Just before I get onto the weekend events I forgot to share this photo of when I cleaned out the chickens on Friday. I realised the wheelbarrow made things a heck of a lot easier and some of the girls came to see what all the fuss was about too!
So, back to the weekend. We were up, breakfasted and in the car on the way to Aber at 9am on Saturday morning. We did the food shop, £5 off a £40 shop at Lidl so that was great.
Jon had put one of his guitars into a music shop to sell and today the guitar had gone but the owner was not in so just waiting to see how much we got for it; a few more squidlies for the pot.
We came home and Jon got the kindling pile finished; the boys played out a bit and helped Jon stack the sticks!
After I'd put the shopping away we had pot luck lunch with yesterday left-overs and after that I put on a wash load.
I spotted that some of the broccoli plants have been got at by the birds so Jon and I decided to do something about that on Sunday.
We just pottered until the evening and that was it really. Not too exciting.
Today we were up and at it. It was my turn to let the chooks out so from 6.30am I was really busy. When the girls were fed I put some coffee on, started the yeast for bread and between that proving I was baking some sultana buns plus a lemon pound cake. The cake is for the freezer for next week and half the buns were put away too so I'm never short for my men.
We had breakfast and Jon and the boys headed outside to get some garden jobs done. Alfie did a great Job on the painting of the picket fence (sorry about the poor quality photo) and Jon got a fire going.
Harry finally made it outside, when he medically removed himself from his book, shouldn't complain really, and he helped Jon with the fire then we sorted out the problem with the broccoli.
The bread was still in the oven when I went outside to do a few jobs in the Poly House; great to be able to keep putting the courgettes and squash outside in the sun right now.
Harry and I started the painting on the inside of the fence once the bread was done as Alfie had done the outside. At 11-ish Jon and Aflie went to Aber; we found a cheap piano on Ebay for Alfie and Jon is going to give him some basic piano lessons then we will look at finding a local teacher in September.
By the time they came back Harry had lost interest with the painting and was tending to the fire which was good as I could not do both.When the piano had been installed Jon put his and Harry's bikes in the back of the car and they took it up to the mechanic and biked home; Alfie jumped on his bike and met them at the corner as they were coming back to the house. Good news regarding the man who sold us the piano; he is coming to us next weekend as Jon has sold him one of the boys old quad bikes plus a push along leaf blower that we have in the shed and have been trying to get rid of. All adds to the pot!
We had lunch and then Jon dug over the 'orchard' area showing off our lone apple tree hoping to be joined by other fruit; shame we can't plant any more until November!
The weather really has been just great today so the boys and Jon are outside as I write this getting the fire pit started ready to cook tea on; I think petrol is involved so I am not asking.
The weekend was not as exciting as I had hoped in one respect. I would have liked to go to the food festival at Aberaeron but because of only being able to fetch the piano today and having to drop off the car it was not possible. That is on my list for NEXT year!
Well I think that is it for me just now. Look forward,as always to hearing what everybody has been up to over the weekend.
Oh, have been meaning to say a proper hello and thanks for following to Marlen and Jane. Hi there and hello!
Bye for now.
Lou.xx
I'm incredibly jealous of your hens, hopefully one day soon i will get a proper answer from our Housing Association as to whether we can have them :)
ReplyDeleteHow on earth do you get your bread so lovely and light colored? mine is always so dark and has a very chewy crust, which i'm not terribly fond of lol :) x
Hi. Yes, we love our chooks; they have such personality. Regarding my bread. I prove it once, knock it back and prove again then the third time I prove it in the tins which go in the oven. Maybe the trick is to put oil in the bowl you probe the bread in, making sure you turn over the dough so it all gets covered then when you put the dough in the tins paint them with oil too. See how you get on. I will see if I can find the recipe for you. I know it by heart but it is easier to send a link. It normally takes 30-35 minutes to bake properly with a lovely coloured underneath as well as the top being a nice colour. Let me know how you get on.
ReplyDeleteYou have done well with the eggs, very good, it's like everything you have to pay for the initial outlay, but it soon pays for its self. Didn't realise birds liked brocolli x
ReplyDeleteThanks. When I first read what you said about birds I thought you meant the chickens and I was going to say they chooks will eat anything! Hopefully our protection will do the trick.x
DeleteGreat news on the egg front, broccoli is a favourite of pigeons if its them then perhaps pigeon pie could be on the menu, your garden has changed such a lot since I saw it well done to you all :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you Dawn. Jon and I were only saying that yesterday! I STILL have to get some top soil and it is driving me mad because I'm worried I will miss the boat on stuff going out, but I think I will be alright if we get it next week.
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