autumnal harvesting

afternoon folks,

we're having a day off (at least from building work) today and so i thought i'd take the opportunity to update the blog.....

before i move onto the food related stuff a few updates on the barn progress for those who are dying to know where we're at:

- the main living/dining/kitchen room is coming along nicely. it's now over half floored but we have to wait until we can finish the rest because.....wait for it.....this is pretty exciting.....

- the new stone masons have arrived and started work on the fireplace!!! after we waited for months and months for the previous stone masons to reappear (they never did!) we've now got some new fellas in to do the work and it's going well - we should have a nice stone/chestnut fireplace by next week - photographs to come.

- we've got some raw chestnut planks from which we plan to make the cupboard doors for the hall and various other locations - they should look real nice.

- after some considerable debate/measuring/design we've figured out a way that we can utilise the walnut table top we got (thanks benjamin!) to make the kitchen unit counter which we plan to start soon - it should look great.

ok, now on to food!

we dug up the potatoes, onions and beetroots a few days ago and they're now being stored for use in the coming months.

here's a nice shot of some potatoes:



we've also pretty much finished with the greenhouses for this year as last week we had some pretty severe frost which finished off many of the more mediterranean plants.

the aubergines were already finished and so there was no problem there but the peppers/chillies/tomatoes took a bit of a kicking and so some serious preservation is now underway.

nikki has already made a batch of green tomato chutney and is, as i type, making a green tomato and green pepper relish.

here are the unripe little fellas for your viewing pleasure:



and the chillies hung up to dry (we also have a few jars in oil which were VERY nice last year):



we've also had a few trips to the forest to gather nuts!

here are some of the walnuts that we collected from the huge walnut tree we've got:



nikki has already made some great walnut/fresh basil pesto as well as nikki/monkey boy making great walnut/fruit and nut speciality breads - they're so good!

then, a few days later, we went and collected absolutely loads of sweet chestnuts.

we've had a few helpings of delicious roasted chestnuts already and there are loads more to look forward to!

here they are with a cat in the shot for scale:



finally - monkey boy made nikki a beautiful ash training sword for her birthday.

the photographs don't do justice to the grain, colour or carvings but here are a couple of shots anyway:





it's a beauty - no?

ok, i've got some reading to do and so i'm off.....

next time, gairy.

so much to blog..... so little time

Howdy y'all.

I've been meaning to update the blog for a while, but we have just been too damn busy!

As there is a lot to show you I'll keep the writing to a minimum (as I know most people only look at the pictures anayway!).

Firstly, here's a cute picture of Taco:



And here you can see Rudie loving "stick".



On the work front: Last week we started preparing the foundations for the workshop floor. We started by digging trenches and then filling them with cement foundations to lay the joists on:



Then we laid the joists on top:



Then the second section joists went in:



And here is the finished floor:



We used local pine planks. Check out the nicely finished steps:



And with the door fitted. All our doors are solid pine and we plan to oil them and give an oak wash so they match the majority of the floor.



Here's the downstairs hall after the walls were washed down and the floor fitted.



This is the spare room after the insulation went in and just as the floor started to be laid:



Here it is again with the finished floor (looks pretty good, no?)



Here's a lovely picture of mine and Gairy's room - can't wait to move in!



We've also made some major progress with the upstairs bathroom - it's pretty much done!



I am so looking forward to the first hot bath!



Here's a good picture of the bathroom unit that the boys made out of chestnut - lovely.



Apart from all the hard work that is going on round here, there was a sad incident that took place today. Being Saturday there were dreaded hunters around and 3 of the hunter's dogs seemed to find themselves alone with our chickens. Unfortunately they killed one of our 12 chicken - which we were not best pleased about. After Monkey Boy and Taco chased them off, we decided the only thing was to have chicken for supper. We made a roast dinner and all our ingredients were home produce - potatoes, parsnips, beetroot, carrots, broccoli, spinach, runner beans and french beans and of course the chicken! Gairy even made a homemade sage and onion stuffing also with all home grown fresh herbs. Much to my excitement Gairy was to eat meat again!



That's all for now folks!

Until next time.....

Nikki

a little belated blog post.....

Hello all you friendly folks!

Just a little quick one to share with you (photos - you can't actually share this) the fantastic birthday present Gairy made for me last month. It is based on a plastic version made by the great makers of Yahtzee. It includes Yahtzee score sheets and dice - both stored in a hand sewn suede pouch, a wooden arena to throw the dice in and a wooden board to use as a back board for writing the scores and it all neatly packs up in itself ready for traveling!

Here it is open with all the contents:

And here it is neatly packed up, with a lovely suede belt and button.

Thanks g - now I've got the homemade backgammon and yahtzee! I can foresee a cosy winter inside playing lots of games - bring it on.

Cheers

Nikki

kennel, floor and dog/cat love!

afternoon all,

while nikki's been in england we've frequently taken a break from (over)eating chocolate to do some work.

we laid the oak floor in mine and nikki's bedroom.

here's a shot of it as we'd just laid the insulation between the joists:



and another with the floor started:



and it finished (sorry about the evening lighting):



and from the far corner towards the door:



pretty nice - no?

it has to be oiled yet which adds an amazing finish which looks beautiful but it looks great already!

a few nights ago rudie and mimsy (the kitten formally known as 'bucket-head') fell asleep on each other and we thought it a nice image.

here they are:



then, yesterday, we started a kennel for taco (now that he's a permanent fixture and with summer coming to an end).

here's the location just before we started:



and with the frame up and the waterproofing fixed:



with sides on:



then we put the insulation in (that's right - insulation in a kennel!).

we used loose hemp insulation and offcuts of the fermacel (recycled wood/paper boards) to make it winter-proof for the big fella:



after the insulation was complete we added a first roof of tin sheeting:



then, to make the kennel a 'looker', we put the same tile roof on that we used for the chicken coop:



we're pretty sure that taco will love it and (as i think you'll agree) it looks pretty damn fine!

here's the two dogs lounging outside:



we're pretty happy with it!

right, i'm about to get my kit together to go read in the sun and sleep out in my hammock tonight and so i'd better be off.....

tune in next for more exciting news.

cheers, gairy.

outnumbered 18 to 3

howdy,

after having our numbers cut from 10 to 9 with the loss of mini mü we're now up to a whopping 21!

julio (the nice fella from who we got müca, hobo and taco) is having to give up most of his animals and so we said that we'd take some of his chickens and give them a good home.

so.....we had a few days to build a chicken coop.

we enlisted (more like forced conscription) the help and matt (aka mr moo moo) and rachel (rachet) who were out here thinking they were on holiday and we set about building a coop.

here is the ground before we started:



and with the feet in place:



the frame is erected:



the sides start to take shape:



and the other side and floor are finshed:



and with the front added and door(s) and window in place:



here are the nesting box flaps which nikki and rachet made:



and the ramp up to the chicken entrance:



the roof was done using some old roofing tiles that we have (hence such a solidly made frame).

here is the view of the roof from above:



then, yesterday as matt, rachel and nikki headed back to the uk, i picked up 12 little feathered ladies and brought them to start a new life as 'simple:chickens'.

over the next few days (once they're used to their surroundings and less likely to simply run away) we will let them roam free (as they will be able to do from then on everyday - free range all the way!) but in the meantime we've had to erect an enclosure to kep them safe from the dogs and cats.

here they are this morning:



and inside:



foraging in the grass:



and up close:



they're great and it feels more and more like a farm everyday - bring it on.

thanks SO much to matt and rachel for their massive help and energy - it was very much appreciated!

ok, that's all for now.

gairy.

***UPDATE***

by the end of day one we've already had the first four eggs from our feathered friends.

.....and boy can they eat!

thanks ladies - chips and fried eggs for dinner

Mini-a-ture Mü

sad news i'm afraid.....

we are down to only two kittens after mini mü hid in the wheel arch of the car and was killed as i drove off to the shops.

me and matt found her in the road on our return from the shops - very sad indeed!

here she is a while back looking curious and cute as hell:



on the stairs with her brother and sister:



and asleep in the long grass:



we burried her beneath the row of cherry trees near the deer we burried.

for the rest of the day we didn't see tigger and were worried that he too had died but.....just as we were resigned to losing two kittens in one day (and i was feeling pretty upset about having killed two little friends).....tigger reappeared and seemed absolutely fine which brightened evenyone's evening.

we'll miss the perky little bugger!

gairy.

Simplympics 2009 Results

apologies all for the lack of updates recently but we've been super busy!

anyway, the 2009 Simplympics concluded and the results are as follows:




congratulations to monkey boy on his win!

a great time was had by all and we're all already looking forward to the 2010 Simplympics as i'm sure you are too.

thanks to rob and ali for a great tournament and a fun couple of weeks.

see you same time same place next year.