Skills Event

Some time ago I mentioned here that I wanted to find some way to pass on/share some of the skills I have picked up in my 40 odd years as a smallholder ( shhh prepper)  Over the years David and I were often asked to show young folk in particular, how to preserve, grow, mend, build etc. We realised that opporrtunties to aquire these skills can be quite limited, with less children taking cooking, sewing, woodworking lessions. Speaking broadly there appears to be a generation where few have had opportunities to learn basic skills in self reliance. When David died last year it gave me a kick up the butt  to actually do something we had talked about for so long. 

So (cut to the chase Gill). I have booked the village hall for a saturday afternoon and advertised a  "Skills Day". where I have invited people to come and learn or share/teach some basic skills. There is no way that I could address all the subjects myself, nor am I that competent in some of them, but I hope that enough folk with skills will turn up to offer support or mentor some one or form a group, I already have four people happy to help. That is my cunning plan. It is possible no one will turn up but nothing ventured nothing gained. Here is the "poster"

I have been advised to block out my personal details when sharing on Social Media, but am happy to state that the event is at Sawmills Village Hall, Nr Belper, Derbys. 8th February 1 - 4. 

eeek that  means I have only two weeks to get ready.  Wish me luck.

All for now, will feed back 

Gillx

Update, prepping for winter and great granddaughters

 

Well I really am rubbish blogging nowadays

I seemto have little time and when I do have time I tend to flop in front of the |TV, when I might also do a spot of knitting, hand sewing or reading porn ( seed catalogues ) but little else. 

When not half comatosed in front of the TV I have been decorating and sorting out the kitchen. I started by deciding I needed new cupboard fronts, which neccesiated new worktops , which were thinner than the originals, which in turn meant that I needed to re-tile! Of course, I needed to empty every cupboard, which made me do a good sort out.  A by-product of this has been three rich fruit cakes with all sorts of ingredients. Two will beChristmas presents and the other is for here... to be served with a good chunk of cheddar of course!

That is about all I have made for Christmas. I usually make a lot of presents but, I am ashamed to say that without Amazon Christmas would be just about cancelled. Mind you the loofahs always make a good pressie. Here they are hanging out to dry.

I am currently building a new compost heap. I have piles of grass cutting cardboard, brash etc that need to be layered. It is pretty heavy work, but absolutely worth it. The gardens are producing nothing now, there is just a line of celeriac. The winter stores however, look pretty good, with potatoes, apples, squash, onions and garlic in the rabbit hutches in the barn. Two chest freezers full of veg and fruit, a bucket of waterglassed eggs and more jams and pickles that I could ever use. I always keep lots of dry goods in "under the stairs"  all year round.  So my prepping for winter is complete with candles and wind up radios/torches/phone chargers at the ready.

I now have three great granddaughters ! Thay are 4, 2 and two months I am privilaged to be trusted to look after these amazing little creatures from time to time. Alice, the two year old, joins me a couple of days a week, while her mother works in the office upstairs. She plays with her cousin's toys, wears boots that were her aunties' and digs holes with children's tools that have been in our sheds for nearly 40 years. Rosa, the 4 year old is now at school fulltime so I see less of her, but it's lovely when I do. Seeing these little souls running free, getting dirty, picking fruit, tomatoes and peas straight from the plant and embracing life on our smallholding is heartwarming. A reason to stay here?

I suppose this leads me to my reverie about whether I stay or downsize. So far I'm doing okay. I suppose I had been running the place virtually on my own for some time now as David had been so unwell. but I am aware that the place isn't as tidy/ ready as I would like it. I have had a couple of occaisions when I have shouted at him because I don't know how to do something he always did or understand some process he invented or set up.  When taking out our old fireplace, the plumber asks where the pump is for the back boiler ?!  ( turns out there was no pump , it was gravity fed) He also mentions that some of the system is "ingenious" !

 I admit to a wobble afew weeks ago when I was asked who was my next of kin. Gracious. it has been David for 58years !

Anyway enough for now. I hope to get back to you soon to show you the plans, now in motion,  for an "Event" I shall be hosting in early February.

Love Gillx

 Hello me again 
 Time has flown and I see it is a long time since I posted.

There don't seem to be enough hours in the day at the moment. I guess it is that time of year. The gardens seem to be  all consuming, either weeding, tying up, pruning or , laterly, gathering in and proccessing.

My daughter and her husband have moved in here while the roof is taken off half of their bungalow and services disconnected as part of the extention/ renovation work to make it comfortable and accessable for her husband.  Fortunately I have just finished cleaning and decorating my large lounge ( We had problems with the fire and chimney and there was some smoke damage, so I have had a multi fuel burner installed. David and I had already discussed this just before he died and I was able to use his ideas/knowledge to make choices. So we have ramped up to the door of this lounge and son in law  access to the outside loo too. He is able to shower at the gym and swimming pool, which he visits almost daily for rehab, so all good there. He also now has an adapted car so can take himself to appointments and has returned to work for three days a week/. He really is remarkable!

Today I am on my own for the whole day, a rather unusual occurance! so I am ticking off some silly little jobs that are less easy to do with  others in the kitchen. SO I am sitting here typing instead of finishing the mending/alterations, marmalade making,  leek proccessing, apple wrapping for storage and bean and herb drying.

It looks like I shall not be able to dry the loofahs mnaturally this year. Mind you, I have only managed to do that once in the last five years, so no surpirise. I am told that Monty Don's Loofahs havent done so well. This is no surprise to me, as when he was sowing their seed back in April time I was shouting at the TV that he was far too late and that I start mine of in early february and still the season isnt really long enough.

They are just starting to go a little paler. I wil pick them next week and process them by peeling and soaking in water as I have done in previous years.

Aren't these soft toys lovely? My younger daughter made them for the great grandchildren and our  youngest grandchild. They are made from David's shirts. I believe some people call them memory bears.

Well as you can see I am keeping on keeping on. Somedays I feel overwhelmed and some days are a piece of cake!

Back soon dear bloggy friends 

Gillx

Ticking Jobs off

 Hello Again

Well here I am keeping on keeping on.

We (the family) have been tidying up David's sheds. He was quite a hoarder and it has not been possible to get into, never mind do any work, in his sheds for some time now. So my eldest daughter A. and her husband P.  have started on the big workshop. The inspiration to start on this particulart shed has come from the need to make some space for the contents of their garage. If you remember from my last post her husband  was in a serious motor cycle accident late last year and his life could only be saved by the amputation of his leg and hip . They have now moved into a bungalow in a Derby suburb. The bungalow has much to be done to it which includes the demolition of the garage, hence the need to store the contents elsewhere ( here). I had forgotten how large the workhop was and remember how I used to be able to work on the beehives in there. When we have finished clearing it and their stuff goes to their bungalow I shall offer it as a temporary work space to those who have nowhere to work on individual projects. There are workbenches, electric points and even a field kitchen to make tea.

A and I have made several trips to the local scrap merchants with all the defunct, dangerous and broken metal scrap. The money we made I invested in the hire of a huge shredder. A small work party got together a couple of weeks ago and we proccessed for fireword and mulchings the fallen branches and diseased trees from around the property. There remains a couple of dangerous really large trees to be attended to, but I have asked a tree surgeon to attend to those!     

 

P. was our maintenance man,  servicing the chain saws and keeping the mower and strimmer going.

A. with Charlie the dog, who was no help at all.

 I feel the garden is getting away from me somewhat, but others are struggling too with the weed growth from all this rain. I am however , starting to reap a veggie harvest, which make all the work worthwhile.

 After the visit from the fox and with two new, virgin, sisters from a local chicken farm arriving to keep her company, the lonely little black hen has gone broody. As the new hens " know not a man" and our cockerel Hugh serviced Blackie some time ago, she was rather wasting her time sitting on their eggs. So after a plea on facebook, she is now sitting on 14 fertile eggs. This will mean a new flock with fresh blood. Which is not a bad idea really. I have had several offers of cockerels, but have refused as I don't know how they will be with new chicks. Some are great and others can be quite nasty.

This Gal ain't budging!

 I guess that's all for now.

Back soon

Thanks for dropping by

Gillx

Friends for the hen and U Tube is my friend

 Hello All

Well I'm bumbling on here in the smallholding. Nearly all the veggie planting is done. So far its been a mixed bag of successes and failures. For the first time ever I am having problems with pigeons. They have stripped my peas, so I will have to net them from now on. The slugs are pretty bad this year too and the mice have taken all my sunflowers and beans from the greenhouse. Still time to start again methinks. On the other hand the onions and potatoes are looking good, as are the squashes, cucumbers and tomatoes.

 Quite a lot of things have broken down or given up the ghost too, so in the absence of he who was super good at mending things and keeping them going forever I have found that U Tube is my new best friend! I have mended the dishwasher, re strung the strimmer, unblocked the drains and sort of cobbled the toilet cistern so far. Usually my go-to person, after David to mend things is my eldest daughter's husband P. He is an immensely practical engineer who is useful to have on the team. However, late last year he was involved in an horrific motor cycle accident, that left him in a coma for some time. He also lost his right leg up to and past the hip and his right arm badly compromised. He is now recovering , but has a way to go yet, though goodness knows he is working so hard and already has a new leg he is wearing for longer and longer sessions.

 He and my daughter have bought a new house ( bungalow) as theirs is virtually unaccessable for him and they are moving much closer to me, which I am delighted about. They moved in this week and will be virtually camping for a few weeks while builders make it an even better living space.  Concurrently, my grandson, his partner and their daughter are moving house too. As often happens their buyers want them to vacate last week, while those they are buying from  can't move for  another few weeks. SO.. they are living here for now, with their furniture piled up in the goathouse and our largest lounge. So all change and never a dull moment. (and it's lovely having  an 18th month old cutie around )

 No mow May is going to change into no mow June soon if I don't get the paddock cut, but difficulties with the mower and scarcity of folk it is what it is. Hopefully it will be done next week.

After being wiped out by the fox last month . I was left with one traumatised and lonely black hen. Last week I bought two hems to keep her company. We put them together in their new hut, after dark, hoping they would settle together and they have been fine. I have cordoned off a small section of land next to the orchard that my hens used to live an and with the help of a friend have made it fox-proof ++. I shan't get any more for the time being while I settle into my new role as crazy old single smallholder!

Is anybody else here members of vegetable growing/ allotment etc facebook groups? These groups are so useful for sharing ideas and for new veggie growers to ask for advice. So far so good, but I have to say I am amazed at  how little some folks know about the most basic things that are to do with nature etc. What do they teach in science/ biology nowadays? " Shall I cut the flowers off my apple tree so that it can concentrate on growing the apples?" is the sort of thing I mean. I find myself shouting at the screen. I asked my three and a half year old granddaughter what would happen to the lovely blossom and she said it would turn into apples. 

Anyway this is more mundane than usual. I am having trouble loading photographs atm. I shall ask my youngest daughter this weekend what I am doing wrong. A picture tells so much more doesn't it? She is back from Jersey for a few days. It will be nice to see her.

Back soon, Thanks for reading

Gillx

The best laid plans.....

 Hello All

Just back from a few days in Jersey visiting my daughter who lives and works there. David and I bought our tickets in the new year, timing them so that we would be in Jersey for Liberation Day. shortly after he said that he thought he wouldn't be able to manage the journey and after the last few times when he was using a wheelchair and we had to have assistance and with his deteriorating health I was inclined to silently agree, "We'll see how you feel nearer the time" I said. Clearly, when he died in early March it was never going to happen. Everyone asked if i would go on my own, but I must confess that this feisty old bird is an absolute scardey cat when it comes to flying/ travelling and so I wasn't going to go on my own. Up steps eldest granddaughter, who bought a ticket for her three year old too and ensured I wasn't going to chicken out. So off we set to have a 4 generation get away in Jersey.

One of the issues I have about travelling is leaving this place, the chickens need to be fed, watered and let in and out. Same for the cat. The bees need keeping an eye on for swarming and the gardens and greenhouses need constant attention. Up steps the daughter of two of our dearest friends ( sadly no longer with us) who also had a small holding. This incredible woman is also an experienced gardener and a close friend of my daughters. So I have absolutely no worries when all is in her capable hands.

I made up some waterglass to preserve my excess eggs. I don't have many, but they can be put in the mixture as and when I have them. Here is a picture of a corner of my kitchen dedicated to my frugality and self sufficiency.

So here I am all prepped to get ready for the egg shortage next winter.

Yesterday I went out to the hens just after lunch to check on the egg laying as the Jackdaws have been sneaking into the chicken house and stealing eggs. All good, I collected a couple and returned after tea to lock them up for the night... Carnage! The blasted fox had been and the orchard ( which is enclosed a and suppose to be fox proof)  was strewn with feathers and a couple of headless birds! Goodness knows where the rest are. I couldn't see how he had got in nor carried the hens out. One traumatised little black hen was high up in an apple tree. I went out later when it was dark and rescued the hen and placed her in a small run, Because He will be back! I couldn't really face anymore so I came back in the house and poured myself a large scotch.   This morning only one body was left as the fox had been and cleared up after him. The little black hen is still safe.

Won't be any eggs going in the waterglass will there?!

All for now, back to planting

Gillx

First "milestone"

Hello

 Firstly , many thanks for your kind comments to my last post.

Well , first milestone of "will I manage this place or wont I?"

As the sun came out late yesterday morning I looked down the garden and spotted a lot of activity on the front of a hive.

 

   So I'm wondering if the relatively rare 2024 sun had excited them or were they thinking of swarming. It's quite early for a swarm, but not unknown.

   Half an hour later they swarmed onto the small greenhouse. They were in three lumps, so for a while i couldn't make out if I had a prime swarm and a couple of casts (small secondary swarms) or a large swarm that had split as it landed. I  already had a hive set up and ready for a swarm, but if there were more I had nothing ready to use. I spent the next couple of hours having a sprockle through my gear  to see if I could cobble something up. Anyhow, two hours gave them time to make their mind up and they gradually started to merge into one.

 I have been the main beekeeper for a few years now as David hasn't been able to do most of the physical actions needed and a couple of years ago had an allergic reaction. However, he and I have kept bees together for over fifty years now and always discuss each situation and how it is going to be approached.   So this year I am on my own. I am perfectly capable of getting organised and catching a swarm independently ( Mind you when they are high up a tree it helps to have someone to foot the ladder or hold a box for me to drop some bees in - it is usually my youngest daughter, though many have been dragged in to help here)

SO, big girl pants on and off I set. I decided to talk to myself as I got ready, which helped. 

I took a couple of short videos that I thought might be of interest to a couple of women friends who are about to start beekeeping. ( I have tried to load these on here, but failed) This swarm is to to be one woman's first colony ..  enjoy Rissa! They are lovely dark bees and very friendly.

 You may have noted that I am observing No Mow May, which can be difficult when your neighbours have such tidy gardens . However, this year I will not have to wait quite so long to mow as the dandelions are early this year and the lady smocks have been out some time too.

   My vegetable patches are about ready to plant. Here is the top patch. Much thanks to my friend Helene who loves to dig... How can I refuse?!

So there we are, There will be much to do with the bees as the year progresses, but I reckon I will be okay. The trick is  " talk to yourself". So I guess I will look and sound even more like a crazy old woman as the year goes on.

If you read all through these ramblings , many thanks. If not no one can blame you!

Love Gill x

A BIG Decision

 Hello All

Well it's blowing a gale and hailing out there at the moment. I was going to do a Tip Run but it really isn't the weather for loading up the car with the pile of wet stuff piled outside the garage and then un -piling it several miles away, when I could be sitting in my kitchen cleaning up some bee frames and potting on some seedlings. And let's face it I'm not even doing that now as I am sat at my laptop.

Looking around me, my kitchen is a typical  smallholder's space. The fire is on, with a couple of supers of honey keeping warm to the side, a clothes horse of washing to the front and washed plastic bags, a bunch of dried chillis  and baskets of onions on a line above. 

This reverie is not without purpose.

My husband of 58 years died last month. He had fought several life threatening illness over the years, Being a big strong guy, with a healthy lifestyle and being extremely bloody minded he had fought them all. The last year or two had seen him struggling with that fight and the last few months saw him doing very little other than worry about what he should be doing.  He hated that I became his carer and that he "couldn't knock the skin off a rice pudding" While we knew he hadn't long, he passed away suddenly. I am SO pleased for him. On the day he died he said " I've had enough Gilly" and so he had.

So here I am, sat in the kitchen of the  family home of 43 years, thinking of where I go from here. I shan't make any decisions for some time yet, in fact I am going to give myself a year ( four gardening seasons!) to see how I manage. I really don't want to give up the only lifestyle that makes any sense to me. 

If you will  bear with me I will use my blog to chart those seasons and weigh up the pros and cons of a crazy 78 year woman staying on her two beautiful Derbyshire acres

Gillx

Yogurt

 Hello

I'm going to start  off with a recipe/method which some of you probably already know, but I have come across only in the last few months. I love learning new things.

 Not only is this a very economic yogurt, I think it is the best tasting, thickest one too!

Slow Cooker yogurt

Place 4 pints of milk in your slow cooker and put on high for 2 to 3 hours until temp is 180.

Turn off the cooker and leave for a further 2 to 3 hours until temp is 110 to 115

In a bowl add a little of the milk to a live plain yogurt I( I used a basic live Greek one) stir and then pour back into the rest. Stir gently up and down, don't whisk in a circular motion.

Take the bowl out of the casing and wrap it in a towel

Leave overnight ( or 10. to 12 hours) at room temperature

Strain into a cheesecloth and leave several hours to remove as much of the whey as you can.

Decant into a bowl and refrigerate.

This is when I go to the freezer and fish out those silly cartons of a few plums, raspberries etc that I couldn't possibly throw away last autumn. A tin of strawberries mixed in  also went down well with the great- granddaughters

Don't forget to save a pot to use as the next culture. 

-------------------

If this blasted rain would stop I could get more planted in the veg patch. Goodness know what the farmers are going through.

All For Now 

Gillx

Back to the blog

 Hello All

After a two year hiatus I'm going to see if I can get back into blogging.

The last two years have been busy in so many ways with many changes to my circumstances, but I reckon I might now be able to give my blog the time it requires. 

I look forward to rekindling our blogging friendships ( if there is anybody still there!) and reading your blogs too

Back soon with updates on  my frugal life on the smallholding.

Gill x

Reducing cooking fuel costs II

 

 Hello All

Continuing my reducing fuel cost posts....

This next piece of equipment that is sparing on fuel is a no-brainer. 

The trusty Slow cooker.

I have three slow cookers. Two large and one small. I frequently have all three on at once if I am preparing for a busy few days and want to be on top of the game.  This weekend I have a large one cooking vegetables (carrot, swede, celery and red pepper) that I don't want to spoil from the fridge with a bag of frozen tomatoes from last year's crop, a cup full of lentils and three pints of veggie stock ( lidl veggie cubes) I will blitz this when cooked and have soup for  lunch for several days,. Obviously this will be heated up a dish at a time as needed in the microwave. The small slow cooker  has a couple of pints of milk I have extra plus a frozen pint of semi skimmed from the freezer, with three ounces of sugar and four and a half ounces of pudding rice. The rice pudding made in a slow cooker is just like the tinned ones ( young people prefer ) If you want to turn it into an old fashioned rice pud, when the pud is cooked turn it into a dish and put it into the oven to get a skin ( best bit) mind you this only makes sense if your oven is already on for something else. The third slow cooker has some neck of lamb with carrots, onions, potato. stock and a generous dollop of mint sauce. I put plenty of stock in this ( lidl beef) so that I can add dumplings later, which will suck up quite a bit of juice.

Using your slow cooker means "one pot cooking" which reduces washing up too. When your slow cookers are simmering away you might consider if there is any heat you can " borrow" . They will certainly heat your kitchen and also produce just the right amount of heat to rise bread or keep your soda bread culture jiggling along. Any other ideas?

So enough of saving energy for this post. A dry subject I know, but things are getting serious with regard to fuel bills and even if you can afford the high bills, considering the impact on the environment  is now leading us to be more careful.

Received  texts from APHA today and yesterday. Four new cases of Avian flu  - Somerset, Devon, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. For goodness sake ! Will those poor hens ever get out of lockdown !?

I'm resisting posting about Ukraine, but goodness it's difficult not to have a view isn't it?

All for now, off to prick out seedlings in the back greenhouse.

Back Soon, now I'm on a roll

Love Gillx

Reducing fuel costs

 Hello All

As I said in my last post I'm going to try to add frugal tips and hints with each  post from now on and post more frequently.

I don't intend these posts to be primarily about frugality ( if you are a follower you already know I'm all over the place when posting anyway) and I will try not to be too preachy, nor make claim that this is all world-shatteringly new stuff, because it isn't.

I am going to start with reducing cooking fuel costs. 

Starting with equipment. No.1

I find a stack of steamer saucepans invaluable. you can cook three different vegetables on one hob. This is also a great  idea for a moving house or wedding present for a couple. being something they may not have thought of and also reasonably priced. ( I saw a set at The Range before Christmas for less than £15.00

A plus in using this method is that while your carrots/ potatoes etc are bubbling away in the bottom saucepan your greens, beans etc can be lightly steamed above a short while before eating, this retains the nutrients. I suppose most of you like me, then use the water from the bottom pan towards gravy or stock. Waste not want not eh?!

So now  I have taught my grandmother to suck eggs I know, but maybe not a granddaughter. Watch this space for another min-numbingly boring tip in my next post. I suppose saving energy ( and the planet) is not very exciting but is becoming increasingly essential.

Changing tack completely and lightening the post here

The damson blossom is spectacular and if it would stay sunny/ warm enough for the bees to leave the the hives we should get a bumper crop. So far they are not out flying for long before they are rained or snowed on. Time will tell and fingers crossed

And lastly, here is my cucurbit  propagator, which can be heated but I don't. With Luffas to the left and Cucumbers to the right and Courgettes in the middle. ( I bet you have been inspired to sing an early 70's song there!) This year I am also growing  Tromboncino for the first time. Has anyone grown this ?

So there we are,  same old ramblings

Back Soon 

Gill x

PS. Thanks  Lizzie I tried that bread recipe and it was the best ever! 

  

FRUGAL in Derbyshire

 Hello All

It has been said to me that maybe I should be blogging more often now, considering the title of my blog and the current  fiscal circumstances.  I reckon those that already follow me and those that I follow are already pretty savvy when it comes to managing their money/ household but I'll give it a shot !

I'll have a go at regurgitating some ideas from years ago that people might not have seen but which are  relevant to current times. When I look back over old blogs I am heartened that many, if not all,  frugal ways are also good for the environment and sustainable living. Quelle surprise eh?

As said before, several followers are masters of frugality and I do hope that they join in with ideas if anything I write triggers them to do so. I will state here that we do not live on the breadline, having our married folk basic pension and my works pension. We live a simple but full life and we also have the facility to grow our own food. which makes us pretty resilient. However, I know that many people are extremely worried about how they will manage, with rising fuel and food prices ( and who knows what the outcome of Putin's madness will be?!) I think it is fair to say that even if Rishi finds a hidden stash of billions+++ it wont help with the effects of climate change and political decisions world wide on the amount of food and fuel available for instance.

SO enough of my politicising ( is that a word?) Off to choose something to kickstart this blog.

Back soon

Gillx

Chicken Flockdown and some family pics

 Hello All

Well its all very interesting/exciting/ thought provoking nowadays isn't it?   Storms, pandemics, shortages. fuel price hikes, beyond sabre rattling with Russia ,Climate Change, Conspiracy theories by the dozen.

Makes you think doesn't it? Well it does me anyway. Some folk prefer to continue pootling along as they always have and say "What will be be will be" ( Hands up those who wanted to burst into song there) and believe that it will all settle down and get back to normal. I'm not so sure that when we come back from this all will be the same and in some ways that won't be a bad thing because we surely can't go on like we have been doing. 

The poor chickens are still in (f)lockdown and pretty fed up about it too. even though they have more space than most as I have netted over a quarter of the orchard for them and they have the choice of five hen houses to sleep/ lay hold coffee mornings etc. Obviously I can't advertise my eggs as free range so my egg sign says "Eggs for Sale" only. Someone remarked that they should be cheaper because they aren't free range. This is the opposite of the situation. Pre-lockdown I would let the hens out of their houses and into the orchard first thing, I would feed them some chicken pellets and leave them to finish these before opening their little door to the one and a half acre field. They would then spend the rest of the day until it starts to get dark foraging for the sort of goodies that chickens like, plus lots of grass. During the day they return to the houses to lay before going back into the field or maybe perch in a fruit tree or  two. Now in Lockdown I let the poor little things out into the netted off area of the orchard, which also houses the pond and any food they get is what I feed them. So they are now fed twice a day plus any greens, weedings, blown brussel plants stored squashes etc that I can find to keep them from going stir crazy with boredom. So NO they are not cheaper!

We are so lucky to still be young and fit enough to be trusted to babysit our great granddaughter , who is eighteen months old ,  now and again. What a joy! I didn't think it was possible to love a baby anymore than one does a grandchild. However, don't tell the grandchildren but we absolutely adore this precious child. Here she is reading a gardening book and choosing which vegetable she wants to grow.

 Last month our eldest girl went to Windsor castle to receive a medal for distinguished service in the Queen's honours list. She says that Princess Anne asked really good questions and showed an understanding of my daughter's role. I'm not sure as she would want to be identified ( my daughter that is) so have chosen this shot, but I just wanted to brag a little !

We will be having our first public meeting of our Civic Society for over two years,  in the middle of April. It will be interesting to see if we can ;pick up where we left off. So much has changed. 

 So there you go,  another rare but rambling post from Derbyshire.

Take Care all

Love Gillx

Happy New Merry All

 Hello Friends

As ever I haven't posted more, read other's posts, finished story lines or put up interesting photos over the last year

I usually try to do better and "resolve" in late December to do better.

However, I always fail, so this year I "resolve" not o resolve and see how 2022 spans out!

Happy New Year everyone, see you on the other side

Love Gill x

Wild birds v Domestic birds. An Avian Flu dilemma

 As most of you know (or do you?!) Avian Flu has been diagnosed at several  sites across the UK and the UK poultry flock is now on lockdown for the foreseeable future. I question that you might know this as it seems to be a bit of a secret and several folk who keep chickens tell me that they know nothing about it, when I ask how they are keeping their birds safe. As a registered smallholding, we are informed of such things by DEFRA or APHA and instructed as to what we must do........

 The instruction are to keep your poultry away from wild birds. Avian flu tends to be spread by migrating birds, so it is important that ponds are covered as are feeding and watering stations for your chickens, ducks etc.  and you are instructed not to encourage  wild birds by feeding them. Your hens should be housed, that is kept in totally in their houses or at least to cover their run in such a way that neither  wild birds nor their feaces can come into contact. Foot baths should be placed at the entrance to your hen houses and strict hygiene should be practiced.

Now I  get all of this I really do and am doing my best. However ( you heard that coming didn't you?) Our set-up makes the carrying out of some of these instructions rather challenging. Let us take our relationship with wild birds. Our organic smallholding has been developed to attract and nurture wild birds. Even if we did not fill the feeders dotted around the place, the many shrubs we have planted or left to seed to provide both winter food and shelter and the twenty or so birdboxes we have put up tend to be a bit of a magnet for our feathered friends. Water from our roofs and water drains is channeled towards the pond in the orchard where our hens live, this serves the hens and the wild birds.

We have 44 hens who live in various hen houses dotted around our little orchard, which is allegedly fox proof . The hens adopt a favoured place and friends and that is where they sleep at night, apart from five that insist on sleeping high up in the large plum tree winter and summer, Every night I lock up all the houses, just in case Remus digs his way in  and every morning I let them out of their houses and out of the orchard and off they go the enjoy two lovely acres.

As you can see, this system does not lend itself to lockdown, but lockdown we must. Avain Flu can cross species and can be caught (rarely) by humans as well as other birds. Just what we need in a pandemic!. If Avian  Flu is found in your flock then the flock must be destroyed.. think Foot and Mouth. Non of this do we want, so tomorrow copious quantities of fine mess will be delivered and I will construct an enclosure that I hope will serve. Last week I covered the feeding areas, netted the pond and arranged all the houses in a semi circle around the pond (it looks a bit like a wild west stand off of wagons!)

I am hoping that my grandson, who is six foot three will be here to give me a hand and will take pictures for those interested.

All for now

Love Gill x

 

Thanks for the seeds Devon Mum

  In my last post I mentioned that I was saving extra seed to give to anyone who might want it at the group I intend starting next year. Devon Mum offered to send some seed to add to mine . And here they are... 28 packets of seed!  Many Many thanks for your generosity DM, Very much appreciated. I'm considering starting a couple of the packets off as small plants to give away too, so long as I time them right.

Apologies for the terrible photo.

All for now. Really  busy time here, but wanted to acknowledge Devon Mum's gift.

Love Gill x

Thanks and a recipe

 Hello All

Here I am !

Thanks for the feedback about the proposed group. The word "Skills" will definitely have to be in the group/event/gathering title. I reckon it will be new year when we get started as I have so much to do here and am so far behind with the Civic Society stuff and I haven't even thought about Christmas yet. However, it gives me time to prepare. I have been putting aside all the seed I save as I can give packets of seed to people who are interested. So far I have several types of bean seed, loofah, sunflower and pumpkin extra to my needs. I'm also gathering simple sewing/ knitting etc patterns. 

Today I'm acting like a proper smallholder! I have jarred a couple of buckets of honey, made butter with some extra cream, made tomato puree, peeled a couple more loofahs, chopped and froze bunches of parsley and made some peanut butter cookies , using eggs that I put down in waterglass last summer. Which means I have absolutely no energy left to dig a patch over for the garlic and spring cabbage. Manana eh?! So here I am at the laptop writing another post and trawling through the facebook (Meta) groups I follow.

The biscuits I made were from a recipe I found in a Tesco magazine sent to me by a friend. What caught my eye was it it had only three ingredients, which I already had and didn't contain any flour. I'm surprised that Tesco didn't mention that. Anyway here is the recipe if you are coeliac or indeed like peanut butter.

Peanut cookies

Whisk together one large egg and 200g of soft brown sugar until smooth. Add 225g of crunchy peanut butter until blended well. Cover and chill for half an hour. Heat oven to 180 or 160 for fan/ gas 4. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. After half an hour scoop out 10 balls of dough with a dessert spoon, giving them plenty of room to spread. Cook for 12  to 15 mins, leave to cool for 15mins and then transfer to wire rack to finish cooling. 

Those I cooked spread to an enormous size and I wondered if a smaller egg might reduce the size, but who knows. Here is a poor pic of said cookies 

This week I have had my granddaughter's dogs to stay while she has visited my daughter in Jersey. I've really enjoyed having them as they are such delightful kind dogs. ( A yellow Lab and a Bernese) Mind you, like grandchildren, it's good to pass them back too!

Here they are. The Lab is Coda and the Bernese is Hattie.

"Enough" you cry

Back Soon

Love Gill

Ideas please

 

Hello  again

Its a busy time of year getting ready to  batten down the hatches and prepare for winter. 

Today I looked through  the  bees and fed a hive that didn't have many stores, I have taken only a little honey off the other four hives this year ( still to be spun when I get a few hours free) as I am unsure how the winter is going to span out. The mild winter actually worked against them last year as they were flying a a lot and using up stores that can't be replenished by them with there being no forage in the winter. Next week I shall put the mouseguards on and wish them all a quiet winter!

Along with many of you I am sure, I have been pickling bottling drying wine making etc, This year there seems to be an extra urgency as I feel a little unsure and unsettled for the future. I've always been a prepper and as self sufficient as possible, but there is a different dimension to this now. Recently I have been happy to support a young woman to learn how to make jams/ jellies and make butter and have also been sharing on food growing and self sufficiency sites how I approach certain tasks. Obviously when posting in these groups I am preaching to the converted and I realise that for each group  member who is interested there are hundreds of thousands who care nothing for such things.

Where is this leading? Well two issues have unsettled me, 

Firstly I now have a great granddaughter who I am lucky enough to be trusted to look after  when her mum is a few hours short of support when she is at work. Watching this delightful child eat everything I pick for her as we go round the gardens ( strawberries, peas, peppers, tomatoes, cucumber blackberries and raspberries that I can think of) I wonder what kind of an adult life she will have. What will the world be like in 20 or 30 years time? Will her children have a happy carefree childhood?

Secondly, I have lost several dear friends over the last year or two and am grateful that I am still here and still have my health and am fit enough to lead a useful life, with skills to share with others... at the moment.

I can't shake a vision I have of the near future being similar to that of the second world war, with shortages of food, fuel and materials. The difference being that it won't be for just a few years. Do the generation that will have to live in these conditions have the skills and mindset to manage? I may just be here in twenty years, but may need a little looking after myself by then!

So Gill cut to the chase. My daughter and I believe that we should do what we can to pass on stuff while we can and that we should share our skills, experiences with others. We are planning to set up an event where we invite people who wish to learn skills and others who have the skills to share. Subject such as using a sewing machine , growing things to eat either in a large plot or just a window box, Frugal, wholesome cooking , getting a go-to bag together, mending, knitting, preserving,  seed saving, etc etc A thread that will run through these subject will obviously be the environmental plusses of such skills.  The attendees themselves would decide on subjects

So my question is, when we send out posters, what to call such a group?  My target age group (though not exclusively) would be 16 to 30. My daughter says to avoid titles such as "Knit and Natter" and other such twee, middle to older age  group names and aim more for "Are you ready for the Zombie Apocalypse?" to catch  the eye and imagination of younger people!  

  Thoughts and ideas Pleeeease !    

Love Gill x     

PS hope this doesn't sound too worthy!             

 

Of wine and quizzes

 I think that most people have had a mixed year in the fruit and vegetable garden. Some things have done well and some have been nothing short of disastrous!. Clearly the weather .has much to do with this.

Crops that have done well this year are spring cabbage, climbing french beans, courgettes, broad beans, tomatoes,  kale, spinach, spring onions, lettuce, chilli and sweet peppers and sweet corn. For the first time this year the squirrels found the sweet corn and stripped the cobs, fortunately we had had many from them before the squirrels struck. The little darlings have also taken all the walnuts and stripped four cobnut and three hazel trees. I can honestly say that I don't feel a great deal of affection for them at the moment and struggle to subscribe to the words "The wildlife is entitled to its share of the harvest" 

The damson have done poorly for us this year, though someone only a mile away has contacted us to ask if we would like to help them with their glut! I have made pounds and pounds of Damson and (windfall) apple jelly, frozen a few pounds and made three gallons of wine, mostly damson but also a few elderberries and blackberries. I reckon that I really don't want/need any more, so will not take them up on their offer. I have suggested they offer them on freecycle etc, but they don't want anyone else at their trees. I understand this as over the years we have sustained quite a bit of damage to plants from people "helping" us with the harvest. Yes I know that sounds ungrateful;! 

Talking of wine, I ventured into our cellar.. not for the faint hearted....for wine to offer to a group of friends who have been meeting here once a week since lockdown (more later on this group) I bought up a couple of demi-johns, our wine NEVER gets into bottles, just jugs, and the wine was really good. One was a 2017 of a similar mix to the one made this year and the other a 2018 with a higher percentage of blackberries. When we were first married in 1966 we used to forage and make wines, but few people seemed to drink wine then and we were considered a little wierd and folk rarely took up the offer of a drink of wine. Things are very different now with wine being the  favoured drink of many of our female friends and relatives so it really is worth making it now.

I mentioned a meeting of folk here once a week. The local pub was struggling before lockdown and has now closed. Prior to this my husband, who is a keen quizzer used to meet with like-minded people who have become good friends. This group of quizzers has been meeting for 35 years now! At lockdown the group formed a facetime group and continued to hold the quiz this way over  last winter. Once the weather improved we put up a marquee in our family garden and have been meeting there ever since. The quizzers meet at 8.00 and I take out sandwiches etc at around 9.00 when the actual quiz is finished. ( I don't like Quizzes) Beer and wine is drunk and much gossiping and laughing is done with the last ones leave at around midnight. Last week we realised that we couldn't carry on like this throughout the winter and that we enjoyed talking to people in the flesh as it were, so yesterday we cleared the goathouse as best we could so that we could continue to socially distance and last night had our first Goathouse Quiz!

Anyway enough for now. Once I get started I don't know when to finish do I?! 

Back soon. take care all

Love Gillx