Update - Inside And Out.

Overwintering sowing and growing, but first the weather. 

We've had bouts of biblical rain recently along with some terrific wind. However, today we have ish-blue sky with a light breeze hence I had a wander around my little patch of paradise today. There may be rain later... Anyhow here's what I found.

Shallots, garlic and onions were planted out by October 22 and the first two are showing nicely.

With the onions I have some interlopers in the form of peas left over from the summer so hope that I might get a cheeky harvest!

Garlic not doing as well as these two just now but hope it picks up soon.

In the poly house the carrots and kale are peeking through and the meteor dwarf beans in the troughs are doing very well. 

The meteor beans in the greenhouse were sown a little later than the others and think I might plant them in the empty bed in there when they are all ready.

A little surprised at how well the hardy sweet peas are coming on to be honest; I need to check when they can be planted out!

In the greenhouse the beetroot seems to be growing well but there are more leaves than anything else; not sure how that is going to turn out...

A quick look at the cabbages seem to suggest they have not been nibbled by anything recently, after I removed the netting.

Have to say I'm quite chuffed that I seem to have some growing happening so just hope that they turn into edibles!

Garden prep has seen chicken poo, compost and covering put on the corner veg patch. All that needs covering now is where the few leeks and swede are in the main patch.

Inside now. 

First Christmas present is wrapped and a number have been ordered so must wrap them as they arrive.

The turkey has been ordered so can forget about that until the day before Christmas Eve.

The sloe gin is being given a shake once a week now. 

Christmas cake was made at the beginning of the month; I'll feed it some booze this week.

Ordered, as usual, a few crating bits for the festive season and have so far made this tag on the left which can be used as a decoration or given as a gift. The piece on the left is something I love making; this will be used as a back drop on a decorated table or shelf but could also be framed as a gift.

Christmas is now just six weeks away. Eeeek! Lots of planning to be done soon but not quite yet.

Moving Forward At Our Best Pace And Keeping Track Of Progress!

That's a title, but it sort of draws a finishing line under some things and for us to start others. Personally I've made the decision to keep this as a diary/record of us and our stuff; I think some people are just too busy to visit other blogs and see what people are getting up to; I know I like to read a couple that really interest me and that's about it so checking if people have commented on my ramblings I think is something that will not now be my main aim, but thanks if you do. It also gives me the opportunity to REALLY ramble on without worrying that people can't be bothered to read it!😃

I've kept my Twitter account for the Airbnb rooms, and I do follow people other than those directly aimed at that, but I'm careful what comes into my feed. From next week I am having a couple of days off social media; I'll take it off my phone meaning I'll have to get the laptop out to use it; not exactly the instant way Twitter is meant to be used but that suits me!

And so...Jon and I had a conversation this morning, at length, about what we are trying to do and where we are just now.

This was triggered by the fact that we've come to the conclusion, after some monitoring our electricity meter is not working as it should. I give 2 meter readings each month, one for the cheaper night rate and one for the more expensive day time right. However we have discovered the meter is switching to the low rate at the wrong time of the day - we believe it should correspond with the times given to us by our energy company or how can we expect to make the most of the cheaper rate period? I'll be talking to them tomorrow to get something sorted but we've also arranged to have a smart meter installed at the end of the month. I was against these as the older generations of them meant they were not compatible when you switched energy company but this has now been changed so that is good.

On the back of this we know that it costs approximately £350 per year to use an emmersion heater; as we have this turned on in the Summer only and run, at the most, 2 baths a day and I wash up a couple of times it seems a huge amount of money. Soooo we are going to start keeping the Rayburn lit through the Summer months as well as the Winter. This may sound to some people like duh! we should have made this decision from the get go, but you live and learn. I think for most people energy is the biggest outlay each month.

The energy issue has lead us to think that we have taken our eye off the ball a little recently when it comes to the reason why we moved to Wales and what our aims were. It was never about living what is often described as a frugal life. It was about being self-sufficient and self-reliant in the main, getting back to basics on our little homestead; saving money by not wasting money is our goal along with generating an income so that Jon does not have to work outside of the home.

We are not an extravagant family but our boys will never go without. However they are taught where money comes from and that we can't always have what we want when we want it. However, generally in our house everything comes to he/she who waits and that always works for us!

I talked in my last post about extending our growing area for next Spring and that is very exciting. I'm now working on the layout for all the growing areas because, heavens to Betsy, if I can't supply the four of us with a really good amount of food with the space we are going to have then I don't know what!

So, we're keeping our focus on the job in hand, to reach our goals as we make them, to be are here doing what we signed up for and knowing that we really are, for us, living the dream.

Onwards and upwards!

Cooking On Gas...Well Logs Actually!

I think we are taking it as read, or as lit, that Winter is well on the way as yesterday we fired up the Rayburn; we have managed to leave it until November 1 which is great as we normally light it at the start of October.

I made the most of it I have to say and loved it. I baked a cob loaf which I have decided I can make pretty much every day and I have another baking as we speak. It is a very easy recipe. I made some egg-free choc chip biscuits for the boys as they came home from The Gramps today after being away since last Saturday. (Egg-free as the girls are freeloading a bit at the moment...) So lovely to have the boys home again and we still have time with them until they go back to school on Monday. 

I cooked lunch and tea on and in it, too.

So very pleased that once again we have eaten, heated the water and warmed the house with the old girl. We all squeezed together on the bench with the door open just watching the flames after tea. Fab!

This week I was pleased as punch, or rather as sloe gin! that I got round to picking and preserving some sloes just down the road from the house. Only about 12oz but enough so I popped them in the freezer to save me having to pin prick them all.

After having the gin and sugar added they are now sitting in the cellar being shaken periodically until ready to be strained for Christmas. Fab when you finally get round to doing something you've always fancied giving a go.

Not much going on outside just now; we have had all sorts of weather this last week or so. I've at times managed to dry the clothes on the line but we have had hail yesterday and some pretty heavy rain, too.

I've been doing a bit more Winter garden prep by adding compost to and covering over one of the massive tyres plus one end of the small veg patch. Also breaking news; hubby thinks we need one more large veg patch so we can really do our best to grow as much of our fruit and veg as we can. Its going to be dug out along side the three new planters he built; no pressure there, in fact loads, especially when not everything went as well as hoped this year. I just don't want to fail so we are going to make sure we have plenty of coverings so we do not fall prey to those damn caterpillas, or anything that eats brassicas really; I soooo want to have cabbages and broccoli next year, and anything else I can manage on the list that we really want to eat. Not buying fresh produce is something we really do want to get to grips with. Ok, rant over I think.

Another glorious day here today; a bit of a nip in the air but lovely.

I'm waiting on guests arriving at about 3pm so want to get outisde for an hour or so before then. Just waiting for the bread to finish and have my lunch. Had a morning of doing a bit of admin, trip to the bottle bank with the boys and putting out the washing whilst they stocked up on logs and kindling and done other bits and pieces so have to get some fresh air on this beautiful day.

Right that's all my ramblings.

Bye for now.

Lou.xx