1 |
Brrrrr. The weather's taken a cold turn. Bright, sunny but
chilly days and sub-zero temperatures overnight. So, I've been out
with our tap protectors, wrapping up the two outdoor taps and I've
harvested all of the red chillies from the two outdoor bolivian chilli
plants.
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2 |
NEW CHICKS - NEW CHICKS - NEW CHICKS - see chicken diary !!!
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3 |
I'm taking it easy, garden-wise, just now but Crow mowed the lawns and
treated one of my currently redundant and bursting with weeds
"empty" paddock beds with a biodegradable weed killer as I want to
clear the weeds then spread leaf mould on them as a soil improver.
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4 |
Friends over today and we went walking along the sea wall from Goldhanger
for about 3 miles or more and back. It was a gorgeous sunny, still,
autumn day and the scenery was beautiful. The tide was fully in as we
set out and had receded quite a lot upon our return 2 hours later. We
then popped into The Chequers for a very good lunch and home for coffee and
to shoe off our new chicks, of course! All in all, a very enjoyable
day.
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5 |
I seem to be having lazy days at the moment - certainly as far as the garden
is concerned!
I am knitting furiously for Xmas though....... and spending more time than I
should with the new chicks!!
Lovely sunset tonight.....
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6 |
Visit to mummy-in-law, then back for more chicky antics and evening
knitting.
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7 |
Alas, potato pots 8 & 9 are dead and 5 is heading that way too.
Funny, they were ok until I applied the Bordeaux mixture which was supposed
to protect them!
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8 |
Crow's in hospital today for an operation, so I had to busy myself between
visits. Wandering around the garden for a couple of hours I removed
the apple & plum moth traps, picked 6 mini courgettes, noted that the paddock courgette plants
have died in the sub-zero conditions, saved some bean seeds, un-netted the blueberry
plants which have turned a gorgeous vibrant red, found the melon pear plants
are covered in new flowers and started to clear around the pond.
Before bed I made a birthday card for my best buddy.
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9 |
Harvest: red pepper, 3 turnips, 3 beet, 6 carrots.
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10 |
The courgette plants in the veg garden are not as badly frosted as those in
the paddock - obviously in a more sheltered spot.
Harvest: 2 celeriac, 1 baby courgette, 2 leeks, swiss chard, very last of runner
& dwarf beans.
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11 |
The deceitful thing about pears is that they rot from the inside and by the
time you see a sign, it's too late. So today it was time to use up all
of our pears or face losing them. Found a recipe for pear &
watercress soup - very delicious and unusual - and cooked the remainder with
lemon, honey & vanilla - some for dessert, the rest frozen for future
dessert.
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12 |
Harvest: 2 leeks, swiss chard, 2 celeriac, 1 red pepper, 2 turnip, 3
beetroot, 10 carrots.
Made a bread & butter pudding for tonight's pud - haven't made one
myself for years but have sampled a few during this time. I used
home-made ciabatta, home-made jam, dates and our eggs (of course) and even
if I say so myself, it was special! Also made vegetable curry
(for tomorrow) as I like my curry to stand for a day so that all of the veg
soak up the curry flavour.
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13 |
What's
this?!? -->
Two ripe strawberries on November 13th, whatever next!
Been out picking sloes to make sloe gin, which I'm told by friends is
worth doing. I know, I know, I just can't bear to waste anything
that grows in our garden. Anyway, it's pretty easy so I thought I'd give it a try.
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14 |
Made up the sloe gin - now it's just shake
& wait. |
15 |
More sloes picked for sloe vodka.
These ones are going in the freezer for a few days so that I don't
have to split them all by hand.
Some veg garden tidying in the form of uprooting the last two courgette
plants, pepper plants and dwarf beans. I know I said I harvested the
"very last of runner
& dwarf beans" on 10th. Well I was wrong - I got more today -
well over a pound, in fact!
Harvest: 2.5 lb sloes, 28 oz beans, 6 autumn king carrots, 1 giant red
pepper. |
16 |
Something nasty happened in our garden
overnight as there's blood at the front of our car port. Not a
copious amount but enough to notice. No feathers or fur, but
something got injured and either got away or got carried away? |
17 |
I'm in the middle of the last table-top
event of this year's championship. Yes, that means more heart-aching
hours spent bent over an OS map. Sometimes I wonder why I do
this? Do I secretly enjoy the torture? |
18 |
Harvest: turnip, carrots and beetroot.
Must start tidying up the garden - from Monday, I think. |
19 |
Friends visiting and we had a late
lunch of courgette & mint soup followed by olive & pepper quiche
with jacket potato and sweet beetroot salad (with runner beans
added). Then a very yummy black forest chocolate cake which our
guests supplied. My soup was from the freezer (made on 1 October)
and I was very pleased to find that it had kept in excellent condition,
still full of flavour. |
20 |
Big surprise! Crow has bought me a
digital movie camera. When I've mastered it's use, you'll be able to
see short video clips of the chicks - how wonderful! :-)))
Out to dinner with friends this evening - at the Bull in Totham.
They used to do the tenderest steak ever, but it was disappointing
tonight. |
21 |
I've bought my best friend Sue a dwarf Red
Delicious apple tree and a nice pot for her birthday. I'll have to
arrange a visit for the ceremonial planting.
Cleared 4 wheelbarrow loads of leaves from our driveway, but I wonder why
I bothered as visually it makes very little difference.
Harvest: 3 carrots from the paddock - but only because I was
clearing some weeds! |
22 |
Rain, rain, rain - so indoors for card
making, knitting and almost finishing the table top rally - just one more
section to check & submit! |
23 |
Our 2nd wedding anniversary - out for lunch
but an otherwise quiet day. I finished the table top rally -
hurrah! (You'd would think I didn't enjoy it ;-) ) |
24 |
Today's highlight was playing with my new
movie camera, filming the chicks, of course. need to master the
movie software now......
Harvest: one giant red pepper. |
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26 |
Off to Yorkshire for a couple of days where
Crow's competing in a rally over Saturday night. That meant the
wives could have a good old girlie night. I don't get enough girlie
company since I stopped working! |
27 |
Harvest: Swiss chard, land cress. |
28 |
Crow's spoiling me again with the purchase
of a 40 inch flat screen TV which arrived today. It's wonderful
& just perfect for re-watching Lords of the Rings! |
29 |
Completed my second scarf of the
week. I've applied for a stall at the Maldon Victorian evenings on 7
& 14 December, so I'm boosting my supply of goods for sale.
Harvest: 5 turnips, 8 carrots, 7 beetroot -
sadly the last of the beet. |
30 |
Ron came to give garden assistance by
weeding & digging over my completely overrun and sodden paddock
beds. Far to heavy for me to deal with!
In the meantime I set about clearing the front garden beds, around the
pond, around the barrel and around the bird table (Ron strimmed them
first).
The chickens loved that! They really like scratching around in newly
disturbed soil. |