Monday 8th November: Hellooo I will try to be a little more focused on writing the blog this week, been an bit slack if I am honest 😁
This morning it was fresh but not frosty, a beautiful pink sunrise greeted us first thing. John did the morning feeding and letting out and then went off to work after requesting a fresh loaf of bread. Happy to oblige as I haven’t made one for over a week so it was about time really. Once the bread was on the go I sorted out what would be for dinner later and prepped the veg. I also made a crumble, apple and strawberry 😋, strawberry’s always smell amazing when they are cooking and while apple and strawberry is not a usual combination for crumble it is a very tasty one so give it a try. While waiting for the bread to do I may as well do other things in the kitchen so I also made a sort of flapjack. Not the standard type with syrup though, this one was a combination of oats, honey and peanut butter, a touch of salt, some vanilla and a handful of granola. All mixed together and then pressed into a tin, marked into squares and put in the fridge. This will be my ‘breakfast grab’ or ‘I feel peckish’ snack 😁
I did a few other things around the house as well as prepping some more Christmas cards ready to decorate another time, need to get ahead with those as there will be plenty to do in the run up as it is.
The evenings are drawing in and so it is now my turn to do the afternoon feeding although John rang to ask if I could also shut them away at dark as he would be late. It’s not the only thing that was be late because if I have to go out and do that, it means the dinner doesn’t get put on until I come back in, which is ok until John starts moaning he is hungry when he comes home 🤣 tough mate, I can’t do it all 🤪
We had the straw delivery yesterday and we had a conversation about carbon capture and how lots of farmers are now growing a carbon capture crop instead of food. I get why it’s an attractive choice for farmers but in my opinion it’s very short sighted, we will be growing less food to feed the country and having to import it instead, what’s the point of capturing carbon on the one hand while creating it on the other 🤷♀️ Somebody explain that one to me if they can please 😏 If you are going to grow carbon capture then at least use an edible crop if possible.
Had another phone call about more woodchip tonight, I don’t like to turn it away so even more will be arriving tomorrow 😂 I need to shift some of the other pile I think.
Tuesday: It was a lovely day today with above average temperatures and plenty of sunshine. With another wood chip load arriving today I thought I ought make a good effort to move some of the pile that is already there. I barrowed until I couldn’t barrow anymore and then I went onto cutting back the dahlia foliage as the frost has blackened most of them now. Sam arrived mid morning with the twins and we spent an hour or more moving the electric fence in the front paddock. The horses haven’t been in this paddock for a number of years because I planted 4 fruit trees in there but these have been fenced off. The grass got too long to mow and my scything is not up to it 😂 so I needed to get it eaten off in order to be able to mow it next spring. It will also help to flatten the ground out with them trampling all over it 🙄 After a break for lunch and some playing Sam went home, Charlie also called in while they were here, back from her honeymoon 🥰
Time for the afternoon rounds and egg collecting, while I was out there I replenished the hay for the rabbits and Guineas, topped up all the water holders, put in clean straw for the ducks and some for the hens in the stable and then while waiting for someone to come and collect something I barrowed a few more loads of woodchip 🤪
Wednesday: I spent most of the day making Christmas cards to put out for sale, I was feeling quite tired so a day doing something gentle is a good way to regroup.
Thursday: I cleaned and hoovered the boot room before going out with Shelley and Flo and spending a lovely few hours at a Christmas market and garden centre. We met Charlie and Macca there and had lunch as well, lovely day. When I got back it was time to feed the birds (who had been left in because I was going out) collect the eggs and then the twins arrived to stay while Mia went for her swimming lesson. In the evening we went round to see Mum and Ken who have had a nasty bug but are just starting to get over it now. There are such a lot of nasty bugs going around as well as chicken pox at the moment, dodge the bugs winter is ahead of us I think lol.
Friday: The day started with rain but the sun came out mid morning so not a bad day. I thought I had better get my Christmas cake started so this morning I have measured out all the dry ingredients and they are now soaking in brandy and orange juice for the next 24 hrs. If you fancy a go at making your own, I followed a Merry Berry recipe, they are usually pretty foolproof and there is an online calculator to adjust measurements to the size and shape of your tin. A tip you might find useful is to measure your tin and then use a permanent marker to write the size on the bottom for next time, this goes for any baking tin you use, I am always forgetting what size they are and it doesn’t really do to guess 😂 As always I substitute what I haven’t got with something I have and likewise if there is an ingredient you don’t like then just change it, I will be using walnuts instead of almond because that’s what I have available.
Saturday: I got the rest of the cake ingredients mixed and then combined to two and cooked for four hours 😁 Christmas cake done ✔️ just got to ‘feed it’ weekly.
Mid morning Sam, Luke and the kiddies arrived and I looked after the children while Sam and Luke went for a meeting. Once they were back Luke helped John to get a bit more work done out the back and now the pantry is nearly ready, just need to concrete the floor and put a door on then time to fit it out with shelves etc. Meanwhile Sam was sorting out the horses and the stables, the horses came in to be wormed and then will stay in for a few days. The children were helpful, on the whole 😜 Luke stayed on after the rest of his family went home and worked with John until dark.
Sunday: Today we needed to get a lot of tidying done in the back bit, stuff to the skip, stuff to the burning pile, stuff to put up for free, stuff to sell. Mid morning we went to Charlie and Maccas to look at the wedding photos, popped to get a bit of shopping afterwards and then back home to shift more rubbish and get the scrap wood burnt. We had someone come to collect any decent burning wood and someone come to buy some bits we were selling. You can’t beat a big bonfire in November so that’s what we had🔥
frieslandfarm (flowers) 