Repairs to the Henhouse

Alan has been busy recently, both in his workshop and doing the day job, which he now does from home, but last week he found time to do some running repairs to the henhouse.

The house has sat there in all weathers and in constant use for the last few years, and the thing that gets used the most by lots of little feet and sits there in all weathers ... usually rain ... is the ramp the birds use to get into their house.  It had started swelling as it absorbed more and more of the rain we get here in not so sunny North Wales, and basically it was about to fall to pieces.

So using the old one as a pattern, he used wood he already had to manufacture an exact copy and last weekend, after it had had many, many layers of varnish to weatherproof it, he fixed it in place on the henhouse. 

Here he is on the way out carrying the old ramp in his right hand and his kneeling mat in the other.

I don't know if anyone has noticed but we have also added a corrugated roof to the henhouse ready for this Winter as the wooden one, even though treated, was starting to let in rain.  The new corrugated one was put in place over the original to give the birds an extra layer of protection from the elements.

It has proved a godsend over the last few days.  As you can see from this photo the snow sat on top of the roof, meaning that the warmth that the birds generate themselves overnight by huddling together, stayed in the house keeping them warm rather than dissipating and melting the snow on the roof.

I don't know about you but I hate to see houses, whether they be henhouses or human houses, with no snow on their roofs during a cold spell ... it's a sure sign that the occupants are paying to heat the world instead of keeping themselves nice and warm.

Sue xx

A Snow and Ice Day

Today we have the same snow, but now with a crunchy layer of ice on top, that hopefully the glorious sunshine will start to dissolve soon, but I'm not holding my breath .... it's freezing cold out there.

The blue skies were wonderful as I walked over to the paddock with the dogs but Suky ran through the gate and then stood still on three legs as  if to say 'I'm not getting ALL my feet that cold'.  She couldn't wait to get back to the snuggly warmth of Dad's big jacket on the sofa, left behind while he works away from home today

The next job of the day was to take copious buckets of hot water to thaw out the chickens drinkers, everything was frozen solid.  Then I had to thaw the catches to the poly and net tunnels and battle my way through the doors so I could get inside to dislodge the vast weight of snow that was starting to make the roofs dip in a most alarming fashion.  I have a sad feeling that despite my covering the polytunnel netted windows with a layer of polythene, and draping fleece over the spinach and kale I will be losing most of my plants ... oh well I did my best.

Once all the necessary outdoor chores were done, I came in to join the dogs in the warmth of the house to thaw out my toes and fingers ...

... and start on a big pan of soup for this weeks lunches, using some of these carrots ... still in good condition although well out of date  :-)

Now this pan has had lots of stock added to it and is simmering away nicely in the bottom oven of the Aga, and I'm upstairs enjoying coffee and blog time in the office before I do todays main indoor job, which is to empty out all the food cupboards in turn, clean them and see exactly what we have in stock both for Christmas and for into the New Year.

Not a bad job on a chilly December morning to be working away in the kitchen to the sound of a purring cat and two gently snoring dogs.

Sue xx

It Started as a Scribble ... and Ended Up as a Christmas Tree

It started as a scribble ....

... well really I guess it really started when I looked out of the window and saw this absolute decimation of one of my favourite views from the kitchen window. 

When Alan prunes, he prunes with gay abandon and nothing is safe, so down came most of the little tree and bushes that made my little shed look like a fairy tale shed nestled in the wood.  Now it's exposed I'm sad, it looks bare and un-protected .... it will grow back he said ... it was already perfect I thought ... you bloody vandal !!

Anyway I digress ... in a determined effort to make good a bad job, the smaller branches have been cut up as kindling and some of the bigger branches have been put to a very good use.

A free and totally homegrown Christmas Tree.

I left them to dry off a bit on the Aga so they wouldn't leave damp marks on the wall and while they warmed up I found some green string (thanks Dad your string stash is still coming in  handy), pulled out the one box of Christmas decorations that survived our big decluttering session over the Summer.  We had chosen to keep only the most favourite of Christmas bits and pieces, the things that meant something to us and that we will be happy to see year after year.  I had enough for a quick tinsel strewing of the living room .... and to decorate the pile of twigs ...

... that were about to be turned into a Christmas Tree.

It didn't look much at first, twigs and string hanging from a single screw in the wall that usually holds my 'cottage fireside' picture.

But the fairy lights glammed it up, as only fairy lights can.

And with the addition of a bit of tinsel, some of our most treasured Christmas bits and pieces picked up over the thirteen years that we've been together, and a wrapping paper covered flowerpot filled with Christmas crackers ...

... it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas  :-)

Sue xx

Soup ... and Egg and Bacon Breakfast Muffins

The huge pan of soup I made at the start of the week has done sterling work keeping us fed every lunchtime.

After dishing us up a bowlful each at lunchtime on Monday, I cooled off two single and two double portions for the freezer, and some was put into a clean pan and popped into the fridge once it was cold.  Today we have just eaten the last of this particular batch, a smaller bowlful each this time, followed by a sandwich. 

Tomorrow while I am away at my sons, Alan can have some of last weeks Broccoli soup for a change with some of Stilton crumbled in ... his favourite.

A new favourite of his are these egg and bacon breakfast 'muffins'.

Easy to do and they cook in the time it takes you to feed dogs and drink your first coffee of the morning ... about 20 - 25 minutes.

Simply oil a muffin tray and line each section with a slice of bacon, add some chopped tomatoes, and/or mushrooms if you have them ...

... pour in some beaten eggs and cook in a medium hot oven until the egg is set as much as you like it.

You can just crack an egg into each cup of the muffin tray if you like the white and yolk separate from each other, but our eggs were quite big so he divided two eggs between four cups.

And then try and remember if you are going to do a blog post about them to catch him before he eats the first two  ;-)

Sue xx

You never know what you'll find on an Aga ....

You never know what you're going to find on the Aga, yesterday for instance it was this weeks huge pan of homemade soup.

It was just cobbled together from pickings and trimmings from the polytunnel and net tunnel with an added onion or two and a couple of slices of celery from the fridge salad drawer.  I even found a marrow that I didn't know was still left in the net tunnel when I was having a tidy up of one of the beds.  I didn't manage to fit it all in the pan so half of the chunks were popped into the freezer for next weeks pan of soup.

I've recently started adding some beetroot to most of my soups, it gives the whole pot this wonderful deep reddish colour.

Of course the Aga is not just a giant soup maker ....

... this morning it looks like this!!

I think Ginger brought a mouse in over night, and the kitchen and conservatory bore the tale of a frantic mad chase of said mouse by a cat and a Jack Russell.  My wellies were knocked over and this one had obviously been used as a refuge, although why it was soaking wet inside I'll  never know ... sometimes it's best not to dwell on these things.

Once it's dried out I'll have to stick the lining back to the rubber and put the whole incident out of my mind.

Sue xx

A Neat Cook ... and Bashed Biscuits

I've turned into a neat cook.  

I like to measure out all the ingredients and have them ready to throw into the pan as and when I need them, this saves so much time spinning around in the kitchen making myself dizzy while I rummage through cupboards for ingredients while my onions burn or my garlic singes.  It also means that I have time to put on my thinking cap and work out what I can use in place of any ingredients that I might not have.

This time I was following this recipe as I wanted to use up our last homegrown cauliflower.  It was absolutely delicious and these amounts gave us a large portion each for one night served with rice, a smaller portion for the next night again with rice for me, and with rice and a pork chop for Alan, and one also a small tub full for the freezer which will make either a lunch for one or an addition to a Buddha bowl for both of us.

Delicious ... I added peas to ours because I didn't have any fresh coriander to add that very necessary splash of green.   :-)

Pudding was a simple favourite of ours, a layer of fruit in a glass, a layer of chilled Oatly custard and then a packet each of crushed Biscoff biscuits for a crunchy topping.  We ate them before I took a photo, but this is how it all started off.

Sue xx 

Farm Gate Sales

Yay ... we're in business :-)

We have sold eggs since we first got chickens and continued selling then when we moved here over four years ago, but we have always been a bit haphazard with the 'farm gate sales'.  A box would be put out in fair weather, mostly in Summer when the eggs are plentiful, vanishing with rain or wind (before the wind made it vanish) and selling regularly in bulk to our lovely neighbour who runs a B&B.  But now we are in the farm gate sales business properly with this lovely smart box set against our wall and with the contents well protected from the elements.

It was designed by me and then hand made and painted with numerous coats of our favourite colour by Alan in his workshop, and then it spent a day or so drying out on the Aga.

It should last us a while, especially now it's got it's also got corrugated top on to protect it in even the worst of the weather.

There's lots of room inside for eggs, and anything else that we decide to sell in the Summer months.   I decided to decorate the back with some photos of the ladies that supply the eggs for a bit of added  interest.  We also have a couple of new larger signs for the wall and the fence on the opposite side of  the drive advertising that we sell eggs, which will go up when Alan has the time to mount them on wood, a new supply of green egg boxes that will tie in with the sales box and brand new labels with all of our details on them, but we are just running down supplies of the ones we already had first.

And as you can see although it's resting on the wall it is firmly anchored to the ground at the back.

Sales are already going really well, with people stopping on their way to and from work to pick up a box or two of eggs ... thank goodness we have the 'Welsh girls' who really are good layers all year round and should keep us in business though the Winter months. 

The money raised by the sale of the eggs goes straight back to the chickens to pay for their feed, bedding, more egg boxes etc and any other things they may need, but of course we also get eggs for our own use.  Any that are weak shelled, very small or very big stay in the kitchen for Alan's breakfast or to pop into quiches and cakes when I'm baking, and visiting family never go home empty handed if they like eggs.

Open for business.

Sue xx

Mondays Fridge Soup

At the end of last week we had to call to Tesco late in the evening and for once we were lucky enough to grab a few bargains, it's pretty rare these days that we are there when the yellow stickers are out in force ... well to be honest we've just not been shopping that much recently, only going to the shops for absolute necessities. 

Anyway this morning I set about using the veggies up, they had survived the weekend very well in the drawer of the fridge, but I wanted to use them up before they got any unhappier!!

I emptied out the rest of the fridge drawer too ... 

... put back the few things that were in really good condition.

Then I got out the 'bits and bobs' bag from the freezer, I save all trimmings and stalks from the cauliflowers and broccoli for just such occasions.

Then it was time to fish out the 'flavour enhancers', some Approved Foods bouillon powder ...

... and one or two other additions.

I always find the more variety of flavours you put in the richer and deeper the taste of the finished product, and anyway I like to play.  So I chopped and diced and got everything simmering away nicely for a while and then decided it looked a bit wishy washy ...

... so I added a good squirt of tomato puree and a couple of teaspoon of Turmeric.

It looked much better !!

After a couple of hours in the bottom oven of the Aga I whizzed it up with my stick blender and had a good bowl full for my lunch ... for tasting purposes of course.

And then the rest was cooled ready to go into the freezer, with one small bowl put into the fridge for tomorrows lunch.

I had already dealt with the bargain pack of ham as soon as we got home, you don't leave meat lying around for too long.  First it was dried off slightly on kitchen paper ...

... then split into four usable portions.

Before being placed in a zip lock bag and popped into the freezer.

As you can see I am still determined to make full use of everything we buy or grow and watch our pennies and I'm gearing up for next year ... when the purse strings will once again be pulled in very tightly.

Sue xx

Beans, Beans, Beans .... and Some More Bloody Beans

My Lovely Hubby ... she says, between tightly clenched teeth .... picked these for me the other day.  I had been purposefully ignoring the not so little blighters on the plants at the top of the Veggie Patch for a few days, hoping they would maybe vanish or be eaten by squirrels ... but no such luck!!

So I had nothing left to do but set too and start to deal with them.

I bought myself a little slicing gadget, not the best available but all I could get my hands on at short notice.  Lakeland do a better, slightly easier to use one but I didn't have time to wait for delivery with all the beans glaring at me from the bench outside the conservatory silently yelling at me every time I passed  'Deal with us, deal with us NOW!!'

So a bit later the very best of them had been washed, topped, tailed and sliced ...

... spun to get all excess water out and they now reside on open trays in the freezer where I hope they are freezing their jolly green butts off.

The rest, the bigger more bean filled ones, are in baskets and after a day spent sunbathing still on their bench, are going to go into the shed to dry out to give us dried beans for Winter use or seeds for planting next year if they don't get eaten .... or if I leave the door open maybe the squirrels will come and steal them. 

Anyone know how to train a squirrel?

(I Googled it and got THE most random set of images.)

Sue xx