just when you think there's nothing new left.....I am working on getting some raw fleeces straight from the sheeps back! I will process it myself and knit it up! I can lay them out in the sun to dry out the lanolin. I will then put them in the washing machine inside a pillowcase to clean them up. I will then card them and spin them into usable wool. I may try natural dye too to give me some colour!
I am very excited with this one. I missed out on some Alpaca fleeces that were being given away so am really pleased about this. It seems the commercial value of fleece is rock bottom. Most sheep farmers almost give them away to big business. Also smaller farmers do not get any financial aid from government they have to have a minimum of 50 sheep. I find this very sad as I feel small farms are better for animals and the community.
I have worked at getting away from big business as much as possible. Mostly this is achieved by making things myself and growing what I can! If I can buy direct from someone I am happy to do so. Like with the fleece. Who knows where this will lead!
Wednesday 31 May 2017
Sunday 28 May 2017
🍒 🐦
Today we have harvested the lovely cherries that the Starlings usually beat us to! Him indoors set up the scaffolding tower under the enormous tree a week ago. We checked every day to see how ripe the cherries were. The birds were taking the odd one that had ripened early but we timed it right. I have spent the last hour or so de stoning two buckets of cherries. They are now in my maslin pan cooking before being made into a loose cherry jam. Proper jam I have in abundance from all the raspberries and blackcurrants. The cherry is used as a sauce for a good vanilla ice cream ( once my kitchen is done I will make my own) and for the plain yogurt I make every week. We regard it as a real treat.
I feel very privileged to be able to produce our own things and love the whole process.
The veg patch is doing well, loads of peas this year which makes me happy. I hope to fill the freezer!
The courgettes are doing well too so hoping for plenty of pickle in the Autumn.
My sock knitting has slowed due to Bruno dog eating my stitch markers. Him indoors has ordered me some pretty metal bees in assorted sizes. Hopefully Bruno will not be so attracted! I have managed to turn the heel, amazingly and now have to get to grips with knitting the gusset. I will get there I just need a bit of quiet to get my head around it. Once I have done one and know how it works I feel sure I will be fine.
There always seems to be something new to learn! I do not always plan what to tackle next sometimes projects find me. If it feels right I go for it!
I have this week started using instagram as a way of sharing my photos. Still a steep learning curve but already some people who know me have found me! Sometimes it feels weird embracing the modern world alongside so many old fashioned ideals I have! Having said that most of my projects started with google. How did we manage without the internet?
I feel very privileged to be able to produce our own things and love the whole process.
The veg patch is doing well, loads of peas this year which makes me happy. I hope to fill the freezer!
The courgettes are doing well too so hoping for plenty of pickle in the Autumn.
My sock knitting has slowed due to Bruno dog eating my stitch markers. Him indoors has ordered me some pretty metal bees in assorted sizes. Hopefully Bruno will not be so attracted! I have managed to turn the heel, amazingly and now have to get to grips with knitting the gusset. I will get there I just need a bit of quiet to get my head around it. Once I have done one and know how it works I feel sure I will be fine.
There always seems to be something new to learn! I do not always plan what to tackle next sometimes projects find me. If it feels right I go for it!
I have this week started using instagram as a way of sharing my photos. Still a steep learning curve but already some people who know me have found me! Sometimes it feels weird embracing the modern world alongside so many old fashioned ideals I have! Having said that most of my projects started with google. How did we manage without the internet?
Saturday 20 May 2017
Never too old to learn
Watched an episode of gardeners world last night, such a perfect garden Monty Don has, I can but dream!
For some time I have been looking into organic ways of weed control. The programme showed the no dig method. I have been aware of this but not looked at how it works. This was brilliant and introduced in a simple way. He put a wooden frame on the lawn, filled it with compost and planted veg plugs! Basically you just keep covering the weeds around the growing veg with compost. Cutting the light kills them and they become compost as they rot. By continually doing this you eventually eradicate the weeds. By not digging you maintain the quality of the soil. This flies in the face of all I have believed about growing your own. I have even done double digging which is hard work.
I plan to start using this method. As I get older digging is harder and this method will mean I can keep growing my veg. It will be wonderful to move away from the weed patch!
My sock knitting, I managed to turn the heel but when looking at the sock realised I had dropped a stitch further back. It was not possible to recover it so I had to undo all my work and start again. I now know about the lifeline. You thread a piece of wool into a row which means you can undo back to that point. I will be using this before I turn the heel this time! Still enjoying this latest venture though.
My second bee hive has settled in and the bees are busy collecting pollen. The first hive is still strong too. Hoping for a good crop of honey this year. The next few sunny days I will open both hives to see how the honey production is going.
For some time I have been looking into organic ways of weed control. The programme showed the no dig method. I have been aware of this but not looked at how it works. This was brilliant and introduced in a simple way. He put a wooden frame on the lawn, filled it with compost and planted veg plugs! Basically you just keep covering the weeds around the growing veg with compost. Cutting the light kills them and they become compost as they rot. By continually doing this you eventually eradicate the weeds. By not digging you maintain the quality of the soil. This flies in the face of all I have believed about growing your own. I have even done double digging which is hard work.
I plan to start using this method. As I get older digging is harder and this method will mean I can keep growing my veg. It will be wonderful to move away from the weed patch!
My sock knitting, I managed to turn the heel but when looking at the sock realised I had dropped a stitch further back. It was not possible to recover it so I had to undo all my work and start again. I now know about the lifeline. You thread a piece of wool into a row which means you can undo back to that point. I will be using this before I turn the heel this time! Still enjoying this latest venture though.
My second bee hive has settled in and the bees are busy collecting pollen. The first hive is still strong too. Hoping for a good crop of honey this year. The next few sunny days I will open both hives to see how the honey production is going.
Tuesday 16 May 2017
And for the next project.......
firstly sorry still no pictures, just cannot figure out how to do it. I follow the instructions but cannot get to my album. One day maybe.
Meanwhile I started a new venture this last week. I have my first ever knitted sock underway! I have never knitted on a circular needle before and it took a bit of getting used to. I found a great facebook group that has been so helpful! Lots of newbie questions. I am really enjoying knitting the sock. A little concerned about turning the heel but know where to go for help. The other tricky bit will be knitting the second sock to match. There is a natural stripe in the wool I am using and I bought two balls so I can do one sock from each hoping it matches! There are some wonderful colours out there and I am longing to have hand knitted socks! No more cheap socks made by three year olds in China! It might be that I start a trend in unmatched socks!
I have also started another of Lucy's blankets. This is a ripple pattern and the colour way is called seaspray! Another beautiful combination of colours, blues, greens and silver. Him indoors just raises his eyes heavenwards! So I am now dividing my time between sock knitting and crochet. A happy place to be!
This afternoon we are off to spend time with a lovely French lady who helps us English with all things official! To fill in our tax forms. Normally him indoors does them but we have the complication of having sold our English house. It is too easy when dealing with a foreign language to do something wrong. We manage most of the paperwork but feel happier handing this one over!
Early summer is here with the days now much warmer. We no longer need the wood burner in the evenings and it is light until nearly ten pm. I love the softness of this time of year. Beginning to think of getting the shorts out!
We have an egg mountain just now! The chickens are doing well. We are not raising any chicks this year as need to reduce the number. We currently have eleven girls and four boys! The ducks are not doing so well as we have lost most of the girls this year and are left with various breeds of boys. Again I am not doing anything about this as need to restart with a small group. My pair of geese have failed to sit again but that is fine too. We are never going to eat any of the birds, they are here because I enjoy having them around.
The bees are doing well. The swarm I caught are happily settled in the new hive. The two hives are side by side but the bees go to the right one. Even though the swarm came from hive one! Amazing little creatures. When I last checked the honey was not capped off so am leaving it a few more weeks.
The Elders are just coming into flower so I have stocked up on lemons to make the cordial. I need to make more as it did not last all year.
The Raspberries look like giving a bumper crop as do the blackcurrant. Hoping for lots of fruit for jam and bottling. It will be a busy Autumn!
Meanwhile I started a new venture this last week. I have my first ever knitted sock underway! I have never knitted on a circular needle before and it took a bit of getting used to. I found a great facebook group that has been so helpful! Lots of newbie questions. I am really enjoying knitting the sock. A little concerned about turning the heel but know where to go for help. The other tricky bit will be knitting the second sock to match. There is a natural stripe in the wool I am using and I bought two balls so I can do one sock from each hoping it matches! There are some wonderful colours out there and I am longing to have hand knitted socks! No more cheap socks made by three year olds in China! It might be that I start a trend in unmatched socks!
I have also started another of Lucy's blankets. This is a ripple pattern and the colour way is called seaspray! Another beautiful combination of colours, blues, greens and silver. Him indoors just raises his eyes heavenwards! So I am now dividing my time between sock knitting and crochet. A happy place to be!
This afternoon we are off to spend time with a lovely French lady who helps us English with all things official! To fill in our tax forms. Normally him indoors does them but we have the complication of having sold our English house. It is too easy when dealing with a foreign language to do something wrong. We manage most of the paperwork but feel happier handing this one over!
Early summer is here with the days now much warmer. We no longer need the wood burner in the evenings and it is light until nearly ten pm. I love the softness of this time of year. Beginning to think of getting the shorts out!
We have an egg mountain just now! The chickens are doing well. We are not raising any chicks this year as need to reduce the number. We currently have eleven girls and four boys! The ducks are not doing so well as we have lost most of the girls this year and are left with various breeds of boys. Again I am not doing anything about this as need to restart with a small group. My pair of geese have failed to sit again but that is fine too. We are never going to eat any of the birds, they are here because I enjoy having them around.
The bees are doing well. The swarm I caught are happily settled in the new hive. The two hives are side by side but the bees go to the right one. Even though the swarm came from hive one! Amazing little creatures. When I last checked the honey was not capped off so am leaving it a few more weeks.
The Elders are just coming into flower so I have stocked up on lemons to make the cordial. I need to make more as it did not last all year.
The Raspberries look like giving a bumper crop as do the blackcurrant. Hoping for lots of fruit for jam and bottling. It will be a busy Autumn!
Monday 8 May 2017
Big sigh of relief!
The French elections are done and the Front National did not win. Phew! It would have made life very difficult for us if they had. As we are not French citizens we are not allowed to vote. The manifesto of the new president looks good but politicians have a habit of promising the moon then forgetting they ever did so. The new president speaks English!
We still do not know what challenges Brexit will bring us but we are feeling more settled already.
Sadly I lost another duck this week. A female again. It is time to sort out the ducks. I need to find more females. Or maybe a new group. The boys seem happy and stay in a tight group.
Tomorrow I will extract some honey from the hive. The original hive has 7 full frames of honey. I have to take it now as there is a risk it is from the rape flowers. This will crystallize if not removed. I do not have an extractor so googled it. I will use my colander to do this. I will heat the carving knife to remove the wax caps then drag off the comb into the colander. I will place this over my stewpot to drain. I will then warm the pot and the honey and pour it into a large bowl. Any remaining wax will rise to the top and can then be removed. I can then pot up the honey. I will let you know if this is successful. At some point I need to invest in an extractor.
In September I hope to take more honey from both hives that should give us enough to last until next year. I plan to use the honey to replace most of the sugar I buy in. It is my only non vegan thing and I am comfortable having it as the bees do not die and are not exploited.
Meanwhile the Gite bookings are increasing. We took the decision the change to flexible arrival and departures and set a minimum 4 night stay. This has resulted in more bookings. We are now on 11 weeks. The trend now seems to be to book nearer the arrival date. We are hoping to sell more weeks nearer the time this season.
Gite number two is almost ready. A couple more weeks will see it done. Then onto the final one which has already had a lot completed.
A friend came over last week with his mini digger and did the groundwork for our pétanque court. Work is now progressing on that. It is another area of the garden that has been cleared of brambles. The idea is for guests and us to have games. In September all three Gites are booked for three couples. I am sure they will enjoy a game. Eventually when the bread oven barn is renovated into a little pub it will be a social area.
It really feels like our dream is coming together now.
We still do not know what challenges Brexit will bring us but we are feeling more settled already.
Sadly I lost another duck this week. A female again. It is time to sort out the ducks. I need to find more females. Or maybe a new group. The boys seem happy and stay in a tight group.
Tomorrow I will extract some honey from the hive. The original hive has 7 full frames of honey. I have to take it now as there is a risk it is from the rape flowers. This will crystallize if not removed. I do not have an extractor so googled it. I will use my colander to do this. I will heat the carving knife to remove the wax caps then drag off the comb into the colander. I will place this over my stewpot to drain. I will then warm the pot and the honey and pour it into a large bowl. Any remaining wax will rise to the top and can then be removed. I can then pot up the honey. I will let you know if this is successful. At some point I need to invest in an extractor.
In September I hope to take more honey from both hives that should give us enough to last until next year. I plan to use the honey to replace most of the sugar I buy in. It is my only non vegan thing and I am comfortable having it as the bees do not die and are not exploited.
Meanwhile the Gite bookings are increasing. We took the decision the change to flexible arrival and departures and set a minimum 4 night stay. This has resulted in more bookings. We are now on 11 weeks. The trend now seems to be to book nearer the arrival date. We are hoping to sell more weeks nearer the time this season.
Gite number two is almost ready. A couple more weeks will see it done. Then onto the final one which has already had a lot completed.
A friend came over last week with his mini digger and did the groundwork for our pétanque court. Work is now progressing on that. It is another area of the garden that has been cleared of brambles. The idea is for guests and us to have games. In September all three Gites are booked for three couples. I am sure they will enjoy a game. Eventually when the bread oven barn is renovated into a little pub it will be a social area.
It really feels like our dream is coming together now.
Tuesday 2 May 2017
Life 🌈🌨🌞
Sometimes the sun shines sometimes it rains and sometimes we have rainbows when the two come together. Bit like life really.
We had a last minute booking for a week and they arrived this evening. This flexible booking seems to be the answer for now.
I managed to break a tooth which I know will have to be removed. Being someone who has a fear of the dentist and as it did not hurt I shelved it! This bank holiday weekend I paid the price. Today after much chasing around I have started on a strong dose of Amoxicillin for an abscess. It also brought to light that my carte vitale does not work! This is the healthcare card that holds all your details and allows you to be treated for minimal cost. It also allows for reimbursements. The doctor joked that it is because I have not used it for nearly two years. We now have to start the battle to get a new one! The doctor did mention that because I have two siblings with type 1 diabetes I should be having regular blood tests. I have kept away from this but think maybe I should have it done to stop my carte vitale being blocked again! I now have to make an appointment with the dentist.
Yesterday my little Mrs Mallard went missing. A fox was seen in the area so I am sure that is where she went. The three boys are rather lost, the four of them have been together from eggs. There is not much chance of finding any female Mallards.
I have lost a lot of my veg plants to unexpected frost. I mentioned this on a forum I belong to and a complete stranger has offered me replacements. How lovely is that? Just need to arrange when I pick them up.
Hopefully the Frosty weather is behind us and I can really get going with the veg.
A few days ago a friend with a holiday home nearby came over with a mini digger and prepared the pentanque court. We now have the basis to create the court. We took him round a case of wine!
We are getting there slowly.
The bee hives seem happy. Busy coming and going. Next sunny day I need to have another look. Make sure eggs are being laid. We are going to have to take some honey off soon there is so much already. I will have to get the help of my mentor for that as I do not have the gear yet.
Summer is just around the corner!
We had a last minute booking for a week and they arrived this evening. This flexible booking seems to be the answer for now.
I managed to break a tooth which I know will have to be removed. Being someone who has a fear of the dentist and as it did not hurt I shelved it! This bank holiday weekend I paid the price. Today after much chasing around I have started on a strong dose of Amoxicillin for an abscess. It also brought to light that my carte vitale does not work! This is the healthcare card that holds all your details and allows you to be treated for minimal cost. It also allows for reimbursements. The doctor joked that it is because I have not used it for nearly two years. We now have to start the battle to get a new one! The doctor did mention that because I have two siblings with type 1 diabetes I should be having regular blood tests. I have kept away from this but think maybe I should have it done to stop my carte vitale being blocked again! I now have to make an appointment with the dentist.
Yesterday my little Mrs Mallard went missing. A fox was seen in the area so I am sure that is where she went. The three boys are rather lost, the four of them have been together from eggs. There is not much chance of finding any female Mallards.
I have lost a lot of my veg plants to unexpected frost. I mentioned this on a forum I belong to and a complete stranger has offered me replacements. How lovely is that? Just need to arrange when I pick them up.
Hopefully the Frosty weather is behind us and I can really get going with the veg.
A few days ago a friend with a holiday home nearby came over with a mini digger and prepared the pentanque court. We now have the basis to create the court. We took him round a case of wine!
We are getting there slowly.
The bee hives seem happy. Busy coming and going. Next sunny day I need to have another look. Make sure eggs are being laid. We are going to have to take some honey off soon there is so much already. I will have to get the help of my mentor for that as I do not have the gear yet.
Summer is just around the corner!
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