H&C

“Well, there’s not a lot to report this week. We’ve had one lame hen, so she’s been in the hospital wing (broody coop) having regular pedicures involving Milton fluid and antibiotic spray. She’s a bit better today, so she’s back out with the flock. Egg production is dropping rapidly with the declining day length but there are enough for the Christmas cakes! We have a Light Sussex cockerel that could do with a new home. He’s 18-weeks-old and is a big boy. Hector treats him with complete disdain – so far. The lure of the seed catalogues is growing strong – but my first job is to review last year. We’re definitely not growing broad beans next year! Or aubergines (although the plants were rather attractive). Our kittens are turning into lovely young cats. However, they do seem to be able to find the muddiest parts of the garden. Cats may do a lot of grooming – but that’s AFTER they’ve wiped their paws on the duvet cover! Bertie makes an odd little chirrup – particularly when he comes in during the night, almost as if he’s sharing his adventures; Harry is more reserved and is going to be boss cat, I think. I am amazed at how bendy they are – Bertie is lying beside me as I type and he doesn’t look like he should be comfortable, but he’s sound asleep. Anyway, must go and take the Christmas cake out of the oven – hopefully, it won’t be burnt or we’ll be sick of Christmas cake before the end of November!”

"We’re on a meat fest! We got our pig back on Thursday, so it’s been sausages, bacon, sausages, pork, toad in the hole…I said to the butcher when I picked it up “Mmm, sausages for tea tonight!” He looked at the huge box of sausages and said, “Sausages for tea a lot of nights.” I did have a cold run home – as well as having four boxes of frozen meat in the car, seeping cold air, I didn’t want to put the car heater on. Then, of course, I had to rearrange the freezer to get it all in. I did have a bit of a panic when I thought it wasn’t all going to fit, but it did. I found the box of broad beans I had lifted out during the exercise and forgot to replace on a garage shelf this morning. Not nice. I overcooked the cake – so we’ve eaten it and I’ll bake another this week REALLY for Christmas. Unfortunately, Ruby died. I found her one morning in the henhouse. I have another hen with a swollen foot. She’s in isolation, not because she’s infectious but so she can get special treatment, including regular foot spas in Milton fluid and sprays of antibiotic. She’s OK apart from the sore foot and is eating well, so I’m not too worried about her. I suppose this is the start of the shepherd’s year – tupping. What happens now determines what kind of year we’ll have. The girls have been flirting furiously with the next door farm’s tups, which are in the next field. I have seldom seen such shameless behaviour. Our ewes have now gone to a friend who also has coloured Ryelands, to her tup. We used the same tup last year and he must have been a big hit because the ewes were on the trailer as soon as Dan got the tailgate down. Hussies! The tup we are using is called Garioch Highlander. One of the ewes has been covered already so hopefully the flirting will mean that they will all be pregnant really quickly and I’ll get a compact lambing next year. Li’l’ Bud and Dickie are home and living on the lawn. They have completed the trimming of the rose hedge and I spent a happy ten minutes this afternoon pulling thorny branches out of Dickie’s fleece. He’s such a good-natured wee soul. That’s about it for this week – more instalments of the ewes’ love lives next week."

“Well, we’re still pork-less! Hopefully, we’ll get it this week coming. We have one joint left from last year, so it’s being eaten this weekend. Yummy! The pigpen still looks like a quagmire. It’s been so wet here and it’s tipping it down today. However, that’s a good excuse to snuggle indoors and do some planning for next year. It’s a process of continuous improvement – a journey! At least that’s the idea. This is Christmas pudding/cake/mincemeat weekend anyway. So far, I’ve made 6lb mincemeat, a 2lb Christmas pudding is steaming, enough mix for another 2lb pudding is made and resting (I’m going to make some individual puddings), the fruit for the cake is soaking in brandy for baking tomorrow and the fruit for the Creole Christmas Cake is cooked in alcohol and maturing in the fridge. I MAY bake a cake today – I have a good recipe using mincemeat – just to get us in the mood. Dan loves fruitcake and puddings, so he’s happy to eat them over an extended period. I’m not the greatest cook or baker, but I do enjoy it. All my Christmas recipes are from Delia’s Christmas book, and they all work well. A few years ago, we made about four puddings and gave three away as gifts. On Christmas morning – our first in this house and with my in-laws coming for Christmas lunch – we discovered that OUR Christmas pudding was covered in green mould. Not just a little bit of mould that could be cut off, but completely covered. We made a “store cupboard trifle’ but I was horrified that our friends would be in the same position. But no! Their puddings were delicious. Turned out that Dan had changed the greaseproof paper and tinfoil on all the puddings except ours, following the initial steaming – hence our powdery green coating! Yesterday was quite nice, so we tidied up bits of the flower garden. It tends to be the most neglected part of the garden – it’s always at the end of the To Do list. Dan strimmed and trimmed the hedges and I did some pruning and sweeping up. Actually, calling it pruning glorifies my method, which is a bit more haphazard than most books recommend. The courtyard looks much better without the nettles. There was much evidence of nests in the hedge, which pleased us and there were lots of bugs in the leaf litter, so we just piled that up in a corner and left them to get on with it. It’s nice to think that we’re doing a little bit to help Mother Nature. Ruby is better than she was last week, but not yet fully recovered. She’s very thin, so I’ve been giving her some supplementary feeding. And I washed her face yesterday. She won’t need washing today, though. Anyway, I’m going to bake that cake, so I don’t have to look at the rain! Happy Hallowe’en!”