Monday 13th September 2021: The morning after the weekend before 😂 and while it took us a week to put up the hen do village it only took a couple of hours to take a lot of it back down. There is a lot left to remove and sort out mind you and that is mostly what I have been doing today. Sorting out all the things that have been borrowed from other family members, washing up plastic storage tubs to return, putting everything in piles for people to collect. That took up most of the day apart from Smallholding things I had to get done in between. Early evening John came home and we took down two of the tents ready to store and bought in as much as we could from the field to get it all in the dry because it is due to rain tomorrow.
When we were planning the hen weekend I wanted to make sure that as much as possible was eco friendly in one way or another. That meant either reusable, recyclable, biodegradable, compostable, begged and borrowed rather than bought new. Some things we had to buy but things like plates and cutlery were bamboo and wooden, doilies and wallpaper for table settings, lots of fresh greenery and flowers in with artificial ones that some of us already had, we did pretty well with that side of things I think but it is quite difficult to cover everything on a tiny budget. I often say that I don’t have any food left overs and we also did quite well in that department, this week will be one of only a couple of times a year I put it out, it is small but it is not full up. One of the reasons it has anything in at all is because I accidentally left a tub outside over night and didn’t want to risk using or freezing the meat and cheese that was in there even though it had a lid on.
Tuesday: Today I really needed to get out on the garden and get some picking done, not least because a customer had asked why there were no vegetables available lol. So I picked, cucumbers, tomatoes, courgettes, jalapeños, peppers, Thai chilli, runner beans and French beans. I am definitely going to save seed from the French climbing beans, they produce lovely long slender beans and because they grow upwards are much easier to harvest than getting down on the ground to pick dwarf beans 🙄 I sorted all the veg out and put out for sale anything I wasn’t going to use or prep for the freezer. I then went on to sort produce I had picked last week but hadn’t managed to get sorted, apples, pears and tomatoes mostly. Some were beginning to spoil or go soft so I made a batch of tomato soup and then some apple and pear butter which cooked in the slow cooker for about 6 hours. Chop up apples and pears, add maple syrup, cinnamon, ginger and a little bit of water, leave to cook on low and then whizz when it’s done. I put it into sterilised jars but it needs keeping in the fridge or freezing as it won’t store for more than three weeks in the fridge. Use to spread on toast or ice cream or in yoghurt, whatever you like really. The tomato soup is now in the freezer, another batch which will be lovely on a cold winters day. It absolutely poured day for a good part of the day so I spent most of the rest of the time indoors sorting stuff out, putting away, putting washing on, although that had to be tumble dried today 😕 Later in the afternoon Charlie came to pick me up and we went off for her final dress fitting, very exciting and it all looks beautiful. When I got back John was home and so he went out to feed the birds and collect eggs and then we shot off to get some shopping as I haven’t been able to get to the shop for over a week due to being busy with people coming and going here. Before we went we had to get the cage into the boot room and get Jill the cat safely shut in the cage as she is going to the vets tomorrow to be spayed, she isn’t impressed 🙄 but I don’t want to risk her disappearing like Jack did 😂 After shopping, dinner then John put the birds to bed while I jarred up the fruit butter and the tomato soup and popped them into the freezer.
I have so many jobs in the garden to get on with that I haven’t got round to yet, seeds to sow, plants to dig up, plants to pot up, plants to chop down, weeding, dead heading, rearranging the garden, I am trying to get a little bit done each day here and there and hopefully eventually it will.
Wednesday: Trying to think what I did first thing this morning lol, a fair bit of deadheading in the front flower beds as I haven’t done that for a few days. At some point John came home and we got the cat in a basket and she went off to the vets to be spayed. I fed the Guineas/rabbit and torts (mindful that they need a clean out but not sure when I am going to have time to do that) Still tidying up stuff from the hen weekend, oh yes that’s it, I was trying to get one of the tents down and packed up but the breeze was making it difficult by myself lol. Eventually got it rolled and then it was too big for the bag 🙄 had to get it back out in the evening and will try again tomorrow. The postman arrived with a special package, the painting of the paddock had arrived, painted by a chap called Duncan Ball https://m.facebook.com/duncanball.art/ It is lovely and such an amazing find by my neighbour 🥰
The cat was picked up mid afternoon and then I went to watch Josh get his yellow belt with a white stripe in his Martial Arts grading ceremony 🥰 Then when I got back we had to repack one of the tents that we had laid out earlier to dry the bottom off as it wasn’t quite dry enough. After that I went out and started getting up the flooring, I have a few people coming to get pieces of it so it will have another use instead of getting thrown away. By this time it was dark and so I went in and got something to eat before finally having a sit down. So many things to do, so little time to get them all done lol. I was hoping to get some seeds sown, annual flowers for next year and some spinach and parsley but that will have to wait for another day now.
Thursday: A Misty start to what turned into a lovely day. I started off with housework, I wanted to get the hoovering and polishing done and clean the bathroom as it was driving me nuts that I hadn’t been able to do it all week long. I let the ducks out around 10am and then went into the greenhouse and sowed some seeds. Annual flowers including Cerenthe Major and Californian poppies, I saved the seed from the latter, initially the seed came from Sarah Raven and I was so impressed with the quality that I have subsequently ordered from there again including the cerenthe. I also sowed some winter crops and herbs, dill, coriander, winter lettuce and corn salad. Then I went on to dig up some of the mint that has to come up from the herb bed I am going to move and after a spot of lunch and a sit down I went out to do some more tidying up in the paddock. It has taken me ages to clear things away, there was an army of people putting it up but mostly it has been me on my own until John gets home then we work until it’s dark getting more stuff put away. Every night this week we have worked until dark outside, then a bit more inside until bedtime, we have eaten snack food for tea because I haven’t had time to make anything. Tonight we had fish and chips and my sister and her hubby came over along with Shelley to get it knocked on the head. Hopefully tomorrow I just need to get the tents out to dry right off and it’s mostly then done. John keeps complaining I am grumpy every evening, that’s because I am hot and tired, ‘we’re not doing this again are we’ he said, exactly what was running through my head was the reply 🤣 we had a fabulous weekend but the clear up operation has taken its toll 😜 Due to the extra help this evening we have actually managed to sit down at 8pm whoop, whoop, probably fall asleep in the chair now.
Friday: Samantha’s birthday today 🥰 I had lots of jobs planned but in the end I spent around two hours wrestling with bell tents, trying to get the last bit of any moisture from the bottom and then the mammoth takes of trying and failing miserably to get them resembling the size and shape of the bag they came out of. Two hours of my life I won’t get back, two hours of sweating (had to do it in the sun, no choice there) and swearing profusely, two hours of wondering why I was the only donkey doing the job 🙄😜 I would have given myself the day off except I had forgotten to let the ducks out and it was now midday, I shall be glad when I can focus on this place entirely once again 🥰
Most of the rest of the paraphernalia finally got picked up which means I will be able to let the geese back out again, I couldn’t do it while there was stuff still around as they like to nibble at everything just to see if it’s tasty or not 😜 We went over to see Sam early evening and then back again before dark to put every to bed.
Saturday: Whoop, whoop we finally got to the spa weekend, up shower, pack my bags and off in the car with Sam, Shelley and Charlie for a lovely relaxing time and treatments at a spa in Malvern. I left John in charge 😁
Sunday: Arrived home at lunchtime, I have no idea what went on while I was away but all seemed fine on my return and that’s the main thing. John has been busy cleaning out the birds and tidying some parts of the front. The cat is looking well after her op, the sun is shining and I feel very rested and relaxed, ready to start another week with renewed energy tomorrow, as for the rest of today, I am still in chill mode 🤣 so probably won’t get anything else done.
I was sat outside watching and listening to the bees buzzing round all the asters, it is literally swarming with them which is fantastic. I need to photograph as many different types as I can so I know what is visiting.
I have been fairly preoccupied with the recent events and we now have a good few weeks before the wedding itself so I should have more time to focus on the Smallholding and a bit more in depth blogging (it’s been a bit sparse 🙄) Have a great week and hopefully this lovely sunshine will continue a bit longer 🥰
frieslandfarm (flowers) 