the accidental smallholder :: diary archives

Kidney

I like kidney. I also like liver. I've never tried any other offal. Dan doesn't like either. His family must have been posh. Given the above, I eat kidney and liver when Dan's away on business.

Now, I'm not a great cook. I like baking but cooking kind of stresses me. I can follow a recipe, and I love eating good food but I'm not what you would call a "natural cook". Dan's the cook in our house. I also hate wasting food - good Scottish Presbyterian upbringing, you see. Thrifty.

Tonight I had a bit of a challenge. I took lambs' kidney out of the freezer yesterday; I had to cook it tonight and I couldn't find a recipe that didn't need things I didn't have. So I made one up!

I sauteed onion in butter and olive oil, added the kidneys, mustard and a good glug of sherry and let it gently cook until tender. I served this (to myself) on hot buttered toast, with a good grinding of black pepper. And it was lovely, although I say it myself. The dogs were frantic and I did feel a bit bad eating it all myself.

But not too bad!

PS sorry, no photos.

Pork fillet

When we got our pig back from the butcher, there was a lovely piece of pork fillet included. We had it the other night, with roast potatoes, runner beans and peas - all our own produce. Most satisfying!

Dan stuffed it with a mixture of white bread crumbs, sage, thyme, onion, butter, lemon and egg, wrapped it in streaky bacon, glazed it with honey and mustard before roasting it. It was really delicious.

We had it cold the following night with roasted vegetables - parsnip, swede, potato, beetroot, carrot and onion (all ours except the onion), and I think the pork was even nicer cold.

Sheep worm count

I'm trying to use a few chemicals as possible with all animals. We don't have a huge amount of land so clean grazing is difficult. I started off using Verm- X herbal wormer for the sheep, then decided to have a regular worm egg count done instead.

The first one I had done in July showed no eggs at all. When I sent one off last week, I was a bit concerned as the sheep from next door come round and they look a bit wormy - at least they have really dirty bums, which I think is a sign of worms. However, I'm glad to say that the count has come back with no eggs visible.

We're having some additional fencing done to keep the two lots of sheep apart; it will also allow me to more easily subdivide the small space we have and rotate pasture to keep it clean.

Meg's accident

On Saturday, Dan and I took both dogs for a walk. Meg loves to play with a stick or ball, and Dan's got into the habit of playing "baseball" with her i.e. he hits the ball with a stick to make it go further (sometimes!).

As we walked up the field, he swung at the ball just as Meg jumped for it. The noise she made chilled my blood - I truly thought he had brained her. She dropped like a stone and put her paws over her nose. Dan was distraught. After a few minutes, the noise stopped and Dan looked at her muzzle - he thought he had broken her jaw. In fact, her gum was bleeding a bit. A few minutes later, she bounced up, grabbed her ball and threw it at Dan's feet.

And that was her! We've checked her teeth and all are sound; she ate her dinner on Saturday night and seems none the worse for her accident. The "bat" is now firewood, though.

Chip

I don't think Chip is very well. He seems a bit lethargic, so I've kept him in today (in the broody coop / sick bay) and put him back in the little ark and run tonight with five of the Cream Legbar hens. I'll keep them all in tomorrow and worm them, just in case, and see how he goes. I hope he's OK.

I don't think he's being bullied by Hector - Hector seems to ignore Chip completely. Maybe he's upset at having a wimpy name - when we named Hector, I wanted to change Chip's name to Lysander, but Dan wouldn't let me.

Linford

I'm feeling quite sad. Our neighbours' dog, Linford, died last weekend. He was 12; a Weimaraner whose bark was definitely worse than his bite. I don't think he HAD a bite - he was even on good terms with the local bunnies. He was, however, a great watchdog, spending most of his time, and certainly all daylight hours, on guard, alerting us to any comings and goings along the road.

He lived here before us; when I came home, he would rush out barking, then follow my car along to our house for a biscuit. It's really strange to drive along the road and no Linford.

His owners found him dead in the garden, after he had asked to be let out last Monday night. He seems to have had a stroke. Their daughters have known Linford for more than half their lives; the whole family are very sad, but comforted, I think, by the nature of his passing.

The road just won't seem the same anymore.

Wool

We got our wool back from Diane yesterday. It really is lovely; it's so soft and not at all scratchy. I'm really looking forward to getting it knitted up. I think there will be enough for a jumper for Dan and a gilet for me.

I think I'm going to try making a rug with the other two fleeces using a peg loom. There's no market for the fleece, and while I've just treated shearing as a welfare issue rather than "for profit" (break even would be nice), it would be good to do something useful with the fleeces, especially as they are such lovely colours. And it will keep me busy throught the long dark nights!

Busy hens and a dead chick

I'm on holiday this week so I've been taking advantage of the good weather today to do some weeding. We had a border made along the pig pen fence this year - I love the pigs but I don't necessarily want to look at them ALL the time. We're going to plant a hedge of Scotch roses; the plants should be with us early November. I picked them because a) they are the right height, b) they have scented flowers and c) they have black hips; the latter two should make them quite wildlife friendly. They are also quite prickly, which (hopefully) will deter the pigs from messing with the hedge (it's on our side of the fence not theirs). I'm hoping that it will be well established before the next batch of pigs arrives in Spring.

Anyway, the hens have been helping me today. They are such keen gardeners! We had a good system going; I dug out the grassy clumps and turned them over; the hens then scratched about in the clumps, thus breaking off most of the soil; I then removed the remaining grass clumps (to the pig pen, I must confess). It was most satisfactory for both parties, I think.

I released the Cream Legbars today; Chip promptly abandoned his girls and went to bed with the Black Rocks! I've put him back in the proper ark tonight, but I suspect it will be the same tomorrow. I think he's a bit odd - maybe the first few days living with a felt mouse has taken its toll on him.

Unfortunately, we lost Cheeky Chick, our Cuckoo Maran. I found him / her dead in the ark. S/he had been fine in the morning and was dead at lunchtime. I feel quite sad about it.

The fourteen young Black Rocks, now 51/2 weeks old, are doing well. I started giving them some cabbage leaves every day, starting about a week or so ago. I tie them up at head height and they love them ( after the first day, when they were scared to go past them!). Today, they got a new treat - a corn cob! I was clearing out the bed and there were a few left, so I thought the cheeps might like them. And do they! After the initial suspicion, they got tore right in. It's a good "toy" for them, because it swings around, so it takes them a while to get through it. They're off the lamp during the day now but have it on at night. I hope to get them out and off the lamp in about three weeks.

The Marans have started to lay! Not many yet, but the eggs are just beautiful!