Monday July 5th 2021: I always have the urge to sing ‘Monday, Monday’ when I am writing up the first day of the weeks blog lol.
It is sunny today thought not a typical July day, it’s cooler than average I would say and we have constant threat of showers, a real topsy Turkey weather year this year, random 🤷♀️ I haven’t been up to much this morning apart from all usual jobs and one very important job first thing. That was get on the phone ASAP to get the cat booked in which I am glad to say they can do tomorrow I just hope the little bugger turns up for his dinner tonight so I can crate him ready to go 🤪 He has stuck around since we picked him up so I have no reason to think otherwise but you never know!
This morning a letter was released from Buckingham palace, the NHS has collectively been awarded the George Cross, the highest civilian gallantry award and covers the 73 years of dedicated service and for courageous service of healthcare workers during the Covid 19 pandemic, a great honour and richly deserved 🥰
I haven’t mentioned the restrictions for a while I feel like we are all treading water but hopefully mid July all restrictions will be lifted. I am guessing that those who wish to carry on with restrictions will but those that don’t will have the freedoms that have been sorely missed over the last year and a half. My opinion is that once the majority have been vaccinated we may as well carry on as normal otherwise there is no point in the vaccinations 🤷♀️
The sun is out today and although I have been out doing a bit of picking in it I soon get tired, that is my system saying we need to attack 😏 and so it’s not long before I go back indoors. Luckily it’s Wimbledon fortnight so I can rest out of the sun while watching something interesting. I would be doing something but I feel very tired, I can’t explain that to anyone who doesn’t experience it, it’s total fatigue it happens when I go out in the car on a sunny day too. Good job I don’t drive really isn’t it, I have no idea how people who have Lupus and do drive manage because the heat in the car and the sun rays totally floor me sometimes.
I picked soft fruit, a mix of raspberries, red currants and strawberries which we will probably have later for dessert, I generally have mine with some Greek yoghurt John will either have his just with sugar or with some ice cream depending on what he fancies.
In the evening before I sorted out our dinner I wanted to get the cat sorted and locked in! He appeared as he always did before he went and so I sorted out feed for him, water, a blanket and a litter tray and then we put him in a large dog crate. John said we should leave it out in the back bit I said no because he might get through the gaps at the bottom. He didn’t think that he could get his head through the gap, I said I have been here before with cats 😂 and so we moved the crate into the boot room, closed the window and shut and locked the cat flap. If he does get out of the cage, he can’t get anywhere else this time. The problem is that the dogs can’t get in (it’s actually a dog sized flap) and it means that Jill can’t get out either but it’s only for a short time, I have to make sure I have the cat to take to the vets tomorrow 🤪
Tuesday: Up with the alarm to get sorted before packing the cat safely off to the vets 😁 The usual jobs before he went except feeding the others because I thought that was a bit unfair as he was not allowed to eat from 9pm last night so I fed them after he had left with John. Outside then to let the ducks out, John had let everything else out but the egg numbers have gone down and sometimes when they are let out too early they lay outside and the crows eat them. However, they had still only laid half a dozen so I guess some of them are just on a break 🙄 Out then to do a bit of picking, broad beans mainly this morning, I picked approximately one and a half kgs of course once you have shelled them it’s a lot less. Some went out for sale some for dinner tonight and some for the freezer along with a few peas. I also grabbed an onion and some carrots, we have slow roasted shoulder of lamb and that will do nicely for dinner later. I went into the big tunnel to check in there and was horrified to find I had left the hose on, shit, ah well it won’t need water for a week in there now, I did pick a lovely big cucumber which went out for sale as I won’t be needing that today and there are plenty more forming for when I do.
At this point the sky turned dark and it looks like it is going to rain heavily at some point this morning. We have had heavy downpours overnight, great for the veg garden, not so good for the flowers as they have had a bit of a battering from it, can’t win them all I suppose. I now need to decide what I am going to get done today, the plaster still hasn’t finished drying in places so I won’t bother about painting yet, I still need to go and get paint and one or two other bits anyway so I’m not quite ready myself 😂 I still need to sort out the other freezer, I keep trying to use bits up in there but there is a fair amount still left to use or transfer to the freezer we are keeping.
I did order a couple of things online this morning as well, egg boxes, we are nearly out of those and so I have ordered 600 more and I ordered a scythe 🙄 The strimmers are a total pain if you can even get them going that is, they make a heck of a mess and so I d died in my wisdom 🤪 to order a brand new Austrian scythe, it doesn’t need any fuel and it doesn’t make a racket or a mess. My plan was to do a day course but as with most things this year they are either booked up or cancelled, Sod’s law that the three dates available near me are the only three days I can’t do all summer long 😂 so if anyone knows someone who uses a scythe on a regular basis let me know, I could do with some tuition especially on sharpening and preening the blade. Hopefully the walk in run will arrive either today or tomorrow and we can get that sorted, at least we will be able to go and get paint without worrying about the fox wiping out the hens while we are away. I am not sure if I a, honest what we are going to do about the increasing attacks, we can’t keep the hens locked up forever. My plan is that we keep the hens in until any foxes move on 🤷♀️lol not sure that will work but it might so we have to try.
I prepped the veg and meat for dinner later then made some biscuits, honey, pecan and orange, the raw biscuit dough was delicious and the biscuits themselves are too but when I was putting the ingredients in (from a recipe) I thought ‘this is a lot of sugar’ they came out flat and chewy lol. I will see if I can hone the recipe next time, meanwhile anyone need to exercise their jaw 😂
John came home at lunchtime with a box of quail egg boxes, the chap at the job he was on had them lying around and so gave them to him 😁 The delivery of the walk-in run arrived but it is raining so we won’t put that together unless it brightens up later. Shelley is picking up the cat from the vets for me and then dropping Josh and Flo with me for a couple of hours while she does some work.
John and I got the tiny paddock at the back cut again, actually I cut it while John cleaned out the chickens in the back pen. Just about finished when I ran out of petrol 🙄 Shelley arrived with Josh and Flo and the cat which she had picked up from the vets for us. I put the cat in the dog crate he was in last night, he has one of those big collars on and the first thing he did was go in the litter tray, which has sawdust in it because that all we have, dipped his head down, for what purpose I have no idea, and scooped up a ton of sawdust into his collar 😜 He didn’t like this and then proceeded to try shaking it out and knocked over his water bowl. So the nice tidy cage with a clean snuggly blanket in is now covers in water and sawdust 😂 I actually wish I had filmed it because it was a comedy sketch for sure, he has to stay in the cage until Thursday when I take him back for them to check him over, and the pain meds came in a syringe, I said to Shelley I don’t have to inject him do I 🤔 no it goes in his food, Phew 😥
Josh and Flo were here for a couple of hours and while Josh went with Grampy to feed the chickens, Flo was keen to go into the garden. I think Florence is going to be the next generation gardener in the family, she doesn’t want to play out there she wants to go round the veg garden looking at the fruit and veg, finding out what it is and having a taste test, yay I think the baton has been passed on already 🥰 Definitely going to have to nurture her interest 😁
Wednesday: The metal wire run got delivered yesterday but we didn’t get chance to put it up, hoping we can later this evening but the weather is all over the place. I spent the morning prepping and painting a mist coat on the bits John has replastered, then when I finished I went out to get some work done in the garden. I started off with some hoeing as the weeds are getting out of hand on the pathways, then onto the leek bed but it suddenly starting raining, I say suddenly it’s been grey and looming all morning. I went back indoors and it stopped, I came out and it started again so I have abandoned any work on the garden unless it clears up at some point.
About 10 this morning while I was painting I suddenly realised I hadn’t let the ducks out so I went and did that and found 12 eggs today which is a lot better, maybe we will leave them in until that time every day.
Didn’t get any more done outside, I pottered about inside instead, then John called and said he would be late and could I feed the birds and do the eggs, not while it is pissing down says I 😜 I waited for the rain to ease and shot out to do the job before coming back in and organising dinner. There was no chance we would get this pen up tonight, two reasons, one it was still peeing down on and off and two, the semi finals are on 😁
England only went and won, oh my days I don’t think we can quite believe it 🏴 I am not a football fan generally but I will watch England play and I am hugely patriotic so the excitement and pride are all there, well done lads, let’s bring this home we have waited long enough 🏆
Thursday: Up, shower, do the morning jobs and then get the cat into the cat carrier to take him to the vet.
He gets the all clear, his collar can come off and he is allowed to go out again but I leave him shut in the back bit as I am going out with Shelley and Flo for a coffee and then over to see Sam and the twins. He will be better if he has a bit more rest without his collar and I will let him out on my return.
I didn’t get an awful lot done when I got back in the afternoon, I had a good a chat with a friend I haven’t seen for a while over the gate and then the twins arrived and we looked after them while Mia went swimming. Sam did the horse fence when she came back, we had a very quick dinner and then outside to finally get something done today. While I was busy watering and picking peas, broad beans, beetroot, strawberries and raspberries, John cut the lawn and then went in to do the washing up. After I finished outside I came in to pod the peas and beans and get them in the freezer, the fruit I will be making some jam with at some point tomorrow. I actually managed to find some jam sugar in town today, it’s like gold dust at times. Put the bins out while John is putting the birds to bed and finally sit down around 9.30. Not finished there though as I have to order some predatory mites that feast on red mite, hopefully they will work as they are quite expensive! I am contemplating setting the alarm for 5am in the morning, setting it and actually get up at that time are two different things though but that time of the morning is really lovely so I ought to make the most of it.
Friday: I did t get up earlier 😂 I did get up just before the alarm though so around 6.20 and I got straight on with the day after breakfast, there was no ambling about this morning. I did a bit more picking, quite a bit of rhubarb and there is more to be picked, I need to start freezing some of it for winter use really. I also cut one of the lavender bushes, put some bunches out for sale, you never know somebody might like one, the rest I will either give to the girls or put indoors. The was just one lavender bush I have a fair few growing in different areas but these are in the veg garden to attract beneficial insects and to harvest for drying etc. I pottered about a bit more and then John arrived home, he is working today but he had also gone to collect feed while he was out and had a couple of hours spare when he came back. We got on with the job of putting the hen run together although I had to keep sitting in the shade when the sun made an appearance. It worked well though, me sitting there giving John instructions 😆 Even when I am reading them from the manual he is questioning what I am telling him 😂
Mid afternoon and the sun seems to be out for a while so I have come indoors, I am a bit cross with myself because I put the washing on yesterday evening so it was ready to put out this morning. I got it out of the machine and put it on the kitchen table so I didn’t forget to do it and then forgot 🤪 It’s nearly 3pm and I only just put it out, hopefully it will still dry enough for me to put into the airing cupboard to finish off 🙄 John had to go back out to do a couple of jobs but will be back when he has finished and we can get on.
John didn’t get back until gone 6pm which really annoyed me as I had three things I wanted to get sorted, we managed one of them in the time we had left in the evening. We got the rest of the run covered in mesh so that we can at least go out without worrying about the hens being attacked by the fox. We worked until it was dark and we literally couldn’t see what we were doing anymore.
Saturday: Rain to begin with but it cleared and stayed dry, at times it was muggy but still overcast. I had a list of jobs I wanted to get done today so John went off early to grab a few bits from the builders merchants so I could do them. Then he went off with Macca and the best men to collect his suit for the wedding. Meanwhile I put on a couple of wash loads, did all the usual morning stuff, let the ducks out sorted their eggs, did the horses electric fencing and back inside to start prepping the walls and ceiling for painting. I didn’t get very far as Sam messaged to see if I was in and come over with the twins, so I did the jobs I could get done before they arrived, feeding the Guineas and rabbit and hoovering. They stayed for a couple of hours and John arrived back, once Sam had gone we went to the diy store (finally) to get the paint for the kitchen and a couple of other bits we need to do the job, no idea when I will get chance to do that at the minute 🙄
Take a look at this lovely rose, the photo doesn’t actually do it justice , it is a rose that Shelley bought me on the anniversary of Dads death and it is called the simple life which is very apt.
Well we didn’t get much done the rest of the day once we got back from getting the paint, we made a cuppa, sat down and promptly fell asleep, me for over an hour, John a little less. He went and did the afternoon rounds while I was still sleeping, I feel like I have something coming and the cough and sinus thing still hasn’t completely gone away yet. I am wondering if it was a combination of the sun yesterday, although I did try to keep out of it, and working until late last night. I did say to John at one point during the evening, my leg is shaking and I have no idea why 🤷♀️ I hope it’s just a bit of tiredness and his whole thing is not going to flare up again or indeed the Lupus is not going to flare, I really haven’t got time for that at the minute and neither has John!
Talking of time, the year is whizzing past quickly I feel, already mid July, where has that gone.
Sunday: I regrouped and got on with the day, worked hard to get picking done early on and a plethora of other jobs before getting back out to the field to finish off the chicken run so that we can have some sense of being able to go out with out too much worry. To be honest it is not going to stop a full on attack but it will stop a chancer nipping in and picking a few off when we are not here, hopefully 😜
Now to the real topic of the day, the week, the month, the year, the century COME ON LADS, BRING IT HOME.🏴 Have a fabulous evening and I hope to report that England won in tomorrow’s blog 😁
frieslandfarm (flowers) 