

I’ve prepped the dinner, lit the Rayburn, fed the chickens, collected the eggs and then sorted them out to go into the shed. I am feeling tired or glum not sure which one precedes which, I try and chivvy myself along but the pep talk does not work so I guess it’s tiredness.

Butternut squash, ever tried it? I have had it before but usually in a stew or similar, well tonight I roasted it 😮 oh my days that took the taste of it to a whole new level for me, delicious 😋 I will definitely be looking at different ways to have this vegetable though my fav is going to be roasted I can just tell 😀

The nights are drawing in very quickly now, it’s dark by 7pm, we have a few weeks yet before it’s dark by 4.30 😏 and we have the clock change coming at the end of the month, always buggers everyone up doesn’t it 😂 I hate it when people say ‘yeah but really it’s *o’clock’ no, no it’s not because the clocks have changed so that is what time it is 😝 It’s usually the same kind of people that like to let you know that while you were on holiday and the weather was not what it could be, they had glorious sunshine back at home, you know the type, and if that type is you….just don’t 🤣

Thursday: Its raining again and it has been raining overnight but on the upside I feel in good spirits today so I must have been tired yesterday. I need to always remember that even if I look well there are things going on inside my body that upset the balance from time to time, it usually results in feeling tired and grumpy 🤷‍♀️ so a good rest can often sort things out 😀 Not sure what I will get done today, I need to feed the starter and I have got some washing on but apart from that I have not many any definite decisions yet, oh I need to sort the Christmas cake so I will probably get that done this morning.

The kittens will have been here two weeks by the weekend and I think they are getting a little bit bored of being in the boot room so we will have to let them start exploring. Jack is fine I don’t have any worries about him, I think he will come when called but Jill is a different story. She has always been and still is reserved, she doesn’t come to greet any of us when we go into the room, she sits firmly in the corner and her head goes down when we stroke her, it is a bit of progress though as when she first came as she would growl at us. I don’t particularly want them to be over friendly just as long as they come for food and don’t clear off for good 😜

The Christmas cake is mixed and in the oven 😀 once cooked and cooled it will be stored and then bought out weekly to feed it with some alcohol or other. The smell of the mixture was amazing and I tasted the spoon 🙄 delicious, to be honest in my opinion the raw mixture is better than the cooked cake but it’s not very good for you 😂

The sourdough starter is smelling sour, that’s a good thing, it is working a treat. I can remember the first time I had sourdough bread, July 2006, I can be that precise because I was up in the Blue Mountains, I had taken Charlie to Australia to visit my Brother Joe and his wife Monique. We took a trip up to the mountains to have Christmas in July, we had some real laughs due to the place we had booked not being a bit like the online photos 😝 We checked out and went elsewhere and in the process of finding new accommodation we stopped for soup in a little cafe. Soup and sourdough bread with unsalted butter, well I was hooked from then on. At that time over here in the UK it wasn’t something you could find on a regular menu, it seemed to me that the Australians were so far ahead of us with food choices and outlooks, I am glad to say that we have caught up with them, almost 🙄

As I was doing the Christmas cake my thoughts turned to Christmas crafts, I am not terribly artistic (that’s an understatement 😝) but I do like to have a go at something for the occasion. I want to get the office all sorted so that I can sit in there in the evening and do things like crafting or my other passion, ancestry 😀 one day I will get it sorted. I quite like the darker nights for doing that kind of thing, I can’t wait to get started however I have to do the books up for the year first 🥴 I had an email saying they were due (they are very overdue 🙄) so I need to get my house in order before I can begin to enjoy myself.

I have no idea what is going on but we have had an increase in the number of customers coming to get eggs, today it was 19! That is unheard of apart from during lockdown, 2/3rds of them will have been disappointed to find the egg shed empty. For a few weeks now we have always had eggs available most times of the day but over the last three or four days they have sold as soon as they go out 🙄

Friday: Always a welcome day, a happy day and today is a sunny day which makes it even better 😀

Sometimes I get philosophical that’s not always a good thing as it generally occupies all of my thinking for a few hours at least 😜 Why have I chosen to do what I do? It’s not something I always wanted to do it is something that evolved over time and you have to wonder why? Fundamentally I despair of the human race as a collective, not as individuals, there are millions and millions of good people but collectively humans seem to tread the same path I guess I retreated to this lifestyle because (in my opinion) its wholesome, with it comes a responsibility to look after nature or at least to not do it any harm, but then if that were the case you would think I would be vegetarian and I’m not, life is confusing isn’t it. See what I mean, it doesn’t do to start thinking lol. Sometimes I just need to write these things down so thank you for accommodating my thoughts for today, of course the whole subject is wider and deeper than that but it’s a weekly blog not a year long one 😂

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” – Albert Einstein

Sam and Shelley came over with the little ones that are not at school and we went for a walk down a local lane, I looked for apples on a tree but they had all gone, there are a few blackberries left but most have started to shrivel up, it’s beginning to look and feel like autumn 🍂 Though we do get compensation in the way of awesome sunsets at this time of year 😀

I opened my sourdough starter this morning and it has liquid on the top, this apparently is called hooch and means the starter needs feeding 🙄 it’s like having a baby 😂 The hooch is alcohol produced by the yeast but by all accounts you wouldn’t want to drink it, I don’t think I took enough of the starter away yesterday which meant the ratio wasn’t right which in turn produced the hooch. All is not lost though you just stir it in and feed it more flour, it is a living thing with wants and needs 😝

John left his phone on a job he has been doing in town so in the evening we went back to collect it and then nipped round to see Mum and Ken for a cuppa.

Saturday: A dry day some sunshine now and again, not too cold. John did the rounds and then started on digging out a path along the front of the building. We are putting a flower bed in but I wanted a path so that I can still get to the windows easily to clean them. When we first came there were thorny roses along there which was difficult, then I had to put up a fence around the area as Kai kept digging everything up when he was alive, now we can clear it and have it looking nice, only taken 10 years 😂 Meanwhile I got started on the beginning of winter clearing up in the garden, first all the plants that I have been bringing on, they are now safely in the cold frames, after that onto the tort run and some cutting back and chipping up, putting the clippings back on the ground. Inbetween all that I was making bread so diving backwards and forwards between the garden and the kitchen. I tried the sourdough but I don’t think I paid enough attention to it and it’s not rising at all, I will habe a look later and see if I can salvage it in any way 😏 I also made a regular loaf as I was not sure how the sourdough was going to do, good job I did 😜 More tidying away in the garden and potting up some bits, I really need to dig a few things up and divide them but by lunchtime my hips were hurting, the wind had got up and the sun gone in so I think the cold got into them. Time to come in and do some washing up and tidying, that’s the trouble when I am working out side, the kitchen becomes a dumping ground for everything while I go about my work.

Popped round to have a cuppa with Shelley and the kiddies in the afternoon before coming back and lighting the Rayburn. John did the feed round and I sorted the eggs, he then went out to clean out the hen huts in the paddock…..just as it started to rain and I mean really rain 🥴 luckily for him I had got the fire going nicely and there was plenty of hot water for a nice bath.

The sourdough dough is a bit of a disaster but I’m not giving up just yet, I still have starter so I will continue feeding it and try again on a day when I have more time to apply myself 😜 I may well have to do a fair bit of reading up before I attempt a second go 🙄

Sunday: Today’s plan was to go to the garden centre and get breakfast, actually my plan was to get some new gardening gloves and have a mooch about but to get John to readily agree I have to mention getting breakfast 😜 We picked up a few bits for Christmas but the gloves were all medium and I have very small hands. It’s not much fun gardening in gloves that have about an inch extra as I can’t grab hold of thing properly and the extra bit always gets trapped. The lack of small gloves in one centre meant I had to go to another one as well 😀😀 where I am glad to say I successfully purchased a selection of gloves in a small size. The first centre was relatively quiet, the second more popular and upmarket (and therefore overpriced) centre was very busy 🙄 While I was waiting to pay I was looking at the dried flower collection, I cant believe people pay that much for dead stuff 😂 here is me chopping it down and putting it on the compost heap, I said to John we are missing a trick here 😝

Posted in Friesland Farm

Lavender oil, a lovely walk and plenty of walnuts.

Posted on by frieslandfarm

Monday 28th September 2020: Would you look at that, we are back round to Monday again 🙄 Some tasks just happen without any planning of them and that’s what I have been doing this morning, an unplanned task, still one that needed doing just wasn’t on my radar. The cleaning out of the greenhouse, two reasons for doing it, one, the season is coming to its end and lots have gone over and need adding to the compost heap, second reason is that the tortoises will need to begin hibernation soon. They hibernate in the greenhouse in a hutch over winter but they need to wind down first, they are already beginning to ‘dig in’ in the outside run, a good sign that they are ready for the long winter sleep. They will probably spend the next three weeks awake and I will slowly withdraw food from them although they are pretty good at regulating themselves. They can’t go into hibernation with food in their stomach as it will either ferment or freeze, neither has a good outcome 😏 On a warm day in the greenhouse they will still be active but as the temps drop they will become less so until they are fully hibernating and then we wrap them up until I can hear them shuffling around next spring.

I spent a few hours in the greenhouse moving things, sweeping down, cleaning and throwing stuff away, discovering many spiders but luckily no mice 😀 There are still a few things hanging on in there, chillies, although I picked most of them this morning, a couple of peppers still growing and again I picked the bigger ones already this morning, I have a few plants that are overwintering in there ready for next spring and there are walnuts, hazelnuts, lavender and tomatoes all either drying or ripening off. I also have some thermal foil ordered to put on the North side to help reflect the heat/light back towards what is still growing. At this time of year it’s easy to lose plants to the cold in the greenhouse so I am doing everything I can to keep them going including standing them on celeotex to stop cold drafts at the base of the plants. I may even make a thermal shelter out of the foil and a cardboard box to protect anything really vulnerable. I did think about heating it but in all honestly it’s a waste of money until the growing season begins again in Spring.

After a spot of lunch I went into the big tunnel to finish tidying up after pulling the tomato plants. Plenty of weeding in there, despite the fact that I put black plastic all round the edges the weeds crept through. I almost got one side finished and decided it was time for a sit down, I spent so much time on my knees each time I stood up I felt dizzy 🥴 that’s not good is it. I also found a clutch of eggs while I was tipping stuff onto the compost, we found a clutch in the straw in the stables but the minute you find them the hens move quarters and it’s hide and seek until you locate them. I can bet my bottom dollar that once I pick them up later they won’t lay there again and it will be back to hunting for them. I said to John we were loads of egg down in the daily count 😂

John came home and set about shifting all the wood we had taken off the front of the building and there was a lot of it. That left me to do the egg/feed rounds, pick some runner beans, pick some raspberries and get the dinner sorted. By 6pm my back was aching and with the washing up done it was time for a sit down thank goodness 😅

The animals we picked up on Saturday in case you hadn’t already guessed were two little black and white kittens. Yes I know I said I was done with cats for a while but we really need them to keep the mouse and potentially rat population under control. So we collected Jack and Jill (original I know 😜) and they have been settling in well. Today for the first time one of them came to meet me when I went through to the boot room which is where they are, sometimes locked in a cage because the dogs also have free range of the room and sometimes the dogs are locked out and the kittens get to stretch. It didn’t take them long to start climbing and finding hidey holes.

Tuesday: I started off the day by burning a bit of rubbish, paper feed sacks and cardboard boxes etc, then I had half an hour to kill so I thought that would be a good time to infuse the lavender I have been drying. I have used almond oil as a base, stuffed the jar three quarters full with lavender heads and covered it with the oil. That will sit on the window sill for about three weeks with the occasional shake and then be ready to bottle, a lovely soothing relaxing oil for all kinds of uses. I finished that and my cup of coffee and went out to the paddocks to bring in the horses ready for the farriers visit. Sam arrived with the twiglets, after the horses were sorted and back out we had some lunch and then went on a walk along the local downs. Again the scenery was beautiful, there was plenty to admire, spindleberry and flax, plus a bonus snack as we saw some great looking apples growing on a tree in the hedge, they were the best apples we had tasted for years 🍎

Spindleberry and flax two of my favourites to see while out walking.

When John came home we took down a chain link fence to the side of the building as we have someone coming to take the trees down tomorrow hopefully, as the weather is supposed to be terrible 🙄 It will be great once they are down as we can finally move the access to the yard, at the minute you drive past the front of the house and round in a big C shape which can be tricky when towing a trailer, this one will go straight up the side and the turning/reversing point will be much easier than it is now. Then it will be a case of a new fence and gate, the jobs are piling up lol.

Wednesday: Today is the day the remaining trees come down at last, I was a bit worried as I hadn’t heard from the people doing it and I hadn’t contacted them but they turned up as planned so that’s brilliant.

The weather is supposed to be awful later this week, high winds and rain urgh I think summer is done 😏 It’s going to be a long Winter what with all the restrictions as well as the long dark nights but I’m sure we will get through it. Funny how spring and summer seem to go faster than the autumn and winter 🙄 I do love autumn mind you, I love Halloween and bonfire night though I don’t think there will be much going on this year, we will have to make it the best we can in the circumstances, maybe a hot chocolate and a scary film (not too scary 😂) with the fire going will help.

I stayed indoors out of the way of machinery and trees being felled 🙄 mostly I did a fair bit of sorting out, things to go to the charity shop, things to throw away, old paperwork to burn. Mid afternoon I lit the Rayburn, it started raining around lunchtime and I think it is supposed to get worse later, might as well have a warm cosy house especially as I will be doing the feeds rounds later and likely to get a soaking 😜

The trees are down and we now have a huge pile of woodchip and tree trunks, it was surprising how oppressive the trees were even just the four that were left.

Now you see them, now you don’t 😀
All this from just four trees, though they were huge 😜

Nice and toasty indoors with the Rayburn going, we will only have it lit for a few hours and then let it out or we will be sweating buckets tonight 😂

We are into the second wave of the virus now, they said it would come, we hoped it wouldn’t but here it is spreading rapidly I expect more restrictions will be added over the next few weeks.

Thursday: After the torrential downpours last night we woke to a beautiful morning, sunny, warm, delightful 😀 I seem to have my clearing out head on at the moment and so went out into the back area and started tidying up and clearing any rubbish, putting things away properly, that sort of thing. Then I got distracted, the daughter of someone I know has started a business transferring old vhs to digital. We have a few that I would like to get done so I went searching for them, our wedding video is the main one and then there are Christmas and holiday videos. Plenty of them have nothing written on them so I needed a player to have a look, I found one in the caravan which must have been dads as it has been here since we first bought the place. No plug on it 😂 this is typical as, like John, Dad probably robbed the plug for something else, however John also takes the plugs off defunct electricals and keeps them so I found one in a drawer. I am of the era that were taught how to wire a plug, I have no idea if they still teach that or not but it was one of the more useful things I ever learnt 😜 and so I put on a new plug and voila it works, I say works, it lights up and turns on anyway, the next phase is to hook up to a tv and see if it actually plays. Oh the fun I am going to have watching all these memories 🥰

After doing that I had to sort out the POL pen as we are expecting a delivery of hens this afternoon, it just needed sweeping out and some weeds pulling, that took me up to lunchtime and time for a half hour sit down I reckon.

I decided to rig up the video recorder and see what was on some of the tapes, the quality is not too good now, well they have been sat there for nearly thirty years (some of them anyway) but they are watchable, I just need to go through all of them and see what is what. It’s a long time since I hooked up a video player to the tv and had to google it 😂

John came home just in time for the arrival of 50 hens and the feed delivery so he sorted all that out

Josh wanted to come over after school and be left here on his own with us so Mummy and Flo had to push off 😂 not quite like that but you get the gist. He helped Grampy with the egg collecting and then he helped me gather some walnuts, I thought the squirrel would have most of them but there were loads on the floor so we picked them all up. Then things got hectic for a couple of hours as we had people arriving to collect hens and some people arriving to collect wood, what with that and answering messages about the wood it was all hands on deck, Josh even helped me load some wood in a wheelbarrow for someone. Eventually everything was done and sorted, Josh went back home, John put the birds to bed and that’s the end of another day 😀

Friday: It couldn’t be a more different day compared to yesterday’s sunshine, it’s been raining through the night and this morning it’s grey, dull, breezy and constant rain, yuk. Luckily I don’t have to be out and about in it at the moment, John did the rounds this morning before going to work, I stayed inside with a cup of tea 😂

I whizzed round and got a few household jobs done and then it was time to go and have my blood tests done, and get my flue jab, after that I went for coffee and cake with Shelley and Flo and then onto have a routine mammogram 😏 Just my luck that the software wasn’t playing ball and had to have one side done three times! If you have never had one before they compress your boob in various positions and it’s pretty uncomfortable so to have to have it done three times is not very nice at all but very necessary 🙄 Back home and light the Rayburn as it’s cold and rainy, if I can get it lit and settled before I have to go out and do the feed rounds I don’t have to nip in halfway round to check on it. Apart from that we have someone coming to pick up hens at 4pm and a cosy night in the warm is in order I think.

Saturday: Wet and rainy overnight, still drizzling this morning, a rather dank, dull day 🙄 John did the animals and then went off to pick up the tractor part that needed repairing, hopefully he will get that fitted today. I pottered around indoors sorting washing, drying, various other tasks, I am thinking of all the jobs to get done outside so that I am not wandering around wondering what needs doing. When it’s raining it’s best to have a clear itinerary that way I don’t end up either coming in and out of the house or standing round outside getting wet and cold.

Yesterday the world was informed that Donald Trump had covid, this morning we were told he has been hospitalised. From his actions and sentiments I don’t think he really believed it was a threat, I hope for his sake that he can overcome it 🙄

Nuts! I haven’t gone nuts but I do have a good haul of them, hazels and walnuts. The hazels are easy as you pick them and put them in a basket, they just keep like that all year. The walnuts though are a different kettle of fish, they need washing and drying successfully, if you just leave them they grow a mould in the outside which permeates inside and that’s not good. I have tried various methods over time but this year I have washed them off and because the Rayburn is lit I have put them in pans on the warming shelf to dry gently. I tried selling some last year but to be honest because you don’t what’s inside them until you crack them open it’s not really fair on customers especially if they get a few with nothing inside. I guess the industry xrays them or something like they do with eggs for cracks or anomalies. I try just picking up what I will use but seeing them on the ground the urge to gather is too strong so now I have quite a lot 😜 I was. Reading that you can freeze them though or even keep them in the fridge so I might have a ‘cracking evening’ soon and then they will be on hand to use quickly in cakes or for snacking. I have no idea how they don’t go rancid in the packing they are sold in 🤷‍♀️ if anyone has a clue let me know.

Lots of walnuts 😀

I decided to have a go at doing something with the nuts so I made some snacking nuts, a Keto recipe to be precise, whatever that is, it uses granulated sweetener instead of sugar. I cup of hazels, 1 cup of walnuts and 1 cup of cashews that I had in the cupboard. 1/4 cup of water, 1 cup of truvia, 1tsp cinnamon, 1tsp sea salt, 1tsp vanilla extract. Put everything except the nuts in a saucepan on medium heat, heat until dissolved then add nuts, keep stirring until the mixture crystallises, cool, eat, but I portioned it at around 15 portions which works out at 165 calories 😂 not for an everyday snack but as a treat it will be well worth it I reckon. It will store for a couple of months in an airtight jar or freeze, can be chopped into smaller pieces to top yoghurt or an apple crumble as always you are only limited by your imagination 😀

A word or two of advice (warnings 😜) don’t leave it in the pan to cool tip it out onto a tray, it’s difficult to get out of the pan once it’s set 🥴 if you like nice flat pastry when you roll, don’t use your rolling pin to bash the bottom of the pan it ends up with dents 🤣 and it’s very moorish so put it away in the cupboard or that will 500 calories gone before you know it 😝

The wood is nearly gone, we have had a couple of people come and cut it up and take it away, actually one bloke has been back three times already 😀

Sunday: Oh my days we have had nearly 48hrs of constant rain some of it pretty heavy at times. I woke about five times in the night and each time I could hear it pouring down, consequently this morning we have our usual river and lake in the fields. My aim was to get the horses in so I got the stables ready, John went off to pick up some hay bales as we haven’t got any in yet and I also bought the quail inside as they were looking rather glum. Biscuit was happy to be coming in, Jack however was a total prat and was adamant he wasn’t going to play ball until I got him a bowl of chaff feed that is then he decided it might be a good idea after all 🙄 we were a bit soggy after the morning out in it all. We came in and lit the fire and then popped round to see Mum and Ken and drop some videos off that are going to be converted to digital. When we got back, Shelley, Martin and the kiddies had dropped round for a cuppa and a chat. Then it was time to do the feed rounds and egg collection, the day has whizzed past today despite the depressing weather.

That’s another week done and dusted, I feel like it was a bit of a bitty week and nothing really consolidated, I don’t know why, it just feels like that. Hopefully next week I will feel a bit more in control, who knows what the week will bring though 😂 Have a good one whatever you are doing 🥰