And now for something completely different.....

Once upon a time there were two little girls, one hid behind cabbages, until she couldn't grow cabbages big enough...

~ ...and one was brave and boldly showed off her new haircut for all the Blogging world to see.

Together they came up with a plan!!

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A plan that would see them revitalised by Christmas, one that would mean smaller cabbages could be grown next year, and more lovely stripey T shirts could be bought in smaller sizes.

Intrigued.......then follow our progress over on our new Blog....and you are more than welcome to join in. Why wait until the New Year to start a health and fitness plan, why not meet Christmas and the New Year head on, bursting with vitality.

Lets banish the dark days of Winter with healthy food (home grown or not), lets jig about our living rooms in the dark mornings or evening to Dvds, or jog with the dogs in the rain and come back buzzing with that feel good factor that only 'doing' something can give you. We can have a week off at Christmas (if you want to) and then join in again in the New Year knowing that we are already on the track to good health and vitality.

Visit us here to see what we're up to or click the link in the sidebar, the Blog will be updated weekly, with snippets of what we've done in the previous seven days and our progress so far. Now we really will have to stick to it....I've told the world our plan!!

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Normal farm talk resumes tomorrow, with a couple of THE most delightful pictures.

Sue xx

Our Farm...

We live here.....

~ ...our chickens live in Chicken World... ~

...the pig feed lives in the 'Cowavan'...

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...the piggies live in the Orchard...

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...the veggies live in the Kitchen Garden...

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...and the sun sets over the veggies asleep in the Polytunnel.

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Thank you for visiting our Farm, please call again soon.

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Sue xx

Storecupboard Jars

An email asking for a photo of my storecupboard is what inspired this. I was going to take a photo of all the veggies and various 'bits of Betty' in the freezer, but the freezer wont let me in, and the batteries on my camera have just died (technology conspiring against me?).

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The first Car Boot Sale went brilliantly.....we even sold the Landrover we went in!!

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Sue xx

Farm Babies

Monty aged 6 months, last week.

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Rosy aged 9 weeks, last year.

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Maud, Martha , aged 4 months, and Betty age 1 year.

~ Lulu and Lottie aged 2 weeks.

Lavender Pekin Bantams, aged 7 weeks.

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Glorious sunshine here today, we are busy re-locating the Large Black pigs to the Paddock Field.

Hope your day is as good!

Sue xx

Foody Pics......

Herby Aubergine and Tomato Pasta Bake Ready for the oven

Left in bottom oven of Aga for 2 hours. ~ Half taken out and put in sterilised jar for future use, pasta added to other half and baked for another 30 minutes. ~ Ingredients for Garlic Bread. ~ Mix in some Herbs (well you have to make is slightly healthy!) ~ The finished meal - Yummy!

(And enough leftovers for some more tonight.)

Sue xx

Inspired.......

My lovely new book and matching herbs.

Earlier this week when I opened my emails there was a newsletter from Karon at Dream Acres telling us all about her new website, and more importantly (to me) that her book was available to buy. Of course I had to have one, I love books and I love herbs, put the two together and you've got me! Yesterday when Lovely Hubby came in from work he was clutching a big brown padded envelope, it was here already! My very own signed copy.

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Oooh.......perfection, a coffee cup and Lavender, (if you know me you'll know why)!

It is all about herbs and their myriad of uses. Inspiring pictures and lots of good tips. Of course I know Lavender, I love the stuff, my business is based around it, I use it for everything and hopefully inspire my customers to do the same, but the other nine herbs in the book, I'm sad to say although I grow some of them I have never really looked any deeper into them than the odd sprinkle here and there in some of my recipes.

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Pages from her scrapbook, reproduced.

Well not any more, I read the book from cover to cover and while inspiration was fresh, went out to the polytunnel this morning to see what herbs I had been ignoring. I have a beautiful big tub of Parsley, a huge patch of Thyme (in the bed outside the polytunnel) and two gorgeous Rosemary plants, just crying out to be used. In my freezer I have the last of the Basil from the pot on the kitchen windowsill, I will have to get some more planted.

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The book is full of delicious pictures, all taken by Karon.

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As I picked the days tomatoes, (I have been getting a big tub full every day so I have to keep on top of this), I noticed the Aubergine plant had three lovely sized fruits on it, so they were quickly snipped off too.

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In my mind I could see them all together, sliced, drizzled with olive oil, a handful of Thyme and Rosemary, a sprinkling of Parsley and Basil, some freshly ground black pepper and a huge handful of brown pasta to soak up the juices.......there, that was tea planned before I had even eaten my breakfast!!

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Inspiration for tonights evening meal.

~ I sorted them all out when I came in, removed the errant Cabbage White butterfly that was clinging onto the Parsley and laid them out around my new book....there for once a staged shot (all professional like....well sort of!!). After guessing what herbs I would need for my lovely tea I quickly tied the others up, with elastic, as suggested in the book and hung them to dry out over the Aga below my already lovely dry Lavender.

~ My kitchen smells divine and my hands, although I have washed them a few times after doing jobs this morning, still have the delicious smell of Rosemary, my second favourite herb in the world....yummy!

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And now I am off on my Blogging break, for the next four days you will get only a couple of pictures and their description. Thank you for the comments and emails suggesting what you would like to see, the catergories are therefore - Food, Animals, my Storecupboard and the Farm. I guess tomorrows is already sorted, I'll take a shot of our lovely Herby, Tomatoey Pasta Bake.

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Have a lovely Bank Holiday weekend, let's hope that just for once the sun shines, well we must be about to run out of rain, we've had it here ALL week, that lovely clean little piggy is no more!!

Sue xx

Please note all images with the Dream Acres copyright logo are used with the kind permission

of Karon H Grieve, author of So Easy Herbal - my new favourite book!

Time to get down to business.......

It's time to get down to business now, so I'm having a Blogging break for the Bank Holiday weekend. We have so much to do, at the moment I am in the getting towards the end of our last push to live simply. Sorting out the house and jettisoning all unnecessary 'things'. These will be sold off at the two Car Boot Sales we are hoping to do over the weekend (fingers crossed for good weather they are both in fields). Once I have finished that we are having a mammoth tidy up of the farm, to get things clearer for Autumn. Sorting out, mowing, strimming and generally preparing for the months ahead.

Instead of spending time at the computer each morning I will be merely checking my emails and doing just the office work. I will however post a picture a day onto the Blog, what pictures I don't know.......and that's where you come in.

What would you like to see, either here on the farm or from the family archives I will leave it in your hands. You can leave a comment or drop me an email (I know some folk are having problems with leaving comments at the moment).

I will do my best to oblige. In the meantime I leave you with two pictures taken the other day of the 'boys' on the farm. Lovely Hubby is relishing that male numbers are increasing, he has felt outnumbered for long enough (just him and the cats have been the only boys).

So the top picture is of Monty Middlewhite and Jack Large Blacks first meeting and the other is Caldwell and Norman, our cockerels on opposite sides of the wire.

Have a lovely day.

Sue xx

After the storm

This morning I awoke to glorious sunshine. The air is fresh with the promise of a better day.

On our doggy walk we rediscovered the hedgerows. Glistening with Blackberries starting to ripen in the warmth of the early morning sun. The dogs ran, free of the heavy rain that we had over the last twenty four hours, free to frolic in the wet grass. The combines are quiet now, they can only resume the cutting if the crops dry out enough, hopefully the sun today will help, it's quite sad to see a field barely cut and then left in the rain.

Back on the farm, the pigs are knee deep in soft porridge like mud. My lovely clean little piggy is no more. He is just a smaller version of his wives. Covered in mud with dirt everywhere....and a very interested grin on his face.

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Today will be another indoor day, sorting and paperwork, at least while I'm doing this the earth will dry out a little and hopefully by weekend we can push on with our planting for winter and our planned big tidy up of the farm.

~ I hope the sun is shining on you too. Have a good day.

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Sue xx

Meet Monty......'Monty Halls'

What do you do when you move into a new place. You do what Monty did, in his order of priority.

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You check out the food.

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You check out the accommodation.

~ You check out your outside space.

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Then, most important of all, you check out the neighbours.

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Suits me, he seems to say.....I think I may like it here!!

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After a night of torrential rain, which filled every pig trough and every container on the farm up to the brim, Monty is having a quiet day to settle himself in to his new surroundings and I am having a busy day in the house having a mad clear out for the Bank Holiday weekends' Car Boot Sales, our final big push towards living more simply. More tomorrow.

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Sue xx

A Basket Case........

A basket case.....is how Lovely Hubby has been referring to me lately, in the most loving way of course! My addiction to baskets is now as legendary as my former addiction to bags.

Sometimes though I still buy bags too!!

Both are available here...and in the sale too!!

Sue xx

My Favourite Kind of Preserving.....

My favourite kind of preserving is the kind that is simple, doesn't take up much of your time, stores beautifully and keeps indefinitely. After all you don't want to be eating the same food day in day out (unless it's Garlic Kievs....my weakness, I literally could eat them every day, forever.....but that's another story).

And this sauce is one of the simplest of all, I simply pile all the ingredients in the biggest tin I have, in this case it was Tomatoes, a huge Marrow, Onions, Garlic and a couple of whopping big Chillis, all homegrown and freshly picked. Cover with a couple of glugs of good Olive oil and a squeeze of tomato puree.

Add a handful of freshly picked Basil leaves.

Cover tightly with foil and pop in the bottom oven of the Aga for a few hours. If you haven't forgotten about it check later and remove the foil, give it a good stir and then pop bake into the oven uncovered for another hour or so.

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Once you take it out simply whizz up with a stick blender or liquidise, add a few more fresh basil leaves to the hot sauce and then pour into hot sterilised jars. And Bob's your uncle. Don't forget to label as you need to know that this sauce has a kick, with garlic and Chilli it's slightly fiery and this version needed no seasoning whatsoever, the flavour was delicious.

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We now have nine jars squirrelled away in the larder ....well we had to sample one to check I had it right, we had it poured over chicken breasts with a handful of rice thrown in and cooked again for half an hour.....yummy!

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(Don't you just love my new shopping basket in the top picture....I do. I got it from Twice this week. I think my former handbag obsession has changed to a basket obsession...well...they're so useful!!)

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Sue xx

The continuing story of Nellie.......

Nora and Nellie, aged 6 weeks.

Back in May of this year we bought Nellie and Nora two gorgeous New Hampshire Red chickens. Sisters that went everywhere together. I told their sad story here a few weeks ago. Nora died suddenly of no obvious cause, leaving behind a wonky legged and ungainly Nellie to live her life on the periphery of two flocks.

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Living her new lonely life in July.

Well, now.....where do I start.....?

On Monday morning this week I went out to open the henhouses at the usual time. Caldwell was starting his dawn chorus of 'cock a doodle doos', and then suddenly from henhouse number one the resounding crowing of another cockerel answering firmly! Now I stood upright and listened intently....no...I must be hearing things, it must have been a Welsummer imitating. I carried on letting Caldwell and his wives out and replenishing their food, and suddenly there it was again, another cockerel crowing SO loudly and deeply, (don't forget I am used to Bantam crowing not full sized Rooster crowing). I walked over to the henhouse full of incredulty, what was going on?

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I opened the door and out strutted...a definite strut...Nellie, closely followed by three very admiring White Stars who were showing lots of interest in their formerly ignored sister. One more, very loud 'cock a doodle do' followed and then Nellie strutted to the feeding tray and got stuck in before going to her usual place and plonking herself down to start the day. (I will continue to use 'she' and 'her' for now.)

A difference in feathers starting to appear, but still a small comb and wattles.

To say I was amazed and confounded would be an understatement. At first I thought we had mis-sexed her, but then I remembered we had bought her from someone who had raised loads of chickens and sexed her before sale, I looked back over old photos of Nellie and Nora together, although Nellie was little bit bigger they were identical in every way. I looked at photos of Nellie developing and until recently she was just getting bigger.Then I thought I needed some more expert opinions so I got stuck in to some internet research. This week... feathers fully grown, including impressive tail feathers, now much longer and darker.

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The most logical research articles point to the fact that injury or illness can trigger a hens working ovary to suddenly stop working and when this happens there is a huge surge of testosterone, which begins the changeover. Now some sites state catergorically that this can't happen, and others are convinced it can. I am now falling into the latter category as I have it in front of me. Nellie has always had health problems, most obviously with her hips. She waddles from side to side, most pronounced when she runs, now she seems to be in no pain so we have always let her just get on with life. Now this, added to her age leads me to think that instead of continuing to develop as a female, she has just switched mid-development.

This picture kindly lent to me from a farm in America that specialises in New Hampshire Reds, shows both a cockerel and a hen. Thank you for your help.

What ever has happened she is now definitely a cockerel. She has developed over the last week a much more defined comb and wattles, and on her legs there are the begininnings of spurs. She is still a loner but the other birds are now showing her a new reverence, very wise when the new guy on the block is twice the size of any of you!!

Norman (apologies to Uncle Norman, although you are just as lovely!!)

Maybe she was wrongly sexed and she was always a cockerel, or maybe she really has changed, either way the lovely Nellie is now to be known as Norman and from now on will be referred to as 'he', or 'him'!

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And I now know how much twaddle there is on the internet from so called 'experts' about chickens. Things I know can happen and do on a regular basis are 'poo pooed' and some statements are obviously figments of peoples imagination, I think the only reliable information is that which you gather yourself over time. If you are looking something up for yourself, trawl far and wide and decide for yourself which you feel is nearest to what you are experiencing. Never just take the first 'answer' you find.

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Sue xx