Summer Staycation Is No More.

Good morning.

Today Jon has gone back to work after his annual Summer break from the saw mill. We both really wish he could always be at home and hopefully it will be that way soon. The recent couple of weeks has been a little bit of a staycation for the two us with the boys being away. Now they are back we've had some lovely family time together. Saturday and yesterday we went to the beach for the boys to swim; it was great to see boats, swimmers and paddle boarders and we might have seen a dolphin but we got there an hour too late. Harumph!

We were able to chill and it gave Jon time to slow the pace of life when he works so hard even though on holiday and we all had ice cream. Yum!

Before we went to the beach on Saturday we came across these two chairs in our favourite house clearance shop. They are PERFECT for the summer house snug project. (We have ditched the chair we previously found) It is coming along very nicely indeed and I can't WAIT to show you the end product but I'll have to wait a little longer. 

The stories I could tell you about the things Jon and I have transported on car roof racks since we have been together would make your hair curl - I know at times they have been responsible for the grey in my hair!!

Jobs around the house have continued, of course. The stable door Jon fixed for the kitchen has now been painted in duck egg blue, chalk-style paint, door furniture added and I love it. 

Just for further contrast we've painted the lovely side table that was green, which I've loved since we viewed the house. It practically sold me the house - you know when you just see something that you think is just your thing well this was that.

I've been harvesting a few things here and there and Jon I had lunch one day made up of two types of courgettes, green beans, onions, herbs and boiled potatoes. 

We have spuds coming out of our ears right now but I also took delivery of these beauties...

Charlotte Christmas spuds which are nearly all planted now, in bags so they can be moved indoors when necessary. 

In the polyhouse the last lot of climbing peas I recently sowed have come up and are now planted out - not sure how they will do but at the stage now of just giving stuff a go.

I've sown a tray of beetroot and spinach beet to grow inside along with some wild rocket in the polyhouse drainpipe and a pot of parsley to keep in there. Plus I've sown spring cabbage in trays to hopefully survive when I plant it out later on; this is my go at overwintering along with some spring onions in one of the green house raised beds.

Elsewhere in the garden I am loving my sunflower against the teal-coloured door of the polyhouse.

My tomatoes have SO many flowers on them and finally getting fruit on more than one plant.

I had a really good sized cucumber the other day...

and they are coming thick and fast....

as are the gherkins. Hope to get some radishes soon so I can make yummy fridge pickles.

I said we have spuds coming out of our ears, well the maincrop ones are looking great, too, and just starting to flower. 

I am still very upset that I have lost my cabbages and I think I'm going to take out the broccoli as nothing is really left of them, look our chooks. My swede are small and some of the leaves have been nibbled at, too, but I'm going with it as I hope it won't really affect the harvest?

Well that is where I am for now. We have Airbnb bookings for in the week and at the weekend so that it great - hope to get more for this month.

Bye for now.

Lou.xx 

Fun In The Sun, A Sowing And A Growing!

Good morning.

Oh my what a weekend! On Saturday we spent, as a family, 3 and a half hours putting up the greenhouse gifted to us by friends; where they live was apparently too windy for them to use it so they asked if we'd like it. You betcha!

It was a bit of a task but we did it in the end, all but the glass - Jon will get to that after a couple of other jobs around out little Homestead; there are a few broken pieces but he has some in stock so no trouble there.

We started putting it together where it will eventually be set down but it was a bit of a squeeze so we moved across to the other side of the garden to complete the task.

 I took this one as Harry was tightening up all the nuts and bolts.

This photo is after I'd re-sited the blackcurrant bush that was in the doorway, can you see? Its loaded with flowers and smells fab, as does the other bush, and I'm very confident of a good harvest, as long as I can keep an eye on them regarding the birds....

I now have to strim the area, it will be secured, I'll put some membrane down for this year and Jon said he'll build me some staging. Next year I'll see about having some raised beds but I'll have my planters for the tomatoes and other things this year when I get organised - v.excited!

Sunday was a great day! I got outside after a hearty breakfast I cleaned out the chooks with some great shavings I use from the sawmill. I sowed cabbage Offenham direct into the bed outside the Poly House. I have some in the conservatory in pots but thought I'd go belt and braces as really hope they come out as well as last year but just more, barring caterpillars. 

I forgot to sow peppers after the first lot didn't germinate so I've, again, gone for sweet pepper Romano and California Wonder. Because of the extra space with the greenhouse I've decided to sow gherkins again as they did sooo well last year.

I've direct sown sugar snap peas in the main bed and used some more willow canes for a little support. I've got a really mix going on in there just now. I was only thinking this afternoon that I must work out where to put things once the first early spuds are up as there is broccoli to think of, too, that is currently in the conservatory - nowhere near ready to go out yet, though.

I am continually checking my books and magazines for things I can sow just now, and as our weather is set to be great for the next week too I have to hold myself back! I'm lucky to have a good sized area and the new greenhouse, too, but it is never enough is it😃?

The raspberry bushes were getting properly larey so I've tied the other large one to supporting canes and noticed where they have self-seeded so will have to deal with that soon. Last year our neighbour gave me some raspberry canes and I planted them at the fence line between his and our garden and completely forgot about them. They are now well established now and it looks like there will be a great crop from them this year! 

We popped to Aber after lunch and I came home with four more bags of compost. Just out of interest, what do people pay for it where you live? I can get 200 litres for £10. Work clothes back on and with new supplies I planted out more sweet peas, this time in a planter with one of my trellis (2 for £1) and willow canes so that should be a lovey sight outside of the Poly House. 

I could finally put the last of the maincrop spuds Cara in! I admit to some of them being spoilt with overheating so I had to ditch a few.... but they are in the second massive tyre and one growing bag.


I clipped some of the big weeds before strimming and checked that it was ok for some to go on the compost; I also turned over one of the compost bins to see how it was progressing.

We managed to get some of the grass cut and it looks so much better - lovely view from the Poly House. Hope to get the rest done this week.

In other areas of the garden the three blueberry bushes are really coming on well - not sure if there will be any fruit this year.

The end of the small patch where the parsnips and radishes are sown are now quite defined by the radishes which is good to see.

The Marketmore cucumbers are peeping through after being put in the propagator in the Poly House after not doing well in the conservatory so its great my recycling has worked.

Right, have to get on. Just enjoying the weather today really, not too many jobs outside apart from drying the washing. Back to Slimming World tonight after a couple of weeks away and then Welsh tomorrow, also been off for a couple of weeks as life just got in the way.

Oh, in my quest to do a bit of writing where I can I've had a piece about learning Welsh accepted and is going to be published in our local mag promoting Aber. go me!

Looking forward to seeing what everybody is getting up to on your own patches of paradise in this fantastic weather we are enjoying just now.

Bye for now.

Lou.xx

Preserving and Project Progress.

Hi!

Airbnb phase two is coming along really well. Inside we have got the frame for the front of the chalet in place.

The window and door were put in along with membrane covering.

The doors were then taken off and they will be used on another project.

This door was originally the connecting door between Jon's tool shed and the main shed.

Alfie was a really good lad learning some new skills by helping Jon with the cladding and putting on the new windowsill. 

And here we are.

We are very pleased with how it looks on the outside - obviously it needs painting but when guests come it looks tidy from the front.

Jon will continue working on the inside at those times when we don't have any guests.

In other news my order of onions and garlic have come today.

It was my offer from GYO magazine.

And I am pleased to still be harvesting some things...

which include my only four chillis, one last Spring onion I think, lettuces (not Winter ones), the contents of the first growing bag of sweet potatoes, which I am so very pleased with, and still some tomatoes are coming.

Today I have made a jar of gherkin relish as they keep popping up, too. I'm really looking forward to my preserving this year. I look forward to us using it on burgers next summer and it looks JUST how I wanted it to!

Right, I have a cake in the oven just now for when we go visit my mum tomorrow. 

I look forward to seeing what everybody gets up to over the weekend.

Bye for now.

Lou.xx




  

September - How Did That Happen?!

September is here!

I love September; it is the start of my favourite time of the year. The nights are drawing in; already it is pitch dark by 9pm and changing daily. I love Autumn because of the colours due to the changing of the season. I am sooo looking forward to lighting the Rayburn next month but in the meantime chilly nights will have us sitting away from the TV room and being snuggly in the living room with the wood burner. (We do watch TV in the darker months but sometimes we just like 'being'; listening to music, reading and me probably planning the garden for the months ahead!

Therefore I have been taking photos to show how things have progressed thus far and maybe a little show and tell of things that have gone on since we began harvesting from our little plot and beds, things I have preserved and made etc.

I made 5 jars of damson jam and some fruit leathers with gifted damsons; we gifted and sold some, too.
I have pickled 2 jars of beetroot, one given away as a gift along with some jam.  (I plan on making more.)
2 lots of stewed apple for the freezer with giften cookers along with crumbles, some sold and gifted.
2 good sized jars of pickled gherkins.
2 jars of refrigerator pickles which I luuuurve!

A little update, I was gifted some cooking apples yesterday and now I can make some chutney to keep in stock. Not sure what kind yet but very pleased to have received the apples.

Thanks to the wonder of the Welsh countryside I have foraged about 3lbs of blackberries. These have been used with yoghurt for my Slimming World diet, instead of buying mixed berries, for crumbles with the free apples and some are for making blackberry vodka for Christmas.

Now here are a few photos from the garden, using the new camera of course! Here is the Poly House looking a little different to recent times.

The tomatoes are still flowering and there are still quite a lot to pick, too.

Also in there are the chillis...

and also the sweet potatos.

The cucumbers and gherkins are coming to the final flowering I think.

Now for outside. THESE are my Christmas spuds and the variety is Duke of York. I can't believe how well they are already doing; as you can see the ones I have put in a tyre are doing well, too.

The sweetcorn is getting nearer the stage of harvesting but has a way to go yet as the tops of the cobs are not all dried yet.

It seemed we'd had the last of the courgettes but this plant has had a welcome spurt and looking great.

Now, this post also covers Phase Two of our Airbnb project. Jon has been working on it since last weekend after a friend visited bringing with him some building materials we needed.

He started by getting the stud wall up between the bathroom and bedroom...

positioning the basin and toilet...

and setting the shower tray in place.

Jon bought a shed load of windows from various places and this one was perfect for the bathroom; didn't need to be frosted as too high for anybody to see in. He made a brilliant job of the frame so is confident he can make the rest of the frames for all of the windows.

The boys were giving a hand yesterday as he was getting the plaster board up and the flooring down.

  
 

More progress reports soon.

Ok, that's it for today. I have been writing this post after getting home very wet due to watching Alfie in his first football tournament. He is goaly and did really, really well even though their team was knocked out of the group.

Look forward to seeing what everybody has been up to over the weekend.

Bye for now, Lou.xx