Monday 29th November: Oh what a lovely Monday morning 🤪 snow on the ground, flipping freezing and as yet (2pm) it has not thawed 🙄 A different routine this morning, the birds are now all housed and so that means there is no point John doing them in the morning before he goes to work, it becomes my job 😏 I was glibly thinking ‘I don’t need to go out until mid morning’ but then realised that I actually would have to go out first thing of course (silly me) The horses need hay, the water buckets need the ice broken and although we had filled up the feeders in the stable block and for the ducks, the others in the orchard will still need feeding and watering. So I donned my big ‘duvet’ coat, my isotherm wellies (they keep your feet warm down to -10 🥰) and my leather gloves because if they get wet it doesn’t go through to my fingers and make them freezing cold. I did all the feeding and watering and then had to set up a small run for the light Sussex hen with the chick, everything needs to be enclosed and no wild birds should be able to get to the food or water, this is quite a task but luckily, as it happens year on year now, we are prepared. Once I had finished outside it was back indoors to divide up some blocks of mature cheddar for the freezer and get those in along with some blocks of butter and a carton of milk. I am not stocking up honestly lol, the milk I asked John to get on top of our regular delivery because he seemed to be drinking a lot of tea. In the end we didn’t use it and had our normal delivery this morning so I need to freeze it and save it for another day. The butter I am going to need when I start making mince pies by the dozen and if I have them in the freezer ready then I can do them when I want to. The cheese is because John only eats mild cheese which is not much good for flavouring something like cauliflower cheese so if I put it in the freezer I always have some handy and it’s not going hard in the fridge. I have been a Jack of all trades today because after that job I went and painted the pantry. I say painted and John is going to tell me it’s not finished but that is the look I am going for 😂 he will hate it, I will love it, it’s my pantry and once the door is on I doubt he will ever go in there 😂 Then I spent a bit of time trying out new bits of crafting, I want to make some decorations for myself and so have been having a go at cone trees, not pine cone trees but cone shaped trees, I haven’t finished yet but if I am pleased with the result I will take photos. A quick sit down with a cup of tea and then onto the next job of the day, caramelised red onion chutney making 😁
With the chutney on the go, the dinner prepped ready for this evening and an apple and blueberry crumble also made, I got all togged up to go outside and do the afternoon feeding and egg collecting. Luckily the outside taps had thawed and I was able to get more water to the ducks, geese and horses who also had more hay. The shift took me far longer than it did to write about it 😂 I had planned on coming in for a cuppa before shutting them away at dusk but by the time I had finished that, collected the post, checked the egg shed, fed the dogs and the cats it was getting dark and so I shut down doors etc before coming back inside and taking off my artic gear. I just got into the kitchen when John arrived home, typical that he arrives just as everything is done. He asked if I had painted the pantry, I told him yes but he won’t like it, he said and I quote ‘it’s your pantry, you can paint it how you like’ 😮 As we went through to have a look, John shouted at the dog who was busy helping herself to eggs from the bucket! Normally I put the bucket of eggs in the sink but there was the paint tray in there so I put it on the floor, I won’t make that mistake again 😂 The reason I don’t box up the eggs right away is because then the cat sits on the boxes which is ok-ish when the weather is dry but if it’s wet she gets the boxes dirty. Sometimes I feel the battle is already lost before I even get up 🤪 I complain all the time that the geese eat all the chicken food (because they should not be down in the stable block) the dog eats the cat food (he reaches up on the side to sneak it out of their bowl) the chickens eat diesels cat food (big no no) if the he hasn’t eaten it all and now the dog is eating the eggs, I need some sort of order back with the feed routine which will be easier now the birds are all shut away.
I think I am just going to relax this evening, once the dinner is made, eaten and washed up that is! I hope it thaws overnight, Smallholding life is a lot harder when it’s freezing outside.
Tuesday: i did the rounds again this morning and it has all thawed thank goodness, it was hard work over the last few days 🙄 The art of the job is getting in through the stable doors without letting any hens out 😂 this morning just as I opened the door and ducked down to go in, one of them flew straight at me from where she was perching, I did t have the heart to tell her she has a very long time until she can go outside again 😏
I didn’t have anything in particular planned for today which was just as well as Sam came over with the twins and Shelley and Flo came after Flo finished nursery so it was a few hours of chaos and cacophony 😝 Once they had all left to do the school run I sat in total silence enjoying the moment 🤪
I did have time to make a cake before anyone arrived though, it was a recipe I wanted to have a go at, pumpkin cake with a cream cheese frosting. The verdict from the little ones was ‘nah’ the verdict from Sam was ‘not bad’ I can’t decide if I like it or not 🤷♀️ I think if I did it again I would doctor the recipe somewhat as it is quite heavy, more like a pudding texture but chances are I won’t make it again lol.
Wednesday: Busy day today, first up, the morning rounds and sorting out fresh water, feed etc then onto digging up the dahlia bulbs and putting them to dry out in the greenhouse before storing for the winter. The smaller ones I have left in the ground to see if they survive but the big star ones and the cafe au lait I have dug up as I don’t want to lose those. Some of them have got massive over summer and so I should be able to get lots more plants from them in spring. I also found a couple of lupin seed heads which I have drying in the kitchen now, also for sowing again next spring. I had quickly painted the remaining bits I needed to do in the pantry before doing the gardening and so once that was dry I went back to get some bits of furniture cleaned and moved in there. The apple rack is going to live in there and needed the dust cleaned from it, also a cupboard that needed a hoovering to get the dust off. The rest of the day until feeding time I spent cleaning out screws and nails from the workbench which is also going to be going in there. The bench is one that we inherited at our old house from the previous owner, it is old, heavy and well used, it will look fab once it is cleaned up. But before I can do that I needed to clean out the little cubby holes at the back which were full of screws and nails, some of which have been there for well over twenty years I imagine 😂 I sorted through thousands of screws and nails of all different sizes and types, lots were rusty and so have been thrown away, lots are still very useable and indeed we are always looking for nails and screws so sorting them all out will be a good job, well done. I have now ordered a screw organiser thingy that will go on the wall and I can sort them out into sizes hopefully. I came in for a s quick sit down before having to go out and do the afternoon rounds and saw what I thought was an egg customer sat in the car, I went out with more eggs as we have had a few visitors to the shed today. He got out and asked for Samantha, my thought were now whirring as the horses were due to have the dentist visit but I didn’t think it was today, I asked him if he was the dentist and yes he was 🙄 A quick phonecall to Sam and it seems she had the wrong day written down 🤪 he agreed to come back tomorrow bless him, which is when Sam thought he was coming. The reason that I couldn’t supervise is because Sam doesn’t know how Jack is going to react, previously he had to be sedated to have his teeth rasped and it’s not something I would be confident overseeing. I finally got a sit down for about half and hour before starting with the afternoon rounds and egg collecting.
I am not quite sure where Thursday and Friday went lol or what I did on those days except that the horse dentist came back to do their teeth and it’s good to finally get a rough idea of biscuits age, apparently somewhere around 20 years old. She is in good oral health though which is good to know, Jack also has no problems and his lameness has gone so that is good as well. I have had the twins three times since Thursday morning so no wonder I have no idea what else I have done 🤪 Friday (I think) I went into town with Shelley and Flo for a mooch round the charity shops and to get a nice coffee. I found a few bargains including a gorgeous Rumtopf pot, I did already have one but this one was so lovely I couldn’t leave it sat there so I bought it 😁 I gave the other one to shelley so she can have a go at it next year. Traditionally you fill the rumtopf with layers of fruit, rum and sugar, the fruit can be a complete mixture which means to can add to it as the season progresses. You then eat the boozy fruit around Christmas time. I tend to use plums and brandy but any combination works just as well if you fancy giving it a go.
Saturday: I had the twins for a couple of hours while Sam and luke went to a meeting and then it was time to go to the family Christmas party. Each year (except last year) my sister hires the hall in Kelmscot and we have a big family get together, there are a lot of us and we need a big space for everyone to be able to come 😂 This year it was mainly centred around the children having fun so there was a disco and games and a sack of gifts for them all, we all did something for a buffet and as always there was plenty to eat and drink 🥰 It is important for the children to get together as a good few of them have only known pandemic conditions which is really quite sad.
Sunday: Up and about early this morning and after getting all the Smallholding jobs done, feeding, watering etc, and then the household things done, washing on, rubbish out etc, I could finally get on with the job I was excited to get started, the pantry 🥰 We had moved some of the cupboards in yesterday but we could finally get started on fitting shelves and fixtures. I am delighted with how it is going so far, I have plenty of shelves and storage space and I have lots of hanging space for drying flowers or storing onions and garlic. I have tried to use everything I already had here and have easily achieved that, I still have a fair amount to put in there but here is a sneak preview 😁 I can’t wait to start stocking it with goodies 😍
frieslandfarm (flowers) 