This year's wool harvest.....

The sheep were sheared a couple of days ago. Normally I would take the worst of the daggy bits off, then store the rest, but this year I was quite disciplined and only kept about a third of the available fleece.

No photos because I forgot to take any. Normally the fleece is left on the tarpaulins for several days before I get round to sorting it out, but this time I sorted it as it was given to me. So I kept parts of the fleeces which had good colouration (greys, dark and mid browns), a couple of complete fleeces one of which had a lovely golden top to it, and the ram's gorgeous cream and brown fleece.

I was quite disappointed with the quality of the fleece though, having thought that because the flock was now almost pure Jacob that the length of the fleece hair would be more substantial than when we had mixed breed sheep, but apart from the ram's fleece and the brown with golden top fleece, I couldn't see much difference between the pure bred and the mixed breed sheep. Not to worry, I still have some of last year's fleece to spin, and because I haven't kept as much back this year I would think that I shall be able to get all my stock of fleece spun. I also kept back a bag of fleece to use for dusting the house....with the lanolin still in the fibres a handful of fleece does a grand job when used for dusting. I think the actual construction of the fibres also helps to pick up the dust.

I still have not got round to ordering the loom, so my wool stash is still packed away waiting for washing, dying and weaving. I am looking forward to getting to that stage. I have had a yearning to have a go at weaving on a table loom for a long time.


Lester got the last of the bean poles up today, and now all that is required is for me to do some stringing up. We tried this method last year, and it worked well.......



... we are not using this fence line this year, but are using the next paddock along.
The poly tunnel still remains a point of debate, but I refuse to order it until the Chicken Project is sorted out.

The little bat......well, I think it survived, only when we walked through the hallway to let the dogs out for their late evening pee and poo I could not see it on the wall, where it had been all day. The light was on, so I didn't think it would be aware that it was night time outside, but perhaps it had heard other bats calling out for it. Anyway, it was just by sheer luck that I managed not to stand on it and squash it dead flat, because for some reason it had put itself on the floor slap bang in the middle of the doorway, where all, including the dogs, could have done it unto death by inadvertently treading on it.
So Lester picked the little creature up, and put it outside on the flower pot by the front door, convinced that it was dead. But, as I watched, the little bat seemed to start moving, perhaps encouraged to do so by the darkness of the night, and maybe by the calling of other bats. I could not see it this morning, so hopefully it is back where it should be.


One of our rottweiller girls, Blue, has started continuously licking a particular spot on her leg, which irritates me no end as she seems to know that it gets on my nerves, and will not stop until I yell at her.
Upon examination of the spot, we could see that she is making quite a raw patch on her leg, so on to the internet to have a look at why she is doing this, and apparently it is due to wanting attention. So.....when she wants to be noticed she has discovered that continual lick, lick, licking will eventually get attention, although it is negative attention because I am cross at her. A change in plan, then. She licks, she gets put in the other room away from me, this done in silence, so she does not get the attention and I don't yell. It seems to be working. The wound looks more closed over, so she is not licking so much, and I make a fuss of her when she is not licking herself. It looks like the change of behaviour on my part is making her change her behaviour as well.


Yesterday me and Lester had a family pow wow on the bed. We used to do that a lot in the UK before we came here, and our conversation would mostly be about what animals we would have, what veg we would grow. Of course we are now doing that, but we were both feeling a little tired with things, so we headed off into a fantasy about R Vs (motor homing), as in living in a rig full time, heading off into the sunset to roam wherever the fancy took us, this being fuelled by the YouTube videos about people doing just that in America. It was quite a strong conversation that we had.....Lester wanting to buy a motor home and just have several weeks away at a time, and me wanting to sell up and just go do.
Then we had a sleep. Then we woke up. 'Would you like a motorhome or a poly tunnel?' Lester said. And without hesitation I said 'Poly tunnel'. We smiled at each other. Silly talk time was over, and we were back in the saddle again with carrying on with our smallholding life. Of course we would not want to go travelling all over the place in a motor home. For one thing, we could get bored within a few days, and for another, how would I be able to stock our larder with DIY food if we did not have a smallholding to provide the harvests. So no, we shall keep the motorhome subject in the back closet of our minds, and only bring it out for an airing when we feel the need to do have a patch of silly indulgence!

Oops,

It is getting late,

so bye for now,

 

Vx

A little visitor on the wall.....

 

A little bat has taken up residence in the hallway,

not sure why it is there,

but it must be comfy because this photo was taken a couple of days,

the intent being to put it into a box for the rest of the day,

and then release it outside when it got dark.

 

However, things got in the way,

like the shearer man arriving to shear the sheep,

and then it was off to a local bar to cool down,

shearing being quite a hot and sweaty task

and all I was doing was sorting out the fleeces,

for Lester and the shearer man it was much harder work,

especially because the sheep were spooky and uncooperative,

which is not like them at all.

I think it was because the weather has been so unseasonably cool,

so they have not been tired out by the usual heat

and therefore see no reason to be manhandled by a man wanting to take their fleece off them.

 

Anyway, the shearer man went on to other local smallholdings,

we went off to the bar,

and the bat was forgotten about.

So this morning I went to see how it was doing.

Yesterday it was about a metre up from the floor,

but today it was half way up the wall.

Maybe it had been flying last night,

perhaps that is why the dogs were restless,

because the bat is near their sleeping quarters.

And just to get an idea of how small the bat is,

that blurry piece of 'rope' on the right is a piece of spun wool,

so the little creature is indeed very small.

 

We have had a 'let's go on strike' day,

well it is Sunday after all,

so we shall probably leave the bat alone until tomorrow.

 

Meanwhile,

we did manage to get some cherries off our trees,

not many,

but enough to get a few jars canned up ready for winter use.

 

At least we got a harvest, even if a small one.

 

 

Fed up with buying in supermarket jam I have got round to making our own marmalade.

Wow, that is all I can say!

A friend blitzes the orange peel in a food processor,

but I cut the peel into small slices by hand.

It took ages,

but  was well worth it.

This was the first time I have made marmalade,



made six pots,

now left with three.

It is addictively yummy,

and easy to do,

although there was a panicky moment when I was slopping the hot jam into the jam jars

and not using the special funnel to steer the jam where it was meant to go,

when meant the jam went everywhere.

Not to worry, the mess was scooped up,

went into the jars,

the funnel was found and then used,

and everything turned out alright.

 

 

I have also been canning some pork,

two large legs in fact,

so our larder is starting to fill up again,

which is a relief.

 

Otherwise, I have been doing this and that,

like dehydrating some mallow flowers,

not many, just a few,

because I have kept running out of puff lately and seem to want to sleep a lot.

I still think that we are catching up with ourselves after our first hectic eight years here,

because Lester is feeling the same.

Our mojo seems to have run out of energy.

Not to worry, hopefully it will return soon.

 

Meanwhile, hope you had a good Sunday,

and saying

bye for now.

Vx

 

As for the vote in the UK to leave the EU.

It is as it is.

I wait with interest to see how the UK gets out of this hole it has dug for itself.

For myself,

I like being European, but did not vote 'in' or 'out',

because I did not think I had the right to seeing as how I have no intentions of living in the UK ever again.

Moving forward, that is what we are doing,

and I hope that the UK will find its way,

despite the cat fights which are going on in the political parties.

Loving France,

and being glad that we had the courage to move here when the opportunity arose,

despite the hard work, the uncertainty, the ups and downs,

France is our home now,

which is why we did not vote in the UK referendum.

 

Vx

 

 

 

 

 

 



More canning, ginger, and new plants....

We ventured out yesterday to go shopping,
our last shopping trip being nearly two weeks ago.
It is not something we like doing,
but we needed loo roll
and the lack of any in our store cupboard was something we could not ignore.

But a divertion....
we could not help but be seduced into the nearby Gamm Verre,
a store which sells gardening and food stuff,
and on sale were some tomato plants,
and since our tomato plants are all of an inch high,
we thought we ought to help our veg plot by buying a few plants.
Aubergines were bought too,
(seed packet lost in Lester's seed filing system)
and a couple of peppers and chilli plants.
It was a good shop.
Very satisfying.

In the misty murk of this pot are two small pork hocks,
recently raided from the freezers,
and on their way to being canned.
They gave us lunch,
and two jars, which are now in the canner as I write this.
I also have a bowl of gelatinous goop which I am going to have a go at dehydrating.
I have an urge to try and get some DIY stock preserved.
I could freeze the stock, but I don't want to put anything else into the freezers at the moment.
Apparently I put the goop on to dehydrator sheets,
how it does not roll of the sheets and dribble all over the place
is something I will soon find out.
I think a potential mess is going to happen.
Not to worry, trial and error,......

Forgot to mention that I canned five more jars up a couple of days ago,
not sure what the meat mixture was because the labels had got rubbed off.
Not to worry,
the meat looked alright except one piece which did not look quite as it should,
so that went to the dogs and the chicks.
I am on a roll with canning at the moment.
But I shall not be canning cherries.
I think I see ripe ones, and then I don't see them again.
 The birds.
Oh.
Last year I put twine round the branches to deter the birds and we got a harvest.
This year I forgot, so am paying the price.
Plus, we are still in a dither about pruning,
and all the fruit trees are taking advantage of our leniency towards lopping their branches,
and putting on too much growth
rather than concentrating on making fruit.
One of the tasks this year..
to be bold and cut.

While out shopping I bought a small heap of ginger roots,

 the intention being to dehydrate them so I can make tea infusions.
It was bit of a story prepping them to go into the dehydrator,
and I inadvertently trimmed several finger nails
as I skinned, then grated / sliced the roots.
 Meanwhile,
I had a sunny hour out in the veg plots gathering some more chamomile flowers,
so they went into the dehydrator as well.
The chamomile is a wild herb here,
what I mean is, that we don't say where it has to grow,
just let it do its own thing,
which it did joyously this year.

But Lester is back to drinking tea and coffee as per usual,
because he has exhausted all the spearmint leaves I dehydrated for winter supplies.
He does not feel inclined to try nettle tea.
I don't blame him.
It is work in progress at the moment to get the taste right.
I am hoping to coax him in to trying the ginger infusion.
Ginger and nettle mix?
Trial and error......

Off to band practice tonight,
and a gig on Saturday,
well not so much as a 'gig',
rather a play along as one hundred and fifty sheep are sheared.
I am hoping that I might be able to 'borrow' a fleece.
Our fleeces are all brown this year,
and the sheep to be sheared are white ones.
It would be handy to have a bit of contrast.
I am not sure if Lester will agree.
He thinks I have too many of our own fleeces to use up anyway.
Might have to do a bit of coaxing.
Still not bought my loom,
but I have a rising urge to put the order in.

And off I must go,
so
bye for now,
Vx