a simple whisk

howdy,

it was finally decided that the coat-hanger whisk we've been using for the last six months was becoming a health hazard (due to the toxic paint coating coming off!) and that we should fashion a new one.

monkey-boy worked his magic and we're now the proud users of a brand new, non-toxic, recycled (another non-coated coat-hanger), hand made (the handle was carved from a piece of hawthorn we'd cut for firewood - hawthorn was traditionally used for making high quality tool handles) beauty!

here she is:



and a close-up of the hawthorn handle:



the grain on the hawthorn is great!

it looks really nice, apparently carves like a dream and is really light/strong/durable - it's brilliant!

cheers, gairy.

spice-world

evening all,

we've had a bumper crop of chillies and are now finding ways to keep them (as well as making increasingly spicy meals!).

here's a photograph of three of the ways we're attempting to store the hot little buggers:



we've strung a batch up to dry, put some in oil with herbs to preserve them (and make chilli oil) and finally i made a batch of garlic chilli sauce which i'm particularly looking forward to!

there's still at least as much again to be harvested once they finish going red and so i'm sure there'll be more preservation ideas to come.....

cheers, gairy.

walnuts

afternoon folks,

we've been waiting and watching for the walnuts to be ready on the huge (and beautiful) walnut tree near the house.

here's the few we managed to gather (not so easy as we first thought!) - they're bloody tasty!





cheers, gairy,

The barn construction update

Hellooooo!

I thought although Gairy has already posted a few pics of the barn, I thought it would be good to see it all in one go.

So, to recap: first we laid the first wooden floor boards down onto the beams.



Here's the pile of wood that we used for the joists we laid next......



Then we laid the joists, photo below shows it mid way. So that we can then put the hemp insulation, plumbing and electrics inside and then the final wooden floor boards get laid on top.



Having completed the joists we then started to put in the support beams for the mezzanine.



The three bedrooms are all going to have access to their own mezzanine - which should be pretty cool!



Then we started putting the wall frames in place too.



At this stage it really became easy to see the room dimensions, and we were very pleased indeed!



Then we put in the noggins to split up the wall frames so we can easily put in the insulation.



The photo below is taken from where the kitchen/living room will be and you can see where the open staircase is going.



It's been really fun putting all this together and it's really starting to feel like a proper house - which is super duper exciting!



We are also in the process of sorting out a stone mason to come and make some holes in our walls! And then hopefully the windows will be made to fit as will the staircase.

The trees here are absolutely beautiful colours, the picture below doesn't really do it justice but,



Here's some pictures of the how our green house looks these days.

Chillies turning bright red. These chillies are pretty HOT! We've put a load in oil and I think it's time to do some more.



Oregano turning a lovely mix of autumn colours.



Having eaten the first aubergine a while ago, we are hoping to eat some more real soon.



Below you can see the first sweet peppers turning red.



These past few weeks we have been jarring and freezing a lot of home grown produce. We have made a few tomato chutneys. Some tomato ketchup. A lot of cherry tomato sauces. As well as freezing courgettes and spinach. We've also pulled out all our white beetroot as well as potatoes, onions and shallots too.

Right I'm pretty sure I've gone on enough. Hope it wasn't too boring!

Laters
Nikki

stool-simple

afternoon,

as rain has stopped play today and we're waiting for an order of wood to carry on work in the barn i decided to make a stool to replace the most dangerous of the unstable seats we're currently using.

it didn't take long but here it is.....



the cover is a cut from a fake leather waterproof jacket that the previous owner left on the back of the toilet door and the wood is all off-cuts from pieces we've been using on the barn renovation - not bad eh?



neat workmanship no?



that's all for now.

cheers, gairy.

note: orders now being taken for christmas deliveries of the new line of simple stools - a bargain at only $99.95 each!

amazing spider!

afternoon,

another monkey boy photographic find!

we were called over and saw this amazing looking spider - here are a few shots of the big fella - about 5cm across (inc. legs).



and close-up:



and from behind:



in other news.....

the barn is coming along nicely with us now building the wooden frames for the interior walls and the mezzanine:



we've got a load of onions hung up in bunches drying - how french are we?



autumn is approaching and everyday we see more and more trees starting to turn yellow, gold and red - beautiful!



finally, check out the two photos taken seconds apart by monkey boy of this butterfly.

also, look at the orange one in the background!



check the close-up of the one of it taking flight - stunning!

ok, hope you're eating well, looking after yourself, keeping out of trouble etc...

cheers, gairy.

ardeche gorge, caves, drive shafts, vegetables and a cat.....

afternoon all,

we've been busy busy busy recently getting work done on the barn (internal walls going up), finishing the guttering, working in the garden and generally keeping ourselves active.

after talking about it for ages we finally decided to take a trip down to the ardeche gorge a few hours south of us.

the drive was amazing with the road twisting it's way up and down mountains all the way through the national park that stretches from here to the gorge.

here are a few photos of the gorge and the pont d'arc which is pretty impressive:





this is the pont d'arc - take a look at the people in the kayak underneath to get an idea of the size of the thing!



the reflection of the big arc through a smaller arc.



and then.....we went to the grotte de st marcel d'ardeche which is a set of caves that were pretty impressive.

we had originally wanted to go see the 16,000 year old caves paintings of pre-domesticated humans that have been found in the area but they're closed to the public and so we settled for some impressive geological caves instead.

here's a few shots of inside:





this place was absolutely massive! they turned out all the lights and put on a light/music performance which sounds cheesy as hell but was actually pretty cool!



one of the best bits were these naturally formed sedement pools which cascade down a slope and are filled with water.



as a grand finale they had another music/light display in these pools on the way out which was again pretty impressive. you can see the lit pools below.



so after the caves and the gorge we decided that we wouldn't camp out for the night but would head back home but all was not well with sha-boo-boo (the landrover)!

not long after this shot was taken.....



.....we realised that the noise we'd heard earlier in the day might be something more serious and then - CLUNK - the drive shaft broke and we stopped dead. on the inside of a blind bend, sticking into the road with the wheels locked and going nowhere fast!

after a little wait we were towed to the nearest town (right by the pont d'arc) where we had to camp after all (ah, shame - it's what i wanted all along).

we made some food on a little stove and had a visit from a really beautiful fox who came to within inches of us (and later nibbled monkey boys ankles as he slept).

all-in-all a very nice time was had from what could have been a bad situation!

moving on.....

we've now harvested our onions, shallots and have taken the first of the carrots and parsnips out - take a look:

onions drying in the sun



shallots



and the first carrot and parsnip



finally, hobo seems to be getting better/stronger - here's a couple of cute kitten type photographs:





ok, that should do it for now.

hope you're well etc...

cheers, gairy.

piccalilli, a few photos, construction progress and a cat update!

you lucky people - where else could you get all this sensational information for free?

here's what's new with us right now.....

piccalilli:

we've made a batch of piccalilli in order to preserve some of the vegetables we've grown. all we've got to do now is wait four weeks till we can let you know if it's any good.

photos:

i went for a wander the other evening and took these photographs which you might enjoy.

an empty seed head:



some seed heads against the darkening sky.



and another shot of the same.



and finally.....a close-up of a little flower i found - pretty no?



construction progress:

- we've (well monkey boy really with our 'assistance') pretty much finished installing the guttering on one of the barns.

it's looking bloody brilliant!





- nikki's dry stone wall is pretty much complete now too!

it's taken a while (and some heavy rock lifting by me and m.b.) and some serious tinkering but the drainage retaining wall/flower bed is finished.

i think you'll agree that it's a hell of a first attempt at building a wall - nice one nikki!



cat update:

müca and hobo are doing fine and dandy!

despite thinking that hobo's days might be limited in number he's improving daily, getting fatter, becoming more alert/friendly and generally becoming quite a nice (yet very wild/cautious) cat indeed.

müca would love nothing more than to be pampered, over-fed, cuddled and fussed with 24/7 but she's gaining more and more outdoor skills as the days pass.

here's a good shot of müca:



they now patrol the property all day in an attempt to find new and increasingly sunny/comfortable spots in which to snooze - not a bad life!

ok, that'll do for now.

the next jobs we've got on are finishing the joists/noggins for the wooden floor in the big barn, the guttering on the second barn, rainwater collection tanks to fit/connect and loads more.

tune in next time for more updates.

gairy.