Friday 20 June 2014

Slowing down a little

Hello All
Another sunny day here and I'm worn out! When it is good weather I work outside, knowing that it could turn to rain at any time. However we haven't had any rain for some days now and the house is getting untidier, with jobs piling up while I continue with outdoor tasks, which are never-ending and now include watering too. I almost wish it would rain so that I could scuttle indoors and do a spot of houseworky stuff ! Those who know me will be shocked at me wanting to do housework.
 Despite the time spent outside we have struggled to keep on top of the gardens this year (how tall are those weeds?!). Currently we have  a large garden to the front of the house, which has perennial flowers, a lawn, a greenhouse, four growing boxes and eleven beehives. To the rear of the house we have a large greenhouse, three vegetable patches, a small orchard which also houses most of our hens and a garden that we call the fruit garden which also has a small lawned area and large tables where we eat as in "The darling Buds of May"! Going away from the gardens and towards the river is the paddock of approx one and a half acres, which we are having to cut as we don't have enough lambs this year to help keep it down.
 We have decided that we will turn the vegetable garden that fronts the paddock into a soft fruit garden, which should be easier to manage than a veg plot. I have been striking new plants for a couple of years now which I intended to sell, but shall use them to stock this garden instead.
 We sometimes forget that we are no longer in our thirties, which we were when we moved here. You know how it goes... you walk past a mirror, have quick glance and think "Who is that old crone?!" D. is the big 70 in a few months time and I am 68 and we do pretty well on the whole and are certainly not ready to leave our little corner of Derbyshire, so I guess we need to try to make things just a little easier.
Over the last few weeks for one reason or another we have been providing Doggy Day Care for our daughters and granddaughters' dogs. Today for the first time we haven't got a dog on the property and we can leave gates open and the cat's food on the floor.! Here is a pic, taken yesterday of me and our granddaughter's dog Coda, who is a sweet boy but, as all Labradors, very food driven and thinks he would like a strawberry.
We had a a meeting of the Civic Society last night, which went pretty well. After the meeting D. and I went to a local pub to watch the second half of the England game. How much are they paid ?!!!! And as for those b****y trumpetty things that are all the rage!
Enough for now.
 A Very Very warm welcome to Pamela on the side there and Colleen Nurse on blog lovin
Off outside again now.
Gillx

13 comments:

  1. You're looking well for your age!!!
    What I don't understand is that there are less hours in the day than there were when we were first smallholding in the 1990s. Who shortened the days and why?

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    1. I know what you mean. Doesn't time fly?! So many nights I sit and think of the things I didn't find time to do that day.

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  2. One of my dreams when I moved here was to have Darling Buds of May style meals in the Orchard.

    Sometimes when I read this blog and the frugalinsuffolk blogI feel like I'm getting a glimpse of my future (I'm in my thirties and just started smallholding). It looks like a very fine future to me.

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    1. I shall take a pic next time we are at table outside!
      I love to hear about people just setting off on the smallholding journey and glad that you enjoy this, and Sue's blog about the ups and downs of our chosen lifestyle.

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  3. Having just returned from Haddock's with a very similar looking bowl of Tayberries, your scene has been mirrored here, only with our Monty.

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    1. I love tayberries, but have lost our plants along with our Japenese wineberries. Coda actually ate a strawberry with relish, giving a new slant on "feeding strawberries to swine"

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  4. I dropped by your blog by way of An English Homestead blog... I had to smile as I read your post about doing outside as much as you can and all the while the inside gets untidier... That is exactly where I am at. :O) I am just beginning canning season however and that does require me to be inside more. All that outside work turning into lovely vegetables!

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    1. I shan't be preserving too much yet. The big push for this will be around Mid july onwards.
      The good weather means I get all the washing out and dried, but also means it never gets ironed!

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  5. Gill, I loved the description of your place. Sounds like you've done a wonderful job with it. And I so agree about trying to make things easier. None of us is getting any younger!

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    1. I'll try to get some pictures up. Our place is only small so much is in miniature, but still pretty untidy and in many parts still a work in progress. I Am always surprised that I am getting older. !

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  6. Your place sounds amazing. I love how many greenhouses you've got! My fruit garden is a disgrace and I've far too many weedy edges, yours sounds lovely. I'm sure I'll get mine right one day!

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  7. Our place actually isn't that amazing. I bet if you itemised what you have it would sound just as good, if not better as you have more land than us! And as for weeds! We are having to be more philosophical about such things as we can never keep on top pf them. Looking at your posts your place is coming on well. If you are anything like us you will keep changing things every now and again, so it is never finished!

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  8. No, not got my chooks yet, still waiting for transport for them and their coop/run!

    I had to laugh when you mentioned 'feeding strawberries to swine', reminded me of a time on a narrow boat weekend break, I was feeding peanuts to the guy on the tiller as he needed both hands to steer. I couldn't remember the saying,'like feeding pigs cherries', and said , 'this is like feeding elephants raspberries'! Needless to say the guy starting spluttering on the peanuts!

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