A whole new world...

 After some time of spending their days in the sunshine in the Go run,  it was time to think about letting them sleep outside.

The chicks loved the freedom,. Because the weather was so good, we got them out in the morning, as soon as the grass was dry (they weren't fully feathered so we can't let them get wet),  and they stayed out until about 7pm (unless the weather changed and we had to bring them in earlier).  The Hen was on all the time they were out there, just in case they needed it. (They didn't).

 We added a swing and a dustbath.

 

Every morning we ferried them, two by two, from the shed to the run.  Right from the start we have been carrying them properly, so they get used to being picked up that way.       Every evening we ferried them, two by two, back into the shed.  If we went out during the day,  we repeated the process.

Most of them quickly got used to being carried this  way and were calm. A couple, not so much.   But it was OK.

We spent a lot of time catching them and feeding them while we were holding them  special food,  or stroking them while they were eating the special food.   A lot of time was spent kneeling alongside the run, leaning in to catch/release them.


A week ago, I decided to let the chicks stay out overnight in the coop.  The small electric hen (EH) was already in there (although it hadn't been turned on). 

It had been a hot day, and overnight was forecast to be fairly warm.  12 chicks in the back of a GoUp - I didn't need to turn on the EH.

We had to catch them and put them in the coop.  Before bed I checked on them, and saw that the top of the EH was crammed with chicks, with those that hadn't been able to force themselves on stuck underneath.  I shooshed them off and put the large EH in.

Day 2, all but 2 put themselves to bed.

Day 3, all put themselves to bed.

It was all going well.

Except.   I was struggling to catch them.  I can get down OK and I can get up OK.  What is difficult -  at the moment -  is leaning into the run to catch them.    We have doors everywhere on the run, even inside so we can shut them in the front end to make it easier to catch them, but it was still taking its toll on my poor leg.

Goodbye Camilla

My lovely girl Camilla died today.

She was just 5 years old.  Daughter of Henry and Nora/Batty, and we neve another one hatch with this combination of colouring.

She had a few health issues over the years, but was always a lovely, gentle,  girl.

We moved her to our garden from the allotment a few weeks ago when it beame clear she wasn't right.  She was being picked on by some o fthe youngest girls.   We kept her in a separate coop and run, alongside the others.  She would often try and join them (not our doing), but they are exceptionally vile about newcomers.

She spent her last morning in the sun, eating sweetcorn, grapes, and yoghurt.

Dzhigitovka - Centre for Horseback Combat

The Centre for Horseback Combat had an open eveing, so we took the pony-mad Tween.

It was a great evening.  Weather was kind.  The food was great (wood fired pizza).  The show wa really interesting.  There was a demo of Pat Parellu's Natural HorseManShip, which I remember from the very beginning but which was new to the Tween;  there was a spanish dressage exhibition (not the Spanish Riding School style),  explaining how dressage was originally about battle craft;  and then there was the Dhigitovka.

It was a great evening, and I'd recommend it to anyone.

And Sew...

I managed to get a photo of Tween wearing a tank/vest top I made.  It's wearable.

I am under the weather at the mo, and I have to keep my leg elevated.   We brought our Lafuma chair in and I've been using that to sit in: it's comfortable, and I can elevate my leg really well. 

I looked online at covers for it. They are easily available, because Lafuma is the most popular reclining chair used by mobile reflexologists for their clients to sit in.     The price and quality of the covers varied considerably,  and in the end I decided to makie my own.  I bought a throw from Costco to provide the fabric,  and I'm really happy with it.  I bought some matching lacing to tie it to the chair,  and I used my Kam press and grommits to create holes for the ties.  The fabric was a nightmare, I knoew it would be,  so I had to quicjkly overlock every edge as soon as I made a cut.   I also used my Accufeed foot, than goodness for it,  as I was machining several layers a lot of the time.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Another chicky milestone

The chicks have been out every day for the past week or so.   They love it!

They are still in the brooder in the shed at night. If the weather cools or, like today, it rains, then they are straight back inside.

They are 3 and a half weeks old now, and really well feathered.  They still have down on their tummies,  so we have to wait until the grass is dry before we put them out.

Currently thinking we have 2 boy Barnevelders, 2 Barnevelders, and 1 undecided.  For the Lehorns, O'm thinking it's 1 boy yellow partridge  1 boy silver duckwing,  and the others are girls.  Bertie's baby, who we're also referring to as Bertie,  is very slow to feathr so we're assuming boy.

We've been picking them up properly, finger between the legs,  right from the start.  They don't like being caught, but they are mostly calm and fairly relaxed once we have them.     We've been arrying them out two by two,  and carrying them in (unless it's raining) two by two as well.

The Tween has been to visit a couple of times, and has been great at spending lots of time picking them up, stroking them, and helping getting them used to being handled.

Chicks 2 weeks

2 weeks old already, and the weather is too rubbish for us to have them go outside at all.

We've made the round brooder bigger,   and we're going to remove the round walling today or tomorrow so they have more space - enough to fit in a seed-tray sized dust bath. 

I've been under the weather for a couple of weeks,  but I've ensured that they each get picked up at least twice a day.     Normally I pick up 6 at a time and put them in a trug with some food,  then pick up and stroke each one.  Then I get the other six out.

Here are the 6 Leghorn. One of themhas a broken toe, so I need to see if its possible to splint it (although I think its too late)

Still no idea on sex.  We have 3 yellow partridge, and 3 silver duckwing.  Number 8, the chick I htought wasn't going to make it,  is one of the yellow partridge ones.

All 12 chicks are coping with being picked up and stroked, but it wouldn't be correct to say they are happy with it.    They are happy to eat the delicious Garvo Alfastart while they are stroked, so that's all good progress.

The leghorns are more tolerant than the Barnevelders.  They are also the ones who watch us when we walk in,  their little owl-like faces look up and watch carefully.

One of them is particularly cheeky, and s/he's the reason we're removing the circle and putting up the taller barriers.

This picture was after the leghorns had been put back in the run, and I was collecting the barnevelders and putting them in the tub. The leghorn wanted back  to the tub that had the special treats in.

Can you see the two leghorns in the background?   That's what I mean abou their owl-like faces watching us.

Chicks

This year's chicks started hatching on 1st June, and continued throughout Saturday and Sunday.   

Only 1 of Bertie's eggs was fertilised, and s/he was the first to hatch.  We guessed, correctly, that Pimg and Pong's eggs would be clear,   we had hopes for Barbara and Annie's eggs,  and Phyllis was a last minute addition.      The black chick that hatched suggests it was from either Annie or Phyllis, and we'll be able to tell more when we see the shape of the comb.

6 out of the 8 Leghorn eggs were fertilised and hatched (3 Yellow Partridge and 3 Silver Duckwing),  and 5 out of the 8 silver laced Barnevelders hatched.

We had one traumatic hatch, and the little chick has survived so far. They are, of course, the cutest little chicks.

We've been trying to handle them several times a day, with mixed success.  It's helpful that we have two different breeds so we can divide them to make sure we handle each one),.  

We'll miss having Miss Tween around,  as she's great with the chicks.  She's old enough and responsible/sensible  enough for us to let her go and see them and handle them unsupervised,  which is a great help. 

Celebrations

It was my parents Significant Wedding Anniversary recently, and we had a party in the garden for all the family.

We were really lucky that the weather stayed (mainly) dry. Everyone seemed to have a good time.

We completely failed to have family photos taken, and many of the youngers had left by the time we thought about it.  We did manage to get (what is left of) the oldest generation together for a snap or two.

Those that stayed overnight nearby met for breakfast at a local pub the next day, and that was a really good way to finish it all up.

Little Shop of Horrors

We often use the AudreyII voice singing "Feed Me!!  Feed Me Now!!" when imitating the cats demanding food.

Some time ago I explained to Miss Tween that it was from Little Shop of Horrors and I 'sang' snippets like "Feed me Seymour" for her.  It turned out that her Drama club had  the title song one term.

She wanted to see the film.

Last time she stayed I bought a used DVD, which turned out to be a much older version.  I bought the correct version, and it has been sitting by the TV for ages waiting for an opportunity to be played.  DH didn't want to watch it again (we've seen it before, AND we've seen the stage show).

We watched it yesterday.

I hadn't realised that there were so many things that I was going to have to explain.

Whenever Miss Tween asks me anything potentially embarrassing,  I make sure that I reply factually and in the same way I would as if she asked me, for example, "what's 2 plus 2?".    It's important that I don't appear embarrassed, as I want her to feel comfortable asking about anything.

First thing.  Steve Martin appears as the sadistic dentist . Audrey gets on his bike, and he asks if she has the handcuffs.  "Why does he want her to have handcuffs"  "Because some people like to be tied up when they have sex" "That's weird!" 

Second thing: The Dentist is singing away, causing pain to all his patients. "Why does he do that?" - "Because he's a sadist" "What's a sadist?" "Someone who likes to cause pain to people"

Third thing: Bill Murray is waiting to be seen by the Dentist. When his turn comes, he's enjoying the pain "Why is he enjoying it?" - "Because he's a masochist" - "What's a masochist?"  "Someone who likes pain".  "That's just weird!"

So far, so good.  (Although I'm sure her parents are going to wonder what I've been letting her watch if she starts coming out with this sort of stuff).

Fourth thing: AudreyII is singing, and in the song describes himself as a "Mean Mother*". What does that mean?

I failed. I strayed from my strategy.

I should, of course, have just answered her question with "It's short for Motherf****r and it's a really unpleasant swear word. Your Nan hated it more that any other word".

But I didn't.

Instead I said "It's short for a really horrible swear word".
"What word?"  "I'm not going to tell you,  it's really unpleasant".
 Later: "What word?"  "I'm not going to tell you.  Your Nan absolutely hated this word, and she'd be mortified if I told you".
This morning: "What word?"  "It's just an abbreviation for a really unpleasant swear word.  You'll know it when you hear it.  I swear a lot and I don't use it".

I can't give in and tell her now because she'll think that nagging will wear me down.

But I won't make the mistake again. My usual approach is definitely the right one!

Old Bag

Miss Tween had a school trip to France, lasting several days.

We had to get her to school by 04.15 (yes, 04.15, a.m.) and had to provide a packed breakfast and a packed lunch for consumption on the ferry.    Discussions with Miss Tween started some weeks ago about what she would like in her breakfast pack (I had already decided on her lunch),  and so I was well prepared.

I was going to buy her two pretty lunch bags, one for each meal.  I'd seen some when I'd walked though TK Maxx the other week.    But then I realised I should just make a bag. 

I worked out what to do to make a lined bag, and I decided to box the bottom so that the takeaway containers (which I was reusing so they wouldn't be single use plastic) would fit it neatly.  I didn't want the lining to have seams.

It went well. Until I decided to overlock around the whole thing, which of course created the most ugly seam you can imagine.  It also ended up much smaller, due to me neatening the edges before sewing, trimming, and vrious other things.

I rethought it (whilst waiting for MIss T to finish playing horses) and did it again. I started with much bigger pieces of fabric.  It took me almost up to bedtime to finish,  and it was...enormous.  I also seemed to have a lot of bagginess in the lining, but I didn't have time to fix it.  I later realised that I should have boxed the lining too, but it was too late.

Miss Tween was very kind.  She loved the fabrics,  and she really liked that I had made it for her.   It was just a bit...big.  She decided to use it anyway, even though it took up all the space in her compulsory rucksack.  I showed her that it would roll up small (ish) when she was on her way home.

I'm really pleased with the meals, and she was very happy too.  We talked through whether the bagels should be toasted (yes) and why we had to let them go cold before wrapping them up.   She suggested tht she took the Philadelphia in a separate tub, rather than pre spread,  which was great as that was what I had planned.  She had a tub of salad and tomatoes,  some finger sized cucumbers,  a pot with some salami and sliced würst in, an apple, and a Gu pudding.  I put in some Nutella b-ready sticks as well.   

Breakfast was a simpler affair. Untoasted scotch pancakes,  a shop bought waffle, some chocolate spread in a tub,  and a banana.   I gave her one of those fab little squeezy things of Robinsons squash to take.

The cutlery was wrapped in hen-related napkins,  and I popped in one of those origami things we ised to make as kids.  The things where you put it on your hands, pick a number and open it that many times, then pick ooe of the flaps, and then read a message written underneath.   I'm not sure she's ever seen one before so she probably won't know what to do with it.   Even if she does, I'd written everything in French (I picked simple phrases for her).  What are those things called?

The pupils haven't been allowed to take their phones so we've no idea how she's getting on.   They were allowed to take disposable cameras,  but of course she has no understanding of what a film camera is or how it works.   I suspect the pics will not turn out well.  

 

Continuing on, Cooking

Creme Caramel in the Instant Pot.   Oh my goodness, it's a revelation!  It's like the time I tried pressure cooking a cheesecake!   Who would have though that it could be possible to make fabulous  Creme Caramel in a  pressure cooker!   I've had the recipe for over a year, why did I wait?!?!

I also bought a Philips Airfryer.  We've used a Tefal Actifry for cooking oven chips for years,  but I was tempted by the Airfruer because it looked more versatile.  I kept putting off buying one because it seemed a bit of an extravagance.    Costco were offering one at a reasonable price,  so I bought it. 

We tried it.  It worked really well.     It's too tall to fit in the cupboard  space occupied by the Actifry and, on the basis that we can try and use it instead of the oven (the saving is in the lack of preheatng required),  I had to find it a home on the worktop.    Easier said than done.

I spend over a day rearranging the kitchen.   I appreciate that sounds ridiculous, but it's true. It was like a 3D version of one of those sliding puzzles!

As an example,  I moved one item into the cupboard wher the Actifry used to live.  The space it created wasn't suitable for the airfryer,  as that needs to be near the extractor fan.  So i moved the vacuum sealer over instead.  But that meant that the drawer full of vac sealer bags and bits needed to move too.   And it wasn't as easy as just swapping over two drawers.  Or just two items.

And of course, I had to clean thoroughly as I moved stuff.  And I went through the drawers I was moving to see if I could get rid of anything.  I was brutal. 

Anyway,  it's done.  For the first time in months my worktops look tidy and aren't cluttered up .  Well, no more cluttered than they need to be.  The accumulation of piles of 'stuff' have been dealt with (apart from a relatively small pile of  "I don't know what to do with these"  things on a tray on the breakfast bar).

I also put one of the long-redundant kitchen appliances (previously relegated to the utility room while it waited for me to see if I missed it)  up for sale.  And I think I'll be finding a new home for the Actifry.  

I'm hoping I can keep it tidy for a few more weeks. We'll see.

 

Continuing on, chickens.

A busy week, travel wise.

I started the week visiting my parents, with my brother,  as they had to travel to an unfamiliar hospital some distance from where they live.   In fact, it was an easy journey, and they will be able to drive themselves if they have to go again. 

The following afternoon, I started a rather large round trip, including an ovenight stay,  to collect eggs for the incubator.

This year I wanted to add a Silver Laced Barnevelder (SLB) to my garden girls,  and also a Leghorn. I would also be happy to add Leghorn to the allotment flock,  and to introduce SLBs to raise chicks from in future.

There are so many gorgeous breeds and colours of  hens.  I don't particularly want to repeat breeds/colourways in my garden flock,  as I like to assoiate each type with one particular individual.  This meant I had to search high and low for Leghorn eggs which were non-white Leghorn(Lily) and non-exchequer (Lotti) Leghorn, andit was harder than I expected.     I found a lovely lady in Northamptonshire who seemed to have both breeds though, which was a bit of a result,   and I contacted her.

It turned out she's lost her SLBs to a fox attack, but she could help with the Leghorn eggs.  I found a couple of other people selling SLB eggs. Bith were some distance away,  and in the end one lady didn't have eggs at the time I needed them, so  I ended up  arranging to go to Devon.    The egg collecting trips weren't going to be linked originally - apart from needing the eggs within  couple of days of each other so they could all go in the incubator at the same time.

Meanwhile,  we penned off the Allotmenteers that we wanted to breed from this year.  Ping and Pong, our Dorkings, were in that group, but we fully expect their eggs to be clear.   Bertie really dislikes them (and/or they dislike him, we aren't quite sure).  Luckily they have plenty of room so they can avoid each other on a day to day basis.  I've got two girls I particuarly want to breed from,  but I haven't seen Bertie cover them, so it wouldn't surprise me if they turn out to be clear too. 

We also tested the two incubators, as one of them failed last year.  A new part was ordered, arrived, and fitted. Both seem to be registering the correct temperatures.

I then had an opportunity to help someone out,  so I ended up combining the trips. I went to Devon one evening, staying at an inexpensive B&B.  The next morning, I collected my SLB eggs - and some SLB cockerels and pullets.  The birds were for the lady in Northamptonshire who was supplying my Legorn eggs!

The eggs have been set,  divided equally between the two incubators.   I'm as nervous as a kitten.  Last year's hatch was, for the first time, really stressful.  I just hope this one goes more smoothly.

Continuing on, creating.

I've been trying to Get On With Things for the last few weeks,  and I've had some success.

I've managed to draft and stitch a sleeveless top, with the bust dart moved into the neckline and gathered!  I'm amazed!    I managed to baste, then overlock,  then put the neck band on,  and finally to coverstitch the neckband, the hem and the arms without any of the machines eating the garment!

The whole gathering thing was as hit and miss as ever - despite me taking precautions.   I sewed three rows of stitching,  a great tip I learned from someone's blog. (I wish I could remember who, because I'd like to thank her.) .   I sewed the gathering stitches at 2mm, 4mm and 6mm (my seam allowance was 5mm),  and I managed to sew them fairly straight.  I didn't cross the lines at all (which made me think of Ghostbusters!).  I managed to pull the threads without incident, it was just the allocating of the gathers that took..forever.

The top wasn't actually meant to be sleeveless.  I'd just had enough of it by the time I'd done the gathering.   I tried it on before I did the hemming and the arms, and it was Okay.   Not great, but Okay.    I decided to make myself finish it, good practice with the coverstitch machine and all that.   The machine behaved beautifully.  I tried it on with the neckband and the hem done, and it looked a but more okay than before.  Not quite right, but wearable. Not OK enough to be bothered to cut and sew sleeves though, so I decided to just coverstitch the armholes. 

I really like it, despite its imperfections.   I'm of an age and shape where sleeveless tops are inadvisable,  but I don't care.

I wondered whether the ruffler of gathering foot n my machine would work.  I tried the ruffler, and decided that it looked too...pleated... for what I wanted.  I cut a front neckline shaped piece of fabric, and tried the gathering foot.... and it did a reasonable job in no time at all.   

So, I made a second version.  This time I used the gathering foot on the neckline,  AND I made sleeves.   The gathering is really neat.   I suspect I would get an even beter result if I made myself learn how to gather manually  better,  but the results were acceptable.  

I'm now planning another version,  with a slightly wider necklne and more fluttery sleeves. I've just been a bit distracted by other things.

I also...shock, horror... did some machine embroidery!  I made a Batman mask for a birthday card for DSS2 (I didn't think to take a photo) ,   and I embroidered Arya onto a tee shirt for The Tween (previously known as Small Person).  I haven't seen her to give it to her.  Hope she'll like it.

I've been a bit under the weather.

I've just realised how long it's been since I posted, and I wanted to try and do a catch up post.

Allotment Girls
Camilla had a case of bumble foot, and I brought her home to treat it.  She was desperate to be in with the other girls, but whenever she went near them, they attacked her.  We put her in our small coop and run,  and put that inside the Girls' run,  so she could see and hear them, but they couldn't attack her.

I found a really helpful post about treating bumble foot, this one didn't invllve a scalpel.  (link https://www.tillysnest.com/2015/12/non-surgical-bumblefoot-treatment-html ).  I managed to get some of the gel she metioned from a local tack shop,  and colloidal plasters from Boots. I followed the lady's instructions,  and several hours later I'd got Cam's feet sorted and bandaged.   She went back to the Allotment after a week, and she seems well - she's roosting at night now.    The problem will return though, so I need to try and do her feet more routinely.

Garden Girls
All are looking well.  I went to Rokers Feeds to get some Garvo, ready for the chicks.   While I was there I saw something called  Gourmet Grit   which I bought for them to try. They can't seem to get enough of it,  so I've now bought a large amount from the manfacturer.

Chicks
We've decided to buy in fertilised eggs this year, and I've chosen Silver Laced Barnevelders and Leghorns as the two breeds I want to bring in.   If we manage to hatch girls, and if they are pleasantly natured,  I'm planning to keep one of each breed for my garden flock.   I don't really want 7 chooks in the garden,   but the other alternative is to keep any girls at the allotment until space appears here.  I thought it might be better to just keep 2 girls.

This year it's likely that we'll keep all females (unless we have a 100% hatch rate and they are all female).

I've sourced breeders and reserved eggs, and pencilled in a collection date.   

Let's hope they don't go broody just before I want the eggs.


Sewing
I did a 4 day jacket retreat, which was much harder than I expected.  I had no idea just how many pieces there are to a lined jacket with collar!   It's not quite finished,  and has been sitting on Nellie waiting for me to do the last few steps.   It'll be waiting for a while longer.

I managed to make and finish a pair of leggings for Miss Tweenie (as we now call Small Person),  made in horrendously expensive Game of Thrones fabric.

She came to stay for a few days each week over half term, which was fab as always.

Oops

Yesterday was a gorgeous summery sunny day. I had the windows open, and the back door open,  and I spent most of the day cleaning.   I can't help it, it's something about the Spring air that makes me want to clean.

I was cleaning out the fridge, and sorting through my various fermented foods.   I decided I'd make some more of that gorgeous German Rye bread using my two sourdough starters,  so I fed decanted them, fed them,  and washed the pots.      This morning, I used the Ank to make the dough. All was going well.

The recipe I was following said that the rye needs a bit of help,  so I decided to use the proving function on my oven to help ot along for the first half hour.  I popped the lid onto the Ank bowl, such a neat idea,  and got on with other stuff, mainly vacuum sealing a load of frozen food.

When the oven beeped to say the 30 mins was up, I decided to leave the bowl in the moist oven, but I turned off the proofing function.

Much later, DH commented that I was cooking the bread in the Ank bowl.   I was in the middle of something else, so in my eye-rolling voice I explained that I had just put it in the oven to start proving, and I'd left it in there.  He asked me why it was on 170 degrees fan.

Of course I'd stuffed up when turning off the oven.  Now my beautiful dough - 350g of starter, 600g rye flour, 200g of white flour,  ground caraway seeds, rye grains,  was a partially baked mess.... and of course the plastic lid had melted on to it all anyway.

What a mess. What a waste of a beautiful dough,  of 350g starter, of 600g dark rye flour,  of cut rye grains,  and, of course, the Ank lid.

I'm lucky that DH spotted it when he did, and I think the bowl is salvageable. 

The lid is not.

I'll try again tomorrow.

Still missing

I'm getting on my nerves at the moment.  I just can't sustain any momentum.

I've had a couple of successful forays into making something.  Firstly,    Small Person came to stay on Tuesday, just for the nigt and following day,  and I managed to do some sewing for her while she was here.  I'd  intended to have it all done before she came,  but in the end I managed to do it before she left.  Right now I'm taking that as a bit of a win.


Thursday was another 'I can't be bothered' day although I did I manage to make home made pizza for dinner. I did manage to get a skirt pattern out to look at,  but that's as far as I got

Yesterday, Friday, was another apathetic day.  I got a second skirt pattern out, to compare to the first, and they are both sitting in a heap on the sofa.   I finally managed to make Brazilian Cheese Puffs.  I wanted to make them weeks ago, but I had to wait until I could get some Tapioca starch,  and then I wasn't well, and then I just couldn't be bothered.    They were worth the wait.  They looked like yorkshire puddings, just like in the recipe picture.   They rose beautifully, they tasted divine, they were easy to make.  I followed the Quirky Cooking recipe.    I can't find the recipe on her blog, I can only find it on her Facebook page so I'm linking to that. Apologies if you don't use FB. https://www.facebook.com/quirkycooking/posts/1989117254475501

I also made a Bolognese yesterday, for dinner tonight.  Small Person is staying again.  She's a creature of habit and, because she likes it,  we usually have Fish Fingers and Chips on a Saturday when she stays.   Hopefully she'll like the proper bolognese as well, especially as we'll make our own pasta.

I really need to break through the apathy and have a go at making one of the skirts.

Knock out!

Flu took me by surprise on Saturday night.

I don't mean a bad cold, I do mean flu.  I think I''ve only had it once before.   Saturday night was awful, I felt like a small child. Everything hurt and I had to decide whether it was more painful to have a dry throat or more painful to move and pick up the glass of water.

I couldn't get out of bed on Sunday, and I had a temperature of 103.   Even if I'd heard a fox, I'm not convinced I would have been able to get out of bed.  Luckily this wasn't put to the test.

I'm fortunate that DH kept me well supplied with drinks, temperature taking, and ibuprofen.  He also offered, at suitable intervals, food, cups of tea, and my phone/tablet, but I wasn't up to any of those.

On Tuesday, I got up, and ate something for the first time since Saturday. I answered a WhatsApp message.

On Wednesday I got up and stayed up.  I answered a couple of the other  messages.

DH brought home some allotment parsnips, and made parsnip soup. 

I'm up again today, and I feel OK, just a bit tired. I haven't managed to find the "..And Go" part of my "Get Up And Go".   I spent yesterday looking for it unsuccessfully.    Over the last two days I've done a few things, slowly.

I cleaned out the chooks, and found our first Garden Girl egg of 2019, laid by the lovely Fayoumi.  I sorted out the two spare nesting boxes; the Girls refuse to use them, they just like to complain about boxhogging by everyone else. Still, I like to offer them an alternative, and they can'thave the spare cube as I'm keeping that off limits. 

I sat on the swing in the garden, in the sunshine,  and fed sunflower seeds to the Girls.

I changed the bed, with DH's help.  I've done 4 lots of washing.    Today I tackled the  the things that needed fixing after several days neglect, but which I didn't want to do whilst I might still be buggy.     My Kimchi has been decanted into jars and put in the fridge.   The cabbage I bought for this week's Kimchi is now in the chickens.      I've changed the water on my sleeping water kefir.    I've changed the milk on my milk kefir.    I've fed my sourdough starters, and they are sitting on the worktop getting active.  I won't be attempting anything vaguely bready until tomorrow.  


I've vacuumed downstairs.   I've caught up on emails, and Faacebook, and stuff.  Mostly caught up. I've been reactive rather than proactive, and it's going to bite me on the bum.


I've looked at the piles of stuff on the cutting table, and chosen to walk on by.   I've told myself  I'll not do any sewing until  next week.  I'm hoping that this will take the pressure off me, stop me feeling guilty.


We had some parcels delivered, one of which was enormous.  DH asked if it was fabric,  and I was happy to tell him it wasn't, it was cat litter. I haven't ordered fabric for a couple of weeks! Ha!

Momentum lost

Well, that didn't last long.

It feels like I've been unable to do anyting creative for a while, and I've been getting on my nerves.

Yesterday I wrote about it in my diary,  which was both cathartic and interesting.  It turns out that things are not always what they seem.

When I sat down and made myself think about what I've actually  been spending my time on, when I haven't been creating things, it wasn't as bad as I thought.

Not in actual sequence:  I cut and started to sew the replacement velvet top,  I had to wait until the skirt was done before I could continue.

I spent a lot of time on research.  I've been thinking about buying in some hatching eggs this year (as well as raising our own), and I went through my breed wish list.  I looked for possiuble suppliers.  I made a decision on one breed, and contacted a supplier to reserve eggs.    I've almost decided on a second breed,  and have been looking for suitable sellers.    The rest of my wish list has to stay on my wish list for now.  I made the decision to increase my garden flock by 2, assuming 2 suitable girls hatch.

DH has been doing some technical drawing, and he asked me to reconsider buying an A0 printer. It's been some time since I last considered this,  so   I've spent a lot of time researching suitable second hand printers. I've got the list down to a few now, and I'm still thinking about it.

I finally managed to obtain some second hand Kallax units to put in the guest bedroom (my sewing room).  I've been waiting for a particular shape to come up, locally, in a retired colour,  for what feels like forever (but was actually less than a month).   Units are now installed,  DH had to drill into the wall (which I didn't plan for, my beautiful smooth plastered wall!), and now all I need is a trip to I*** to get some more Drona boxes.

This resulted in some shunting around of furniture elsewhere, and I'm trying to get used to that.  I also learning about proper online auctions (not Ebay, I mean online auctions run by auction houses).  I knew that there was a hefty buyers premium on top of the sale price, and I knew VAT was charged on the hefty buyers premium.  What I didn't realise is that some of them charge VAT on the whole hammer price as well!  One of the auctions I was interested in ha a 16% buyers premium (plus VAT),  AND 20% VAT on top of everything (i've checked,  it's definitely VAT on the hammer price as well as VAT on the buyers premium).      Another one charged 29% buyers premium, but did not add VAT on the hammer price. 

Small Person came to stay overnight, which gave me a couple of hours to adjust her unicorn skirt. I sewed some clear elastic inside the elastic waistband (no pictures, annoyingly). I'm hoping it mightbe possible to remove it without destroying the waistband, so the skirt might last her a bit longer (if she wants it to).

I cleared the cutting table (which doubles as the kitchen table) enough to enable me to cut her two new pairs of leggings from fabrics of her choice.  I almost finished sewing one pair, but didn't finish before she had to go.

Kimchi (2), rye and wheat sourdough starters,
milk kefir, water kefir

I put my Water Kefir in the fridge to rest.  I made Kimchi, which was lovely and I'm making another batch today.  

I made some fab rye bread in the Ank.

I started some limes a-pickling, I'm planning to make some lime pickle. If I can find where I saved the recipe.   I'm going to make goats milk yoghurt today.




I'm glad that I made  myself think about the detail, rather than wallowing in my perception of my inability to get on and do. 

I just need to harness this right now, while I feel energised.

I'd better go and get started.

Clever lads

I can't remember if I shared a pic of the castle my uncle C made?   He finds bits of tree, and then turns them into amazing, detailed, unique, creations.   I've had mine for about a year now.

Dust, and dusting, was a problem. We tried to find a suitable case, the sort of thing stuffed objects sit in,  but these were mostly round based.    DH decided that making somethign was the answer.   The next time we saw Darling Uncle, they had a chat about it, as DU had obviously faced this problem before.

DH bought some bits and  and had a go with a small example (big enough for a tea light).  That came out well, so he decided what shape to do, calculated the size of the pieces.  Some time later, he got enthusiastic enough to give it a go,    got the glass (and the wood for the base) and spent quite some time building it.
He's a clever boy.  They're both clever lads.

Momentum

I've been motivated enough to make a few things, and I've managed to keep the momentum going despite some challenges.

The easy things first.    My embroidery machine, Emma, and I made birthday cards for Small Person and DGD4.   The bunny was a bought design, one I've had earmarked for DGD4 for a while.  I used metallic thread, and Emma stitched beautifully.

 Small Person's design was based on a drawing she did for me just before Christmas.  The amazing Meryl, of MerylMakes,  digitised it for me.

Once again, Emma stitched faultlessly.  It's all down to the hoop support arm I bought her,  I wish i'd listened to myself and bought it months ago!

Next up was clothes sewing.   I made a couple of raglan sleeve tops (Pattern 4 Pirates, Jolly Roger Raglan). Sorry about the rubbish photos,  the clothes look much better in real life!

These were amazingly easy to make, and I hope she likes them enough to want me to make her some more!

DGS2 is coming to stay at Easter and, if he's still interested in sewing, I might suggest he makes one of these for himself.

Next up was my Big Project . I decided to make Small Person a dress for her birthday, using the unicorn duvet cover I bought months ago.    I couldn't find a pattern that was exactly what I wanted and  I ended up making a separate skirt and top. This was so that I could, in future,  make several different tops to go with the skirt.

It was a bit of a painful journey, and it isn't over yet.  The skirt was reasonably OK.  I used a Tadah Tea Party pattern because I wanted something really, really  really full. Annoyoingly, it only goes up to age 8 (when most of their patterns go up to age 10).     It also had to be extra long because I'd bought a tulle underskirt too.  I did the necessary adjustments,  and it was OK, although I ended up with a lot of fabric to try and cram into the waistband elastic.    The skirt took so much fabric that there was miles of rolled hemming to be done, and I pressed, pressed, pressed so that it looked fab.  It

It looked fab sitting on June the Duplicate, like a rockabilly type skirt.  

The top was a nightmare.  I had a large quantity of purple stretch 'velvet', and I wanted to use that.  It was already lined, so I didn't want to make a lined top.  This meant I needed a neckband and sleeves.   The first top, I stuffed up on the sleeves.   I'd also made lots of small errors, so I was happy to make it again from scratch  anyway.  

The second version  was better during consruction, I can't remember what went wrong with that actually, although I know it was near the end.     The third attempt was looking good, but I managed to irrevocably chew up the neckline.  Fortunately, I had decided to put the neckline on as soon as possible in construction,  so that if I did stuff up, I wouldn't have wasted all the rest of the work.  I'm going to do this from now on.

I ran out of time, so I took the incomplete top with me to try on with the skirt.  She seemed to really like it.   The skirt waistband was too big.  I expect I can try and fix it with some clear elastic (or a pair or braces).   Because it was hanging on her hips,  the topwas too short.  I quite like it sleeveless though, so I might cut another version of the pattern and make the next one without sleeves.

It was a little frustrating, but each time I made a new version, the top improved. I'm seeing her in a week or so, so hopefully I can get that done and dusted. 

I do wish I'd taken the time to do a Surefit blueprint of her, and I think I will take the time to do that next school holiday.

With that out of the way, I decided to try making an infinity scarf with hidden zipper pocket for my mum. She sometimes finds it hard to carry and handbag, but needs to carry tissues and stuff, and a scarf seemed like it might work for her.

I ordered some fluffy fabric, with a design on that I knew she'd like, but  which I hadn't realised had no stretch.  I also hadn't read the instructions before ordering,  it seems I need 2 yards of fabric - 2 yards! -  and I'd only bought 1.

I also wanted to make my version from two contrasting fabrics, rather than one extra wide piece folded, but that was easy enough to accommodate.  


I followed the instructions and video tutorial from Patterns for Pirates, and this also didn't go to plan.

Version 1:  I cut and sewed two lots of fabric to get to 72 inches long.   I followed the instructions, made the pocket, and managed to create something.  I wasn't happy with the way the zip sat,  and I wasn't happy with the unfinished edges inside the scarf.   I loved the fabric choice I'd made though. I decided to make again

Version 2:  I made this slightly narrowerI made a much better job of constructing this, finishing my seams, pressing, blah blah.  I still wasn't happy with the way the zip sat, so I thought about how to do it better. I watched a video tutorial from  Made Every Day about putting a zip in a dress, and decided that would give me the finish I wanted.

I'd run out of the fluffy fabric at this point. I decided to make Version 3 from stretchy fabric, which would also mean that I could make it shorter (and therefore more practical).    Once again I went for two fabrics.  One was a lovely soft grey jersey, which would be lovedly against the neck; the other was a really pretty black and silver sparkly fabric, which was reasonably thick and looked like the edge would hold up.

 This time, it came out pretty well.  The zip closure was much more neat and 'finished', and it sits well on the edge of the scarf.

Lovely zip pocket.

Lovely fabric on both sides

 I've posted it off, and I hope she likes it.

I was hoping to average making 3 items a month this year , and when I set myself that challenge I decided that items I'd made but stuffed up at the last minute (I call them 'OFFS ' - oh for !*! sake ) might still count.   I also decided to try and see each of my OFFS ) as something positive to learn from rather than confirmation of my uselessness at sewing.   

In January so far I've made 5 items (2 cards, 1 of the raglans, 1 skirt, 1 scarf) plus 3 OFFS (2 of the 3 velvet tops,  and 1 of the scarves).

Two weeks in and it's working well so far.

Caking and Baking

Another bargain I picked up, in November I think, was an Ankarsrum Assistent.  I bought it to make bread, especially sourdough.  We've usd it several times, but not enough yet for it for m to use it without thinking.  If it stays,  it may replace Boris (my Bosch stand mixer).  I haven't tried it as a mixer yet,  it's on my ever increasing list of things that need to be done.

December also meant Christmas cakes and cards.

I made the poinsettia. It's free standing lace embroidery,  3 parts.  Emma, my embroidery machine, behaved impeccably. I was very grateful as  I hadn't planned on making the cake topper and it was a bit last minute.   I'd bought a resin Father Christmas from John Lewis,  but when I unwrapped it to use it, I found it was covered in glitter. No good on a cake.

I didn't take a pic of the Creole cake. I wish I had.  Small Person has an allergy to walnuts and pecans,  which meant I had to rethink how I did the glazed nut topping.  I was quite pleased with the results. 

I also didn't take a pic of my wreath until just now. One of my boars has disappeared!  It's a bit of a shame as I have had them since the first year I made my own wreath and they've been on every one. In fact, the wreath looks quite bare in a whole section, so I wonder if other things have been removed as well.?  Oh well.

One fail this year: I made Nigella's Puddini. I made some a few years ago and thought they were delicious.   I wasn't so keen this year, which is a shame as I made extra puddings to have the basic ingredient. I also have quite a lot of Pedro Jimenez sherry, the second main ingredient,  which is painfully sweet.  It's a bit too sweet for me.

I'm sure there were lots of other things, but I just can't think of them.

Nostalgia

I've been creating a birthday card for Small Person. 

I like to put lots of photos inside, of the things she's done with us during the year.   I thought it would be a good memory jogger for her in years to come.   It was an enjoyable romp for me too, although I was a little sad that there were lots of things that didn't have photos.

One of my favourite photos is a still from one of the (many) videos I took when I was helping her learn to cartwheel. 

She's wearing one of the collection of Cora Cullotes that I made for her, and they are great for this sort of thing.

Needled.

I've been busy making stuff.

I managed to create a mock wrap top, for me.   It took a lot of tweaking to get a really good fit. Now I've made a pattern, it should be relatively easy to make up. I really like it, and I plan to make more from a variety of fabrics.


I also made a fab jumper to wear to my MIL's funeral, finishing it the morning we left.  It was made with black fabric that had silver stars on, and as soon as I saw the fabric I knew that it would be perfect: her name is Stella.  It's lovely. Not my best make, but it's wearable.. and every time I wear it, I will think of her.   

I picked up a bargain of a child sized mannequin,  and we've set it it up to Small Person's measurements.  It's been really helpful, as I can test things as I sew.

I made a sweatshirt for small person, which was a much easier sew than I expected. I'm going to try it with a hood next time.

I also made her some leggings, but the fabric was less stretchy than usual and so they didn't fit.   I also made leggings for me, and kept making them until I got a pattern that fits reasonably well.  I need to make some more to wear to Pilates, they are on my list of things to do.

I've now moved on to making small person a raglan sleeved top.  It was again easier than I expected, and I can see why it's a favourite design from a lot of indy pattern makers. I love it! I hope she does.  I can't finish it until I see her because I need to get the arm length sorted.

And then I'm planning on making her a dress for her birthday, but I need to psyche myself up for that one.

Goodbye my dear

It was the funeral of my beloved Mother in Law (BMIL) yesterday.

As one might expect, my heart and my eyes cried a lot, and I tried to do it quietly.  BMIL was a private person, and would have been embarrassed by unrestrained blubbing.    After the service, we stood by the coffin in silence, each saying our own personal goodbye.

 I stood there, with my hand gently on the coffin (telepathically explaining to my BMIL that I was only touching it gently because I know she didn't like to be hugged).  I had already thought about what I wanted to say to her,  and I said my speech to her (again, by telepathy).  The internally spoken words, and the feelings they represented, intensified my need to sob.  I wanted to finish my conversation, and I wanted to leave before I couldn't keep the sobs under control.

Ironically, my attempts at suppressing the sobs took up all the oxygen in my lungs, and I needed to breathe.  The suppressing of the blubs backfired, almost literally. 

Inadvertenly, and most embarrassingly,  an attempted gasp for breath resulted in a howl.

I was mortified.

Naturally, people assumed I was wailing in grief. 

I was very upset and I was indeed very emotional, but I wasn't howling.    Having people try to comfort me, at my apparent enormous emotional distress, was awful.     I felt like I'd made a scene, people would look at me and think I was a drama queen.    I felt a fraud.    

I tried to explain, to those attempting to comfort me, that I wasn't howling in grief, it had been an involuntary sound when I was gasping for breath... but as I was trying to explain,  I realised that the explanation was almost worse than the howling.

I miss her.

I've missed her for a long time.  Alzheimers is such a cruel disease.

At the third stroke...

My lovely mother in law died on Thursday.

And it continued...

DH got back from visiing his poorly mum on Wednesda, and went to do the Allotment chooks.  One of the Dorkings was unable to stand.

He checked her leg to see if it was a foot or leg problem, and decided it was her upper leg.  He was unable to examine her more thoroughly, so he phoned me and we decided it was best for her to come home.

She looked terrible. Her tail was down.  I gave her some butridrops and she drank thirstily,.  I gave her water by syringe.  We then examined her. It turned out that her leg ring had slipped up her thigh, got wedged, and cut in to her leg.  It was a bit of a mess.

We got the leg ring off, and sprayed liberally with special disinfectant.  She looked brighter immediately, but still couldn't stand.  We set up a dog crate for her to stay in.

She improved quickly, and I kept her sprayed and well fed.   On Friday, I let her out into the garden, thinking she might want to eat some grass. She sat under the Rosemary. I brought her in before I let the big girls out.     On Saturday, I let her out again. I let the big girls out too, and kept an eye out in case there was trouble.  There was a little, but it was OK.
 

We took her back to the allotment on Sunday.  

She was greeted with a peck on the head from one of the Harem. 

We'll see how she goes from here.

Unpleasant

It's been a draining couple of weeks, I don't have the emotional reserve to blog about the detail at the mo.

Yesterday I went to do the Allotment chooks.  The 3 little girls are growing, and will soon be old enough for us to open the connecting door permanently.  In the meantime, we're  letting them mingle for the time we are down there.

As usual, the older girls and Bertie were clustered around the gate when I  arrived. They can hear me coming, and get into position to run out of the allotment on to the grass verge as soo as the gate is unlocked.

I said good morning to each of them as they poured through the opening,   and I realised that I only had 5 harem girls not 6.  I went into the allotment,  opened up for the Littlees,  and checked that the missing girl wasn't shut in with them.  She wasn't in the outside coop. 

I opened the shed coop, and there she was, dead on the floor, with her head between one of the nest boxes and the battery box.  I went and got a couple of sacks to wrap her in.


Stop reading now if you are squeamish.

I said goodbye to her and stroked her. She was still in rigor mortis,  and I find it a little difficult to pick them up when they are like this.   I picked her up carefully,  and looked at her comb to see if it was purple (which would indicate heart attack).   There was no comb, just a bloody mess where the comb used to be.  I braced myself, and made myself check her face.   That confirmed it.

I wrapped her up carefully, and took her to the car.  Then I went back to the shed.

Thankfully there was only blood where her head had been lying.   The lack of spatter ruled out the remote possibility that she had been pecked to death by the other chooks,   and it also ruled out that she had been grabbed by a rat/weasel/similar predator and killed.    It was most likely that she died, and then her comb etc had been eaten post mortem.

The Harem Girls (actually nominally called Catherine, AnneBoleyn, Jane, AnneCleves, and Katherine, but we don't use their indvidual names) are sisters to Poppy and Gloria and Henry (our previous cockerel).  All are Welsh Blacks, from CastleFarm eggs, and are six and a half years old. 

 

Dressing down

I managed to finish Small Person's dress!

I bought several variations of tutu/underskirt for it, but I couldn't get the effect I wanted.  Only one of the underskirts gave the right shape,  and that was far too long.   I'll make th enext dress a longer length to use it.

The top needs a press (and is a little too big, but I left it that way as she is having growth spurts at the moment)

Dried up

We've (by which of course I mean 'DH has') made loads of tomato passata, so we're good for at least a year.     There are still some tomatoes left,  and we decided to have a go at drying them.

I started with the big plum tomatoes.   Dip in boiling water for a few seconss, until the skin splits,   then plunge in cold water. Slip the skin off (or faff around trying to get it off),  then cut the tomato into 1/4 inch slices.  Dry the slices.

I realised that I should pribably have cored the tomatoes before slicing but, by the time I realised,  it was too late.

I had four trays of tomatoes, which took a loooooong time to dry thoroughly.  I now have a pot of crspy tomato bits, and a small tub of i'm-fed-up-waiting mostly dry bits. 

I'm going to grind then and make some super concentrated tomato powder which I can add to tomato based dishes (ooh, and pasta.  and bread).

The dehydrator is on again, with loads of sliced chillies.

I might do the catnip while we're in drying mode.  I should have done it a week or so ago while the atmosphere was drier.  It's surprising how much the ambient atmosphere affects the drying times.

Toothsome

Wash, our 14 year old male ginger cat,  is diabetic.  He has insulin twice a day,  and visits the vet  for six monthly checkups.     

At the last checkup, we commented on his gums.  Th eVet did a close inspection, and told us that Washy was suffering from tooth reabsorption.  Apparently it's very common (as many as 1 in 3 cats apparently).     It was likely that he had problems below the gum line,  and we needed to book him in to have it looked at.

Yesterday was The Day.

Wash has a fear of going to the Vet. I know that most cats don't like the  experience, but Wash is very distressed by it.   He's had a few traumas in his life which have resulted in him having extended hospitalisation, and he's always afraid he's going to be left.     His diabetes was stress induced, from his last stay (when he was hit by a car, had his paw crushed,  and then was having liver failure).

We starved him from 10pm the night before.  He didn't notice until 7.30 when he was demanding breakfast,  and was looking for the bowl of dry food which is otherwise always available.  We felt dreadful handing him over,  but of course we knew it was for the best.     The Vet knows about Wash's issues,  and planned to do him as the first of the dental ops that day.

The Vet rang late morning to let us now that the Xrays were better and worse than he had anticipated.  One of the suspect teeth was fine,  but there were two others which needed dealing with.  Of course we gave the go ahead.

I phoned at 2.30pm to hear that he was awake, and had eaten, and was being Wash.

We collected him at 5.30, and were shown the xrays.  We were happy to hear that his teeth were in good condition, very little scaling and tartar.  There wasn't anything we'd done or not done that had caise the issues with the dodgey teeth.   

We brought him home.  He ate the bland fish and chicken as if he hadn't eaten for a week.    

This morning we had to give him his antibiotics,  and we decided to see if he would just eat them.  He did.  He's such a lovely boy.

He's not quite himself and I guess he won't be for a few days.  The cat flaps are blocked up, he has a litter tray (which he used without any fuss), and the dry food will stay locked away until his gums have healed.  

He'll feel much more comfortable without the teeth.

Happy Dance!

I've been having some trouble with leggings.  I haven't been able to work out what is wrong with them, or even where the problem is. I've checked the pattern template, and I just can't see it.

I decided that I needed to make a pair out of squared fabric.  This would make the problem immediately visible.  I bought some inexpensive, Rupert-Bear-esqe fabric from Coalville Fabrics,  and looked at it for a few days.

And then I did it.

The leggings pattern I'm using is a self drafted one from my SureFit Deigns trousers blue print.   There are two pieces per leg (rather than 1 piece that you get when you buy a leggings pattern from, say,  Patterns for Pirates or Halla or LoveNotions (I have kids leggings patterns from those).    I had tried the P4P adult leggings,  but the shape just didn't suit me

Normally, I cut each pair of pieces in one go,  with the fabric folded.   This saves time,  and it means that when I put the two legs together and sew the crotch seam,  the two fronts ar identical and the two backs ae identical.      Where pattern matching is needed, this approach doesn't work. 

So, I had to cut each of the four pieces separately.   I'm using stretch fabric, of course,  so this also added a little extra complication.    It took a lot of time and patience,  and involved quite a lot of rude words,  but eventually I cut my pieces.     I also identified what was causing my problem,  even before I'd done any sewing,  so that was a bonus.

I basted one leg together,  and I was amazed to see that I'd got the pattern matched on both seams!   I did the second leg and discovered a missing bit of fabric.  I couldn't face trying to cut another whole piece, so I decided to patch it.  It worked.   Then I decided to overlock the seams, before I actually joined the two legs together. 

And then I pinned the two legs together,  and kept my fingers crossed. Well, kept them crossed in my head. Obviously.

The pinning looked good,  so I went ahead and sewed.   And I was amazed.

I did a happy dance.  I showed DH, having briefed him on exactly what was amazing about what he was about to see, and letting him know exactly what sort of reaction I was looking for.

I tried to take pictures, but that proved a bit of a challenge.  Here are a couple of them.  Please note that I hadn't put the waistband on,  nor had I adjusted the length of the legs.

But look!  All the seams match. The two legs are even, front and back.

Ha!

Will I wear them outside?  Nope.  I won't even wear them in the house.   I'm just going to keep them as a reminder of an achievement.