The wind, milking down, and horrid eggs.....

A mild moan is coming along..........
 because I would really like to start wearing my summer clothes
before I have to start wearing winter clothes again.
It is still cold here.
There is a horrid chilly wind blowing nearly all the time.
We don't normally have much wind.
It is normally quite warm.

 In previous years I would have been wearing summer clothes for several weeks,

and I definitely would not be wearing thermals.

But I am.

 

I know the weather is beyond my control,

so I should be grateful that it is not snowing,

that we are not down in the minus degrees,

that we are not suffering flood nor hurricane (at the moment),

and yet I still feel niggled at this continuing chilliness.

It is just that I think that on June 1st, which is today,

that I should not still be in thermals.

 

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Soon we shall not have any milk coming from Lissie as she starts drying up

in readiness for her new calf.

At the moment she is giving us just under two litres a day,

and I have noticed the milk is less rich in cream so does not make much butter.

Today I had to take the first of the stored butter from the freezer,

but think that I shall have to hunt for some cake recipes which do not require so much butter,

possibly some sweet yeast breads.

I don't want to go back to the soft margarine I once used.

I often thought what a marvellous product it was because it never went mouldy.

Well it wouldn't, would it,

because recently I found out that it is made of made of plasticky stuff.
 

And I don't really want to use shop bought butter because I know too much about the commercial dairy industry.

So we need to use our stored butter sparingly,

and making super duper cakes with it gobbles up the butter fast,

so I need to rethink what cake recipes I use.

 

I have had to recently buy in eggs again,
because either the hens have gone off laying,
or the hungry magpies have been eating them,
or the dogs have been making successful  'egg search' raids
but we have only one egg left in the fridge.
 

'Bio' eggs are the ones I bought.

They were more expensive, but at least I thought I was getting good value.

They are rubbish.

I make my own custard:

0.5 litres of milk, two egg yolks,

and some Maizelina (quantity varies)

The yolks have to be separated from the white of the egg.

So I break open the egg, put it into my hand,

and through my slight open fingers the egg white will go,

hopefully leaving the yolk still intact in my hands.

Our eggs are gloopy,

the white refusing to come away from the yolk,

unless I fidget my fingers to coax the separation,

and even then it comes away in a sticky gelatinous mass.

Not so the 'Bio' eggs.

Their whites, what there is of it, just moves through my fingers

as if they are made of water.

Thin liquid, that is what they are.

I shall not mention the colour of the yolks.

 

I am becoming ever more disappointed in the state of commercial food,

whether it be labelled 'Bio' or not,

and feel relieved that we are able to produce our own food,

and that it is as organic as we can make it,

although it could never be 100%,

because of the food supplements and innoculations which our animals have to have.

But at least it is better than what we would be eating if we didn't do as we are doing.

 

It is still windy outside.

Just saying.

 

So I spent the morning up the ladder and down on the floor,

carrying on with painting the spare room.

After a poor night of sleep, I felt more inclined to search out my bed,

but felt that I ought to fight the urge.

I had to use my timers though,

those treasures of time keeping, for when I feel slothful but need to do things.

 

 

I find that setting myself a limit to how long I am doing a task,

tends to keep my momentum moving forward.

I think this is because there is a definite start and stop,

the period in between being the allotted time to do the task.

And when that task seems too much,

then all I have to do is have a look to see how long I need to keep going for.

Most times it works.
 

The  timers were originally bought to help me stop burning food,

but soon they were used to help me stop burning myself up.

 

Lester braved the howling wind this morning

and attacked the thistles growing in the Main Field.

After we had a blitz on them last year

there are not so many of them now,

but they still need to be kept in check.

 

He was going to stay outside longer but the wind got to him,

so he came indoors and attacked the numerous cobwebs instead.

I don't know why the cobwebs are so many.

I think the local spider population must be appreciating

all the work that was done on the house last year.
I think they like the newly painted décor.

 

Lunch today was a hock from the last pig we slaughtered.

I am gradually working my way through the freezers,

but need to get a move on with getting the meat into canning jars,

so that room can be made for the two Tamworth adult pigs.

Unfortunately they do not look like they are going to reproduce again,

and they are expensive to keep,

so in to the freezers they are going to have to go.

It is a task that will no doubt be put off several times.

As for Boolie, our Springer Spaniel, and the tumour on his ear.....

Well, he is still as frisky as ever, is in no pain although the tumour is growing,

so he is still with us.

I value the days he is able to keep company with me,

because I know that soon they will end.

 

Meanwhile, a few hours later,

and the wind it is still blowing,

and now it is drizzling with rain again.

So it is a good thing that I kept my thermals on today.

Perhaps tomorrow will be a better weather day.
Perhaps tomorrow I shall be able to sit outside,
and get a roasting.

 If not,
then at least we have a roof over our heads,
and we are away from the rain and the wind,
and I can wear thermals for another day.
 

Bye for now,

 

Vx