Monday 7th November 2022: A new week, lockdown begins for the poultry 🫤 they have no idea why they are not allowed out but so far so good on day one 🙄 Apart from the rain at the exact point I had just got my outdoor attire on to go out and feed and collect eggs 😂
First thing this morning I went and cut plenty of willow and spent a few hours weaving 10 wreath bases 🤪 nearly there now just a few more to do and who knows I may carry on making them for other projects or even get a head start on next years 😂 I also spent a chunk of the afternoon doing social media stuff, it’s a large part of trying to get the word out there and getting any products sold, so if you follow the flower page please give it a share every now and then it would make a small business very happy 🥰
Tuesday: I spent some time in the greenhouse pricking out seedlings of snap dragons and cornflowers. I had one of those very crappy moments that most will have had when growing from seed, when the tray tips over 😭 and all the seedlings just become a jumbled mess 🤦♀️ I watered the bulbs in the big tunnel, the anemone and ranunculus are coming through nicely. I watered the chrysanthemums in the small tunnel, they are blooming fabulously and I definitely want to keep those going next year. I spent an hour on the phone to my brother in Australia, mostly with a black screen as he was trying to show me the Luna eclipse which kept going behind a cloud 😂 Our initial conversation was about solar power, which he installs over there and we have been looking into getting here. We had a quote which seemed pretty high and I was chewing over the finer details of the for and against with him and getting a better understanding of what we actually need if anything or if there are different ways to do things 🤷♀️
We have had some pretty torrential downpours today, Charlie got caught in one on her way over to me, she was picking me up to drop me off to have my hair cut I felt bad that she got wet on my account.
Nobody can have failed to notice the different weather patterns this year in the UK, it’s November and still no sign of frost in fact even the night time temps are above the average day time ones 🙄 The rain is usually torrential when it arrives in bursts and then the sun comes back out. It is COP27 this week and quite frankly they have not done enough in the last 27 years, I tried to find out exactly what had been achieved but it is hard to find concrete evidence. Putting it bluntly the foot needs to be slammed on the brake and none seem willing to do that. We are definitely rowing up sh*t creek with no paddle now and it’s only going to get worse 😔 My worry is not for myself but the generations that come after me, all we can do is try to prepare for what is ahead, they will need to work out how to survive in an ever increasing warming climate. What we are doing here is taking measures to make sure that the house does not get flooded by constant heavy rain, making sure we have enough water tanks for the drought part of the year and that the house stays cool enough to be bearable in the summer heat. Growing food so that we have something to eat just in case, it is definitely a shift from self sufficiency to being self reliant and self preservation. My brother said ‘try to be optimistic’ I try but I am failing, so my advice is to live on a hill, learn to grow food and provide for yourself 🤪
Well I started off well at the beginning of the week 😂 and then laspsed. The hard thing is trying to think back to what I did 🤷♀️ Ummmm 🤨 no idea 🤪 On Wednesday I did go for a walk with Sam and Shelley, a long walk for about an hour and a half, we were on the look out for anything to forage and found some tiny fir cones but not much else. I have spent some time in the greenhouse potting things on and pricking out seedlings. I have also spent some time cutting flowers and foliage for drying and then on Friday we went out for a few hours in the middle of the day but I have no idea what else apart from the usual I have done.
Saturday: A fairly busy day and I have to say a lovely warm day in November 🙄 John has been busy doing more of the path, the dog has been busy walking all over it when he wasn’t looking 😂 I could hear expletives 😬 I have put clean bedding in for the ducks, cleaned out some nesting boxes, got the scythe out and cut down some tall weeds and made some wreaths from ground weeds 😁 It was quite nice to get the scythe out, I didn’t do much but it is so much nicer and quieter than a strimmer. The wreaths I made are from what I think is hoary mustard but I need to wait for it to grow again next year to double check. It is a weed that sends out long growth, it is tough and so ideal for drying and making into wreaths. You can use a whole lot of different types of vine like stems, grape, hop, clematis and weeds, they make lovely wreaths and all with different character. Oh yes I also wove the last few willow wreaths that I need for the workshops, they are all done now and so anymore I do will be spare or to make wreaths to sell. You will be pleased to know that two of the unproductive hens have had a reprieve and gone to a new retirement home 🥰 If anyone else wants a retired hen or two let me know, I’d rather that than the alternative.
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/dawnepears0
You can now buy me a coffee (aka wine 🤪) I actually just thought I would have a look and see what it is all about but had to go through the joining process and so here is the link 😂 You can buy me a coffee if you are enjoying the blog but don’t feel like you should, you can always pop in for real coffee if you are in the area 😁
Sunday: I spent the first part of the morning hoovering and polishing and then cutting some flowers for drying. I am running out of hanging space again 🤪 John was busy getting the last bit of the pathway concreted, it is now a lovely level, smooth path rather than the broken wonky one that was there before 😁 I also got everything ready for a roast dinner later before popping out to the garden centre to look for something specific. We called into see my brother and sister in law for a cuppa on the way home and then once back it was time to get the dinner going including a self saucing gluten free chocolate pudding. I wasn’t sure this was actually going to come out as it should so I also poached some pears in a vanilla syrup as a back up plan 😂 It did work out fine and so I sent some of the pears home with Charlie and kept a couple for myself for tomorrow 🥰
That is another week gone 🙄 Have a great week ahead x
frieslandfarm (flowers) 