Monday 14 December 2009

Dadaaa.....(and Monday Musings.....)

At last the kitchen is complete. Just a few things to arrange and these lovely shelves to fill with the spices and culinary delights needed near the Aga.
All the walls, woodwork and the ceiling have been given a fresh coat of brilliant white silk emulsion or satinwood and everything is looking fresh and clean. How long that will last in a busy farm kitchen is debatable, but it is easily touched up in the future.
We are going to make pelmets to hide the blue stripey blinds that came with the house, it is not worth replacing them all (we have 3 large windows) as they are seldom used, just occasionally in Summer if the sun is too bright and we are sat around the table.

Chicken Tikka (Chicken on a clock....get it?)

Jokey pictures we bought at the Country Living Fair last year, that have been patiently waiting to be hung.

Duck!

Even the coat rack is looking relatively tidy, all working coats and muddy boots relegated to the utility room, no doubt some will creep back until we get used to using the other back door more.

So it's all clutter free and clear surfaces - for now. With Christmas fast approaching and family due to visit it will soon be full of the sounds of festive cheer and the clunking of pans going on and in the Aga, lovely!!
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And the Monday musing.......well I really am in two minds whether we continue to keep pigs here on the farm. The mud situation is atrocious and personally I hate the stuff. I also hate to see animals living in what I think of as yucky circumstances. I know that's probably the 'townie' in me talking but I truly find the whole thing deplorable.
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We have to wade through yards and yards of mud to get to the pig enclosures and then struggle into them or tip the food over the fence into the trough, (that's if Betty hasn't upended it). I like to see animals relatively clean and cosy, and although they do keep their pig arks clean compared to the outside, they now can't help but walk mud in and then they have to sleep in it. I also like a lot more contact with my animals than is possible in these muddy conditions. Even in rain and coldl I don't mind being outdoors, but the mud is a different story.

So there will be discussions in the house tonight about which way to go forward. It has been well worth having them briefly, whatever we decide to do in the future, as they have perfectly rotorvated the Orchard and with a quick plough it will be perfect to replant with vegetables and trees.
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I am also wondering whether goats would live happily in pig arks?
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The rest of this weekend was spent shopping and attending a friends Surprise Party on Saturday night in the village hall, which was SO much fun. She was told she was checking the fridge for milk ready for the Farmers market on the way to the pub, the look on her face was priceless and well worth all the effort that went into the planning.
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It's a long time since we've danced the night away to cheesy 70s and 80s music, so we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, even if we did have to sober up enough to clear out the village hall and set out the tables for the next morning and then 5 hours later it was back to the village to set out my stall at the brilliant Christmas Farmers Market in the same hall. And of course when your stall looks fantastic you forget your camera!!
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Musing will continue. Hope you had a good weekend too.
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Sue xx

3 comments:

  1. I'm sitting here giggling at those pictures..so funny. Don't you just love tinkering when things are done...loving the shiny kettle on the Aga.

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  2. I understand entirely the stress if you think an animal isn't entirely suited with it's domain: and pigs are so and so's for letting you know!

    But you've got to have pigs Sue! Is there any way they could move to another part of your land for a while? Is there any spare barn space you could put them in for the winter?

    All ours are in barn + electric enclosure combinations. Keeps the mud outside.

    As for goats, distinctly strange creatures IMHO and, I have to say, unsuited to pig arks. Although they'd enjoy climbing on top of them.

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  3. Brilliant comment above - Max may have just saved our piggies bacon. Piggy barn conversion now in the planning!!

    Sue xx

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