Essential autumn preparations for your chickens (part two)
Having cracked the rat problem (see essential autumn preparations for your chickens part one, in the chicken category), it’s time to make sure that your chickens have every chance to pass the winter with health, happiness and warmth. And, even more important than this, that you have a good winter chicken wise. The winter of the first year that we kept chickens was a steep learning curve for me. Even though I’d thought the set up through, I struggled. I realise now that everything needs to be in place before the real onset of...
read moreThe soufflé omelette recipe
We make this omelette as a treat for each other. We call it The Souflette. If we are cooking for children we always make this for their supper as they love the crisp outside and the super fluffy melt in the mouth centre. At the moment I am working down in Saffron Walden at my friend Clare’s house. She made this omelette for her children’s supper. When her husband Mike sampled it, he insisted that she cooked the same for their supper. Once you’ve tried this recipe, rubbery omelettes will never darken your kitchen door...
read moreGuest Spot: The First Honey Harvest by Robert Altham (part two)
I took the fames up to the GPs house in the next village and learnt about the honey extraction process. First the de-capping. This is the removal of the wax cap on the comb. We did it with a bread knife, sawing along each side of the frame. It is a seriously messy job if you are not careful, and it is quite hard work too. Next year I shall try using a hot air gun and melt the wax caps off. Each de-capped frame is put into the centrifuge. This is a large cylindrical device that holds the frames of honey for spinning. When the centrifuge is full...
read moreGuest Spot: The First Honey Harvest by Robert Altham (part one)
Robert Altham is in his first year of beekeeping and successfully collected over thirty pounds of honey from his bees. He has kindly written this article for us, describing the experience and the process. Follow the link at the bottom of the page to view his own blog. The First Honey Harvest I am a complete beginner at bee keeping. I bought a hive on Ebay in May. I collected it from Lowestoft and drove back with the have and a full colony of bees in the back of my car. My hive comprised of the brood chamber where the queen lays her eggs and...
read moreThe Mouse
A couple of nights ago I noticed a small movement on the top of the cooker. Thinking that I’d imagined it I turned my gaze back to the laptop screen. A few minutes later I looked up to see a tiny mouse eating the crumbs from my midnight snack of marmite on toast on the plate that I’d left on the side. Teeny, perfect movements. I got up and roared. Rather fun late at night. He froze for a second before disappearing behind the cooker. One small foot hanging onto the side as paused to work out his descent. I thought that the dogs...
read moreGrape Jam Recipe
About fifteen years ago my mother travelled to New York. As an arty, fashion-conscious type, she enjoyed the galleries, the cafés the shops. She returned with marvellous presents but the one thing that has stuck in my mind was her description of grape jam, or “jelly” as it is referred to in America. Last Sunday, Anne Mary and I both decided to make grape jam. This was a first for me. A mutual friend had sent round bulging carrier bags of grapes to both our houses. We conferred on the grape/sugar ratio and discussed the major...
read moreCar Bomb
During the summer, I was making extensive repairs to the rendering on the outside of the cottage. I bought 25 kilo bags of sand and cement so that I could guarantee to get the right mix, as all my books came up with different ratios. The problem was where to store a half-used bag in between rendering splurges. I needed a dry space, ideally at waist height, very near to the area where I was working. I quickly found the perfect spot – the boot of Danny’s gleaming company car. For weeks I happily mixed and sploshed. Danny, whose study...
read moreEssential autumn preparations for your chickens (part one)
When I went into our chicken run this morning I spotted that we had intruders. There were three neat front doors behind the chicken house. These doors are about 1 ?” wide and mean one thing. Rats. This is an invasion that cannot be ignored. Rats clearly enjoy a great social life and breed very rapidly. They are intelligent and if they find a good supply of chicken feed and fresh water they will not leave willingly. There was an old guy in our village who would point a shotgun into a hole and fire. I use poison. A lot. Starting when I see...
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