I'm cooking!

Orange Alert we are under, Orange Alert for a heatwave! Up near the 40's the heat has been (nearly 100F) with the air saturated with moisture so the humidity is very high.

And then into the kitchen, with a broad grin on his face and carrying a big bowl of figs, walked Hubs. Into the bottom of the fridge the figs went. But only for one night. Figs go off fast. So they need jamming. Which I did. Yesterday. It was hot. Orange Alert for heatwave. Shut the sun out by closing the shutters.....

.....made my usual jamming mess......

........made the first batch..........

.....went on to sweat and slide myself through another batch. Nineteen pots in total. Would have better to have done this task another day, but figs won't wait. I cooked. The figs cooked. The kitchen cooked. I became extremely soggy, as can be seen in the  first photo. But my halo is brightly shining over the crown of my head. Yes, I did get into a crump whilst jamming. Yes, I was experiencing a sprinkling of annoyance that Hubs was snoring away on the settee. Yes, I was sticky, as is normal when making jam, but it was also soooooo hot. Better, however, to be able to cook inside the house. Worse, by far, was making fig jam in the caravan in previous years.

And then there is the little brown hen in the Tall Barn, who has taken in upon herself to go broody, only it is not eggs she is sitting on......

.....it's our onions, presumably because they resemble an egg in shape. So to give her dignity I put a couple of eggs from the incubator under her, which she graciously accepted. Next day, though, she was off the 'nest', bored with sitting in that spot, one egg being broken open and the other egg abandoned. That night she took it upon herself to sit in the Wood Hut, brooding over the four eggs left there by the other hen and which I had forgotten to collect. The following day I found her on those eggs and hoicked her off. Those eggs are now donated to the pigs, after being cooked. I am a bit fragile about eating eggs upon which a hen has sat, even if it is just overnight that she has done so.

Anyways, back to the Tall Barn she has gone. I found her there last night, lifted her up to have a look.....onions and one egg she was sitting on, which must have been donated by one of the other hens who couldn't be bothered to set up a nest herself. That I have taken indoors. The onions remain.


As for the five little chicks.....they have grown into five hooligans and are now out in the chicken run, although would prefer to be out and about with the flock. One has already found a way to break out and it is only a matter of time before the rest follow. I keep telling them that it is for there own safety that they have to stay cooped up, but they just tell me that they want out. I think that they will possibly have their way soon. They are bright little things, full of spirit, and I wouldn't like to reduce their capacity for mischief or adventure by keeping them enclosed for longer than is absolutely necessary.

Apparently, so a friend of ours said, our animals are full of mischief because they aren't afraid of us.

Crikey but it has been an itchy summer. With no prolonged dry spell to kill them off, the insects have been able keep up their breeding programme. Midges, mozzies, flies, we continue to suffer from their biting off us. Ah well, Orange Alert on again for today so must be off to do a zillion things before the temperature zooms up, so saying bye for now....