the accidental smallholder :: diary archives

It had to happen...

We've had snow and ice for about 4 weeks now and I've been so careful not to fall. Tonight, with it almost back to normal, I took a clattering fall in the field. I went full length on an icy patch and smacked the back of my head on the ground (no chance of damage there, then). I was SO cross with myself.

My neck'sa bit sore but other than that, I'm OK, although I might be stiff in the morning. I checked the weather forecast and I was happy to see rain forecast - can you believe that?

Is the freeze over?

It's +3 today, sunny and windy - things are definitely thawing. Hopefully the wind will keep it dry as it thaws and we won't be left with too much mud. The five day forecast is for more of the same so maybe the worst is past.

The sheep are off grazing instead of hanging round the hayrack and the birds are chirping like mad. The horses were all excited this morning too, so maybe they know a change is in the air.

DANGER! MANIFLU

This is a poem by my sister, Janice

DANGER MANIFLU !!!!!!!!!

Of course it isn’t “Just a cold”
I’ll have to call the Doc,
I looked up “Swine Flu" symptoms
It gave me quite a shock.

I’ll have to go to bed now,
While you get “Tamiflu”
But just before you leave the house
I have a list for you.

I’ll need some magazines to read,
And maybe you could try,
To find me some on fishing,
Doesn’t matter Coarse or Fly

I’ll need a box of tissues,
The softest ones with balm,
My nose is sure to get quite sore
A while you’re out… some ham.

I feel a little peckish.
They do say feed a cold.
And something like this Swine-Flu
Is sure to take a hold.

Perhaps you’d make a jelly.
My throat is getting worse.
And jelly would just slide down
This Swine Flu is a curse.

If you should see some lemons
You could make me a drink
With honey and some whiskey
It might just help , I think.

I think I’ll go to bed now
Just switch the telly on.
And see if there’s some sport for me
To watch while you are gone.

And maybe get two cream cakes
Brew up when you get back
I’ll let you get your coat on
While I just hit the sack.

If this was only just a cold
I wouldn’t go to bed
But I’m so hot I think I need
A cold cloth for my head.

YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO THROW IT

I COULD HAVE CAUGHT A CHILL

YOU NEVER SEEM TO SYMPATHIZE

WHEN I AM REALLY ILL.!!!!!!

The freeze continues

It's still frozen here; we had a dusting of snow last night and it was -5 this morning, but with no wind, it didn't seem too cold. By the time I had finished at the stables, it was a positively balmy 0C. This afternoon, the wind has risen and it was bitterly cold. Some of the hens are developing quite a nice skating technique - too late for the Winter Olympics, regretably.

Although it desn't feel at all spring-like, our young cockerel's sap is rising. I heard him crow yesterday and try to "catch" one of the Back Rocks. I think Hector is turning a blind eye to it all; with 20 odd hens, there is more than enough for two.

As you will know from the national news, sand and salt has been in short supply but our local builders merchants got a load in today. There was a queue of cars waiting to pick up bags of the stuff. I have been told that the price has doubled, but since we haven't bought any for years, I have no idea if that is true. If it is though, local authorities will be feeling the pinch.

Our livery yard owner must be somewhat dismayed too. There are 40 horses on DIY livery - all of them would have been on daily turnout under normal weather conditions. This year, though, most of the horses are in for all but an hour a day, merrily eating their heads off. Our weekly livery charge includes hay or haylage - I bet if it was extra, a lot more horses would have been turned out by now.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Before the festive season, May 1st seemed forever away; now that it's past, our entry date seems to so far away at all. I have a list of phonecalls to make on Tuesday (Scotland will still be closed on Monday) but I have been distracted by things like bathroom suites and tiles, so I'm getting a bit ahead of myself.

We've made contact with a likely architect and hope to meet up with him in the next week or two, preferably at the new place so we can start more serious planning. I've been through the Home Report and started to draft a specification for the builder and my bedtime reading is "The Housebuilder's Bible". I'm reading selectively rather than cover to cover, but it's quite useful, especially for a non-techy like me.

Dan's also just ordered me two books on Victorian houses. We'd like to enhance the period features of the house, if we can, and keep the work in keeping with its age.

I also confess to spending a happy hour on Google Earth looking at Carnoustie beach and the surrounding area. It looks like there are lovely beaches and lots of tracks on Barry Buddon, which is accessible to the public when the Army isn't using it.

"Paddock Paradise" is also out of the bookshelf as I plan Smokey's PP in the 5 acre field.

Dan, meanwhile, is an oasis of calm - just as well one of us is.

What a beautiful day!

It's just lovely here today. Although it's -7, it feels warmer because the sun is out, the sky is blue, there's not a cloud to spoil the view... Are you singing yet?

I'm off to walk the dogs now - I had a cup of beefy "Bovril" to keep me going. If I drink it, I don't have the desire to eat sweet things, like mince pies, Christmas cake, chocolate.

I'll throw the sheep some more hay as I go past; in the load we bought, there were two bales of Jimmy's "special" meadow hay and the sheep love it! It's very fine textured compared to the normal offering. All the girls have a rim of frost on their fleeces but seem quite content.

I put the horses out this morning - Smokey and his buddy, Wallace. It's difficult when it's so hard underfoot, but Smokey's unshod and that seems to improve his grip. There have been a couple of accidents at the stables over the last four years, one which resulted in a fatality, in this type of weather, but our boys aren't prone to racing around. They'll have a mutual groom, a roll, eat some snow and dig for a bit of grass. They won't be out late but a few hours makes all the difference to their wellbeing.

Frugal!

With the prospect of a new mortgage, dana nd I are trying to save money. Sort of. Actually, we have this conversation every year, sometimes with more effect than others.

Anyway, we've got off to a reasonable start; when we went for bread yesterday, the supermarket had loads of boxes of mushrooms for 17p, so we bought 6 and Dan made mushroom soup. It's one of my favourites and it cost about 10p per portion.

This is the recipe Dan uses:
For 6 (small by our standards) portions
Melt 1/2 oz of butter and cook 1/2 a medium onion and a garlic clove, both finely chopped, gently for about 5 minutes until softened but not browned. Add 1 1/2 oz plain flour and cook gently for a minute or so. Gradually add 1 1/4 pint of vegetable stock, stirring all the time. Add 5oz of sliced mushrooms and a tablespoon of chopped parsley. Cover, bring to the boil and simmer gently for about 10-15 minutes. Cool and puree.
Saute 4oz of sliced mushrooms in some butter unil they begin to brown, then addto the soup; simmer gently for three minutes. Stir in 3 fl oz of single cream and season to taste. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley.

This soup freezes well, so is good to make in a large batch. Especially if you can get cheap mushrooms!

Happy Christmas!

Dan and I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We've had a lovely time with the family - but now the house is back in order and we'll be starting the serious planning for our relocation to Carnoustie in the summer.

If you haven't read on the forums, we've bought a new property just outside Carnoustie, on the Angus coast. We'll be about 10 miles north of Dundee and 5 miles south of Arbroath.

The house was built around 1860, we've been told, and needs a bit of upgrading. We need to improve the insulation and install central heating. The bathroom is very small, so we're going to move it into the smallest bedroom and the existing bathroom will become my office. The wall between the kitchen and utility room will come down to make a larger kitchen; there's a back porch that will be the scullery.

The outbuildings are great. The best thing about the move is that Dan's mum and dad are coming with us. They are going to apply for planning permission to convert the smallest outbuilding into a one bedroom house. It's already been christened "The Bothy".

There is a second stone built outbuilding with garage, workshop, two looseboxes, byre and cart shed. The fourth side of the square is made by an opensided Dutch barn. In the quadrangle is a greenhouse, potting shed, small walled garden and grass area.

Two of my favourite features are the herringbone brick path through the pergola built from sleepers and the sunken garden, surrounded by an arboreal ivy.

For land, there is a 5 acre field with field shelter - this will have the "Paddock Paradise"; a two acre field, and four smaller paddocks. The land is good and level; it's well fenced and has lovely shelterbelts planted, including fruit trees and some beautiful specimen trees.

If there is a down side, it's the proximity to the Army range at Barry Buddon, but we'll soon get used to the gunfire. It's not that different to Alloa on a Saturday night (joke!!).

We're planning to let Longcarse, so if you know anyone looking to rent somewhere like this, do contact us!

I've bought a notebook, so that's a start! Now, I'm going for a cup of tea and a pen - I feel a list coming on.

First snow

Not down here, but there is a dusting of snow on the Ochils this morning. I'm not surprised - it's pretty cold and very windy. However, at least it's dry and the wind is drying up he ground fine.

We're having one of our Hubbards roast to day, so off to pull some carrots, swede and parsnips for roasting. And apple sponge, I think, to follow.

New job

When I left the Council in July, it was my intention to have a gap year. My good friend, Carol, said I would be back at work within six months. Well, she was right and I've got another job.

I am delighted to be the Project Co-ordinator for Forth Valley, for the Royal Highland Education Trust www.rhet.org.uk. The tagline for RHET is "taking the classroom into the countryside" and its aim is to reconnect children with food, farming and the countryside by organising school visits to farms and farmer visits to schools, along with specific projects like "Count and Grow" with the Clydesdale Bank and Farmhouse Breakfast Week with Tesco and the Home Grown Cereals Authority.

As you might expect, I'm a bit out of my comfort zone, after 13 years in my previous job, but I'm sure I'll soon get to grips with it. I'm fortunate to have good support from the HQ at Ingliston and from the Forth Valley Countryside Initiative and the other Co-ordinators are a nice bunch.

My to do list is ever growing - the more I learn, the less I know, so I'm having a RHET day tomorrow - office door closed, no dogs, no kittens, no Felix, just head down and work, work, work. I'm almost hoping it's raining!

Autumn

It feels distinctly autumnal. The light has changed and it's cooler; the leaves on the trees have barely started to change, but it feels different.

I love autumn - it's my favourite time of year. I hope we get some good weather, since our barbeque summer didn't quite happen. It's been lovely today, especially when the breeze dropped. It was the kind of day when you just HAD to be outside, putting things in order.

Dan cut the grass in the garden, the vegetable garden and the orchard - hopefully that will do it this year, since we bring the sheep on to it in the winter. I've been weeding and brushing up - our garden looks almost respectable, for once. I might buy some bedding plants tomorrow and really go for it and fill some pots and tubs for early colour. That's the easy bit - keeping the hens off it is the challenge!

Rain

We had the most SPECTACULAR rain last night. About 9pm, we went out to do the water troughs, feeders and to shut in the hens. We were also going to dose the lambs with Heptavac P Plus. It had been showery yesterday, and sometimes quite heavy but nothing like the deluge that hit then.

We were in the sheep shed, thank goodness, and what a triumph IT has been. The rain wasn't taking time to come down - it was easy to see where the description of stair rods comes from - it was solid rain.

The garage, of course, flooded. I don't think anything has been damaged, fortunately. We did lift the pig feed bags to higher shelves, just in case.

This morning, it's as if it had never been. It's cool and cloudy, with glimpses of sun. I've hung out the washing I hung out yesterday, then brought in and respun!

Good thing is that the paths are now chicken poo free. Who needs pressure washers!

What happened to Spring?

We ate the last of our Christmas puddings yesterday. Kind of appropriate since it's cold, wet and miserable enough to be December.

Ice inside!

It took me longer to deice the inside of my car this morning than the outside. I don't think it has a leak - I think it's just carrying wet dogs, wet boots and jackets, buckets of horse poo (stables to garden) mean that the moisture content of the car has risen.

I was scraping the inside of the front windscreen and was covered in ice shavings, thinking (I must get a dehumidifier and dry this car out". Come summer, and the warm weather (?), I'll leave all the doors open to let it dry naturally but I can't wait until then.

God's country

An American decided to write about about famous chuches around th world.

When he visited the first church, he noticed a golden telephone on the wall with a sign below, which read "$10,000 per call". Intrigued, he asked the priest what this was. "Ah", said the priest, "that's the hot line to heaven. For $10,000, you can talk to God".

The American visited churches all over the States, in Australia, New Zealand and many countries. In every one, there was a golden phone, with a sign below "$10,000 per call".

In due course, the Amercan arrived in Scotland. In the first church he visited, he saw the golden telephone with a sign underneath "40p per call". As the priest passed, the American called him over and explained that he had seen the golden telephone all over the world, and the call charge was always $10,000, so why was it only 40p here.

"Ah, son," said the priest, smiling, "you're in Scotland now - it's just a local call"

Clackmannanshire Fact No2

Sir William Alexander (1567 - 1640) 1st Earl of Stirling was born in Menstrie Castle, which is now in National Trust for Scotland ownership. In 1621, he was granted land in the New World by James VI, and founded the province of Nova Scotia. Although his attempts to establish a Scottish colony there failed and in 1632, Charles I handed Nova Scotia to the French as part of a peace settlement, in 1732, it was ceded back to Britain and many Scots emigrated there.

Clackmannanshire Fact No1

My chum, Claire, loaned me abook called " I never knew that about Scotland" by Christopher Winn. As it is Homecoming 2009, celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, I shall dazzle you periodically with fascinating facts about Scotland.

I shall start with my home county of Clackmannanshire!

"Clackmannanshire is the smallest county in the British Isles covering an area of just 55 square miles (14,245 hectares). In the late 18th century, one third of Scotland's total coal production was exported through Alloa, the county town."

We may be small, but we've got hills (Ben Cleuch at 2,363 feet is the highest), rivers Devon, Black Devon and Forth, estuary, inland water at Gartmorn Dam (incidentally the oldest man-made reservoir in Scotland still in use. It was created in 1713 by the Earl of Mar to provide water power for the pumps in his coal-mines). However, we don't have any mines or a harbour any more.

More frugality!

Dan's been banging on about making popcorn for ages. Our local supermarket only stocks the stuff for microwaves and we don't have one. Eventually, he tracked popping corn down to our local Julian Graves shop.

A couple of nights ago, he decided to give it a go. I reminded him of my childhood experience of popping corn - my Mum and I made it. By the bucketload! Mum didn't think the amount on the packet was very much so she tipped in a bit more - it was like a horror movie. This stuff lifted the lid off the pot and made it's way over the cooker and on to the floor. I maybe exaggerate a wee bit but you get the idea.

Anyway, what it showed was what a rip-off the cinemas are (if you didn't already know). A wee scoop of popping corn that must have cost about 10p made what would be about £4 of popcorn at cinema prices. Nice mark up! A wee sprinkle of salt and it was just perfect.

If we work at it, it should be finished in a day or two.

Washing soda

Isn't this credit crunch great? All of a sudden it's cool to be frugal!

I read in a magazine that washing soda is a substitute for expensive washing powder. I have to confess I was a bit sceptical but I had a look in the supermarket and, since it was only 68p a kilo, I thought I'd give it a go. And it works!

I use two scoops in a load - the scoop is off a cough medecine bottle, so not very big - and the washing is clean. Even whites!

Cheap and environmentally friendly - can't say better than that, eh!

On the telly

No, not us, thankfully.

If you enjoyed "Tales from the Green Valley" a few years ago, you might fancy "Victorian Farm" which starts next Thursday 8th January on BBC2. The same group of historians are involved but this time it's an 1880 smallholding recreated on a Shropshire estate.

Back on screen on Wednesday 7th is a new series of "It's not easy being green", which is worth watching just for James Strawbridge stripped to the waist.

And I'll be settling down on Sunday with a Bailey's and a wee chocolate treat to watch "Lark Rise to Candleford". I know it's twee, but it's lovely.

Car dilemma

We have two cars - at one time, that would have been a boast. Now it feels like a source of shame. Dan has a diesel Nissan X Trail, which we bought so that we could tow a trailer. I have a petrol Ford Focus, which also has a tow bar but in truth couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. Neither of us do many miles - Dan works at home and his only miles are to Edinburgh Airport or the railway station, and back. The Nissan is so greedy we don't use it much otherwise. My workplace is one mile from home, so I can walk if I have time, although I do usually take the car because I'm usually going on to the stables immediately after work.

It's unusual for both cars to be in use at the same time, so I've been wondering if we could manage with one or if we can reduce our usage further. In truth, in current circumstances, I don't think we can go to one car. If Dan's away on business, I need a car.

However, we are trying to plan our journeys to reduce mileage. We don't go into Stirling often - except that our vet is there - so when we do, we try to combine it with a visit to WCF for animal feed and supplies. Dan's planning to get a bicycle which he will use when he can as an alternative to the car - although maybe not for the Airport run!!

The Focus will need replaced at some point, and I'll certainly be replacing it with the smallest, most economical car I can afford. Two colleagues of mine have Toyota Aygos and think they are fabulous - and the road tax is only £35 a year. By the time I can afford a replacement car, there will be second hand ones available!

It's not easy being green, of any shade!

Cupboard cleaning

Do you get the urge to clean out cupboards at this time of year? I always do - I think it's part of starting the new year with a clean sheet (or cupboards, files, drawers and so on).

I was making a shopping list yesterday - the leftovers had run out - and took the opportunity to give the pantry a bit of a tidy and to check the best before dates on dry goods particularly. Hmm. Now I hate wasting food, so anything edible went to the hens, who appreciate most offerings. Yesterday, it was pasta (cooked) and walnuts. Oh, and some mince pies. They were such HAPPY hens - there are a couple who hover around the back door, just in case, but they never keep it to themselves, they call all their mates to share in the bounty.

And Dan has to make bread today to use up the flour that's JUST out of date - so I don't know why he's banging away on his keyboard!

It's been so long...

since I posted anything to the diary.

We've had a couple of losses to the fox recently and we had to despatch Chip, our Crested Cream Legbar cockerel, on Sunday. We were away for the weekend and he was ill when we got back. I couldn't watch him suffer so we put him away. I now need to find another CCL cockerel for the CCL hens.

I have another sick hen, one of the CCL. She's in isolation and seemed a bit better at lunchtime to day. I'll have a good look at her in the morning, in daylight. I've wormed her and given her some oil soaked bread to try to "move" any blockages. This is always my first First Aid attempts. I think it goes back to a doctor I had when I was about eighteen, who seemed convinced that any medical problem was related to your digestive tract - no matter what symptoms you recounted, his first question was always "And have your bowels moved?".

The CCL are now laying lovely green eggs. If I could find the camera, I would show you. The Marans are also laying and seem to have shamed the Black Rocks into doing likewise, so production has increased to a level whereby Dan can have a boiled egg without me telling him that he can't because I need it for a customer.

The Clackmannanshire Bridge

The new upper Forth crossing, the Clackmannanshire Bridge, opened last week. Our local Council had campaigned to have the Bridge named after the County, to put us on the map.

On Sunday (this is kind of sad), Dan, Lorna and I drove down to see the bridge and drive across it. The views of Clackmannanshire on the dive in over the bridge are just lovely - Clackmannan Parish Church and Clackmannan Tower silhouetted against the Ochil Hills.

Today I had the opportunity to use the bridge for real. Carol and I met with a representative of Oatridge College in West Lothian to try to set up some training opportunities ofr members of the smallholders' association. We were very happy to find that the College were very keen to help. Our first venture will be a lambing course in January, followed by a grassland management event in March. I'm sure if these are supported, further events will follow.

Oatridge College has had significant investment in both its lecture facilities and its workshops. It runs a wide range of land based courses - horticulture, agriculture, equestrian, engineering, farriery, green keeping. It's also the location of the Scottish National Equestrian Centre. The farms are run on a commercial basis ie they are not subsidised and have beef, sheep, pigs and arable enterprises, although more intesively managed than most smallholders. We hope that it will turn out to be a profitable relationship for both parties.

Snow

We've got snow this morning. It's cold but clear so maybe that's it all for now.

The hens wouldn't come out this morning until bribed with corn. The Legbars, who haven't seen snow before, were sitting on top of their run. They're quite different to the other hens - quite flighty, quite small and delicate looking. They also act a bit "refined", compared to the roughty toughty Black Rocks.

Felix went out but would only walk on the clear area where the car had been parked.

I'm off to make a Creole Christmas Cake now - the fruit has been soaking in rum, port, brandy, cherry brandy for a week. I won't inhale as I have to drive later!

A poem from my sister

A DILEMMA

I could not kill a chicken
With feathers, blood and stuff,
‘Cause I would just remember,
Those balls of yellow fluff.

I could not kill a rabbit,
I know they are a pest,
We had a white one and a grey one.
I loved the grey one best.

I simply could not kill a pig
And listen to it wail,
It used to be so soft and pink
With tiny curly tail.

I’d never ever kill a sheep;
I once knew one called Jock;
He was so small and sickly,
He never joined the flock.

Well, I could never kill a calf,
Those eyes and velvet nose.
It surely takes a monster
To murder one of those.

Don’t think it’s right to kill a deer.
So beautiful and strong.
They should be left to run the hills
And glens where they belong.

But now I’ve got a problem,
I don’t know what to do.
I love my steak and onions
And crave a good lamb stew.

Roast chicken is delicious
Roast pork is my desire.
So there is nothing for it
But to shut my eyes and FIRE!!!!!!

Urban redneck

When we were in the States last month, I bought a work shirt. It's quickly become my very favourite piece of clothing, displacing my charity shop fleecy sweatshirt. The new shirt is quilted with a check flannel outer, but it has a grey sweatshirt inset with a zip and hood. Dan has described this particular fashion style as "urban redneck"! I suppose I will eventually have to wash it - I wish I'd bought two now...

Don't get cross!

It has been the most lovely day here today - blue sky, warm, calm. Naturally, we've been taking advantage of this; Dan's lifted the potatoes, I've cleaned out the small patio bed and the containers on it. I've tidied the garage a bit and cleaned out the hen houses. It has been most pleasant.

However, I should learn not to get cross. Meg's a lovely dog in many respects but she can be intensely irritating. If you are busy, she wuffs to get your attention and the wuff gets higher and higher in pitch if you don't respond. I was emptying containers today and she was wuffing; I told her crossly to "be quiet" (or similar) as I banged a pot empty; I banged it so hard it bounced back and hit me squarely on the nose; then the leg of my spectacles fell off.

Fortunately, I managed to find the little screw and my nose is only bruised, but that's a lesson in keeping one's temper!

Clackmannanshire Horticultural Society Show 2008

It was the Show today. As usual, I wasn't as prepared in reality as I was in my head. I rushed home form work yesterday to make pancakes - which were not show quality so we ate them - and chocolate brownie, which Dan said was nice but not up to my usual standard. I had baked a fruit tea loaf using chai tea earlier in the week, to let it mature for today. After that, it was a quick run round the garden before it got dark, ending up with runner beans and mini tomatoes. A few jars of jam, marmalade and a chutney completed the entry.

Claire was entering three classes in the photography section - she takes some lovely photos. Have a look at her blog to see more.

We took the entries up last night, after culling the cockerels, moving hens and turning out the horse, knowing that we would be away to Carlisle early this morning.

It was the busiest I've ever seen the show. The Society has a new committee and they really are working very hard to make it a success.

When we got home from Carlisle about 3pm, we set off to see how we had done. We were delighted that Claire won a first and a second for her photographs; I got a second for the tea loaf, the brownie (Dan was right!) and the mini tomatoes and third for blackcurrant jam. Apparently I would have got first for the mini tomatoes if I had shown them on the right sized plate and set in sand - if the judge had tasted them, I'd have got first even if I'd shown them in a jam jar,' cos they are just yummy.

It was great to see the hall so busy, with lots of lovely entries in all categories. This year new classes for kids have been introduced and one fro scrapbooking, which had a few entries. It was a credit to all the folk that organise it, raise money for it and take part.

Job profiles

I had lunch today with a friend and we were chatting about work - we both work for the local Council. His rerponsibilities include catering, building cleaning and public conveniences.

I know its really sad to laugh at your own funnies, but I summarised his job as "from plate to pan".

How would you describe yours?

Farming and IT

An unknown person at work left a magazine cutting on my desk. It was about folk changing career. It gave the example of Rob Hall of Northallerton Colloege, who gave up electronic engineering to run a smallholding and now works in IT. He's quoted as saying "Farming and running Windows products are very similar. Healthy things die in bizarre and horrible ways, while viruses and parasites are a constant threat. The only compensation is that the weather is better in our office".

Dan and I can identify with that!

"Make a noise" campaign

Please take a look at www.makeanoise.co.uk and make a donation and / or sign the petition. The campaign, supported by World Horse Welfare (formerly ILPH), is trying to stop the end the long distance transportation of horses to slaughter in Europe.

If you care about animals, please help.

Horses intended for slaughter are often transported hundreds of miles in inhumane conditions to be slaughtered. Although I would not choose to eat horsemeat, I have no axe to grind with those who do, so long as the horses are raised and treated humanely. It's no different to pigs, sheep, cattle or poultry.

How it all started!

I was looking for a photograph to put on the forums - nothing too scary, you understand, when I came across an album of photographs of me (and my family) when I was VERY young. Some of them made me think - "so THAT'S how it all started."

I'm not from a farming background; both my parents worked in the local textile mills. Both liked the outdoors though - my Dad golfed and fished and we did a lot of walking. Almost every weekend, we'd go off somewhere in the bus (we didn't have a car), with a picnic, and walk for miles. I can't smell Heinz Tomato or Oxtail soup without it all flooding back, because in the winter, Mum would fill a flask of hot soup to take. I don't remember going very far in the bus but we got to the Wild West often and the African jungle occasionally!

My paternal grandfather had been a ploughman, so my Dad was born on a farm and he used to make up stories (at least, I think they were made up!) about the animals that were on the farm when he was a wee boy. My Dad's middle sister, Jen, married a shepherd, my Uncle Alec and lived on a number of farms - I think she was my Dad's favourite sister. She was certainly my favourite aunt. She wasn't all that keen on babies, but she was great with small children, although she had none of her own. I remember her living in two places - Milngavie (vaguely) and Campsie Glen, where she lived until I was in my twenties.

I remember Uncle Alec's vegetable garden and the hens, and him bringing a pail of milk down from the farm - they had a house cow for a while. They always had a cairn terrier called Delias, which is Gaelic for faithful, I think, and the inevitable Border Collies. In fact, my first dog, Kerry, was a pup of his. We always used to stay with Auntie Jenny and Uncle Alec at the May holiday and the October holiday - it took ages to get there (or at least it seemed like it to me) by bus, via Stirling and Kirkintilloch, then on to Campsie Glen. I must have dragged poor Delias all over the hills while my Dad fished the wee burn close by. My job was to take the newly caught fish, wrapped in dock leaves to keep it fresh (?) up to the house to be cooked for our tea. It was always trout and new potatoes, followed by home-made pancakes and jam.

Anyway, to get to the point, I found these photographs - if Dan had seen them years ago, he might have guessed what was coming!

Today's news from the madhouse!

It's been a mixed bag, weatherwise. We had heavy rain this morning, changing to dizzle in the afternoon; now it's bright and dry but cloudy. It's very warm though - good weed weather.

We've done a fair bit of weeding today - in the peas and beans, the beetroot and the carrots. The beans are woeful - last year we could have contracted with Tesco. This year we've got about 5 plants out of 16 sown. I stuck the last of them in the ground today in a forlorn hope that they might grow. The double row of peas that were direct sown aren't doing much either - the ones started in the guttering are covered in flowers and peas - you can see where this is going, can't you?

Next year, we're not going to bother with onions. I don't think there is a taste advantage in growing your own and organic and / or British onions aren't hard to get. To be honest, we lose so many is store that it's a lot of bed to use for not much return. We'll grow shallots, leeks, garlic and spring onions though.

The sweetcorn looks a bit better - it was quite yellow but a couple of feeds of comfrey seem to have helped. Dan fed all the tomatoes this morning - fingers crossed, they're looking good. Now there's something with a taste advantage over shop bought.

I read this week that 80% of strawberries in the shops have a cocktail of pesticides on them - the organic strawberries tested had none. This was at the end of an article titles "Pesticide shocker" - the shock in question wasn't the 80% with a cocktail but the fact that the EU is proposing to deregister a number of pesticides currently on the market. In response, the NFUS combinable crops chairman is quoted as saying "These proposals woudl make it more difficult for Scottish farmers to continue producing high quality food at affordable prices. Scottish consumers repeatedly say that they want more, affordable, fresh fruit and vegetables that are grown locally". No doubt - but, for me, high quality means the absence of a cocktail of chemicals. Anyway, we had a lovely summer pudding tonight - strawberries, raspberries, black, red and white currants - pesticide free and delicious.

Summer holiday

We're all going on a .... Actually, we're not. But I'm now on holiday for five weeks (bar a few hours when I'm going in for specific meetings), so it's pouring rain, of course.

Still, I've got lots to occupy myself. I've decided to offer a couple of "Backyard Poultry Keeping" courses in July and August, with maybe a third in September. I've done some posters and I'm going to contact the local rags on Monday - hopefully they will be desperate for copy, since the Council is in recess! I kind of know the format I'm going to follow but I need to firm up on that. There are a few other things I need to chase up as well.

I've ridden twice today - a (very) short hack this morning and half an hour in the arena this afternoon (in the rain). This is progress for Smokey and I as I kind of lost my nerve a couple of years ago, but I've started having lessons again; we do some groundwork to keep our relationship in balance and now we're riding. I'm just taking it one day at a time. Actually, Smokey's turned into a pretty nice horse (not that I'm biased or anything).

I'm trying not to make too many plans for the summer; I do want to tidy up the flower bed by the living room window, which looks quite nice from a distance but is absolutely full of weeds and to do some more work on the pond and its surrounds. It's looking a bit unloved at the moment. There are also some things I must do, like painting the chicken arks and stuff, but so long as I don't sit down except to eat, I should get through it all!

The trains are coming!

I bought the local rags today (as I do every week); both had double page articles about the re-opening of the Alloa-Stirling railway in May. This is a huge project for Clackmannanshire - the railway to Alloa closed about 40 years ago (I vaguely remember it) - and is seen a a major factor in the ongoing regeneration of this area.

The first trains will run, courtesy of the Scottish Railway Preservation Society, on the 15th May. There will be two trains that afternoon making the journey to Stirlinga nd back. The outward train will be pulled by a steam locomotive, "The Great Marquess" and the return journey will be hauled by a Deltic diesel "Royal Scots Grey".

There is to be a community fayre on Saturday 17th May in Greenfield Park and the first "proper" trains will run from Monday 19th May. It's all very exciting!

All we need now is for Alloa Athletic to secure promotion to the Scottish First Division! Come on, Wasps!

It's snowing

Not very heavily, to be fair, but it's still snow! It was lovely here yesterdya, as it has been for most of last week - blue sky, sun, usual breeze, but warm out of it.

Dan and I had yesterday in the garden - very busy (what we did will be another post) and today - snow! And we planted out lettuce yesterday!

Hey ho, I'm off to spring clean Lorna's bedroom and maybe the front hall, if the snow stays on.

Easter weekend

Despite, or maybe because of, the variable weather, we've had quite a busy few days.

Dan spent a morning in the orchard, weeding, fertilising and mulching the fruit trees. This had been on the list for a couple of weeks but for some reason, it's not our favourite job. He also headed out to plant a horse chestnut and a holly in the beech hedge. The holly will fill a gap at this end and the horse chestnut, which was a gift from Claire, is at the far end. When it grows, it will shade our little pet cemetery.

We tidied the garage, so we could put the Bennington under cover and still accommodate cheeps. Which is just as well as I've ordered 12 French Copper Black Maran hatching eggs. I ordered off Ebay, which I've never done before. I thought I had ordered Lavender Arucana - but maybe I've just got lavender on the brain! Next time.

I have lavender on the brain because I've just finished planting a new lavender hedge, about 30 feet long on each side of the new path. I've used English lavender this time, rather than Hidcote.

Dan started preparing for the pigs, which we should get next weekend. He picked up feed on Friday and is now pretty ready to go. Entirely coincidentally, he also started his beer making - 36 pints of finest bitter. If it works, we might try growing hops - not sure if they will grow this far north - but we won't be growing and malting our own barley!

Meg was bathed this morning in her special shampoo for scaly dogs. She's so good. She seems to be doing well on the treatment for her underactive thyroid. On the subject of scaly (Do you like the links?), we did the hens with louse powder this morning. Some were carrying a pretty heavy burden, so we'll do them weekly until it's better. The RIR are the worst, whether that's the breed or because they are oldest, we don't know. They definitely have fluffy feathers that are fluffy right to the skin, where the Black Rocks and the Light Sussex have much "cleaner" plumage. Our old Brown Leghorn never got lice at all - it was probably too scary a ride for them!

Now, what's next...

"Home Farmer"

I have recently subscribed to a magazine called "Home Farmer". I got a sample copy somewhere, but I can't remember where - and really enjoyed it. The first "proper" edition came yesterday. It's not in anyway "technical" but the articles are simple and accessible. In the sample copy, there was a recipe for soda bread and instructions on how to make cheese - I've tried the former (very good, too) and hope to get to the latter shortly.

This month's edition exlains how to make butter using 500ml double cream and a 2 litre milk carton; how to make a pork pie; an article on bee keeping, how to install a wood burning stove and loads of other stuff (I haven't finished reading it yet!). Because it's not "technical", it's very encouraging - the aim of the magazine is to let more folk become more self reliant, even if they live in a town or city.

If you see it around, it's worth a look. It's published by "The Good Life Press".

Catch up

We were shocked last night when an email reminded us that it was almost a month since we'd last posted! We couldn't believe that it was that long but it was!

So this is a short post, prior to better ones, just to reassure anyone who migt be concerned that we're all fine. Now.

Since 8th February, Dan and I have been away for a week's welcome break in Madeira (third time, same hotel - we're getting old!). When we got back, my horse, Smokey, had developed laminitis - fortunately mild - but it meant he was on box rest and I was going to the stables three times a day. Dan's also been away on business; we've got landscapers in doing some work on the garden; Meg stuck her stick in the mud last night and punctured the inside of her mouth so emergency trip to the vet (she's fine this morning).

But we're fine. We have been a wee bit busy in the garden as the weather's getting better and hope to get into the orchard at the weekend so we'll put up some interesting stuff on Sunday.

Recycle your old mobile phone

Apparently there are over 80 million redundant old mobile phones in the UK today. That's a staggering number, 2 for every man woman and child in the country capable of using one.

This week I got an email from envirofone who recycle mobile phones for resale in this country and abroad, bringing environmental and economic benefit. They basically buy old mobile phones directly from individuals or organisations. It seems to be a great way to raise money for good causes or to just extract some value from an unused phone. They take broken phones too.

Now, as someone who only in the last year got his first mobile phone (I'm a late developer), I'm not yet in a position to recycle my phone, but if you have a collection of old phones it might be worth a look? They're at http://www.envirofone.com.

Sunshine and snow showers

The weather's been somewhat changeable today. When we got up this morning, there was a light cover of snow, but it was quite sunny. When I was feeding Smokey, the snow came on HEAVY; it was really overcast and I thought it was on for the day. However, the snow went off and the sun came out; I even managed to get washing out for a while. It's not dry but it's close to dry. Now, at 4pm, it's dark and dismal and sleeting a bit.

Typical Scotland - four seasons in one day - but at least the animals have had some sun on their backs. It does seem to cheer them up - on Thursday, I think, it was sunny; I took the dogs into the field and the sheep came racing over, as fast as their short, fat legs would carry them. This wasn't a "coming to get fed" run, this was a "just for fun, who's the fastest" run; just as they got to us, they went into a frenzy of hop, skip and jump, leaping in the air. With the sun out, I felt a bit the same, but decided not to try it!

January weather

The weather overnight here has been just horrible. We've had gales and heavy rain. This morning I got up to find a few slates slipped on the roof, a dislocated downpipe, two smashed panes in the greenhouse and the garage under three inches of water - the horses' feed buckets had floated to the back of the garage. Oh, joy! And Dan's in London - so it was on with the Marigolds to get the drain in front of the garage unblocked. Then it was a case of keeping the water moving out of the garage into the drain. It's now clear and the garage floor is cleaner than its been for ages - possibly ever! I still have a few things to move that might have got damp but fortunately the bags of feed were stored on shelves high enough to keep them out of the water. The slates etc will have to wait until Dan comes home and the wind abates a bit.

The horses' field is flooded - their buckets from last night's feed are long gone. Smokey's nice and clean though, apart from his legs.

At the moment, it's sunny and not so windy but it's raining over the hills about 6 miles away - the forecast is for showers, so we'll see how it turns out.

Roll on spring.

Late Christmas present

A late Christmas present was delivered for me today - an adjustable floor standing frame for my tapestry frame. I almost always have a wool tapestry on the go - sometimes they take me ages, but I like to pick it up when I feel like it (sometimes I wish it was more "useful" - there's a limit to how many framed tapestries one's home can accommodate). I find it hard to get a comfortable position to sew, so I'm hoping that this will be better.

Dan's done some lovely wool tapestries - it was he who got me started - and he's currently making a beautiful rug. And has been making it for nigh on 10 years, we reckon. He bought the wool and the canvas one year for my Christmas and said he would give me the completed rug to me the following year. Boy, he's building the anticipation! It's a lovely pattern in blues, golds and creams, called "African Marigold" by Beth Russell. It will be truly stunning when it's finished - it will be a crime to walk on it!

Best laid plans...

Well, Christmas hasn't QUITE turned out as expected. Lorna, our daughter, went down with a heavy cold on Sunday, I succumbed on Christmas Day and now Dan has the lurgy. Fortunately, Lorna's now fine apart from a bit of a runny nose and I feel loads better tonight.

I had planned to start preparing for the new year today and I had hoped to get Smokey out for a walk, but the weather has been miserable and we felt rough, so it was do the bare minimum and huddle round the fire to watch the horseracing.

I always fancy odd things to eat if I'm not well - today I've had three bowls of Crunchy Nut Cornflakes and a bottle of flat, warm Coke. I never drink Coke normally (anything that can shine up your sink shouldn't really be consumed) but that's what I really wanted today. Sometimes, it's semolina or tomato soup (Heinz) or cold baked beans. Having not eaten much either Christmas Day or Boxing Day, the munchies are now upon me so I'm off now to see what other leftovers are in the fridge and to find out where Dan's hidden the chocolates.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all TAS readers and contributers form everyone here at Longcarse Farm Cottage!

We hope you have a happy, safe and prosperous 2008, full of joy and love!

An emotional journey

Dan and I have just returned from a visit to Holland. The purpose of the trip was to visit the grave of my Uncle David, who was killed in May 1944 and is buried in the village of Brielle, near Rotterdam. It was an emotional journey, but I'm glad we made it.

David was my mother's only sibling. He was 21 when he died, a Flight Engineer on Lancaster bombers. His plane was shot down on the way back from a raid and, although the crew managed to bail out successfully, David was shot by snipers on the way down. He was with the Dutch Resistance for a few days before he died, which is why he is buried in a village cemetery. Neither my grandmother or my mother ever made it to Holland, but I promised my mother I would go - and now I have.

David was an engineering draughtsman, so was in a reserved occupation but he'd always been fascinated by planes and so joined the RAF. Although it was a family tragedy and an awful waste of a young life, and whatever his motivation for joining up, I am thankful that he and other young men and women were prepared to go and do what they did, otherwise my life today would have be very different to what it is.

I'd like to do some research about David's war service. It's unlikely that any of his aircrew are still alive - they would be in their eighties now.

And I'd also like to know who Pieter was. Beside David's grave was a small stone bearing the inscription "Pieter 8-11-1944" - at least, I think that was the date. I'm not really sure where to start, but I'll give it a go.

Dan and I are planning to go back in February 2013, which would have been David's 90th birthday. Maybe I'll know who Pieter is by then, too.

Comfort reading

There are certain books that I return to again and again - sort of comfort reading. Falling into that category are the books by James Herriot. When I was young, I really wanted to be a vet, and devoured these books. And I keep going back to them - no surprises in them but they still make me laugh and cry.

Dan's tried but can't get them - that's why he knows less about being a "vit'nary" than me!

Lazy (?) Sunday afternoon

The weather this weekend has been sonewhat variable. Last night we had a lot of rain and it was very windy. During the morning, it brightened up and the sun got out for a while but by 4pm, it was dark, raining and windy. So time to light the fire and get out the seed catalogues.

I now have my orders prepared and tomorrow, in the cold light of Monday, I'll go through them and delete half the potato and tomato varieties and some of the more fanciful species. I'm going to have 5 tubers of Mayan Gold and I'm going to grow them in pots, so I know they're safe. At £2.49 for 5 tubers, I might put them by my bed!

I was allowed to help with the bacon curing this morning. In previous years, this has been Dan's preserve (pardon the pun) but he's away this week, so I recieved my instructions this morning. We've two cures on the go - streaky bacon and, for the first time, back bacon which is in a salt and sugar mix. They look good already although they have four days to go. Dan's bought himself a new smoke generator - early Christmas present. He'll say more about all this tomorrow, he assures me.

I've started manuring the vegetable beds. As I clear horse poo, I'm putting it straight on the beds rather than in the heap. The hens are having a swell time. I've done the comfrey bed; now I'm doing the rhubarb bed. Potato bed next, I think.

Anyway, back to the fire now. It's 7.45pm, which is really 8.45pm so almost my bed time. I took Friday afternoon off so I've got long hours in the office to look forward to this week to make up time. Still, at least it's dark outside, so I don't feel like I'm wasting time!

Wanted - restauranteurs

Come on you down-shifters! Fancy a wee restaurant in an up and coming location? Alloa needs you - and we'll try and supply all your runner bean needs!

Alloa, the county town of Clackmannanshire, is a town on the up. To be fair, it was starting from a fairly low base, but it's going in the right direction. So if you want to get your foot in the door, there is a restaurant premises for lease in the town.

Alloa is basically a fine Victorian town that had fallen on hard times due to the demise of its traditional industries - coal, textiles, brewing, distilling, shipbuilding - you name it. But it, and all Clackmannanshire, is experiencing something of a resurgence. The railway is due to open early 2008, so Glasgow will be 50 minutes away by train. The new Upper Forth Crossing (called the Clackmannanshire Bridge, we hope) opens next year too, improving connections to the motorway netweok - yet here we are, with the Ochil Hills to the north and the River Forth to the south, a patchwork of small towns in the countryside, relatively unknown.

There's been a lot of housebuilding, with more to come, so the socio-ecomomic profile of the area will be improving. But we need places for these wealthy folk to eat! In the last couple of years, an old brewery in Alloa has been converted into a pub called "The Old Brewery". It's nice inside, does reasonable food and has a policy of keeping out the riff-raff (and Alloa has its share). A few months ago, an Italian restaurant opened in the town. It's very good. Both are BUNGED.

So when I was in town today, I noticed that a pub called The Linen Vaults is up for lease as a pub or restaurant, and I thought some of you foodie entrepreneurial types might be interested. It's a very nice red sandstone (I think) building - it used to be the Linen Bank (before my time) - hence the name of the pub! In the late 70s, it was "Rosemary's Restaurant" and I worked there as a Saturday girl (there was another Rosemary involved, too). It operated as a cafe until 6pm, then it closed, was hoovered, table cloths, candles and posh place settings put on te tables and it reopened at 7pm as a "proper" restaurant. It's been a couple of pubs since then, but it's back on the market.

If any of you decide to take it on, I don't mind doing a shift or two waiting tables. I know how to silver serve and I scrub up OK!

Winter is coming!

Winter is coming - I've put the curtains up! I'm on holiday this week (half term) and it's pouring rain today so I won't be in the garden and the empty chicken arks are too wet to paint, so I'm busying myself indoors.

I always take the living room and hall curtains down at Easter - since we have no neighbours, it's nice to have the windows bare and let the light in. But at the October holiday, they go back up. In fat, Dan's Mum and Dad had put up the living room ones at the weekend, so I only had the hall ones to do today. So tonight, it will be all snug, especially if I light the fire. I lit it last night for the first time this autumn and had to fight my way past Cassius and the dogs to get anywhere close. In fact, Cass is curled up on the footstool in front of the hearth NOW (noon) just in case he misses it.

the garden needs the rain - it's been very dry. And another plus is tha Smokey looks quite clean - until he rolls in the new mud, of course.

First frost

We experienced our first frost of the winter this morning. My goodness, it was cold. We've had a reasonably good spell of weather for the last three weeks or so, but it was cold yesterday and colder today. By 7.30am, the clear skies had clouder over and it was cold, windy and damp. Looks like summer is over for thsi year.

Mind you, I think this is my favourite time of year, if the weather isn't too awful. It's time to tidy the garden, admire the trees, light the fire and start planning next year's crop. And there's Christmas to look forward to, as well, with pies and cake and pudding to make and eat!

Stressbusters

I would like to recommend two stressbusters to you all.

The first is chamomile tea. Now, I've been a bit sceptical about the claims made for herbal teas and so on, but I will have to revise my opinion. I'm trying to lose a bit of weight so I'm drinking herbal tea, which I can make in my office, instead of "real" tea that I have to go to the canteen for (I have no fridge so milk in the office is yogurt before you know it). If I go to the canteen, I succumb to scones and stuff - like a roll and black pudding with brown sauce... Yesterday, Dan rang me at work and enquired as to how I was. "I'm sooo tired" I said, "which is odd because I had a really good sleep last night." Somehow, the conversation got to the fact that I was drinking chamomile tea. "How much have you had?" asked Dan. "About three cups," I replied. Dan then told me to bring the chamomile home and take peppermint to work, and keep the chamomile for bedtime. I felt much better today! So, chamomile tea to get you so stress free that you are asleep with your head on the desk!

Second thing is a dashel basher (available for Ascott Smallholding Supplies, I think)and a field of thistles. Following my rant about injurious weeds, I decided I'd better do something about the thistles in Smokey's field. So tonight, I set off with my db and beat hell out of about a quarter of the field. It was warm tonight; consequently so was I, and the midges got a good feed. Andy and Bruno "helped" by picking up the cut thistles and throwing them around. I can't tell you whose face was on the thistles, but it sure did me good.

It was also an opportunity to observe some horse behaviour. Andy and Bruno play a lot - tonight Smokey and Johnny were walking fairly purposefully round the field boundary, while Andy and Bruno played in front of them, behind them and between them. They were like two parents out for a walk with two boisterous kids. Johhny's much more tolerant of the youngsters than Smokey, maybe because he's the alpha, whereas Smokey has to defend his position as No2. Or maybe he's just a bad tempered sod. Interesting, huh?

Wanda's parcel 2

For those of you who might have been losing sleep over the fate of Wanda's parcel, with Marmite, IrnBru, the Alloa Advertiser and Wee County News, you will be able to rest tonight knowing that the parcel has arrived safely.

When Wanda has finished doing a "wall of death" around the room ( a common result of indulging in too much IrnBru (made in Scotland from girders and probably the source of some of the best advertising campaigns ever seen)), I'm sure she will give us some feedback on Marmite!!

Ragwort, thistles and other nasties

I've spent a happy hour in the garden / field digging up ragwort. I took the opportunity to also dig up the thistles that are flowering - I hope that this will help stop the spread. I don't have time to pull them all today, but I'll make a point of checking regularly and disposing of those coming into flower. I'm just going back out to pull the ragwort from the horses' field.

We don't have much - I pulled a lot last year, so I think that has helped. With the sheep coming, we will have to manage our limited grazing as best we can, so removing thistles and other weeds will be a start.

However, ragwort control doesn't seem to be on evertyone's mind. We've just come back from Alnwick, in north Northumberland. Now, I'm not saying that it's worse there than anywhere else - far from it, but the amount of ragwort was just staggering. In some areas, it looked like it was being grown as a crop. Even land that was clearly horse grazing was thick with it. Apart from anything else, like animal welfare or moral duty, it is illegal to have ragwort on your land.

Horse owners, in particular, seem to practice the very slackest of grass management. Some horse pasture is nothing short of dangerous, with unsuitable fencing, discarded rubbish and weed infestation. I do know from my University days that managing grassland is not easy - even farmers find it challenging to make best use of grass. Claire took me to see the horse she helps with. He's in a small livery yard near Falkirk. The grazing was just a disgrace - overgrazed, wet, full of docks (and I mean full). From a purely aesthetic point of view, I would hate to live near it.

Now, I'm not saying that Smokey's field is an example. I've not picked poo for weeks, but I'll try and get started again this week. There's also a healthy crop of thistles - although the horses do like the flowers, and munch them. The corners of the field are worst, where the horses don't have access. Those bits need a good strim and probably sprayed.

Anyway, rant over. Now I'm off to finish ragwort pulling.

We're back!

This will be our first post for a long time. During our time away, we've been to Australia, which was amazing. However, July is NOT a good time to be away from te garden. On our return, we were sure a family of pygmies were living in the lawn - the grass was certianly long enough to conceal them!

The cats seemed to have missed us most - especially Cassius, just proving that he's just a big softy.Tess also seems glad to have us back - at least, I take that she hasn't tried to bite me this week as a sign that she missed us!

All the animals thrived while we were away. The pigs, especially, have grown a lot.

Now we're back, I'll start getting up to date - but I also have a "To Do" list as long as my arm, so blogging will have to be restricted to the hours of darkness or wet days.

Wanda's parcel

I've had the funniest morning. You may recall a previous post about how much my horse and his chum, Johnny, like Marmite sandwiches. Well, Wanda, who comments regularly on the diary, told me that she hadn't experienced Marmite. I therefore undertook to send Wanda a jar of the lovely brown, sticky stuff.

I duly purchased the Marmite, but decided that it was a rather sparse gift from Scotland so I put together a wee Scottish hamper (and I do mean wee - it was all accommodated in a biscuit box) of Scottish delicacies, guaranteed to rot the teeth and widen the girth. As I put the last things in this morning, I thought it might be interesting to enclose a copy of each of out two local rags. So I bought two copies of the "Alloa Advertiser" and two copies of the "Wee County News", put one set in the box and wrapped the parcel up with the last of the brown paper and miles of parcel tape, and left one set on the kitchen table to read later.

Before going to the Post Office, I made a cup of tea and decided to skim through the local rags - "Alloa Advertiser" first, the "WCN" next, only to discover that I had two "Advertisers"- which meant, of course, that Wanda had two "WCN" in her box. So I unpacked the box very carefully, swapped the newspapers round, rewrapped the parcel and headed off to the Post Office.

When I got to the Post Office, the lady behind the counter asked me to put the parcel on the scales. "Oh", she said, sadly, "it weighs more than 2kg" and explained that being over 2kg made it expensive to send. "What's in it?" she asked. "Marmite", I replied. "Oh," she said. "Could you take a jar out and I'll rewrap it for you? It's only 70g over." So I unwrapped the box, removed something weighing 95g (not the Marmite) and the lady in the Post Office produced a roll of parcel tape and sealed up the parcel again. Finally, it was consigned to the mail box.

So, enjoy, Wanda. And remember to clean your teeth!

Flaming July

Well, July has started well, weatherwise.

Claire came over today, so we took Smokey out on his long reins. Before we left, Claire put her gaiters on over her jeans because last week, we came back along a very puddley track. When we left, it was very hot and sunny. We'd been out about 20 minutes when the heavens opened. Naturally we pressed on, not being candy floss and, therefore, not liable to melting.

By the time we got back, the only bit of Claire that wasn't wet was the bits under her gaiters. Which proves they work, but wasn't quite what she had in mind!

SEERAD

For those not in the know, SEERAD is the Scottish Executive Environment and Rural Affairs Department. South of the border, it's DeFRA.

As I work in local government, I am well aware of our shortcomings.I am also well aware of central government's i.e. said Scottish Executive drive to "modernise government" and make evertyhing electronic.

I was rather surprised then when I phoned our local Animal Health Office in Perth for some advice about sheep tagging. The duty officer was not available, so I asked the person on the phone is she had an email address. I really didn't want to get into a series of missed telephone calls and since I wasn't going to around at my desk for long periods of time, I thought "email"."Yes", I was told "she has an email address, but we're not allowed to give it out."

So much for modern government, eh!

What next?

I was leafing through an old copy of "Country Living" Magazine (August 2006) and came across an article called "Farming for the Future", about Warborne Organic Farm in Hampshire. It's quite an interesting article and I was quite enjoying it until I came to this bit "George spends a lot of time with his animals, particularly his chickens, which he trains to live free range. "When they first arrive I have to teach them how to forage," he explains. "I get on my hands and knees and use my finger to peck deep into the sward of herbs and grasses. They watch me curiously and then copy my action.""

The more I read it, the funnier it gets. Do me a favour - no wonder the hens watch him curiously. Without wanting to anthromorphise (if that's the correct word), the chooks are thinking "What the hell is HE playing at?". Either that or Hampshire chooks are an awful lot more stupid than ours. Our day olds are pecking and scratching; I've worked on farms that took spent battery hens - within days they were indistinguishable, in behaviour at least, from the others. And, believe me, WE didn't teach them how to forage.

Now, I know CL is a lifestyle magazine not a trade journal, but give folk a break. Still giggling though. PS I WAS NOT teaching the chick to cheep!!

The first swallow

I saw a swallow on Wednesday. There was only one and it was sitting on the telephone wires above our house.

However, one swallow does not a summer make, 'cos it's been pretty chilly since then. It's overcast here today, has looked like it's going to rain but apart from a few spots, it hasn't (so far), and has been chilly when the wind has been blowing. Maybe it just feels colder because it's been so warm for the last few week; but Dan's in 14 sweatshirts and has put the central heating back on.

The scourge of monoblock

Apologies for this having nothing to do with smallholding and just being a rant!

Alloa is a nice Victorian town, which is fortunately having a bit of a renaissance. There's been quite a lot of resurfacing done in the town centre - in the ubiquitous monoblock. And it's all in different colours! There's grey, a sort of red, a hideous yellow - don't these people ever watch an interior design show? Don't they know to pick a couple of finishes and STICK TO THEM. Variety is NOT the spice of monoblocking.

At the new railway "plaza" (I am coming to hate plazas and atriums), the surface is really nice - grey stone slabs and small square grey blocks. It looks like a quality finish - unlike some of the others, which give a subliminal message "Because you're not worth it" (Apologies to Jane Fonda and L'Oreal).

I think I feel a letter to the "Cooncil" coming on...

Love, hate and Tesco

I have a love / hate relationship with Tesco. I spent two very happy years working for the company about 20 years ago. I've always shopped there. I have very strong loyalty genes. And I really like my Clubcard points. Now, I know this is all very non-pc and it bothers me. I am very uncomfortable about the rising power of the supermarkets and I hate myself for all the reasons that I love Tesco.

So today, I'm feeling good because I have struck two very small blows against the power of teh supermarket. The Tesco board will have a sleepless night, I'm sure.

Firstly, I ordered a weekly copy of "The Scottish Farmer" from a newsagent in Alloa. This means that one, I'll buy the local papers and the "Radio Times" from there too, instead of Tesco. It also means that I have to go into town on a Saturday, so it will be no bother to go to the butchers, the chemist, the card shop etc etc while I'm there.

Secondly, I have arranged to have our milk delivered. I spoke to a very nice man who will deliver organic milk, butter and cream twice a week (once for the butter and cream, in case you were worried about our arteries). The milk etc is supplied by Graham's Dairies which is a local family firm based in Bridge of Allan.

Small steps, but hopefully in the right direction.

Comfort zones

I'm not very good at getting out of my comfort zone or even very close to the edge of it. But I've done two things in the last few days that I've never done before.

Firstly, I bought clothes from a second hand shop for the first time ever. Claire and I had a wander round Dunblane on Saturday (after driving and our trip to the Scottish Rock Garden Club Show). Dunblane is quite posh. We had a wee browse in the two secondhand shops and I bought a really nice fleece for £3. I NEVER get a bargain - so this was a real treat. Cassius adopted it immediately (it's kind of lamby) and I had to prise it off him to put it in the wash. Smells of horse poo now, so I think he'll leave it alone.

Secondly, I killed a rabbit. I remove spiders from the bath, cry at the death of almost any animal (except wasps) and am a general softy. But this rabbit was suffering. It was over at the stables and was obviously pretty seriously unwell. Didn't seem to be mixy, though. I WAS going to phone Dan to come over and do the deed, as I usually do, but decided I should grow up and do it myself. It was done in an instant and I was just so relieved that the poor thing was out of its misery. Smokey was watching - not sure if he thought it was his turn next, but I can't lift him by his back legs! - so I had a wee cuddle and a blub (Smokey's used to it). I'm not planning wanton carnage but I'm glad I've got over that particular fear.

I think I could deal with shot rabbits now so that's the next target (if you'll pardon the pun).

Long light evenings

Isn't it great now we're on BST? I've just come in from picking horse poo out of Smokey's field. Granted it was getting a little murky by the time I'd finished. However, I got enough to cover about 16 square feet of bed, which is OK for a start.

I'm on holiday from Friday for two weeks so I'm planning to get quite a lot done including what passes for spring cleaning here. I think I feel a list coming on...

White washing

Dan thinks I'm dead weird about this but I get a real buzz seeing my washing line full of white washing (coloured stuff isn't AS good), blowing in the breeze, knowing that it's going to come in soft and fresh (and not needing ironed!).

This was a white washing day, dry and breezy, so I'm well content! Simple pleasures, eh!

Spring is on its way

Despite my moan about the weather earlier, and despite there being no improvement in said weather, I am feeling better. For two reasons, both poultry related.

Firstly, Hobbes has found his cock-a-doodle and is now crowing his head off. And secondly, we've had our first eggs of the year. Our girls stopped laying probably a few weeks before Christmas. Just ths other day, I said to Dan that I would know Spring was coming when we got our first eggs - and today we have!

Dan came in at lunchtime with two lovely brown eggs - laid sometime in the last week (we haven't been checking the nest box regularly, but I cleaned them out last Saturday).

Cheered me up no end!

Wee moan about the weather

I don't know what it's like where you are, but it is truly dismal here. It's 11am and it's hardly light. The forecast said "light rain" - they must be joking. It's light rain interspersed with mediun rain and heavy rain. And it's windy. It's not cold, though.

I know some folk are worse than us - saw photos of flooding in York yesterday, so I am grateful that we're not in that position.

But it is dismal...

Maid of the Forth

Alloa used to be a port with a substantial shipbuilding industry. The docks are now long gone but hey! there's a boat back on the Forth. A local businessman has started running cruises on the Forth, from Alloa to Stirling. The boat is called "Maid of the Forth" and here she is.

This was taken at the end of October, I think. The boat went up on our side of the Inch and back on the other side. There were a few cruises in the summer and I think more are planned for next year. I'd like to go on one - it would be interesting to see the area from a different perspective.

I do think that the river and its waterfront are vastly underexploited assets in Alloa but I'm sure things will change in the next few years.

Fireworks

Is it time fireworks were banned from public sale? Allegedly, the Americanised Hallowe'en is taking over from Bonfire Night but not here. It's like a war zone here tonight. And it's been going on for days.

Both dogs are hiding under our desks, although the cats are unfazed by the whole thing.

I like fireworks but maybe it's time for them to be restricted to licenced events.

Project Clackmannanshire

Since it's coming into winter, I thought I might spend some time telling you all about Clackmannanshire.

If you've read the "About us" bit on the site, you'll know we live in Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Now, I was born and brought up here so I know where it is but it never fails to surprise me when other people don't know where Clackmannanshire is. I don't really know why I'm surprised, but I am.

If anyone had told me when I was eighteen and off to see the world (well, the pubs of Edinburgh) that I would come back here to live, I'd have thought they were mad. But I love it; it's my home. Dan jokes that I get nosebleeds if I have to leave the county, which isn't entirely true, but I'm always happier when I can see the Ochils.

So, over the winter, I thought I would post a few entries about the area in which we live. It will also give me a reason to brush up my knowledge of local history, which I've always wanted to do but have never made time for.

Maybe you'll even want to come visit!

Announcing revish

My distinct lack of posts recently is down to several factors, one being the new website I'm working on in my spare time. Fortunately R has been exemplary in her posting record, and I know she's got some good posts planned for the coming weeks, so you're in safe hands.

Anyway, this head-above-the-parapet post has nothing to do with smallholding, and everything to do with shameless self-promotion, for which I apologise. The site I'm working on is called revish, and will be a new book review site. Yeah I know, so what, book review websites are a dime to the dozen. But I'm hoping this one's going to be a bit different, and I'm genuinely excited about it.

If you like reading, or you're an author or a publisher, please take a minute to register your interest in the site at www.revish.com. You'll get a few emails between now and the site's launch (sometime in early 2007) telling you what's happening, and will have the opportunity to sign up for beta testing if you're really keen.

End of intermission, normal service will be resumed shortly.

Seasons

One of the (many) things that I like about life in Scotland is the seasons. We're on holiday today - traditional Clackmannanshire holiday the first Monday in October - and it's misty and cool. So the jobs on the To Do list have changed. They include "put up curtains", "order coal", "clean out gutters" and the like, in preparation for winter. Although yesterday was so warm, we were out and about in T-shirts and the hens were sunbathing.

I also hate to admit it, but I ordered our Christmas cards and wrapping paper the other day - well, it might run out if I wait! And I'm kind of wondering if we should have goose for Christmas dinner again. We had goose last year and it was absolutely delicious. A rib of beef would be lovely, too. Every year I promise myself (and Dan) that I won't get over excited - never happens, though.

The Famous Alva Games

The second Saturday in July is the day of the famous Alva Games. 2006 was the 150th anniversary of the event, so Dan and I went along for the afternoon. Dan had never been to a highland games before and I hadn't been to Alva Games for about thirty years. It was smaller than I recall, but enjoyable nevertheless.

There are a number of foot races, mostly handicaps. The Open 90m is the highlight with �400 going to the winner.

Unusually for a highland games, Alva hosts cycling events. Dan was surprised by this and was even more surprised to see racing bikes being used on a grass oval track. So we have a group of cyclists gong flat out round a grass oval, with highland dancing and heavy events taking place in the middle of the oval. There are six races, four open cycling competitions from 800m to 3200m, organised on a handicap basis, and two youth events at 800m and 1600m.

There are seven heavy events, including the shot putt, the hammer and, of course, tossing the caber.

The highlight of the Games is the hill race - the British Championship Hill Race, up and down Torry. The record time for the event is 18 minutes 31 seconds, set in 1981 by Kenny Stuart. Believe me, they come down and awful lot faster than they go up. There are under-12, under-14 and under-17 races before the big event - these go part way up the hill. The souvenir programme has lots of interesting facts - in 1987, Royal Marine John McNulty completed the Hill Race in full combat gear and 30lb pack in 35 minutes and 30 seconds.

When I was a child, we used to go to the Games every year. The highlight for me was always the pony trot, which was a handicap over one mile and the last race on the card. For health and safety reasons (aarggh), the pony trot was last held in 1989.

The Games seems, like much of Clackmannanshire, to be on the brink of a resurgence. Local businesses are supporting the games, including some big names like Tesco and Clydesdale Bank, which must be good.

Weather permitting, we'll be going again next year. If you'd like to know more about the Famous Alva Games, see www.alvagames.co.uk

Now, what's Dan doing with that big tree trunk...

The Monroes TV Show

For those of you who responded to my previous entry about a 1960's TV western called "The Monroes", I can confirm that we are NOT suffering from "senior moments" - the show did exist, albeit not for very long. The only name I recognised was Barbara Hershey,who played Cath.

For further information, see:

• The Monroes @ EPGuides.com
• The Monroes at CTVA
• The Monroes @ The TV IV (with a photo)

Football fever

Don't expect much in the way of activity on the site, from Dan at least, for the next four weeks. You may have heard that the World Cup started today - the prospect of three games each day for the next two weeks is scary.

Still, even as a Scot, I'll be cheering for England. Three lions and all that!

Cowboy Cookout

Dan and I usually have a barbeque for friends in July, round about my birthday. This year, we've (Dan says "what's this "we"?) decided to have a themed event and to ask those attending to make a donation to farmAfrica, a charity we've supported in the past.

The theme for the day will be a western one - no surprise to those who know me. I wanted to have a cowboy / western themed wedding but I was outvoted. I did manage to get "Secret Love" sung at the wedding, but that was all.

My excuse is that, as a wee girl, my favourite TV programmes were "The High Chaparral", "Bonanza", "The Virginian" (James Drury being my first crush). And does anyone remember a programme called "Hondo" and another called "The Munroes", which was about a family of kids in the West, who had a Pyrenean Mountain Dog called Snow?

Anyway, that's the reason for the theme (also "Dances with Wolves", "Open Range" and so on). I was also lucky enough to go to Wyoming with two friends about four years ago. We stayed on the David Ranch, near Jackson and played cowboys for a week. I will never forget it and would love to do it again.

So I'm thinking about the day already; what food to do, games to play etc. A colleague from work has promised me his Karaoke machine and his C&W tapes and I'm hoping we can build a fake cow and practice roping. Pig wrestling has been ruled out for animal welfare reasons. I also have a set of Smokey's old shoes, so we can throw them at a stake. Or Meg.

Which gets me to the reason for the post. I tried a new recipe today for "Cajun Meat Loaf". I had pulled the recipe from a Tesco magazine about a million years ago but only got round to trying it today. It's very yum - we had it with baked sweet potato and salad. We've never had baked sweet potato before and we really enjoyed it. I've given Dan the recipe and he'll put it on the database when he gets a minute.

Muckboots

Hard though this will be to believe, up until last week, I didn't have a pair of wellies. I wore Dan's wellies, walking type boots or an old pair of rubber riding boots, depending on the conditions and who got to the back door first.

Two things prompted me to change this. First was the snow - my boots weren't much protection and I discovered that my riding boots hurt my feet. Second was a visit from our friends, Carol and Graham. We were all going off to look at some sheep (subject of another post soon) and they (carol and Graham, not the sheep) were both sporting Muckboots. When we arrived at the home of our sheepkeeping friend, she also was wearing Muckboots. Never one to miss a trick, I tried on Carol's (which were a wee bit small, lucky for her) and resolved to purchase a pair.

Well, these are fabby boots. Warm (you only need one pair of socks, so I have to take a pair OFF now before I go out), comfy (expand to fit "sturdy" calves), don't pull off in the mud at the field gate (great when you have to leap out of the way of a hairy Highland pony intent on his feed bucket).

All round excellent boots, really.

Snow

Boy, have we got snow! We awoke this morning to about 6" of snow; it's now seven inches (I just measured it), deeper in places, and still falling. It won't last, of course - rain is forecast for tomorrow. Actually, that's probably more worrying because there's going to be an awful lot of wet stuff then, when the snow melts. Folk up the yard were talking about it yesterday - I was pooh poohing it, saying it would only be on high ground and we'd be unaffected. Hmm. Eating words this morning. Maybe I should pay more attention to the weather forecast or at least to those who have watched one.

The hens haven't been further than the water and feeder; they've now gone back to bed. The pig hut is has snow three inches deep inside - just as well we've no pigs at the moment! No cat has been through the cat flap - although Felix did come out with us this morning. He's so light, he barely makes any tracks. The dogs love it and were going bonkers running around chasing those magic white balls that disappear when they hit the ground.

I was a bit worried about Smokey - not because he's out but because he's in! I wormed him yesterday and kept him in 24 hours to let the wormer do its stuff. We're snowed in - the track is 7 inches deep in snow. If we'd kept the Landrover we might have had a chance of getting out but not in a Ford Focus or a Renault Megane!! Even the public road hasn't been cleared yet. However, Kenneth, our yard owner, has agreed to give him hay and water today. His box will need to wait until tomorrow when, hopefully, we'll be able to get out.

Dan was planning to sow broad beans today, so he's had to revise his plans. We can't even see the vegetable beds! I'm going to scrub the bathroom floor and wax it - actually, I'm a bit stir crazy, already. If I could get out, I wouldn't want to, but because I can't... We watched "The Great Escape" last night and I'm afraid I'd be like Ives, throwing myself at the wire!

Who said Spring has sprung?

Grassroots mp3

For your listening pleasure, we present the 27th August edition of BBC Radio Scotland's Grassroots programme. When we were first approached about featuring in the show we expected it to be a 5 minutes slot, but it turned out we were the show. All I can say is the skill is most definitely in the editing...

Download the mp3 - it's 25Mb wide and 27 minutes 15 seconds long.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot...

Last weekend, I decided to go through my address book and write our Christmas cards. In a Christmas magazine I read recently, one of the tips for destressing Christmas was to stop sending cards to those you had neither heard from nor seen since last Christmas. This seemed very sensible, so I wrote my smaller than usual pile of cards.
Today, I received a card from a girl (well, we were then) I was at Queen Margaret College with in 1987. Pam and I haven't seen each other since then but we do exchange Christmas cards every year, usually with a wee note and a promise to meet up next year, which we never keep. But it was so nice to hear from her, and maybe 2006 will be the year we DO meet up.
I suddenly realised that this is such an important part of Christmas for me, following the magazine tip was just plain daft. Let's face it, I won't get really stressed for a couple of weeks yet, and writing a few more cards isn't going to tip the balance.
So, thanks, Pam, for reminding me about one of my favourite bits of Christmas - catching up with people who are still twenty-one, at least in my head! The card's in the post!

Blether

To keep this site free of my more geeky tendencies, I've repurposed an old domain to create a new personal site. It's somewhere I can rant about web standards, accessibility and eGovernment to my heart's content, without upsetting the missus. It's called Blether, and is at http://www.blether.com. If you've already glazed over you can safely ignore it, but if any of the above piques your interest give it a go. You might at least find something useful on some of the sites I link to...

(It used to be a book review site, if you're interested the 11,000 reviews are still available at http://reviews.blether.com.)

Willow weaving

Dan and I had a few days away last week at Oasis (Center Parcs Penrith), with Lorna. Instead of doing sporty things, I signed up for a class on willow weaving. We have some willow in the garden, given to us by Carol and Graham, and Dan keeps suggesting we should do something useful with it.

There were seven of us in the class, run by one of the Rangers. In an hour and a half, we each made a willow plant support. The fun part was trying to get it in the car to bring it home - there was no way I was leaving it behind!

Now, I know it's not quite straight, but with some sweet peas growing up it next summer, it will look just dandy. However, I'm not giving up the day job just yet.

Winners and losers

You will recall my previous entry about the Clackmannanshire Horticultural Society Show, held on 10th September, and my preparations for it. I have hesitated to log the outcome, but since I have just posted a scone recipe, I feel I must back this up with my credentials!

My scones (Rich Buttermilk Fruit Scones) were first prize winners at the show (Thanks, Delia). The fudge brownie tray bake also took the red ticket (Thanks, Mike, for the recipe) and the strawberry jam took third in its class. On the down side, the blackcurrant and raspberry jams and the chutney were unplaced. I was a bit disappointed with the blackcurrant and not at all surprised about the raspberry. It tastes fine but I over boiled it and it has set almost rock solid. You have to hack it our of the jar.

Holly, my friend's daughter, took third with her blackcurrant jam. She's now making loads of bramble jelly. Well done, Holly, but you have to EAT the jam too.

I'm going for the chutney class next year, so the kitchen will reek of vinegar until I perfect a chutney. This is serious stuff, you know.

It's showtime again!

Well, it's almost time for the local Horticultural Society Show. Next Saturday, actually. I don't think Dan's entering anything - how could he better his "Best Novice" trophy from last year?

However, I'm planning to have a go with some jams and home baking. I've made blackcurrant, strawberry and raspberry. The strawberry tastes fine but is a wee bit scummy. It's my third batch - the first was perfect but we ate that and I've never been able to repeat the initial success. Blackcurrant is easy.

I've just made raspberry - in fact, it's not in jars yet - and it seems fine. I didn't have a recipe so I sort of adapted Delia's loganberry and strawberry jam recipes.

It's in jars - looks fine. We'll try it tomorrow and see what the judges think on Saturday.

I'm also going to enter a chocolate fudge brownie in the traybake class and I might enter some scones. I'm not very good at scones - they never seem to rise - but I found a recipe using buttermilk, so I tried it today and they were really nice. They still didn't rise much but the texture and flavour was good. If I win anything, I should send the prize to Delia!

ADDW Review

I'm just back from Dundee, where I was attending the 'Accessible Design in the Digital World' conference. It was a great event, with speakers and delegates from academia, business and government, and even though a few of the papers presented went straight over my head it was great to see so many people from such diverse backgrounds so clearly enthused by accessible design. I had the privilege of speaking at the conference, about my experiences adopting web standards and accessible design at my work. I always find public speaking something of a nerve-wracking experience, but with Jim Thatcher in the chair for my session I was always in good company.

The conference was sponsored in part by Yahoo!, and I had the pleasure of meeting (and sharing dinner and a few snifters with) technical evangelist and senior web developer Nate Koechley. The company's adopting a much more open policy on its technology and developers, and it was great to hear about some of the very cool products they've got in the pipeline, including a killer release of Yahoo! Mail due to go beta very soon.

So a big thank you to David Sloan and Lorna Gibson and the rest of the team at DMAG who conceived and organised the whole event.

PS: I'm working on getting a tech-related personal site up and running so that I don't need to clutter TAS with this boring stuff, and don't incur the wrath of 'er indoors.

Hillfoot Cafe and Gallery

This is a plug for a new cafe, owned by a friend of ours. It's called the Hillfoot Cafe and Gallery, it's at 17 Hillfoot Street, Dennistoun in Glasgow (G31 2LD) and it opens the first full week in September.

Mike Thomson, the owner / manager, will be serving bagels, omelettes, salads, home made soups and baking and pasta dishes. The emphasis will be on organically produced, fair traded and locally sourced food.

The gallery has both prints and original art work for sale.

Mike's probably going to be plagued by visits from former colleagues - we'll all be a bit jealous, I think, but we'll all be wishing Mike the best of luck with his new venture.

Full review to follow!!

Paradise on Earth

Not related to smallholding, but what the heck! This is a shameless plug for the website Paradise on Earth which I've just completed for my friend David Morin. It's a collection of his poetry, illustrated with loads of photography from the excellent stock.xchng.

David's got a level of enthusiasm I envy, and he loves to receive feedback, so anyone who visits the site and enjoy it, please drop him a message - he'll be stoked. Or even better you could donate to one of his nominated charities and let him know - that really would make his day.

Looking for blether?

If you've arrived here expecting to find the book review site Blether, I'm sorry to say it is now closed. It ran for more than 6 years, but latterly had failed to receive as much attention from me as it deserved. The net has changed a lot in that time, but unfortunately blether didn't keep up. A big 'thank you' to the 200+ reviewers who contributed to the site over the years.

The reviews may appear elsewhere in due course, but not at blether.com - this domain is going to be used for something new in the near future, but for now will point here. If you're interested in fruit, veggies, hens or pigs then stick around! Otherwise you might like to visit one of these fine book review sites instead:

• BookPage
• Guardian Unlimited Book Reviews
• AllReaders
• BookSpot
• Salon Books
• BookReview.com

The former Good Life

Justice is done. No, not Michael Jackson, but ITV's decision to pull The Real Good Life due to poor ratings, and not before time. It truly sucked.

Reality TV

Hmm. Has anyone been watching the new reality TV show "The Real Good Life"?

Dan and I don't watch much TV, unless it's football, but we thought we might watch this programme. If you haven't seen it, it's in ITV on Tuesday at 8pm. This week was the second of seven programmes. In summary, three families have a year to try this self-sufficiency lark. They have given up work and are digging up thier gardens. The TV company is paying their mortgages for 12 months and paying them an allowance of, I think, �40 per family member for at least part of the year.

I suppose it's telly, so there has to be something to catch the interest. Like extremely irritating characters.

So far, it wouldn't encourage anyone to give it a go. None of them seem to have given it much thought - the first week, all were wailing that they don't know what they are doing. Well, fine. Get a book, surf the net - the truth is out there. Veronica had a crisis of confidence while sowing tomatoes - the instructions are on the packet!

Steve and Lisa are the youngest couple. They have no family. Lisa earned �60k as a merchandiser. What the hell is that? Steve's right up for it but seems to have gone from "new man" to "cave man" - his hunter gatherer instincts have really come to the fore and "poor" Lisa has been left to do the domestic chores (this was previously Steve's job, while Lisa was out doing whatever merchandisers do). Last night, she was so pathetic about her role in this "Good Life" escapade. On the video diary, I can only assume she was either drunk or premenstrual and hope that she was appalled when she saw the recording sober / past her bad week.

The second couple have four children. I can't remember their names but they seem pretty sensible. One of their daughters should consider football as career - if she can kick a ball as hard as she kicked her younger brither, she'll do well. The bloke has done some job converting their garden into a little farmyard. They have hens and pigs, although I suspect there will be tears before the pigs go. (Not that I have room to criticise on that score).

The third family consists of Veronica, her intensely irritating husband and her two apparently bone idle sons. I think Veronica is pretty much up against it, but I think she might be pretty good once she gets going. I know teenagers are weird, but the urge to slap those boys must be pretty strong.

It's actually pretty irresistable viewing for me and I do hope they succeed in what they are trying to do. Actually, I'm probably just a bit jealous....

What a difference a day makes...

I don't know about where you are but the weather here has been pretty poor. Every year I say I'm going to keep a diary and actually record what the weather has been like. I wish I had this year - surely it can't have been as bad as I think?

It's the first of June; it's cold and wet. I mean real cold and real wet. Not fun.

However, we had a very busy day on Sunday (Saturday was windy and rainy) at least on the tidying front. Dan has strimmed for Britain and the place looks less like the Clampett's. Unfortunately, the "beautifulest gate" has not survived the winter. Dan reckons the timber wasn't properly preserved. The spars have been piled up for disposal and a new gate will emerge in due course.

I am taking over the orchard. I'm not really sure why because I have no more idea what to do than Dan but he does have a lot to do in the vegetable garden, so I'll do the trees. Maybe Dan was impressed by my magnificent pruning of the roses and the buddleia last yer. They have almost recovered!

I'm not sure where to start - with a book and a surf on the net, I suppose. Watch this space...

Litter Louts

I am absolutely sickof litter. Tonight when I went to feed Smokey, I took the dogs for a run across the fields at the livery yard. I started puling plastic carrier bags out of the hedgerows and putting them in my pocket. After a wee while, I had to start using one of the carrier bags as my pockets were full.

The amount of litter is an absolute disgrace. Our local Council seems unable or unwilling to do anything about it. Dan and I periodically pick litter from the road along to our house. Last time we did it, we spent about three hours and took thirteen bags of litter off quite a small stretch of road. You wouldn't know we'd done it now and we really should do it again soon.

The road past the livery yard is relatively quiet so seems to attract fly tippers and those who like to find a field gateway to eat their takeaway in, then they toss the packaging out of the car window.

Clackmannanshire is still quite rural - towns in the countryside. For a small area, there are lots of good paths and they are well used but it's so spoiled by the litter. Someof it is dropped by path users (WHY?) but a lot of it comes from passing cars.

There was a community action group called "Pride of Place" which organised litter picks, but I haven't heard anything about it for a while. It was two local businessmen who ran it. Both had tourist businesses, I think.

Anyway, when I come back from holiday, I'm going to try to organise a litter pick at the yard. I hope the Council will provide "helping hands" litter pickers and black bags. I'm also going to write to the Council to find out what it is planning to do about this scourge.

I'll keep you posted.

Biscuits, oil and wax

Lorna and I are on holiday Friday, Monday and Tuesday. Our schools are closed for a casual day and two in-service training days, so if the schools are closed I'm off too. From 1st October, I reduced my working hours to termtime plus 10 days. It's a bit weird - I've never not worked full-time, but I think I'll manage to amuse myself!

Yesterday, after Lorna and I had walked the dogs for an hour and a half, I spent late morning and afternoon in the garden. It was a seriously nice day. The roses have been pruned, some harder than others. I am a serious pruner - when in doubt, prune! We have a lovely climbing rose that was really pathetic for about three years. Last winter, it got a severe pruning and this summer, it was fabulous. It might be coincidence, of course...

I took the opportunity to sweep up leaves in the "courtyard garden". It's "in development". I'll put up a diary entry with before, during and after photos, when we get to after! Otherwise, I had a general potter - hoed the soft fruit bed, swept up the paths, tidied the shed. It was very nice indeed but I have to fight the urge to be TOO tidy, so the wee bugs and beasties have somewhere to overwinter.

Weatherwise, today was fine until about 11.30am, when it started to rain. We were almost back at the stables after our ride, so missed the worst of it.

Dan was in the garden this morning tidying up the vegetable garden. He's lifted Smokey's mangels, so he can have these over the next few weeks.

We've been oiling and waxing the worktops in the kitchen and the floor in the hall respectively today. I feel really guilty about not doing it before - it was easier than I expected and really has made a difference. Sometimes it's hard to find time for indoor jobs until this time of year. My excuse, anyway.

Finally, I made biscuits today. There was an article in this month's "Country Smallholding" with biscuit recipes. Since none contained hydrogenated vegetable oil, I thought I'd try them. I've made "Fruity Flapjacks" and "Peanut Squares". If they're OK, I'll post the recipes.

Gallery

Dan and I spent a happy hour tonight adding images to the Gallery. Apologies for the dull descriptions!

Christmas is coming!

I expect you'll have noticed that Christmas is coming! We had a fall of snow today. It wasn't much but it fell on frozen ground and, not surprisingly, froze. Conditions underfoot are pretty awful, so no riding today.

It's really miserable ouside - cold and damp. Dan went running and took the dogs. Tess wasn't all that keen to go and when they returned, it was a fight to see who could get closest to the fire. Dan didn't have a chance.

I've done three things in preparation for Christmas this weekend. Firstly, I've made mincemeat. It will be used for mince pies, for inclusion in apple crumble and baked apples and in our Christmas cake. Secondly, I've made our Christmas puddings, four in all; one 2lb, one 1lb and two half pound. They're currently steaming away and will be ready about 6pm. This is the only time of the year I'm allowed in the kitchen other than to pick up humble kitchen porter duties.

I did decide a couple of months ago that I would just buy puddings and stuff but I like to make our own and it's so easy. I use Delia's Christmas recipes and they never fail. Usually, I make the Classic Christmas cake but this year I'm going to try her Last Minute Christmas Mincemeat Cake. If it turns out OK, I'll put on a photograph.

Every year, I say I'm not going to get sucked in to Christmas but I can't help it. I despise the commercialism and the excess but there's a bit of me that wants it to be as it should be.

Anyway, the third thing I've done is bought Christmas presents for our six boys. Dan has two nephews and I have four great-nephews. (I don't look old enough to be a great-aunt. Honest.) Every year we toil with what to give them - my four live in Lancashire so we don't see them very often - so in the last couple of years, we've given them money. This year, they're getting something different!!

On behalf of each of them, we've bought a brood of chickens for a small farmer in Africa. We've done this via an organisation called FARM-Africa, which supports small farmers in Uganda, South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia.

If you're wondering what to buy for someone who has everything, (and let's face it, many of us have everything that's important) the site is worth a look. You can buy a goat for �30 or a brood of chickens for �10. You get a model goat or chicken and a pack explaining what the projects are about and a farmer in Africa gets the livestock. You can buy via FARM Africa's related site at Farm Friends

Good, huh?

Bye, Kenny

Well, Kenny the Landrover has gone. We haven't bought anything else yet so we're managing with one car. We can manage just now but it gets harder as the nights get longer because one of us ends up doing all our chores in the dark.

Our car will also get ruined - we're not the most careful owners anyway, onsofar as the Sunday wash is a pipiedream - but muddy boots, horse rugs etc are the way to ruin. So something will have to be purchased pretty soon.

I'd loke a Fiesta van but they're like hen's teeth. Or a pick up - but I always get the impression that they have very hard lives.

It's so hard...

Victorian Fair

There is going to be a Victorian Fair in Alloa on 22nd and 23rd May to make the 150th anniversary of the new burgh of Alloa. The event will be based around the historic Alloa Tower.

Dan will be on the Clackmannanshire Horticultural Society stand on the 23rd, dressed as a Victorian gardener. Or at least how we think a Victorian gardener should look.

I am honoured to have been invited to be one of the judges of the best stall and best child's costume. Those that know about these things say it's a poisoned chalice, but I'm looking forward to it. I shall have to get a suitable costume...

If the weather's good, it should be a good weekend. Maybe we'll see you there!

The flower garden

We do have a small flower garden. It's my responsibility so tends to get attention in fits and starts.

The weather has been somewhat changeable today, with sun interspersed with quite heavy showers. We're on holiday in a week, so I'm making gardening plans. I'm good at the planning.

Basically, there are two beds and a lawn and a pond. I use the term lawn loosely. It's the grass inside the fence as opposed to the grass outside the fence. We did have a wildflower meadow, but it was too scruffy even for me, so it's sort of gone.

The smaller bed is supposed to be blues and yellows. Part of the problem is that I hate waste so find it really difficult to throw any plants out. There is a rose in the bed "Happy Child", which sums up my daughter and was gift. The rose isn't "right" but I can't get rid of it. The other part of the problem is that the hens have their dust bath in the bed. Or they did until today. I've planted some new plants, bitten the bullet and taken out some that were past their best and netted the bed. I hope it's only temporary until the plants establish.

The larger bed is... well, sort of pinks and purples with a little bit of white. A few weeks ago it looked really scruffy but it's filling out now and will probably look OK for the summer. Dan's parents gave us three old chimney pots which I plated with trailing fuchsia today.

So, two big plans for the holidays. In 2001, I think, we made a pond. It wasn't quite right so in 2003, it got a makeover. In 2004, it developed a leak. So, the plan is to puncture the lining, let it empty, clean it out and fill it with topsoil and make a bog garden. Today it seems like a really good idea.

The other big plan is for the slabbed area on the west of the house. It's kind of, well, just a slabbed area at the moment, but I have a plan to make it into a small courtyard garden, in green and white. I see white clematis, hostas, a scented philadelphus, pots of white lilies, maybe a white climbing rose. I see a divorce. Only joking!

We've loads of non digital photos of the garden that I'll get Dan to put in the gallery, sort of before and after. Well, before and during, really.

Caurnie Soaperie

One thing we did buy at the Country Living Fair was soap from the Caurnie Soaperie from Kirkintilloch (warning - most bizarrely worded website ahoy!).

Rosemary chose a rose scented soap, while I went for the more manly (or so I kid myself) peppermint and something else, I forget what exactly. It's fab stuff, produces a great lather and the peppermint really gives your bits a zing in the morning, reminds me of when I was a bit slapdash with the ralgex in my football-playing days.

Country Living Spring Fair

We took the day off work to go to the Country Living Spring Fair Scotland at the SECC. It wasn't bad, basically of a subset of the craft, food and clothing areas at the Royal Highland Show. We agreed that at half price (7 quid for the 2 of us) it was just about worth the entry fee, and since we stocked up on sauces from the Curry Sauce Co. at a special price we shouldn't grumble. The Red Thai is my favourite, and thankfully they will be at the RHS again this year so we can get further supplies in June!

Edinburgh break

It was my birthday on Friday, and my wife treated me to a surprise night away in Edinburgh. We stayed at the fantastic Scotsman Hotel on North Bridge - it is without doubt the best hotel we've ever experienced. Everything was spot on - the staff were genuinely friendly and very efficient, the room a study in comfort and the food exceptional. The hotel was opened 3 years ago, and is located in the beautiful building which previously housed the Scotsman newspaper, and is quintessentially Scottish.

We arrived mid-morning, and set out to wander the Royal Mile and surrounding streets. For lunch we went to the Mussel Inn, which we now heartily recommend to anyone who enjoys seafood. The restaurant is owned by producers of mussels, oysters and scallops, and the menu reflects this. Rosemary's seafood chowder was the highlight. In the afternoon we hit the shops and did our bit to keep John Lewis in business.

We dined in the North Bridge Brasserie, attached to the hotel. While the hotel is 5-star, and has a formal restaurant to match (the Vermilion), the brasserie is for everyone - a very nice menu at reasonable prices, and the food was exceptional. I continued my seafood motif with a crab starter and scallops with Stornoway pudding for main, while Rosemary plumped for a ham shank starter and perfectly cooked liver for main. I took cheese to round off the meal, including some Mull cheddar, Dunsyre Blue. and St. Andrews.

On Saturday after a good breakfast (fish for me again - Finnan Haddock) we went food shopping - bread, salami, olives and other bits and pieces from Valvona and Crolla, then to Ian Mellis, the Cheesemongers, in Victoria Street. If you're a lover of cheese and are anywhere near Edinburgh you owe it to yourself to visit this shop - a huge range of cheeses and helpful staff who can assist you in finding the perfect cheese for your palate. We left with 4 - Dunsyre Blue, Waterloo, Organic Staffordshire and Mrs Kirkham's Lancashire.

Then it was off to the Royal Botanic Gardens and a stroll in the spring sunshine. We had a motive for going beyond the plants - Rosemary's great grandfather worked in the Botanic Gardens, and he and R's great grandmother were married in a house on a street adjacent to the gardens, which we visited while we were there.

To round off a great birthday break we stopped at Falkirk on the way home to see Kevin Costner's new film Open Range. It's a Western in the old tradition - you know who the good guys are, who the bad guys are and who is going to prevail in the end. Costner is great in it, but the real stars are Robert Duvall and Annette Benning, proving that there's no substitute for acting talent.

Kudos to Scottish Water

Our past experiences with utility companies have not been positive. When we bought our cottages the electricity company were adamant that we were in possession of a spare meter, even though we had stood and watched one of their employees remove it just a week before. At one stage they suggested that the only way to end the dispute would be for us to report the meter stolen! They must have discovered their error eventually because everything went quiet after about a year.

The gas company were no better. They wouldn't accept that they were supplying us with gas, despite the fact that one of their work crews had been out the week before to re-route the supply into our front hall, and our heating and cooker were defeinitely burning something. They didn't charge us for gas for over a year, despite repeated attempts by us to get them to do so.

I shudder to think how long I spent on the telephone to these companies.

So it was with some trepidation that last month I tackled the issue of emptying our septic tank with Scottish Water. The initial call was encouraging, but the lady on the other end of the phone didn't inspire confidence. She couldn't tell me much - when the tank was last emptied, when it would be emptied this time around (within 28 days was the closest we could get which was fine because the 28th day would be the Friday before the pigs arrived), how much it would cost and so on. She assured me however that the job was now in their system and that we'd be contacted in due course. 3 weeks passed. No contact from Scottish Water.

The complication was that the cover to the tank is located in the pen where the pigs are going to be resident from Sunday. We had to get it emptied before they arrived - I had visions of the poor wee souls falling into the tank and being sooked up the big hose into the bowser - a most unpleasant demise. So on Monday past I girded my loins and called Scottish Water. I have to say it was a most uplifting experience (as far as phonecalls to public utility companies can be).

No, the tank wouldn't be emptied before Friday because the 28 days were working days they told me. News to me, I told them. I have pigs arriving on Sunday, it needs to be emptied before then!

Well, they pulled out all the stops for us - the tank would be emptied on Thursday, the driver will call 24 hours before to confirm (which he did), and if we go onto a contact we need only pay �99 instead of the �168 we were going to pay. And everything happened just the way they said it would.

It hasn't restored my faith in customer services in general, which in the UK at least are on the whole consistently poor, but it was a refreshing experience to feel that the company were doing their best to provide a service which met my needs.

The scourge of Scotland

Today R and I both had the afternoon off work - the joys of flexi-time. We might have spent it pottering around the house, doing odd jobs in the garden or maybe just putting our feet up. But we didn't. Instead we spent 2 hours picking litter from along the road leading to our cottage, which passes through an industrial estate, with our Helping Hands. We filled 13 large black bin bags with the varied detritus of irresponsible litter-bugs.

Litter is fast becoming the scourge of Scotland (at least the bits I see regularly). The Scotland I know is without question a dirty country. Take a close look next time you're heading out - road verges are universally peppered with crisp packets, drinks cans and all manner of other items disposed by (presumably) motorists too ignorant or lazy to take their litter home or dispose of it reponsibly. No area of municipal planting is complete without its assortment of discarded plastic bags of various hues, stuck right in the middle where no-one, endowed with a helping hand or not, is able to reach them. Pavements are speckled with chewing gum spat from the mouths of the great unwashed.

Around here some people blame the local Council, but that's not fair. The Council is overburdened and under-funded by central government, and most importantly it is not the Council who drops the litter! There is only one solution - tackle the source and prevent people dropping litter, either by education or by financial penalty through fines or higher local taxation to pay for more workers to clean up after them.

I wish I'd taken before and after photographs to show here. Sadly it is an absolulte certainty that within 6 months we'll be out with our bin bags and our helping hands repeating the whole exercise, and I'll have another opportunity to illustrate the slovenly nature of the Scottish public at large.