Tag: home cooking

Posted in Friesland Farm

Preparing for the year ahead.

Posted on by frieslandfarm

The weather has warmed a little but it’s still only around 3/4c most days, sometimes with a heavy fog, plenty of conspiracy theories online about this 🙄

We have managed to do a bit outside although there comes a point when fingers and toes are protesting a lot and that’s the time for me to come inside and do something else. I try to wait for it to warm up enough in the morning but it’s not really getting anywhere near the nice 12/14c we had between Christmas and new year, can’t expect much else really in mid winter 🥶

The work we have been concentrating on is where we took the old fence down after putting up the new one. Over time there have been hazel and sycamore saplings that have self set and they need to come out plus clear any weeds/debris and get the area clear to start again. We have decided that some new compost bins will be good down there as well as extending all the existing beds down to the old fence line. We are building the compost bins out of old pallets and these will be lined so that the material can heat up well and hopefully destroy and weed seeds. Home made compost is fantastic stuff if you can avoid spreading weed seeds everywhere and you do this by making sure that the material gets enough heat to kill off anything lurking in there and rot everything down really well. Turning the compost is key because not only do you make sure you incorporate everything but it also helps to reignite those warmer temperatures that you need.

There are a couple of things in pots that I have been wanting to get in the ground for a few years. One is a fig that has been in a pot for about 4 years and we actually do have enough space to get it in the ground I just was never sure where I wanted it, now it is in the ground I might get a good crop of figs next year 🥰 The other shrub I have planted is next to the decking and is for floristry, it is a eucalyptus parvifolia. It will give me two things, some dappled shade on the decking area which gets full sun in the late afternoon and evenings and cutting material for bouquets and arrangements. Eucalyptus is a winter foliage and used during the winter months, we stop using it around May and start again in October/November.

We have had a few fox visits this week, I spotted it this morning and it’s a big healthy specimen 😬 John saw it yesterday right outside the back door when he went out there. We have had to start keeping the door closed and not let Mia have free range and I think that because if that Patch is staying in more and so there are no dogs out there to ward it off.

The reason we have had to keep Mia in is because she can no longer see or hear anything so when she goes outside she can’t find her way back on her own. I explained this to John and said if she is out with you then you need to watch her at all times 🙄 This did not happen on Friday and consequently when he went back outside he couldn’t find her. Luckily Sam and Shelley were here and so a search party was sent out and she was found just over our boundary in the field of the farm behind us. But she is also getting pretty infirm especially after walking all that way and they had to get a wheelbarrow to bring her back. She wanders aimlessly but can’t find her way back so she has to be constantly watched.

We are people who when the time is right will have her put to sleep but at the minute she is eating, drinking and isn’t incontinent, she enjoys sleeping most of the day and that’s not a bad life for an old dog, I am hoping she just goes to sleep quietly and gently here, in the meantime we just have to make sure she doesn’t wander off!

I have been organising the greenhouse ready for the big seed sowing race in March. There are only a few things you can sow now, broad beans (not decided if I want to grow these yet or not) Sweet peas (I have the seed soaking and chitting as I type) Onion seeds and I am growing perennial onions this year so as not to take up too much room and I have also sown some verbena seeds for cut flowers. Apart from that I am just waiting and watching the weather, it’s good that we had some freezing weather as that triggers many plants including the tulip bulbs into growth and I have 600 of those planted 😂

I bought a job lot of beer traps to try and tackle the slugs this year, hopefully as we have had the cold they won’t be as prolific but if we have another cool wet spring they will be back. I did a bit of research on which slugs are the good guys this week because not all of them are pests. Some only eat decaying material and some eat other slugs so we want to keep those if possible which is why it’s not a good idea to use slug pellets, killing all of them is counterproductive. Cellar slugs which are the bigger greeny coloured ones are good and leopard slugs are also useful. Neither of these pose a threat to my plants and so they can stay, the rest need to be knocked back in numbers so I will be giving them beer to drink and that’s not a bad way to go is it 🤪

Getting as much preparation done in the garden at this time of year will make the rest of the year much easier to manage but there are jobs that need to wait until the time is right. I don’t cut back any dead foliage until the weather has warmed up a good bit, the beneficial insects need somewhere to overwinter and the birds need the seed heads and the coverage if it’s cold. As much as I would love to start clearing it all I know that the whole garden will reap the rewards if I leave everything alone until those mentioned can survive sufficiently.

Posted in Friesland Farm

Cold 🥶

Posted on by frieslandfarm

That’s a bit of an understatement! It has been freezing this week, not by some standards around the world but definitely by ours. The thermometer in my greenhouse registered -5 on the coldest night which means it was at least -8 outside and that didn’t really let up during the day either. Needless to say I think I have lost my Runuculas which is a pain in the proverbial, each year I try with them and each year something destroys them. The first year it was mice, the second year it was slugs and this year it’s the cold. I can get another batch in but they will flower much later now. I thought I had nailed it this year as I got them in on time, they grew nicely, I moved them into the greenhouse, put them up high out of the way of mice but crucially forgot to cover them 😣 I was so annoyed with myself but I have to move on, no point dwelling on it so I will put it down to experience and maybe try again next year or maybe not 🤷‍♀️

We got off to such a good start in the week between Christmas and new year, the fence went up well and we were able to get some of the old fence line tided but that all stopped when the cold snap came and so no more progress on that as yet. John has been out every day trying to burn under the stump of the huge willow that came down. As there was not much else to be done at least that was one warm job but it has taken days and days and it’s not burnt away enough to be able to pull the stump free yet.

I am always reluctant to go outside when it’s cold unless I have a job I can get my teeth into, one that is going to keep me warm while I do it. As everything was frozen solid that was not much of an option and so I have mostly spent my time inside doing the usual household chores. I did do a bit of batch baking and we now have four lovely fruit cake in the freezer for another day. I also had a go at making crumpets, just because I wanted to see how easy they were to do. The mix was easy enough and the end result was edible (with a few air holes too) but the cooking process was a bit hit and miss. If I had the heat up high, I got great air holes but the bottom would burn, if I didn’t have it high enough there were very few air holes and they took ages to cook through. The jury is out on these, yes they were ok but they were a faff to cook and I am not sure it was worth the time spent. The flat bread I decided to have a go at later in the week though, they were definitely worth it and something I would do again. What I was trying to do was see if I could cook them on the top of the wood burner but I think the combination of the cast iron casing and the heavy bottom fry pan meant that the heat did not transfer quick enough to cook them well. So I changed to the hob and they were perfect, especially as we ate them warm with some butter that melted deliciously when it made contact with the flat bread. It is something I would think about doing with the children outside on the fire pit at some point. Got to teach the younger generation that simple food is good food and easy with it.

I have been watching the whole Bovear debacle closely and we had to go to the supermarket to get things like cat food at the weekend. It is very evident that consumers are boycotting products they believe have come from cattle that have been fed with Bovear, if you have no idea what I am talking about then I would Google it, just make sure you look at both sides of the argument. Personally I have moved away from buying any of the products and I have considered ‘the science is good’ argument BUT it’s about choice. I choose not to buy food that didn’t need messing with in the first place, if companies are so concerned about the amount of methane released by cattle then ration the product to reduce the amount we need. Of course they are not going to do that because that would dent the profits and so instead they decided to meddle with the food. What they didn’t bank on was the backlash from consumers, and yes I will admit that there is a lot of misinformation out there but I also have got to the age in life where I don’t trust them to tell us the truth anyway 🙄 follow the money, it’s always all about the profits. Stick with the smaller producers, the small farms, the small businesses because the only profits they are trying to make are for a decent living for themselves and their families and not for the shareholders and the big bonus bosses.

Hopefully from today we are going to see a thaw and the temperatures go up a little to around 8c, that is perfect for the time of year I reckon. I am glad that the freeze will have triggered some natural pest control and definitely of those pesky slugs that invaded us last year but I don’t want it to go on too long because I have work to do 😂

I have spent this morning hoovering, cleaning and clearing out some of my cupboards, if I wonder why it is there then it probably needs to go, if I haven’t used it for a year, then it probably needs to go and I did managed to clear a couple of bags of ‘stuff’. Why we have so much stuff is beyond me, we have come from cavemen who spent all their time, hunting, cooking and keeping warm to people who have accumulated ‘stuff’ to fill our caves because we have too much time on our hands 😂

I still have my primal instincts as a hunter gatherer though, that’s why I love to grow and store produce, then cook with it. I have a lovely beef stew on the go for dinner tonight, we get our beef from a fabulous lady called Emma who is so proud of her cows and the quality of the beef they produce and rightly so. Grass fed cattle, grazing naturally on the water meadows makes for great tasting beef 🥰

Not much else to report this week, we have been busy in the evenings binge watching various tv series, with the wood burner going to keep us toasty warm, but that’s what winter is for isn’t it?

Posted in Friesland Farm

It’s been a while, sorry 😣

Posted on by frieslandfarm

September 2024: It has been ages since I last blogged and I am really sorry, I started so many drafts only to get caught up in life in general that they never made to publishing 🤪

It has been a busy few months, on the flower side of things business has been brisk, different to last year but a definite increase in orders. I have still done bunches and bouquets as usual but also DIY buckets, bespoke flower arrangements for customers as well as regular customer orders. Just when I think I will have a quiet week orders come in and I am off again. I have done more funeral flowers and memorial flowers and workshops too.

I had my roadside flower stand pinched, the whole thing which was about 5ft tall by 4ft square and pretty heavy. It would have taken two people to lift it and a lorry or a van to take it away. Thieving b**tards that think it’s ok to rob people. I was totally gutted the morning I went out and found it missing, deflated and despondent is not overstating how I felt. But every cloud has a silver lining they say and this has in a roundabout way done me a favour 😂 I made a reel for Instagram about my stolen flower shed complete with ‘detective’ music and the reel went viral! That kept me busy I can tell you, almost 10,000 views in the first 24hrs and weeks later it is still going and up to 700,000, yup 👍 Why is that a good thing? Well it has raised my Instagram profile and as the reel is being watched by 100’s of people a day, some of them are then following me. What good is that if they are not customers I hear you ask 👂 it’s good because it means all my other reels are getting some traction and potentially being put in front of viewers who are more local, in fact I had a new customer who said ‘oh I saw you on Instagram’ and basically the more views and follows you have the more the algorithms put your reels in front of those with an interest. Besides all that it is fun to watch the numbers though I don’t take it to seriously.

Life has been busy too, school holidays mean grandchildren visits and I have had a few of those, I still have Oscar every Tuesday and we even managed to get away for a weeks holiday to tick some things off my bucket list. It was my 60th birthday at the end of July, we had a spa day and meals out and then we went away on a road trip.

We travelled to Bakewell to have Bakewell tart on our way to our first destination which was York, it has been on my radar for a good few years and I finally got there. We spent two days there doing some fabulous tourist things including a visit to Betty’s and the Jorvik centre (both are an absolute must) before setting off again for Edinburgh, with a detour to see Lindisfarne on the way. The main reason for the trip was in Edinburgh and that was an evening at the Royal Military Tattoo 🥰 We had a pre show hospitality package and did the whisky experience before hand and now I have a new appreciation for whisky 🥃 We met one of the riflemen from the United States Navy Ceremonial Guard who was on his first ever trip outside of the USA, he was only young and what a first trip that must have been 😊 Plenty to do in Edinburgh and we packed as much in as possible before moving on to our next destination. Lake Windamere in Cumbria, we stayed at a very nice hotel on the shores of the lake and had a relaxing first evening before a trip we had booked for the next day. A Beatrix Potter tour, we couldn’t come here without visiting her house and garden and it was a real delight. We had a fabulous tour guide who took us to some real hidden gems in the area as well as imparting so much local knowledge it was mind boggling. Beatrix Potter was a visionary and understood her legacy long before anyone else did I think, incredible lady. Time to head back home with a detour to Stafford castle on the way where just by chance they had a Viking re-enactment day, well that just topped off what had already been an amazing bucket list ticking holiday.

Over the last couple of weeks it has been time to harvest fruit too, apples, plums, blackberries, elderberries it has kept me busy I can tell you. I am trying to rely less on the freezer now and do more drying and preserving. I still have my prepper head on and there a has been a global internet outage over the summer, it affected many things and I honestly don’t think it will be the last one nor the biggest, I think there is the likelihood of more and bigger in the future. So that is just one reason I prefer to be prepared for all eventualities, I just hope more people start to see exactly what could happen and think about how they would cope. If anything affected the logistics systems for deliveries then 3 days and the supermarket will be empty so it’s worth having some back up stores. Buy what you use and use what you buy, rotate it then it’s never wasted.

We have suffered plenty of daytime fox attacks, even Ted the Turkey has become a victim 😔 We are down to less than twenty hens which is not much good because I never have any eggs for cooking and baking. We did say we would not bother getting anymore but we do need eggs for ourselves so we have decided to get a few new ones in to keep ourselves and the customers going. The ducks are not being replaced though so once they stop laying there will be no more duck eggs.

There has been, as always, plenty of work to be done outside on the Smallholding, hedges, paddock, fencing, weeding, mowing, strimming, you name it and it needs doing. Yesterday I sowed a couple of rows of carrots to hopefully have some for Christmas and I have harvested a few runner beans this week but the veg are sadly lacking this year. So I am going to do something about that and one way to have veg but not have to work too hard at it is perennial veg. Welsh onions, perpetual spinach, garlic chives, perennial kale will give me useful veg that just keep appearing (hopefully) along with plenty of herbs that I already have growing that way I can concentrate on a few other things such as carrots and beans etc. I keep hearing there will be shortages this year due to flooding or lack of sunshine so I am not waiting to find out I can’t buy any lol.

The weather: because I always mention the weather 😂 jeez this spring and summer have been all over the place 🤪 Cold wet spring, cold wet summer, occasional sunshine, it has been nothing if not challenging for growing stuff let me tell you. Slugfest arrived and never left, the blighters have been eating everything more especially all the young tender shoots of annuals 🙄 add that to a total lack of sunshine and warmth and it has not been a great year for anything that needs the sun. Still you get dealt the cards and you play with what you have, on the flip side it has been a summer I could tolerate and move around in easily 😬 It just is what it is and you have to go with it, luckily as I always hedge my bets I have had plenty of flowers that have made through and so although there is an impact I can side step it and go forward most weeks.

The flowers will still be blooming for a few weeks although the season is moving to slow down now but I have workshops ahead of me including Christmas ones and I still have plenty of preserving and processing to do so I will still be busy.

Right this minute I have some mango chutney cooking down (a bit of an indulgence that one) But over the past few weeks I have been making jams and chutneys, canning apple and plum sauce, freezing apples, blackberries, elderberries and plums, dehydrating herbs and vegetables, making and freezing crumbles and stews and I have my Christmas mincemeat made already. Apple cider vinegar is on the go and something new this year is honey fermented elderberries, should be great to stave off any winter bugs lurking.

Oh and it will soon be time to start collecting walnuts and hazelnuts, if I can beat the squirrels. This year I am also going to collect conkers and make some washing soap with them, we will see how that turns out 🤷‍♀️

There you go, that’s pretty much up to date. I will try to blog a bit more regularly but once you get out of the habit it’s difficult to get back in to it 😂

Posted in Friesland Farm

Flowers, Grandchildren & Rhubarb.

Posted on by frieslandfarm

Monday 8th April 2024: It is still the Easter holidays for the children and Sam came over with the kids today. The farrier was due out and so she came over to get the horses in. She was worried about Biscuits feet as they didn’t look right and she has had laminitis in a previous life, we did get her penned in a quarter of the paddock on Friday as a precaution but the farrier said her feet are all good which is great news. She will stay restricted though as the grass is growing much quicker now and that’s not good for her. Jack had a bit of a bath but he really needs another he was filthy from the winter weather. Hopefully as the weather warms up they can both have a good wash and scrub up.

Charlie arrived with Oscar at lunchtime, the children played for a couple of hours and they were able to play in the garden for a change as it was dry and not too cold. They decided to pimp the pirate ship with chalks 😂 looks quite good I think 😊

After they left I got on with some work, weeding and gathering up rubbish to put in the skip, tidying stuff away and then dividing some plants up, potting them ready for sale once the roots have settled and begin to anchor.

Tuesday: Oscar day 🥰 He was unwell today so he was very subdued even refusing to eat chocolate which is unheard of 😂

Wednesday: Sam had asked me to go with her to get all the passports renewed but before she came I managed to get a few bits of housework done. When she arrived we went off to the post office to get the passports done, the twins had not had passports before, Mia needed a new one and Sam had to renew hers in her married name. Given that the twins can be a bit of a handful at the best of times and that they were very likely to get bored standing there waiting I had agreed to go with her to help. She got the twins done first and as soon as they had both had their photos taken I took them into the cafe to get them some lunch while they did Mias passport. She then joined us and had lunch while Sam got hers done. They were actually all really well behaved, I confess it surprised even me 😂

Thursday: There is plenty of work to be done outside and it is taking up any available time I have, weeding today. Then unexpectedly Sam arrived with the children late afternoon, she had bought them over for a talking too 😂 their good behaviour did not last long and they had given her the run around. When mine were young I occasionally took them to my Mum for a talking to, Nanas are wise and hopefully grandchildren will listen to them 🤪 I think I got through to them, only time will tell and once they I had finished talking to them they went off to swimming lessons.

Friday: I can’t remember what I did the day but late afternoon my sister picked me up in her Morris 1000 ‘Daisy’ and we went off to a classic car event at a local gin distillery. Wood fired pizzas were available and we had a very pleasant evening with other classic car enthusiasts, the weather was great which made it all the better.

Saturday and Sunday: We had a very busy weekend, the weather was good, sunny, warm enough, no wind and no rain. I spent most of the two days gardening, weeding, seed sowing, dividing, potting on and some watering in the tunnels.

Meanwhile John was busy getting the Parthenon finished lol, it is now ready for soil, he has put damp course all around the bottom and cut the metal grid for the climbing plants. He has also moved all the IBC tanks and levelled off the driveway as parts of it were high. He has cut the lawn, dug out thistles from the front side paddock and dragged it. In-between all we have been doing all the other jobs housework, cooking, washing, shopping, feeding the birds, collecting the eggs, a hundred and one jobs that always need doing.

At some point this week I pulled a lot of rhubarb and took some down to the pub along with fresh flowers. Some of it I used to make some rhubarb and vanilla jam, which is delicious. I had other flowers cut ready for customers, some collected and some delivered but I can’t remember which day that was.

Flower bouquets, Shilton
Buckets of flowers being cut at the minute, finally spring has sprung 🥰

Jam jar flowers for a customer order.

Posted in Friesland Farm

Rain, cold and finally some sunshine.

Posted on by frieslandfarm

Monday 26th February 2024: Not frosty this morning but we have a cold wind instead 🙄 It’s lunchtime and I am just sitting down writing this up while I wait for my beef broth to defrost and heat up in the pan. Apart from the usual jobs one of the first things I did this morning was go out and pot up some more rhubarb plants. I dug up a huge root last year and divided it, potting some of them up and the rest just got left. I put the potted pants up for sale and had such a response I thought I better pot up the rest. Luckily rhubarb root weathers the winter well and then spring into life again which is exactly what all these have done so I might as well sell them on rather than compost them.

Next I decided to clean the kitchen, I had to wait for a few people coming to collect things so I figured I could do that and keep an eye out for anyone arriving. It really needed doing, there were cobwebs and everything in the corners 😂 Once upon a time I would have done a full clean weekly but not any more, life is too short for that, instead I tend to tackle one room intensely and skim the rest. That way everything gets a good clean every now and then and I get to do other more pleasurable tasks 😊

Tuesday: Oscar day, we did venture out for a little walk in the afternoon as it was not raining and the sun was trying, the wind was cold though so it was a short round trip of the village lol.

Wednesday: Have I ever said that February is my least favourite month of the year, I probably have 😂 It’s just that you seem to be waiting an age for things to warm up a little, even though this winter has been fairly mild so far. It is the dull, grey that is depressing and this year has been one of the dullest with only 36hrs of sunshine recorded apparently, I mean come on that’s bloody stingy isn’t it Mother Nature 🙄

Meanwhile I occupy myself with preparations for Mothers Day and Easter and hopefully the not too far away spring temperatures. It is the time of year when I try to do a good bit of learning and I often discover things I want to have a go at doing.

It is Shelley’s birthday today and she booked herself the day off, we are pretty much a family of self employed so she is her own boss and gave herself permission to enjoy her birthday 😂 We went out for a lovely lunch and a wander round the local upmarket garden company. When John comes home we will pop round to hers for some birthday cake 🎂

When I returned home I found a lovely delivery of plants, always a great cheer up moment on a dull, wet, cold day. These are eryngium, two different types to the ones I already have, a lovely white one which will be amazing dried hopefully and a blue one with more star like qualities than the blue one I have already.

Thursday: You know some days you just want to scream lol, no wonder mental health and stress levels are off the scale these days. A morning of trying to get things sorted or waiting for updates is crucial but so much time wasted 🙄 Trying to track a shipment that the tracking app wants to link to an email address I don’t use and didn’t use when I purchased the goods. So now I can’t find out the tracking number and have no idea when it will be delivered or even if it will. I tried several ways of rectifying the problem to no avail so I have to just wait and see what happens, if anything, not great.

Next was trying to ring and get a prescription 😣 Every day I think the NHS systems are broken just a little bit more and it just borders on ridiculous at the minute. Once you actually get where you need to be the service is great but ffs getting there is painful. I have been with the same practice since I was 5 yrs old, in all those years I knew who my doctors was and what they looked like, every one of them. Covid comes along and everything changes (fair enough) but things have never gone back to how they were and are so much worse now. You can barely even speak to a human being, go round in circles and just get left in limbo. First they put up plastic shields to talk through and now they won’t even talk to you, you are at the mercy of an answer machine or an online system that does not function fully 😡 Even worse for those who are not digitally adept or the elderly. To add insult to injury they then send you a ‘rate your appointment’ message well I rate my appointment, great but I would rate the system to get there in the first place defunct! 0, nil, shite to be perfectly honest. They are pushing people towards private health care which is all well and good but the elderly or someone like me with a long term chronic illness has no hope of that so we are just hung out to die I reckon, and that is how I feel today, I just want to cry.

I had Oscar for a couple of hours while Charlie went to get something sorted out (another system that has gone awry 🙄) I waited for my deliveries, one said delivered ( the most important one) but it wasn’t and I was just about to message the sender when the van turned up with it, so the delivery driver obviously pre programmed delivery which is fine but stressed me out. The other deliveries turned up at various points in the day.

Once Charlie had collected Oscar I made some lunch and then went out to the flower room to have a couple of hours doing flowery things. When I am doing that I am not thinking of anything else which is nice and relaxing. I have orders coming in thick and fast for Mothers Day as well as other orders, it’s nice to be working with flowers again.

British grown, on the bulb, muscari, a first for us 🥰

Friday: It rained a lot last night and looks like it will be the wettest February on record as well as the dullest 😂 I have been busy doing flower things today, I have had a lot of work come in this week and that’s on top of Mothers Day orders lol, I am not complaining though as I love doing it. I will have to balance it a bit more carefully once I am working outside more too or there won’t be enough hours in the day I am sure of that 🤪

Saturday: More flipping rain and quite a bit of it, the temperature is cold, wind chill even colder. I want to get in the greenhouse but I need ungloved hands for the work I want to do and they just keep going blue 🙄 pretty please can we have some sunshine soon 🙏 The spring flowers I have growing need a bit of warmth to spur them along, I was hoping to have lots of tulips ready for Mothers Day but I think they will probably make an appearance the week after 🤪 This flower farming lark is unpredictable at the best of times especially if you are not using heat and purely relying on Mother Nature which is more sustainable. There is not a decent solar heater on the market yet so that is not even an option, if you use bubble wrap you run the risk of mildew with all this wet damp weather, it is a no win situation at the minute so we just keep holding on and hoping.

I spent a quick half an hour making sure I have enough stems ordered for Mothers Day, I will have some flowers I can cut but I need to supplement with flowers from other British growers at this time of year and that is a bit of a balancing act 😬

Sunday: We had some sunshine and it was most welcome 😊 It started of foggy and frosty but the sun was trying hard to break through and eventually did so we made the most of the day. John spent the day cleaning out chickens, cleaning the car and mowing the grass. I spent the day potting up dahlias that had started to grow, some peony plants, strawberry plant plus some eryngium that need to go in the ground but we have another frost forecast so I potted them for now. Sam arrived for a visit with the children and they had bought some seeds they wanted to grow, strawberries and tomatoes. So we went into the greenhouse and they had a lesson on seed sowing, if they make it home still in the compost in one piece I will be surprised 🤪 but it’s good they have an interest and they can watch them daily to see how they are doing. Once they had gone a barrowed some woodchip put on the paths in the garden then cut some fresh greens from the greenhouse for our dinner later.

All the dahlias are now in separate pots and languishing in the kitchen for the next few weeks until it is warm enough to put the into the tunnels.

I had someone coming to collect some flowers, some rhubarb roots to drop to a neighbour, cook the dinner then I am done for the day, but it was a good, productive and fairly warm day.

Dahlias in the kitchen for a few weeks, it is a steady 16c in there so perfect conditions for them 😊
Posted in Friesland Farm

Funeral flowers, fencing and frosty mornings.

Posted on by frieslandfarm

Monday 19th February 2024: Decent enough weather today even if it is a little colder than the weekend. I was up early as I needed to deliver pedestal flowers to the church for a funeral today, John dropped me off and it was a brisk walk back. The traffic is still awful due to another local road being closed and our village turned into a rat run instead 🙄 I spent the rest of the morning in the flower room mostly washing out jam jars I had been given, also had a fair amount of tidying up to do and while I was there I did do a bit of flower faffing because, well why not 😊 In the afternoon I went to the funeral that I had done the flowers for, it was the funeral of a local lady that was well known, full of character and well respected. The turn out was good and all the cars parked probably added to the chaos in the village, especially after someone made an error of judgement and drove into the Ford 🙄 too deep especially after all that rain we had, needless to say they were stranded and then apparently three fire engines arrived to try and get the vehicle out which further clogged up the through road 🤪 The police have now closed the Ford off so that no one else attempts to go through.

Tuesday: Oscar day 🥰 we did venture out on to the farm for a little walk but for toddlers (who mainly stumble and fall over) it is not ideal with chicken and goose poop all over the place 😂

Wednesday: The weather is vile today, could hear heavy rain again in the night and this morning it has continued along with some windy weather as well.

One of the jobs high on my to do list is to empty out the greenhouse and give it a good clean and wash before putting everything back in. Obviously this needs a dry (and for comfort a fairly mild day) in order to complete it successfully, it looks like I will be waiting a while as rain is forecast forever 🤪

As I am in cleaning mode and as I can’t do the greenhouse I thought I might as well do the bathroom instead so that has had a descale, the walls wiped down everything cleaned. Then a quick hoover and polish around the rest of the rooms.

John informed me that the horses had got out over night, no surprise there as the fences are going over left right and centre. The amount of rain we have had has either rotted the posts or the ground movement has loosened them. We have the new fencing ready but are waiting for someone to come and knock them in with the tractor, it’s too wet for them to do it at the moment so we are in a catch 22 situation 🙄 At the end of this month lambing will begin in earnest all over the country and so farm workers will be busy doing that and we still may not get the fencing done due to the contractor we use having those other commitments. We might have to commit to a weekend and hire a hydraulic rammer and do it ourselves and just pray that the weather holds while we do it.

I did nip out to the greenhouse but it was not very nice out there so I came back inside. I needed to find a job to do, I have many but what do I want to do rather than what I should be doing feels right today 🤪 I had some bits of veg to use up from the fridge and so I made a veg stew in the slow cooker. I make plenty of soups, I had chicken and veg soup yesterday and then mushroom soup today both made from scratch, I wanted a side dish that could be frozen and then used with something like a lamb chop or even a piece of chicken. A veg stew seemed the perfect thing so I chopped up celery, carrot, leek, broccoli stalks, garlic and added spinach, broad beans and courgettes from the freezer some thyme I have hanging in the kitchen, veg stock and black pepper, put it all in the slow cooker and I will thicken it when is has cooked down a little. You could make this with pretty much anything you have and eat it like that or add dumplings or use it as a side dish like I intend to.

Thursday: I was determined to get the greenhouse cleaned this week but the weather this morning was atrocious nevertheless if a girl is on a mission, she is on a mission. I decided first up to wash down the outside because the rain would then rinse of the soap suds so I picked a dry moment dashed out and washed all the glass down. Then it hammered down which is fine because that’s what I wanted. Next I thought I may as well get in there and move everything from one end to the other and clean that end then move it all back and do the other end. Sounds easy but there was a lot of squeezing round or stepping over things to be done before I could put one end back again. I have swept it all down and cleaned all the windows, moved all the plants that are in there and checked for slugs while I was going, I found three big fat ones and slung them outside. I just started moving everything from the other end when the septic tank lorry turned up so I made the driver a coffee, had a little chat and then he was on his way again. He was telling me how his company has a scientist on board and she is making great strides setting up separate stations for them to take the sewage to and it is being processed in such a way that it is able to go back onto fields. It is all being vigorously tested and the fields are monitored and tested but it looks like it is a process that will work well. They are having difficulty taking it to the main sewage works because of the flooding at the minute and because the plants are not up to taking the amount that is produced, hence it has to go into the rivers. It is all very well moaning about it polluting the rivers but unless we all stop pooping then it will continue. The smaller stations dotted around would make much more sense and would be more able to cope by the sounds of things.

I went back into the greenhouse once he had left and continued with the other end and the areas under the benches. I had thought that I didn’t have any mice in there this year but as soon as I moved some stuff out shot a mouse. It was scared, I was surprised and I am not sure who moved fastest 😂 well actually it was the mouse 🤪 I carried on moving bits and another leapt out and promptly ran out of the door, still one little sod in there somewhere. They had been nesting in some soak mats that are used in the summer and there were holes in them plus they stank of mouse wee and now so do I. Eventually I had worked my way round the whole greenhouse and found some whopping great spiders while I was at it, shame they don’t eat slugs and mice really.

All the plants have had a good move round and the light levels are now better because the glass is clean and apart from the resident mouse everything is good and I can start some more seed sowing.

Friday: Much colder today and more rain overnight 🙄 I wanted to get some of the seedlings pricked out but I was not going to do it in the greenhouse. It was too cold in there and these seedlings have been growing on the windowsill indoors so the shock of temperature difference might have killed them off even if they were just there for a while. So I filled up the trays with compost and bought them into the kitchen to do the job, I just about found enough windowsill space to put them all. I did go out and do some support netting on the front beds but my feet got cold so I only did a small area. The sun came out so I thought I will go into the polytunnel and plant up some plants from the greenhouse, it was pleasant enough in there. I forgot the weed membrane on the floor lets the water through and ended up wet, dirty knees 🤪 Not much else I can do out there today really as the temps are plummeting to freezing tonight so best not to disturb anything too much. I came in and sat down to write the blog before having some lunch and the minute I sat down the doorbell went, It was delivery of canes which I was waiting for so I wasn’t too annoyed lol.

I have tried outside today but it’s too cold and wet so I thought I would be better off in the warm doing a bit more learning instead.

Saturday: A frosty start to the day and one of the first jobs was to get the horses back in their right paddock as they had escaped again 🙄 One of the problems is that we have had to shut them out of the biggest paddock at the back, we have a big problem with the fences this year. Due to the amount of rain and the rubbish fencing that was churned out a few years back they are now rotting and leaning or falling practically everywhere. We spent a chunk of money on new posts and are waiting for the chap to come and bang them in but the ground is so wet he can’t get his tractor on the ground without churning it up massively so we have to wait. Meanwhile the horses (or more specifically Jack) takes any opportunity to push through to other paddocks. The situation is such that we can’t get one lot of fencing up before another lot is going over, the high winds haven’t helped as some of the fence line has had hefty branches come down and take the fence with it.

John went to work first thing while I sorted out some flowers for Monday morning, burnt some rubbish and practiced making a dried flower, flower crown for an upcoming workshop. Then once John came home we went off to our grandnephews 4th birthday party where we caught up with extended family. Once back home we donned work clothes and went up the back to try and sort out (fix) some of the fencing that has gone over in the big paddock. Once we have cobbled it back together we can let the horses back in and they will be happier as they have more area to graze over. We worked out there until it got almost dark and we just have a bit more to do tomorrow.

Sunday: It was another frosty start but it thawed fairy quickly in the early sunshine. I cut some foliage for birthday flowers going out tomorrow then a few household bits while I waited for John to bring in the eggs. When he didn’t appear I went to look for him and he was down in the far corner fixing the fence already. Once that was done we were able to let the horses back in and they now have a new bit to graze on which was a sectioned off walkway. We don’t really need it now and the fence was falling down so we altered it for them to graze, it will save us mowing it.

I was doing some bits in the greenhouse and garden while John was trying to sort out a water butt on the end of the greenhouse. We have one each side but one keeps going over and so out came the sand and cement plus a few slabs and hopefully that will make it more stable.

By mid afternoon the sun had disappeared and it was cold on the fingers and toes so we called it a day, went in and lit the fire then spent the afternoon relaxing.

Early evening, I got the dinner, John did the animals then I had to make up the bouquets of flowers for tomorrow and finally we can sit down and not do anything at all 🤪

Posted in Friesland Farm

Some lovely sunny days, some very rainy nights and flooding again.

Posted on by frieslandfarm

Monday 12th February 2023: Wowzers I logged on to see a message from WordPress wishing me happy anniversary, 13 years I have been blogging, that’s some dedication isn’t it 😂

The sun has shone beautifully today and my first job was to walk up to the church and meet the lady in charge as I have a customer who wants pedestal flowers for a funeral next week. It was nippy on the fingers but a lovely walk there and back, even with the volume of traffic that has increased due to another local road being closed from today for repairs. I say repairs I am not sure they actually do very much 🙄 the pot holes are ridiculous around the area, some could be regarded as craters rather than holes and some are very dangerous indeed especially on the unlit roads. The council seem to be able to wriggle out of paying any compensation from what I have seen on social media so it is costing car owners a fortune.

Once I was back I set about the business of selling flowers, well gearing up for it anyway. I got my roadside sign out and cleaned it up ready for the year ahead and made some extra signs that can be added to it to say when I have flowers available. Then I made a notice for the egg shed so that people know exactly how to pay for their flowers and finally make sure the doorbell was working, it wasn’t 🤪 So here is where working by yourself gets annoying, once I prised the bell off the gatepost and took it in to find a new battery (turns out I didn’t need one as the bell works and just needed the battery clamped a little tighter) I took it back outside and re fitted it. So far so good but I needed to see if it works and I am too far from the house to hear the internal end of the bell. So I set my phone on voice memo, pressed record and went outside to ring the bell, came back in to listen to the recording to find out if it actually works. I am glad to say it does and so that saves me a lot more faffing around.

I made soup for lunch today and we have left over roast chicken for dinner tonight, there is enough for bubble and squeak for John and I will have mine with some mushrooms and pasta or rice, haven’t decided which yet.

In the afternoon I was in the flower room creating a heart memorial with flowers for a customer tomorrow. I love doing these, they are different and I usually know who they are for so each one is a little sad to make but an honour to be asked and made with love and respect.

I also made up a small bunch of flowers for someone having a tough time at the minute, they are purely from me to them to say, chin up, you will get through this. That’s the thing about flowers, they can say so many things, I love you, I’m sorry, I’m here for you, Happy birthday, Happy anniversary and so much more, only one other thing can do the same, Chocolate 🥰

I will have flowers for Valentine’s Day but I have not taken orders I mean how many significant others are that well organised 😂 This year at least I will be relying on those that are driving past, see the sign and think ‘you have saved my day’ and with the diverted traffic increase it might work well!

I did a small amount outside, just moving Ranuculas from the greenhouse to the poly tunnel, where the air flow will be better for them, before coming in for a sit down.

Tuesday: Oscar day 🥰 We had a fun filled afternoon it being pancake day. It’s one of those traditions that everyone loves, my Mum always made us pancakes, I made our girls pancakes and now they make their children pancakes. This year it fell in the half term and so they all came over here for pancakes with Oscar which is lovely. It was carnage 😂 all kinds of goodies went on top of each pancake and Oscar although he is only 16 months put away three of three and wanted more! Once they were done the adults had a chance to have a more civilised feast of pancakes, fruits, crème fraise and a drizzle of melted chocolate 😊

Although I had already been busy all day long there was no time to rest as I had flowers to get sorted for tomorrow. Finally sat down around 9pm so that was a long day.

Wednesday: It is of course Valentines day ❤️ so I was up early getting the sign out and putting out some flowers I had made up last evening.

I spent a good chunk of time sorting out what was going to be for lunch and dinner tonight before going out into the greenhouse for a more gentle couple of hours. I have sown seeds, pricked out seedlings and divided up a large pot of chrysanthemums. I have a lot more chrysanthemums to divide yet and no idea where I will put them all. Some I will be selling as small plants but I will be keeping a lot for flowers later in the year. I have two reasons to try and sell a lot of plants this year, one is because I have a lot of material to divide and can’t possibly use it all and the other is because I have an awful lot of plant pots 🤪 Seriously I can’t believe how many there are out there, so if I can use a good lot to sell plants in then I will free up some space. I don’t think I have ever bought a new plant pot in my life, not empty ones anyway, there is always someone who asks if I want any and I never say no lol.

Thursday: I got a bit done first thing and then Mia, George and Lucie for a few hours while Sam was busy and Charlie came over with Oscar. After everyone had lunched we went out for a walk, it was a lovely afternoon, the sun was out and it felt pleasant. The ground in still a bit soggy underfoot in places and so directing George away from mud was a full time job 😂

Friday: Another nice enough day in the end, the sun came out again and so working outside was ok. I spent a couple of hours in the greenhouse first, dividing more chrysanthemums, I will have lot of good sized plants at this rate. Yesterday one of those cheap tunnels arrived because that’s where I want to put the chrysanthemums once they start to flower. At the minute they are in the small tunnel, they come out over summer and then go back in as the weather changes, mostly to save the flowers from the rain and cold. But it means I can’t use the tunnel for anything else and it is difficult to manoeuvre in there when I am cutting the stems and so I ordered this one. I put it together in the afternoon once I had put membrane down in the place I want it to go, turns out it was bigger than I had imagined, because of course I didn’t take much notice of the dimensions when I ordered it only that it was big enough 😂 It is actually really good value for money and fairly robust once everything is tightened up, though I am not sure it will stand up to high winds 🙄 so I may need to remove the cover once the flowers are done each winter 🤷‍♀️

Saturday: We did a few jobs around the place before going off to collect some very lovely flower buckets that someone was selling online. A florist that was retiring and moving away, she was lovely and full of support for British flowers, gave me lots of extras as well as lots of great flower arranging tips.

We just got back when Shelley arrived with Josh and Flo and the Charlie, Macca and Oscar arrived too. Shelley and family had been in London for the past few days having a lovely time being tourists and we heard all about their adventures. Meanwhile Charlie had come to fill up some bags with woodchip to take home and put on her garden.

After everyone had gone I spent some time doing the greenery for a pedestal arrangement that will be going on Monday, the flowers I will put in on Sunday ready to be delivered first the Monday morning.

In the evening My brother and his wife popped for a visit and a cuppa.

Sunday: It rained all night long, heavy at times, we had 4 inches of water in a bucket that was empty last evening. The paddocks were flooded, the hay barn was flooded, the lane was flooded, it was a terrific amount of water overnight. We went out to the lane first thing to see just how deep it was and if cars could pass, just about was the conclusion we came to along with our neighbour.

John and I then spent quite a few hours working on the front fence line, it was in a state of disrepair and falling over so we began taking it down, cutting back and raking out debris. By mid afternoon we had got it sorted and now all that is left to do is burn all the branches and rotten fencing. We then need to plant some saplings into any gaps, we left the stock fencing up as there are so many bits of tree and shrubs growing through it that it stays there by itself and looks ok as it is.

All the time we were working we were watching cars come down the lane towards the flooded area, some, especially smaller cars, turned around, some drove through cautiously and some absolute t**ts sped through with some speed (yep that is you in the DPD van too) Great fun for them not so much for us with land each side and definitely not so much for the poor jogger who got soaked by one idiot going through 😡 and got called, quite rightly, some choice names. I was secretly hoping that at least one that went through like an idiot would break down the other side so we could have a good laugh, wicked I know but would have been very satisfying 🤣

Even though we had all that rain, the weather was actually really nice during the day, spring is definitely on the way thank goodness. Blossom is beginning to burst out, daffodils, iris, crocus, snowdrops, hellebore are all adding to the pops of colour and all very welcome after the greyness of Winter.

Oh and the geese laid their first eggs today 😊

Posted in Friesland Farm

I found a frog 🐸 some flower work and plenty of outside jobs done.

Posted on by frieslandfarm

Monday 29th January 2024: First month of the year almost done we just need to get through February 😂

I started the day with a cook up, I am getting into a good routine with this and I have great freezer choices to show for it. We had roast chicken yesterday and so I wanted to make good use of the leftovers this morning. In the slow cookers are a chicken stew mix which could also be used for chicken pie. The other one has the carcass in with onion, carrot, bay and thyme, that will be stock, useful for gravy or soup. The last lot is in a pan and is chicken curry, I like a mild curry and use whatever spices I have available, a bit of this and a bit of that, as long as it tastes good too me that’s fine as John does not eat curry.

Shelley popped in for a cuppa but as soon as she left I went outside as the weather is pretty good again today.

I have been tidying the area around the greenhouse, the winds we have had blew things everywhere and knocked over overwintering plants. I swept up all the leaves and righted the pots, picked up pots and rubbish that had been blown around and that is a great time to check on the health of plants that have gone through the winter. I only found a couple that didn’t make it so that’s great news, the others are all beginning to put small amounts of growth on, they will be left now to continue growing in until I can plant them up or sell them on.

I found a frog! This is fabulous news because I haven’t seen any since we had the snake a couple of years ago, funnily enough I was only talking to Mum about it yesterday and then today ta da 😊

Indoors for a quick lunch and a cuppa before going back outside where I decided to tidy up the plant pot section 😬 oh my days I have a ridiculous number of pots 😂 I found a clutch of eggs too but decided to throw them rather than test them but they didn’t pop or smell so we’re probably recently laid there. Normally I would test them and then we would use them ourselves or give them to the dogs and cats but I was feeling sure they would be no good, wrong 🤪 never mind. The hens are confined to their outdoor run at the minute because they scratch everything up and I want some of the plant growth to get stronger before they come back out. If they see newly mulched beds they think it is for their pleasure!

Tuesday: Oscar day, he was on fine form today lol.

Wednesday: I couldn’t really get stuck into much because I had a hospital appointment in the afternoon in Oxford 🙄 While I am grateful, getting to the other side of Oxford for 4pm is a mission. You need to avoid the school traffic and then avoid the work traffic on the way out. The first we managed by leaving here early, the second, nope, two hours to get back home 🤪 The appointment was a Lupus one and we had a good discussion about various symptoms, I had lots of blood tests for any vitamin deficiencies as well as monitoring vital organ health. Remember that blood test I had that means I am HLA-B27 positive? Well it turns out that it is a useful blood test as it elevates me to another level of medications should I ever need them, Biologics 🤷‍♀️ Useful to know, another thing I found out is that when I had blood tests for my eyes they tested my heart enzymes as well, along with a chest X-ray I think these are pre checks for the Biologics in case I need to have them at some point.

I did play with some flowers in the morning though so not a totally wasted day, I also cut some flowers for a test run. Hellebore can be tricky and I want to use some at the weekend so I tried different methods of conditioning for them to see which holds up best.

In the evening I had a zoom meeting to attend although by 8pm I was quite tired and by the time it finished at 9.30pm I was definitely knackered 😂

Thursday: Sunny but colder today and I mostly spent all morning trying to do an information reel that in the end was not how I wanted it to be 🤪 If at first you don’t succeed try, try, try again but it does take up a lot of time which is fine in the winter months, I won’t be doing it during the spring and summer 😬

I then tried to set up a new email with my Google domain, sign in, wrong password, really I only changed it two weeks ago 🤷‍♀️ hit the forgot password button, chose the text message option for a code, no signal, none, nada, so try again with an email option……we will send it in 5 days, 5 days wtaf! This is the age of instant information what in the heck could take five days? I could probably get snail mail quicker than that. So here I am stuck between a rock and a hard place at the minute unable to update my business page 🙄

Friday: I had some flowers to cut this morning then some flowery stuff to do, it’s nice to have that amazing smell again, everyone always comments about how lovely the flower room smells.

My tooth or more precisely the socket where to tooth was is still giving me a bit of gip but nothing like it was, I think everything around it is moving and settling now now it’s more of an irritating nag than pain.

The farrier came late afternoon and Sam had already called in and got the horses into the stable with some hay so I only had to get them out and tie them up. Once their pedicure was complete I took them back out to the field where they had more hay. I was hoping John was going to be around to help me (and he was) because the gateway fences are really bad and almost going over, I can just see the scenario if they went over while I was trying to get two great galahs through 😂 We had a delivery of new gates and fence posts the other day ready to re new everything and hopefully we can get that done soon. The price of timber has gone up massively since we last bought any and it was a bit of a shock at how much one fence post is these days let alone 50 of them! Needless to say we will be reusing every bit of rail that is remotely good enough 🤪

We went food shopping straight after the horses were turned back out and I am finding it hard to believe the cost of food these days too 🙄 John and I talked about how expensive it must be with a growing family, we don’t even need to buy much but it still adds up. John insists on giving the cats and dogs treats on top of what they already eat, personally I wouldn’t as I am not keen on cereal based food for animals that wouldn’t normally eat it, but no matter how much I say about it he still buys them, you will kill them with kindness I tell him 🤷‍♀️

Food has been high on my thought chart this week despite the cost of it, I have been watching or reading different things about what is in a lot of it and how to make better swaps. It amazes me that people understand so little about what they are eating and what is healthy and what is not. The industry has managed to convince shoppers that low sugar or low fat are better products, they are not, they are just lower in sugar or fat, something else has been included to counter that and in low fat it is usually sugar and in low sugar it’s usually fat! You are not getting away from either ingredient lol, and don’t even get me started on how harmful sweetness are 😳 Eat full fat just don’t eat much of it, eat sugar instead of sweetener just don’t eat much of it, better still cut sugar out altogether. I confess I am no Angel 😇 I do not cut out sugar, I should but I don’t, I might try for a while but it never lasts. Watching or reading these things makes me realise that we do well with our food really, yes we eat sugar and fats but I cook from scratch (and scratch is not a jar of sauce and some mince btw) and I know exactly what is in most of our meals right down to how much salt because I have put it in myself.

My next lot of cooking or baking is going to be breakfast bars and maybe breakfast muffins. I normally have a banana for breakfast, sometimes with oats and Greek yoghurt but often I would like something I can grab and get on or have it with a cuppa mid morning. Oats, yoghurt, banana can all be turned into bars or muffins with a couple of extra ingredients so it is basically the same in a different form.

Saturday & Sunday: Bust couple of days as the weather is holding and for Winter it was fairly pleasant so we worked outside. John has been taking down collapsing fencing and gateways and replacing with new posts, reusing old rail and hung a new gate. He also helped me to put in some stakes on the perennial beds after I had top dressed them and mulched. I then put in place some netting to help the stems grow up through and keep them upright. Last year I lost too many stems to the wind or that just fell over, this will help them grow straight, stay in situ and so be more useful as cut flowers. I also spent a good deal of time at the bottom end of the garden cutting back shrubs and pruning the apple tree. The blackcurrant bushes there have died (swamped by nettles) and I cut the gooseberry bushes right down, there is still a lot of work to be done there but I made a good start.

I had some flowers to do for a customer who was having a Ruby wedding anniversary party and I was able to use some beautiful dark red Hellebore. They are notoriously divarish and can just flop without warning so I hope they behaved themselves, I did do a test run a few days before and all seemed well and then I cut them the day before and they were still ok the next day when I delivered them.With Hellebore they respond well to balancing in hot water for a minute or two, you can see all the air bubbles coming out and that’s what you want, to displace the air so the stem can take up water.

The fragrance from these jam jar flowers was amazing.
Posted in Friesland Farm

The weather is up and down and my tooth is out!

Posted on by frieslandfarm

Monday 15th January 2024: We had a beautiful warm glow sky this morning, it didn’t last long and when I stepped outside it was trying to snow. There was a good frost which is much needed but I prefer the days that warm as they go and I don’t think we are going to get many of those this week. I will definitely be using some of my ready made soups and stews, it is going to be the week for them I think.

In previous years I have had the January blues but not this year, this year I am just looking forward to all the that the year will bring, even though I reach a big birthday 🤪 it is just a number and besides it is a good excuse to get some things ticked off my bucket list.

A quick dive into the freezer this morning to get some ready prepared meals out for lunch and dinner. Veg soup for lunch and then bubble and squeak (Christmas dinner version 🤪) for John a Moroccan lamb for me and an apple and strawberry crumble for pudding, living the dream 😊

Some household chores for the morning then in the afternoon I cut back the chrysanthemums in the smaller tunnel. These are in old recycle bins and when the weather warms up they go out, when they begin to flower and the weather turns again in Autumn they come back inside so that the rain does not spoil the flowers.

I really need to divide them in spring and find a better or less heavy way of heaving them in and out of the tunnel because they do get heavy plus there is not much room in the tunnel once they are in. I will ponder on that over the next few days, for now they are cut back and new growth is coming from the bottom so they are doing ok.

Tuesday: Oscar day 🥰 All my minutes are spent with Oscar but while he was asleep I got swayed by looking at seeds and ordered some more 🤪 normally I wouldn’t as I have what I need but then I thought, we’ll they would look nice with such and such, and then I was tempted 😂 oops 😬 sorry not sorry. I then signed up for another online course 🥰 I like the online ones because I can fit them in around me and my life and they usually have lifetime access so you can go back to them over and over again, plus this one was half price in the January sale, win, win.

When I get a minute or too I often read random articles and again while Oscar was sleeping I saw one that intrigued me. Dessert stomach, scientists have studied this and it appears to be part of that primal instinct that we have tucked deep in the recesses of our modern brains. You have had a hefty Sunday dinner and are ‘full’ but you make room for pudding, apparently this is not greed (you will be glad to know I am sure) but a primal need to include as many types of food in your diet as you can. The fact that modern society is addicted to sugar complicates things but put simply your body is after the fruit. You never need an excuse to have pudding again, you are pre programmed 😂

Wednesday: I had a dentist appointment mid morning so I knew I would not be getting stuck into any jobs that would take a great length of time. I had a filled tooth that had fractured and partly broken away leaving half a tooth and some filling and was going in to have it refilled but on further exploration the tooth was going to need to come out. I did have the choice of trying to fill it and see if it would hold but the best case scenario was a couple of years and the nerve was likely to be affected earlier than that so as I was already numbed up I decided to have it out there and then. It was tricky to remove as it rotated and had a slight hook on the end of the root but with quite a bit of effort it came out in the end 🙄

So that meant instead of getting on with anything I needed to go home and have a bit of a sit down for a couple of hours and some painkillers. Lunch was a no no and so a luke warm cup of tea was the best I was going to get for a while 😬

Thursday: I lost the day resting and taking care not to aggravate my empty tooth socket 🙄 I need to be extra careful obviously due to the immune suppressants and I can afford myself the time to do this. I had the online course to watch so that’s what I did and it is very good with plenty of new things to learn.

Friday: My goodness it is cold this morning 🥶 hopefully the temperatures will start to come up at the weekend but in the meantime it is cold and icy out. I didn’t have such a great night, I woke with some pain but once I took some painkillers and they kicked in I was able to get some sleep again. It is Maccas birthday to day and Charlie is taking him to London overnight so we will be collecting Oscar from Nursery and he will be staying overnight with us.

Saturday: A tad warmer today but we have a weather warning, as the temps come up we swing from cold frozen weather into very wet and very windy weather 🤪 I think I need to have a look back over the years at the weather in January to see if it has changed or it’s still fundamentally the same. It seems increasingly volatile and harsh but maybe it always seems like that when there is not much else to focus on. Having said that the volcanic eruptions in Iceland are signs of some kind of Earthly change 🙄

Oscar stayed overnight and he was a little star, we collected him from Nursery late afternoon, he had his dinner and a bath, played a while then went to bed as good as good. Slept 12 hours and was happy when he woke, had breakfast then we took him out to visit Mum and Ken. Back home for lunch and an afternoon sleep 🥰

The sweet pea seeds have sprouted roots, well most of them, the duff ones went in the compost bin. Tomorrow I will go and get some seed compost, garden compost is too rich for seeds and it needs to be sterile. I really ought to get into the habit of doing a leaf litter bin which would be ideal for seeds but I never get round to it. I do have more sweet pea seeds on order, not sure what possessed me 🙄 but I ordered a few different colours. I am not usually very good with them as I forget to pinch them out at the right time but I will try very hard this year and hopefully end up with lots of beautiful blooms.

Sunday: A pleasant enough start to the day, the temperature has improved a lot and it doesn’t feel cold which is great. We do have a weather warning though as I mentioned yesterday but was able to get I to the greenhouse and tidy that up a little. It was lovely in there to be honest and I tidied up, swept, cleared dead leaves and watered the plants that are in there. Now the freezing weather has passed (no doubt it will be back) I was able to give the plants a bit of water and uncover them so they have good light. By the time the temperatures dip again they will have used up the water, they only need minimal at this time of year but it will help to put on a bit more growth. We also went to get some seed compost so that I can get the sweet pea seeds (that I have pre sprouted) growing.

Hopefully my tooth, or rather the hole where it was, is healing nicely. Being on immune suppressants can mean things could go wrong as the body does not produce a quick response to healing but so far so good 🤞

It is the turn for some beef in a batch cook today. I had a large beef rib in the freezer that needed using and so most of it will be roasted for dinner but the smaller bone end has been used for a batch of beef stew. The butcher cuts through the bone so that was already done and then I separated the beef from the fat layers and ended up with some nice pieces of beef that I then cubed. I cooked that off with some leeks and celery and then into the slow cooker with seasoning, once it is cooked I will portion it up into the foil containers and freeze for another day. I have roasted the bones along with the bulk of the meat and they will be used to make beef stock which again will be frozen for another day. I have some mince to use up and tomorrow I will be making shepherds pies and chilli. All this preparation will be fabulous once the weather is good enough to be outside for a large part of the day, it means I don’t have to think too much about what’s for dinner I will just grab something from the freezer. The days when I don’t we will eat fish or have non meat or fish days, beans on toast or eggs are our go to quick meals lol.

It is scarily windy out there tonight 🙄

Posted in Friesland Farm

Sorting appointments, seeds and poly tunnel.

Posted on by frieslandfarm

Monday 8th January 2024: It is a tad colder now and at least the rain has stopped. This morning a flock of long tailed tits arrived which nearly always suggests a period of cold weather looming.

I spent the first couple of hours trying to sort out appointments etc, trying being the operative word as nobody seems to answer the phone these days, you are always on a call back or in a never ending queue 🙄 The queue would not be so bad if you knew where in the queue you were but just to be on hold with crappy music for 15 mins is not great, no wonder stress levels have risen over the years. The next call was again on hold but at least I spoke to a human in the first place 🤪 I discovered I could book one of the appointments online, great until I realised I had booked it for two weeks away instead of this week! The forth I resorted to an enquiry form online and who knows if they will ever get back to me. Life is just not the same anymore, no one answers the phone and no one replies to your enquires lol. I managed to get three out of four sorted eventually so not a bad effort, the other I might just go in person when I have a minute.

I did up the list of workshop dates for the coming year and circulated those yesterday afternoon and despite the fact it is mid winter I still have a few flowers blooming and so a jam jar went to the local home this morning and I have sold a couple of bunches of dried flowers so it is still ticking over on that front.

Feeding the wild birds was on my todo list and prompted further by the arrival of the long tailed tits. I don’t generally feed the birds anymore, instead I leave everything that was growing, and has now died back, as a more natural eco system. I believe that there is plenty to be found and lots of hiding or overwintering places for insects that way and the birds can access those too. The exception comes when I know we are about to have a cold snap that will freeze everything and therefore either limit access to seeds/berries etc or kill off insects. Yes it does look untidy but we have to live in harmony with nature and not control it for our own vanity purposes, this helps to create a more natural environment for birds and insects and hopefully benefits me because they are sticking around and balancing themselves out 😊

I am determined to work my way through the freezers this winter and so today I have got out a leg of pork that needs using up, we will probably have that roasted tomorrow and then I will find a recipe for any left overs. I also got some chicken pieces that we had prepared for a bbq last year and didn’t use. I love a one pot recipe and so they are going on top of chopped celery, mushrooms and onions, brown rice is added to the dry mix along with seasoning and herbs and then water added to all of it, the chicken sat on top, covered and baked in the oven, easy peasy. I also got out a cake that I made and froze and some bubble and squeak (Christmas leftovers) for John along with one of the plum crumbles. I also made a batch of leek and potato soup (remember all those leeks John bought 🤪)

I made a batch of yoghurt, I don’t make it from scratch I use a yoghurt maker for that and I made a batch of doctored oats. I use plain quick cook oats, add anything dried that is suitable such as sunflower seeds and I have our own hazelnuts to start using so some of those went in as well. I also add cinnamon just because I like it and it’s good for you, mix it all up in a handy jar ready to use each morning. I use boiled water that has cooled a little to mix it and then add yoghurt and fresh fruit, sometimes with a drizzle of maple syrup or the blackcurrant syrup. You could mix in some nut butter instead (or as well as the yoghurt) Whatever you fancy really and it is so much nicer than plain oats with milk, healthier than sugary ready made cereals and good wholesome ingredients.

I love the apps that generate a recipe for you when you tell it what ingredients you have. I am using bing but there are probably plenty of others to chose from.

Tuesday: Oscar day 🥰 I don’t get an awful lot done on these days, well nothing in fact 😂 but that’s ok because before you know it they are old enough to go to school and these days are gone forever so I make the most of them. I couldn’t tell you how many times a day I sing ‘the wheels on the bus’ or ‘twinkle twinkle’ but it is a lot 🤪

Wednesday: I decided today was a good day to sort out my seed box ready for the growing season ahead. Most of the seeds I want for this year were ordered back in Autumn, again in order to get the varieties I want I have to be on the ball and get the order in early. A lot are half packets from last year but I will be using those up and I have saved seed from a fair few plants too. Everything needed looking at and putting in the correct sowing month which is easier said than done because the time can vary over a few months for most of them but the ideal month to start them off and go from there. Some I sorted out for Mum and there was only one where the packet was empty and I re ordered. All in all it was a good hour or so spent doing that job.

It is very tempting to keep ordering more and more seeds or plants 😂 but I am trying to behave myself, I did spend the last couple of years investing in what perennials I wanted and so this spring I will be dividing a lot of them to increase my plant stock.

We have talked about the need for better staking so that is a priority this year and once that Easterly wind drops we will go off to the wood yard to find some garden stakes. Not point wandering around in the bitter cold is there 🤷‍♀️

John had been out to work for a couple of hours and then came back and we went off to see if I could find a dentist 🙄 For those readers not in the UK our NHS dentistry system has all but disappeared, well in this area anyway, it is even difficult to get appointments for children which is rather disgusting I think. You cannot get an NHS appointment for love and so you have to pay the money which is exactly what I will be doing. Everything went wrong when covid hit and I have not been to a dentist since 2020, I was doing ok and then after a toffee (because I can’t resist a toffee) half of a tooth came away 😝 It isn’t a problem yet as there is no pain but I do not want to get the that stage and so need it looked at. Once I had been in to register and book an appointment we went round to see Mum and Ken for a cuppa.

The rest of the day was spent doing odd jobs, me around the house and John outside.

I have a zoom meeting tonight for social media, they are great and I learn a lot but I do wonder if I am getting sucked into the trap 🤪

January can be a pretty dull month, the sky is dull and there is not much going on but it is a great month to have a good think (in the warm) and decided what the year ahead is going to be all about. We have weeks to go but I can’t wait until the growing season gets going again and of course it will be warmer too hopefully.

Thursday: Getting bits and pieces done this morning, putting things back in their right places (I think they wander by themselves 🙄) Measuring and ordering muslin to make some curtains for the workshop, in summer it gets very hot as the sun shines directly in and last year I used some old bed sheets 😂 A quick reel for Instagram, which is never quick due to glitches 🤪 put out the rubbish, put on the washing all that sort of thing, nothing exciting but all necessary. I have a dentist appointment today but accidentally double booked it with looking after Oscar for an hour so I need to tweak timings, as long as the appointment is on time it should be fine but we all know how the best laid plans go! I also ordered some more business cards as I have used up the last batch 😊 to be honest I ordered them wondering if I would ever use them but each one went out on some flowers and I need more for the coming year.

Off to the dentist at lunchtime and I had the nicest dentist I have ever had 😊 Also very knowledgable about my medications and the impact they have on my teeth as well as how Lupus affects my mouth and teeth, impressed (even if it is going to cost me a chunk 🤪)

Straight after that I went to Charlie’s to look after Oscar while she went for an appointment, he went for a nap as I got there and didn’t wake up until Charlie came back. I had a lovely time as Charlie had left me some home made soup and I watched an hour of tv 🥰

I had taken this evenings dinner out of the freezer before I went out earlier as I knew I wouldn’t be here to make anything and that’s what the cook ups are all about. We had lamb stew and I made some dumplings to go in there too, nothing better on a cold Winters evening than a good stew and dumplings. That was followed by a fruit pie, slightly tart, I never like to overshadow the flavour of the fruit with too much sugar and surprisingly John didn’t even add extra sugar today either. I have a bit of a thing for evaporated milk 😂 and like to keep a small tin of it to have with a pudding occasionally.

Friday: I spent a good couple of hours making sure all my media was up to date and all linking with each other. Gone are the old days when you put a card in the local newsagent window 😂 or even just a straightforward website for that matter. Today social media pages need to link to websites, blogs, Google business profiles and vice versa, it is made all the more difficult because in my wisdom I set up separate ones for the flower side. In hindsight I should have just amalgamated it with the farm one which was already running 🤪🤪 I have updated a couple of the pages on this site to hopefully link with those social media sites so if you haven’t already had a look then please pop over and introduce yourself, you would be most welcome to follow me on:

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/frieslandfarmflowers?igsh=bDlqNmFmZ2w3Z21u&utm_source=qr

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dawnepearse

I still have some tweaks to make and one day I will streamline it all 🙄 but all in all you should find me one way or another!

I do have a podcast as well 😂 it started off really well and then when I changed direction it kind of fizzled out and I am floundering as to how to re invent it really but it was well received and I even have people who are now friends on Facebook from it 😊

Saturday: John spent the morning riddling compost, another 10 bags 😊 that will be very useful for topping up the beds come spring. Too rich for sowing seeds but good for everything else. Meanwhile I was in the workshop making some Muslim curtains for the windows, the sun shines strongly into the room in summer so if I can diffuse a little that will be helpful. I also collected up some of the weeping birch that naturally sheds when the winds are strong, I use that for making hearts. The hearts are then used as a base for grave flowers and in the past these are usually bought on appropriate calendar dates or for anniversaries.

It is cold enough today but we have an artic blast coming over the next few days, down to -8 at times 🥶 and that could potentially bring snow with it 🙄 All I think is just keep marching on and spring will be round the corner in no time, let’s just hope we get an early one lol.

Sunday: We went out for breakfast first thing, there is a place not too far that starts breakfast at 7.30am, ideal for us early risers who want to get on with the rest of the day. We called in to see my brother and his wife on the way back and had a quick cuppa with them before returning home to get on with some work. Right through until early afternoon John spent his time riddling the compost while I cut back the chrysanthemums in the big tunnel. I then got the staking organise for them for the next lot of growth, I covered the doorway at the end with bubble wrap and put a protect wrap around the stocks that are also growing in there. John came in with wheelbarrows full of compost to top up the beds at times and I feel that we accomplished quite a bit today. The sun came out and the temperatures in the tunnel were lovely but I needed to make sure that if we get that artic blast, plants are not going to suffer too much. I am also determined to get the staking sorting early in the season as I lose too many blooms that fall over otherwise. Mid afternoon my brother came over to get some wood chip to mulch his beds also to protect them from the cold weather.

I put some sweet pea seeds on damp kitchen towel to get them sprouted, I had a successful sowing in Autumn which is still growing I am glad to say. It is getting to the time of the gardening year when I am chomping at the bit but know I need to hold off for a long while yet but every little I can do is a step nearer.

Have a great week.