Poultry in the snow
Sara at Farming Friends warned me that Guinea Fowl hate snow. This week’s snowfall is the first since they hatched in July 2007. So I was interested to see how Thunder and Cloud would react when I opened the hen house door. The feel of snow underfoot is always a pleasure for me. The crisp squeakiness takes me right back to our childhood winter garden. The shock of the cold and brightness. And there are always the footprints. “Are those really my steps?” As I walked down the garden I remembered my ninth Christmas. I was given a...
read moreBest great budget recipes for 50% or less: Cottage Smallholder 2009 Challenge
2008 was an eye opener for me. We set a challenge to save 25% on our over the counter spending. It was tough at first but by the end of the year we were almost enjoying the test. And the savings meant that sometimes we could afford real treats, visit the organic butcher and still save way beyond our original budget. We actually managed to achieve an average of approximately 50% savings each month over the year. How did we achieve this level of saving? The secret was to try and ignore all the old strategies that haven’t worked for me in the...
read moreEasy chic recipes: Duck breasts roasted on a bed of apricots
We are lucky to know a few people who regularly travel outside our county. Jocelyn and Miles to France and Tessa and Colin to Cornwall and Belgium. J and M bring back fresh garlic, Lesieur mayonnaise (thank you Amelee!), garlic granules (these are much stronger and better than the ones available in the UK. They also will buy wine and tobacco. Real contraband. T and C visit Cornwall every month and bring back superb spicy beef sausages and fat duck breasts from Trago Mills. Cornish delights that they yearn for from their small East Anglian...
read moreMin Pin phantom pregnancy
The Contessa, our senior Min Pin bitch, was prone to phantom pregnancies. As she didn’t fancy Dr Q it was pretty clear what was going on. Although we always hoped that she had finally snuggled up and might be carrying a litter of pups. In the end we went down the AI route with the mismatched couple, which was a surprisingly down to earth experience. The key result was that Dr Q fell instantly in love with the female vet and any visit to any veterinary establishment since then is an expectant joy for Q. He actually pulls on the lead to go in...
read moreHow to save money in 2008: December review
I was worried that Christmas might blow our budget completely. But we had agreed to cut any extra spending to a minimum so December passed the acid test. Savings over 50% on the normal weekly shop. Last year I was careful and struggled to shave £5.00 off our bills. This year I was wanton, trying every strategy I could think of for lowering our bills whilst still living comfortably. Our Christmas menus were loosely based around the goose (a present from my mother) and a half leg of organic ham that we cured and smoked ourselves. This made the...
read moreDental disaster: check your dog’s teeth regularly
A week ago we noticed that Dr Quito had lost weight and was off his food. Quito has had a crummy shake of the dice. He was attacked by a lurcher at 10 months old and has been semi-crippled since then. From a pup, he’s always been a picky eater so we tried soaking his food in delicious gravy, bought different dog food, changed the toppings. “It’s like The Caesar Syndrome,” muttered Danny as he hand fed our best boy. I was curious. What could The Caesar Syndrome be? Some sort of dog related condition discovered by Pliny? I’d forgotten...
read moreBest recipes for leftovers: Baked Portobello mushrooms with ham, parsley sauce and parmesan recipe
We cured and smoked our own ham this year. It was delicious and a proper old fashioned half leg. We were thrilled that it worked out as I had tweaked our bacon cure, upping the salt by 25%. This is still far less than the HFW cure and every other recipe that I’ve found on my researches. We smoked it for a good 24 hours in the smoke chamber above our wood burner. The latter opens into an old chimney, rather than a flue. I had saved some seasoned apple wood for this very special smoke. I finally roasted the joint for us on Christmas Eve and it...
read moreHappy New Year
Danny is on chicken shepherding duties this week. “If we go with the names Peace and Hope, the one that pecks would have to be Hope. Arsenic and Old Lace are by far the most apposite names.” “Miss Pecky will calm down. She’s just rattled because she’s being bullied. Holly and Ivy would be good. Miss P could be Holly. Difficult to pick up. We need to find your gauntlets so that when she pecks you it doesn’t hurt so much.” “I like Frankincense and Myrrh but I’d rather reserve that for new pair of chickens. Frank is a great name...
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