Poultry Panic Stations And Other Stuff!

Good afternoon.

The weather here in mid-Wales is glorious today - 

quick translation: mae hi'n braf means it is fine.

I am currently childless as the boys are on half-term; they are spending half of it with Jon's mum and half with his dad with us fetching them home on Saturday. Jon and I are going out for a SHOCK HORROR meal on our own this week. 

We had guests in our Airbnb room at the weekend and I decided I would make some Welsh cakes in readiness to add to the breakfast. I've made them before but have not always come out too well. However, I'm quite chuffed with my recent effort.

I used the recipe from A Cook's Year In A Welsh Farmhouse, thanks as ever to Sue for sending it to me, by Elizabeth Luard.

Apart from putting in an extra egg by mistake they came out very well.

I bought these tulips at Lidl on Friday to keep me going until my dafffs are blooming.

The main lot of daffs are not in flower yet,

but I spotted this little bunch at the back of the Poly House.

This photo does not do them justice but the carpet of snowdrops has come out, love them, and these ones have come up on their own near the daffs.

Now, this was the chooks doing some free-ranging earlier today. I cleaned them out after lunch and then did a necessary garden job.

It was time to sort out the compost bins so the one completely rotted down was put into one of the huuuge tyres. Nowhere near full but will add some goodness before we get the top soil.

Whilst outside I took a look at the garlic which is coming on well.

Now, back to the chickens. I came inside and was half-way through getting my overalls off when there was a knock at the front door. It was the people who we bought the house from saying the chickens were out! Two had made a break for freedom down the road towards our field and it took us a little while to get them in the enclosure. They were just leaving then called out to say another was at the side of the house and she got it through the gate. I wanted to get them all in the enclosure and shut the gate so went to our neighbours-but-one and thankfully they came to help. We were missing two but found one in the front of the Canolfan across the road! In the confusion I had forgotten how many we actually have so wasn't sure if I was indeed missing the second. I went outside a little later to take photos and I heard this noise behind me and there was the last one; luckily I didn't have too much trouble picking her up.I am now searching the internet for poultry electronic tags!!

The weather is apparently due to change to very cold, again, tomorrow. Hope it's just dry!

Bye for now.

Lou.xx

Catch Up Before The Weekend.

Good afternoon or prnhawn da - always practising my Welsh just now. Was doing so at the village shop yesterday and when I went food shopping today. I choose people who I know will help me and not think it strange that after two and a half years I am suddenly making an effort with the language. Have to say I am loving my lessons!

So I just thought I'd do a little round up of the last few days.

Our weather has been really quite cold of late and mostly wet but we have had wintry showers, too, making the garden look lovely - just for a little while.

The first Eisteddfods which the boys are taking part in are coming up soon with the first I think on St David's Day - March 1. They are both working on poetry to recite as well as some creative projects. Alfie is making a model of Devil's Bridge which is not far from us.

This is the basis which he took to Wednesday's Craft Club at school to do more work on. I think it will involve papier mache and modelling clay! Harry is working on something like a commemorative sword out of wood which will have pyrography on it; I look forward to sharing their finished efforts. 

I am trying to use up some things out of the downstairs freezer so brought up two boxes of stewed apple with cinnamon and as I had some sweet pastry upstairs leftover from Christmas I made an apple pie.

There is not too much going on outside in the garden just now but a bit of prep has started in doors which means the potatoes are chitting in the conservatory.

Altogether I have 73 tubers in total so really hope I get a good harvest; this of course does not include the Christmas spuds that will be planted later in the year. I do hope I'm not blighted by blight again this year!

This weekend we hope to get the top soil for the new bigger tyres that came last week and we'll be able to fill up some of the other areas, too. Very exciting that prep is coming along well and as long as we get some dry, and I have to say not so cold, weather soon as there are other jobs to be done in readiness for Spring.These include strimming, pruning and covering the fruit patch, cutting the laurel back at the front of the house and weeding behind said wall and covering so weeds do not return. 

Also there are a couple of areas in the chicken enclosure that need filling in as we get some puddles when there is a lot of rain. Talking of chooks we lost one this week; it had been looking a little out of sorts for a few days and had kept an eye on it but I went to collect eggs on Wednesday afternoon and she was sitting in the hen house and when Jon went to look a hour or so later she has died. I have to say that the white chickens we have are definitely quite a bit more sensitive than the brown ones. Ah well nature doing its thing, but laying is definitely on the up and sold a second box of eggs yesterday.  

Ok, I have to do a few jobs and be ready for when the boys plus a pal from school are home later to have tea together then go to Youth club.

Happy Friday to everybody and, as ever, I look forward to seeing what you get up to over the weekend.

Bye for now.

Lou.xx

Outdoor Jobs Yay!

Good afternoon.

It's February and I made a little vignette in the living room window with my Country Diary book and some hyacinths (two pots for £2), I thought it was time to brighten things up.

I've finally got some jobs done outside as for once we had no rain today. It really has been relentless recently and had no chance really to get anything done.

However I started on Friday and today I finished working on the small veg patch. I began by taking up the sweetcorn which had been rotting down along with any other weeds that had grown there; it looked like this before....

....and after all my hard work we have this. Yay! 

It is now covered, as is the main veg patch -  there I finished off putting down the last of the compost and the tarps to keep the ground warm until planting begins.

Whilst I was doing this, cleaning out the chooks and saying goodbye to our Airbnb guest, Jon and the boys were clearing all his tools, equipment etc from our shed into the tractor shed across the road we are borrowing from our kindly neighbour. Before putting anything in there Jon put the doors that were on the second Airbnb room, waste not want not, as good security along with breeze blocking up a small doorway; it looks great now. In the third photo you may just be able to see the opening prior to the doors going on (taken when we were putting in the parking area.)

Jon came home in the middle of the day on Friday, always a lovely surprise and chance for a brew and a quick chat, with two presents for me - tyres, but not just any old tyres. These are mahoosive!! Apologies for the blurry action photos!

This is their final resting place. 

The other fab thing is that we also have access to some good top soil as we are going to need a tonne of the stuff to fill these two. It looks as though the vast majority of my potato planting will fit in these two! Which reminds me, I need to put those to chit next week.

In other news we have established the Poly House will not be fixed before Spring properly begins, ie March at the earliest. This means I will be using the conservatory to start off my seeds as I did last year in the run up to Jon finishing the build. I didn't have it to use until the end of April so I will manage just fine.

It is getting very exciting, preparing everything the coming months.

Out of interest, what is anybody enjoying on TV at the moment? We are LOVING McMafia; James Norton is just fantastic, Call The Midwife is fab as ever and I enjoy watching that on catch up with my lunch on a Monday.

Ooh, one last thing. I have rearranged nearly all of my craft things into the office upstairs as we're going to move the pool table into the cellar. I'm pleased about this as I think I will do a few more projects with the stash being in the house proper if you see what I mean. To this end I've decided to attempt to make a few things so I can have a table at our local Winter fayre. I know, Winter has only just gone but I never have time in the summer so thought I'd do this and that way I have plenty of time. Hope to post anything I get round to making.

Ok, I think that is it for now. Looking forward, as ever, to seeing what everybody got up to over the weekend.

Bye for now.

Lou.xx