Bantams, Bees and a New Pair of Mitts

The weather has been delightfully spring-ish and I'd earmarked today for going to buy some new chickens. My flock at the moment is a rather motley collection of hybrids and others that I've inherited or reared, so much as I love them all, I thought I might get some new ones of a specific breed. The coop I have (which was too small for Emu) is the perfect size for little bantams, so I procured myself a trio of Buff Sussex from Over the Stile in Broad Oak, about 20 minutes up the road from me.

They are very sweet! I've not yet named them as I can't tell the difference between the hens and you sort of need to get to know their characters before naming them. Yes, you really do.

Apparently they lay a good sized egg for a bantam so I'm looking forward to seeing how they get on. I'm hoping to sell some as hatching eggs (fertile eggs that people buy to incubate) as they are pure bred so will produce Buff Sussex chicks. Ooh how sweet would they be....no....no don't start on that train of thought :-/

My bees have been making the most of this warm calm spell and I was watching them visit all the crocuses in my garden. I can't stress how important it is to plant these easy bulbs wherever you can - pots, window boxes, lawns, borders - as they are so very valuable to pollinators early in the season. They are inexpensive, easy to plant and sink gracefully back in to the earth when they're done. Queen bumblebees were out too, and I saw one shivering to warm up her muscles in the bowl of a crocus having probably just had her first drink of nectar since the autumn:

I saw a small solitary bee and a variety of bee-fly enjoying the nectar too, so please put a note in your diaries to double your quantity of crocuses when planting time arrives in the autumn!

The new season brings some warmth but it's still quite nippy out despite the temperatures nudging in to double figures if you stand in the right spot. So, I was pleased to have my Peerie Flooers mittens (pattern: Kate Davies, yarn: 2ply jumper weigh by Smith & Jamieson) which I've just finished and have been blocked. I'm absolutely thrilled with them and they're just perfect; bright and cheerful whilst being really warm:

Aren't they fab?

Hooks and Needles

I've had a busy week since adopting a 'bites of the elephant' approach to housework and home organisation in general, but I am pleased with how manageable it all feels and with the results! I have a brief window between the girls' lessons and helping T with his workbooks, so my peppermint tea is here and I have taken some photos of my recent projects that have been finished:

This bowl/jug cover is from Nicky Trench's book, Cute and Easy Crochet, and it is a big version of the jam pot cover. I carried on with the rounds rather manically during a particularly harrowing episode of Call the Midwife, and increased when it sort of looked like it should (difficult to recreate I know!). I then threaded beads on to a length of cotton and double-crocheted round, letting a bead drop every 8th stitch. The beads are glass ones made by fellow CCG member Nicky's sister, and are beautiful colours - and suitably weighty.  Over tea and welshcakes yesterday afternoon, Nicky and I discussed various projects and we are veering more towards herbal salves and foraged foods as spring approaches. I have been using the shampoo bars we made a few weeks ago that have olive oil, beeswax, avocado oil and egg yolks in them. I used the rosemary hair rinse that Nicky had made and it has worked brilliantly! I spritzed it on after rinsing and towel-drying my hair and it was an instant detangler, plus my hair feels wonderfully soft.

On the sock front, I finished the February fair isle socks, and also the ones in the sweet pea yarn:

I am really enjoying knitting socks! I've a new pair on the go at the moment which are from quite a complicated pattern but they are looking good and are for a worthy recipient so I don't mind at all, and being only 50 stitches with DK yarn, are knitting up relatively quickly. I've also brought a pair of Nicky's socks back to finish off for her as I do seem to need about 4 things on the go so I can ring the changes. The kidsilk wrap is growing, but I want it really wide and luxurious so I am not rushing that at all.

Due to the rat infestation I have moved all the poultry down to the other end of the garden and decanted the contents of the compost bins/rat hotels in to old plastic sacks. I will leave the bags to stew for the summer in discrete groups as I don't want to encourage the rodent population to take up residence in amongst them. The ducks have taken to waddling out of the garden and dabbling around in the drainage ditch outside my house which is disgusting, and hardly safe (especially with the chap and his Staffies that regularly ride up the road), so they have been shut in their run. It is now on grass though and they have been making little trenches with their beaks around their bucket. Jean is laying eggs too :-)

Anyway, Tristan and his chemistry workbook need some attention before Rosie goes to tea with some friends from the local school. Back soon with more projects to show you!

A Sock, a Shawl and some Houseplants

The snow still hasn't melted and frankly I'm rather bored of it now, especially as I've been walking up the footpath/Olympic luge run twice a day which now has slippery muddy patches as well as the slippery icy patches. I've had to separate the hens again as despite giving them an enormous run (the large ark, extension run plus small ark), Henry kept picking on the chicks, and I find it so disconcerting to hear them squawking. So, the chicks and Ida now have the small ark and the extra run, and the 4 older chickens have the big ark. I can't let them out for long as there's not much to do in the garden with the snow on the ground, so they end up on the verge outside, or - their favourite place - across the road in to the garden where my white call ducks met their fate :-/...honestly. So, I have decided to take the opportunity to keep them shut in for most of the day and give them their Flubenvet-spiked mash so they actually eat it, otherwise I can't get any wormer down them. The ducks have a herbal pellet which is added to their food on a monthly basis but I can't rely on the hens sharing the food out quite so equably as Mr and Mrs Duck. Anyway, they all seem ok and there are enough hens in each coop to keep each other warm when they roost.

I've suffered a bit of pain in my wrist from all my knitting! Oops. So, I've not done so much recently, although I've done the first bit of colour work on the second fairisle sock:

I am also crocheting a cobweb scarf/wrap in the green Kidsilk Haze yarn - I made a shawl for my mum and couldn't resist making one for me! It's a bit of a trawl and rather a boring stitch but it looks good and is lovely and springy:

I've also decided on a project for my Sissinghurst granny squares, but I've a bit more to do on that before I can take a proper picture:

I spent some time in the garden yesterday as I'd had the foresight to bring my sack of compost in overnight to defrost it. I had lots of spiderplant babies in dishes of water, and they now have roots. I've potted them up in to Nutella jars and tins with grit and sand at the bottom for drainage. I love golden syrup tins too so the ivy went in there:

I have a new book about biodynamic gardening so I'm going to try and get my head around that this weekend! I sowed sweet peas in large yogurt pots and pricked out some Cosmos seedlings, as well as some lupins from an old seed packet, which I now realise are the rather boring yellow ones but not all of them germinated. I'm longing for some sunshine and spring warmth. I always get so desperate to have plants I always sow everything far too early so it gets all leggy or damps off, but I can't resist. I have about 20 hollyhocks in the coldframe which are looking brilliant, and I have sweet peas in there too, and at least when the snow has gone I should have some crocuses and snowdrops to enjoy :-)

It's been raining today and very grey - I find it difficult to get going with the weather like this, although it is also the time of year; the urge to hibernate is very strong...

The ducks are happy though, and have been rootling about in the muddy grass finding all sorts of unsuspecting invertebrates - they particularly like the manure I put at the base of the apple trees, (ugh) but also the grass around the greenhouse which is more photogenic:

We've worked out that the chick called Hazel is the cockerel, and the two others are hens. The boy has much bigger wattles and comb compared to his nest-mates. Hazel is now Wilbur, and the three of them have been separated from Henry (as he has rather an unhealthy interest in the pullets and keeps picking on his son). I am waiting to hear from my friend Joss as to whether she can take Henry - if not, the chicks can stay as a trio.

Wilbur and Pippa

 The hens don't enjoy the rain but yesterday they enjoyed a communal groom and snooze on the bench:

I was out in the garden yesterday too - I cleaned up the cobwebs in the outside toilet, although the chickens have a habit of appropriating it. Ida keeps laying eggs on a pile of old papers and Henry finds the dark corners irresistable for a secret trysting spot. He goes in there and makes a very soft, purringly seductive bok-bok noise and the hens fall for it every time, so we call it his Lavatory of Lurve...

I am trying to reorganise my boot room which is the smallest space in the house yet is the most congested, as it is also our main house entrance. I decided a welly rack would free up a bit of space and had seen some lovely ones from Wilderness Wood, but at £39 I thought I could do it myself for free given I had a bit of pallet and some broom handles. Dad gave me some tips and - voila!

It's sturdier than it looks, honest. Home education today has consisted Biology GCSE with Tristan, although it was all about classification and frankly rather out of date as it had birds as a separate group to reptiles which got on my nerves, but did give me a chance to revisit some of my OU Evolution course knowledge! Amber and Rose have been surprisingly harmonious and working together on all sorts of things.

I made some bread, with one third stoneground spelt flour and the rest organic white. It gives a lovely nutty flavour which I find tastier than wholemeal. I also use a mixture of raw organic milk and molasses as the liquid, and Doves Farm yeast, so I'm guessing it's a pretty healthy loaf! The children prefer it to plastic bread which I feel is quite an astounding achievement:

My spider plant (or Chlorophytum comosum as I learnt today) has had lots of babies so I have clipped them off and popped them in to a shallow dish of water:

I can thoroughly recommend the book, which is full of instructions for everything you could ever wish to divide, graft, sow and take cuttings from. I also repotted and planted up the babies of my aloes too:

I love the generosity of plants when it comes to regenerating, although I get a heartsink moment when it says a particular species takes a year to germinate or 7 years to flower, as I am rather forgetful and I have my doubts as to the prospects of such plants in my care: "Oh look a seed tray full of old compost with a faded label...nah, don't need that..."

I went back for an anaemia-related doctor's appointment this morning and I had the usual 40-minute long wait so the sock is coming along well:

Craft update

I've been quite busy with various little crafting projects - like the bee stitch knitted jacket for my one-cup cafetiere:

I also knitted a little bee skep with attached felt bees. I had made an egg cosy in the same design but then gave one to a friend who said it was so nice he'd keep it on his desk as an ornament...so...

I might make a couple more to sell on the stall later in the year. I have also been doing some embroidery on my knitting needle case, which I need to finish as my knitting needles are strewn all over the floor. I wanted to do some flowers and foliage but so far I have done a sweet briar rose:

Nicky came over yesterday for a much-needed CCG crafting session, and she showed me needle felting, button-making and other such inspirational stuff. We made some lavender bags with dried lavender from my parent's garden:

The top one is for Rosie as it's made with the fabric she chose, and the bottom one is for my mum as it'll match the quilt I made for them ages ago. I've also been beetling away with my granny squares:

I've got a way to go before it's finished. I'm tempted to do a really big square in the middle and little ones round the edge but I'll see. I've also had an idea about doing a picture of Henry the cockerel in either needle felting or embroidery. He's so colourful and magnificent, I'll keep an eye out for his colours in threads or combed tops!

I've tried to do some home-ed with the children but as we all seem to be a bit out of sorts and getting on each other's nerves I have declared today an inset day! It's always tricky the day after their dad weekend so discretion being the better part of valour, I'll concentrate on some gentle activities to regain some harmony.

Wildlife Nightlife

I didn't sleep terribly well last night. As I was watching Stargazing Live, I could hear a vixen screaming outside, and she was very close. I let Scruff out for his pre-bed comfort break and he tore off down the garden barking, which continued up the track...and across the field...I think Miss Foxy got more than she bargained for! Anyway, I kept waking up for - apparently - no reason, except whenever I tried to get back to sleep, I could hear the bloomin' vixen yelling her head off outside my bedroom window. She wasn't outside my bedroom window, but it sounded like she was.

If you've never heard a fox belting out her come-hither yowls in the middle of the night, I can tell you it is one of the most unpleasant, unworldly, discomforting sounds there is; once I've clocked what it is, I can tell it's too high pitched to be human, but momentarily, especially with the disadvantage of being half asleep, it sounds like a small infant is being cruelly and persistently tortured. I did go to the landing window and saw her trot up the garden so my already jangled nerves suddenly panicked that the ducks or hens weren't shut in properly, necessitating a hurried trip down the stairs (and if you saw what was on my stairs then 'trip' is just the word) and out to check the poultry. They were fine, of course, and it did give me a chance to spot the 3am stars that had been brought to my attention during the tv programme while I waited for Scruff to come back from his second trip up the track and the field...

Soooo, today I have felt a bit tired, but I have done some knitting and some bee stuff and some work with the children. I went to the farm where I beekeep yesterday, and brought some work home to do:

I have invested in a blowtorch, as the inner surfaces need to be scorched to sterilise them. It's lovely, as the smell of lightly toasted cedar wood with a hint of beeswax and honey is divine. Ann also gave me some money that I had forgotten she owed me, and a pot of honey. I'll start back there once the season kicks off in February/March, weather depending. Unfortunately I won't be able to take Amber with me for the foreseeable future as Ann has got a 10 week old Jack Russell puppy called Sybil and I would not hear the end of it, as things like 'breach of tenancy agreement' and 'money' and 'it would savage your rabbits' and 'we already have a dog' seem to be of little consequence to my dear daughter. Don't know where she gets it from ;-)

Knitting-wise I have cast on Sweet Pea sock number 2, and have already done the boring 1x1 rib bit. I finished the cafetiere cosy:

I was quite pleased and look! - I stuck to my original plan! I am currently knitting another one for my smaller cafetiere, in a dropped stitch pattern called bee stitch. I'm a bit obsessed with all things apian and the moment.

I washed the kitchen floor yesterday, and wiped down the cupboards, although if I find whoever it was who invented grooves in kitchen cupboard doors I am going to make him come along with a toothbrush and he can jolly well get all the gunk out of them. And today I cleaned my Kitchen Aid mixer...I can't say I'm not concerned about such spontaneous acts of gratuitous housework - I blame the increase in daylength!

Gardening and Knitting :-)

Yesterday was 'one of those days' so I ensured that today involved some horticultural therapy: I took some hardwood and root cuttings from my rosemary and oregano plants respectively, and a couple of sage cuttings too. My fellow Country Craft Guild member Nicky had been speaking about her garden and we got on to discussing herbs, which reminded me how much I love them; they're great pollinator plants, hardy, beautiful in an overlooked and understated way and respond well to propagation - and that's before the medicinal/culinary uses. Rose helped me, as part of her horticultural training, (and also because WWIII was about to break out between her and Amber over some minor incident):

I've put them into 3" pots with gritty compost and placed them in the greenhouse so hopefully they'll take and reward me with a few new plants :-)

On the sock front, things are progressing well:

The sweet pea yarn is beautiful to work with, and I am aware it looks like something the dog's got hold of but I'm actually about to knit the instep, which won't take long as it's only 20 something stitches. I'm using a pattern Nicky gave me, and so far, it is all making sense! The gumboot sock is fantastic, and I am debating on whether to get some shortie Hunter wellies to show them off but I'm not a great fan of Hunters as I've had so many pairs that have split on the sole...I'm more of an Aigle gal these days.

Tristan has gone to his friend's this afternoon so after doing some physics with him, checking his handwriting exercise, and packing him off to Joel's I was able to do some history with Rose about Hannibal and his elephants, as part of Susan Wise-Bauer's brilliant History of the World curriculum. Amber joined in too so that was nice. Amber has learnt how to make chocolate brownies (essential education) although there is still a requirement for the Clearing Up Fairy and her trusty sidekick, Dishwasher, to be on hand afterwards but hey, I shouldn't complain. Tristan said yesterday he wanted to become less fussy about eating, so I suggested he helped me make bolognese sauce which he struggles with, as it might engage him a bit if he'd made it. He didn't get on very well with onion chopping (tears/scary sharp knife) and baulked at handling raw mince (blood/feels slimy) but he did manage to open the tin of tomatoes, although I had to get the lid off in case he got tomato on his newly washed favourite jumper. Hmm, didn't quite pick the baton as I'd hoped but anyway, I'll try something less complex next time like um, toast....

New Year Part II

Having had a pleasant weekend, where we went to see Sherlock at the cinema (and I whimpered and gulped my way throughout the 4 minute trailer for Warhorse), today was the start of our 'term', for want of a better expression. I spent the morning with the girls: I sent Amber off to research large fowl, hybrids and bantams, and Rose and I looked at different types of flowers as part of her floristry training. Then I set Rosie to work making a collage of flower types while Amber showed me her findings about Cochins, Rosecombs and Amber Stars. She then helped me squirt Henry's legs as he has scaly leg...he wasn't best pleased.

R makes good use of my old copies of
Gardeners' World

He loathes being cuddled

Tristan spent the morning doing his own thing, but after lunch and a bit of enforced quiet time so I had a half hour break from "Mum!-Mum?-Mum!?-Mum!!" I did some of T's Biology GCSE textbook with him. It was all about obesity and cholesterol and hypertension but after a discussion which ended up with talking about the economic and environmental implications of industrial fishing techniques, we managed to answer the extremely dull revision questions where the emphasis was 'this is really boring but you've just got to learn it for the exam' - arghghghgh!! Anyway, as long as I've got through to him that packet meals and processed food are not a good way to eat for a whole load of reasons, I'll be happy! I am thinking more and more that their education needs to revolve around awareness and sustainability (in everything) rather than working towards unrealistic and unsustainable goals and achievements. I heard a radio programme where they were pointing out that we always want better for our children, but perhaps encouraging them to aim for attainable and fulfilling is a better approach.

The second gumboot sock is going well; I'm on to the cabling now. I won't post a picture as, reassuringly, it looks exactly like the other one :-)

The chicks have learnt to go out into the field - rather a dubious skill but it does them good to forage. The white ducks have found the hole in the fence too actually, they definitely have more wanderlust than the mallards. As the chicks are roosting with the big hens now, I Poultry Shield-ed the other ark so the bunbuns will be able to go back in there once the grass starts growing again. I have decided against getting any more hybrids for now, until I'm sure whether the chicks are boys or gals. My friend Joss has suggested she borrows Henry if the chicks are all female so she can incubate some eggs...that would be quite a holiday for him - sort of Club 18-30 for poultry.

Handsome Henry

Preening call ducks

I have been keeping my eggshells and cooking them if I've got space in the oven, or in the residual heat after something has finished, as I want to try them as a slug deterrent. Baking them makes them easier to crush and also renders them less desirable for Mr and Mrs Rat and all their millions of babies.

I've sprinkled them over everything in my cold frame...

We have high pressure over us at the moment which is lovely as it is finally dry. My house is like a sponge and clings on to every scrap of moisture so it can cultivate some more mould, so apologies to all those farmers in East Anglia who are still struggling with drought but frankly I can cope with a lot of things if it ain't raining! I even hung my duvet cover out to dry today; it's not exactly crispy but it's taken the worst off and means I can put it straight in the airing cupboard rather than having it festoon my bedroom.

An evening of knitting and reading my digital version of HomeFarmer magazine awaits...

Purchases

I'm going well with the gumboot sock:

I must remember I will need to knit another one...

Having dropped the children at home-ed group this morning I popped to Furniture Now, who take donated furniture and mend/fix/store it and sell it on to the public, with discounts for unwaged people such as myself. I really needed something bookcase-y for my room, as well as a desk for Tristan and maybe a small table for the study so I can help the children with their studies rather than use the big table in the lounge for everything. I drew a blank on the desk and forgot my cheque book so couldn't get a table but I did find something for my room:

It fits well and has enough room for what I need it for. I've brought a chair up from the lounge so I can sit in my room [and escape] so I'll see if that helps.

When I got back from Shinies I had a parcel; my new iPad case from Melin Tregwynt! :-)

It's quite big so possibly more designed for a netbook but I love it and it's got a neoprene backing so it's both classy and protective. I'm trying not to look at the rest of the catalogue.

The weather's been great today, and I cleaned out all the hens while they had a run in the garden. The chicks are getting on ok with the older hens now and Henry can't pick on all 3 of them at once, so apart from the odd squawk, they all hang out fairly happily. Hopefully they'll be able to go in with them permanently soon as it will reduce the amount of bedding and cleaning out, plus it will keep the babies warm as they all tend to huddle in the nestbox at the moment.

It's the weekend! Yey! No plans - double yey!

Weather

It has been extremely wet and blowy recently, with local flooding and generally miserable conditions. I've never seen the hens looking so bedraggled, although the ducks of course loved my submerged lawn:

Oh dear, my garden does get a hammering. The crocuses are poking up through a puddle and I'm pleased I actually remembered to pop grit in with the bulbs when I planted them. Roll on spring.

The January sock challenge is going well and Nicky and I both seem to be at a similar point and even appear to have bodged a stitch in a similar place too! We met for a brief chat and catch up this morning while Tristan and Rose were at sports, but here is the welly warmer:

It looks like a proper sock, I'm really pleased! I'm carrying on with the other sock in the Sweet Pea yarn which is lovely, but I am pootling along with them as they are really easy to do in front of the tv so I'm keeping them for low-input knitting occasions. I am about to put the final flourish on to my second beehive egg cosy, as I made one for my dad for his birthday and they are really cute! I have made felt bees to go on the top so I will post a picture of that next time as I have only been able to appropriate my laptop for a short period between fights and on the promise that I will get tea for the children as soon as I have blogged....

Yuk, I have to go and shut the ducks in now, and slop around washing up their bowls and emptying their buckets in a gale. Oh and feed the poor rabbits and guineas who are rather bored to say the least, so I might get the girls to bring them in to the lounge for a bit!

Party Time

Today was the day of the CCG Christmas Party! It was a select gathering but all the members of the Guild attended - and as the Country Crafters Guild consists of Me and Nicky, it meant we could have 3 Heston Blumenthal pine-sugar dusted mince pies each :-)

Yum. We also discussed the projects and crafts we'd like to complete/try/attempt. I'd like to have a go at needle felting and Nicky is contemplating knitting an Afghan throw, and of course, there will be the seasonal produce to preserve. We decided to press on with the Sock-a-Month challenge by casting on our January socks!

I am absolutely loving the yarn - it's British blue-faced Leicester wool from the Natural Dye Studio and feels lovely and soft. The colour is gorgeous too; I am really in to my greens at the moment!

Earlier on in the day I wanted to make the most of the mild weather and try and split one of my lupins as I need some space to fit other plants in and also need to do some dividing so I can populate my new border. I took out one of the smaller ones but it was still quite a whopper:

However, I took some tiny plants from the base, a bit like this one:

and potted them up in gritty compost and trimmed the leaves right back. I have no idea if they'll take, but I've put them in the greenhouse and I'll see if they produce some roots.

I love seeing a tray full of cuttings! So full of promise. The greenhouse is also being used for another purpose; I had lost Ida the hen earlier in the day and eventually found her in there having a bathe in the slightly drier earth. Mary also took advantage:

So as you can see they really appreciate my recent purchase of a fancy dustbath and perchery station with oven-baked sand :-/

The bees enjoyed the relative warmth too and I thought I'd give them a feed and use up some old waxy honey cappings that have been sitting in a tupperware on my worktop since the spring. I diluted it with hot water and popped it in a dish with a bit of sponge so they didn't drown, then placed one in the sunshine near the entrance of each hive:

I did also get round to giving the bathroom a thorough clean and Rosie said it looked much better and not so haunted...a reference to the cobwebs!!

So, it's now time for a podcast and a few more rows of the socks :-)

A December Day Off

We had thought of going to Arundel WWT today but the forecast wasn't great and although we have a voucher for a free book (as we recently joined) it would have been a bit of a rush as Tris was off to his friend Joel's house at 2. We went to Middle Farm and bought Garvo layers mash and duck pellets, half a sack of which I am going to give to Joel's mum in lieu of payment for board and lodgings for T...

After a stop at Harper & Eede to look for a rake, which we didn't buy, and a fleecy-lined shirt for me, which we did, we went to the Green Man for lunch. It does great food and big portions so Tristan went off full and happy, even though he is struggling to get used to the button fly on his new jeans.

On the way back from delivering Tris, we went to Martins Wood Farm and had a look at their chickens as they stock hybrids, not that they've got a lot in stock at the moment.

My yarn from Jamieson & Smith has arrived:

It's very 'wool-y' after the cashmerino I've been working with! - but I want to have a go with knitting something and see how it goes. I've been asked by Amber to crochet her a hamster so I'll start that shortly...