Wisteria hysteria

There's a wisteria planted just outside the front door and although it is beautiful, it is entirely mis-placed for such a vigorous plant. We don't have a long expanse of wall for it to grow on and to show it's wonderful mauve flowers, all we have is a narrow space of wall that goes straight up to the low roof.

And that's exactly what has happened this year. The wisteria flowered in early summer and gave a pretty display of hanging flowers and then it grew. And grew and it kept on growing! It grew to the top of the house and wound itself around the guttering and into the eaves.

It became a focal point for wasps and having had one wasps' nest removed from the porch, I watched more wasps start to explore the possibility of building a nest close to the shelter of the wisteria. I dislike wasps, I am frightened of their sting and Mr J has an allergy to their sting, so without wanting to get hysterical about them, I was pretty scared of the prospect of yet another colony of them living just outside the door.

Clearly this lovely climber is in the wrong place. I am sure if it could talk it would tell me it likes where it is, but for us, it isn't working. I don't want to get rid of the wisteria, but I do want to move it to the front garden to allow it to grow along the long low fencing that surrounds that part of the garden.

So on Sunday, we tackled the task of cutting the plant back prior to moving it.

 We cut it to waist high so that it will sit nicely in the new place we have in mind for it.

 Then we set to work removing all the long leggy growth that has happened this year.

 We were surprised at how quickly the snug and hallway became much, much lighter. I think we hadn't realised just how much light was being blocked out by this vigorous beauty.

 We simply can't reach the very top growth and are leaving it to shrink back and hopefully it will then fall out of the eaves and guttering once it is no longer wedged in place. The next step will be to carefully lift the root from the ground, but I am going to wait until a little later in the year when the wisteria is dormant and the shock of being moved will be minimalised.

We tried to shred the stems so that they could be composted easily, but the bark kept wrapping itself around the central spindle of the shredding machine, so we have left it on the ground to rot down (more slowly). 

After all that cutting and chopping we were both ready for a cuppa!

If you'd like to receive my blog posts direct to your inbox just enter your email address in the box below and follow the instructions. You'll probably need to confirm by clicking a link in your email inbox and then you will receive my blog each time a new entry is published. You can, of course, cancel your subscription at any time.

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Totally home grown

 We reached a milestone this week, our first meal that was made from entirely home grown ingredients. It doesn't feel like a big deal, it feels like an enormous achievement and one that I'd like to repeat regularly.

 I've continued to harvest the crops as they ripen and prepare them for storing for the winter. The beans, in particular, have been very good, I had left the last of the runner bean pods on the plants to ripen and this week I picked the fat bean pods and spent a lovely half an hour popping the creamy white kidney beans out of their green jackets.

The largest of the kidney beans will be dried and saved to use as seed for next year's plants. I was surprised at just how large the beans are, so hopefully next year the White Lady runner bean seedlings will be strong and healthy. The remainder of these fat beans will also be dried and added to the larder for use in soups and stews over the winter.

On Tuesday we were without electricity for the day. The local electricity supplier had told us that the power would be off for the best part of the day while they did essential maintenance to the power lines. The essential work that they were doing was to cut back trees that were at risk of interfering with the power lines. Far from being an inconvenience, I realised that this might be a great opportunity and so, as soon as we could see where the workmen were, we hopped into the car and headed off to talk to them. I gave them a note with my name, phone number and address on it and asked them to drop off any wanted wood chippings that they weren't leaving at the properties they were working at. 

 The next day they arrived with two trailer loads of chipped wood. It will need to sit for a year or two before it can be added to the floor of the food forest or into the soil of the raised beds (as it's from fir trees), but in the meantime I am using it on the pathways to cover the weed suppressing membrane. I know it's not ideal to have plastic membrane on the ground, but for now I am using it to kill off the pernicious weeds and in years to come and when I have saved up to buy the materials, I will replace it with bricks, flagstones or something else more environmentally kind.

On Wednesday, we had our 100% home grown meal. The only things on our plate that didn't come from the garden were a bit of butter and salt and pepper, but everything else had been grown or raised on the smallholding. The chicken was small, but tasted fabulous and was all the better for us knowing that it had lived a good life with daily (all day) access to the chicken field with fresh air, space to run around and a healthy diet including plenty fresh greens to eat. With the chicken we had roast potatoes, purple sprouting broccoli, leeks and a ratatouille type mixture made using patty pan squashes, tomatoes, garlic and basil. We had a certain sense of pride and satisfaction at knowing that we had put all of that food on the plates.

 On Thursday I started to clear the pumpkins from the small patch where they've been growing all summer. Earlier in the year I made a compost heap hotbed from spent brewery grain and straw, then made four small planting pockets in the top and planted a pumpkin and a nasturtium in each. One plant was eaten by slugs over the course of the first night, but the other three plants have gone on to produce some nice fruits.

 We had nine large pumpkins, seven of which are now ripening and hardening in the gentle autumn sunshine. As the seeds we a gift from my daughter and grandsons, they will be given one of the fruit to use for their halloween evening and the others will boost the larder considerably.

I was looking foward to seeing how much the grain and straw mixture had broken down and had visions of being able to spread a nice deep layer of well rotted compost across the area where the pumpkins have been, but the materials haven't broken down as much as I'd imagined that they would. So I think the best thing that I can do with this is create a new compost heap and use this as the brown material in it.

 In the raised beds, the nasturiums have grown well and seem to have done their job of attracting pollinators to the garden. I've collected some of their seeds and others I have scattered across the beds. I am happy for them to pop up at random in future years, after all, if they are somewhere inconvenient then I can either plant around them or pull them up.

 Nasturtium seeds can be pickled to make a 'poor man's caper' and if they are soaked in brine for a few days before pickling in vinegar some of the heat is taken out of them and they are a milder, gentler taste. I've tried this before with success and would happily make them again, except neither Mr J nor I like them! I might make one batch so that I can give them to friends and family at Christmas in a home-made hamper.

 In early summer I noticed that a sapling was growing in the area to the side of the piggeries and this week I've spotted that it is now about eighteen inches high. Fortunately it is growing in a suitable place, not too close to other trees or near buildings, so I will leave it where it is and allow it to grow. In other spots around the garden I have noticed other seedlings that are not in such clever places. There's a cherry tree that is growing at the foot of a compost bay, I will carefully dig it up and move it to the food forest. Several hawthorn and buckthorn are growing in the scrubby area behind the piggeries and they will be moved to the hedges.

There is still a great deal to do in the garden before autumn sets in fully and as today it's dry again, I am heading back outside to carry on getting in the vegetable garden, but first I think there's just time for a cuppa!

If you'd like to receive my blog posts direct to your inbox just enter your email address in the box below and follow the instructions. You'll probably need to confirm by clicking a link in your email inbox and then you will receive my blog each time a new entry is published. You can, of course, cancel your subscription at any time.

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Bountiful garden, busy kitchen

As the summer gives way to autumn, the focus of my day seems to have shifted from outdoors to the kitchen. Gathering food from the garden and preparing it for the freezer, canning, making preserves, meals and drinks takes up increasing amounts of time. 

I'm not a bad cook, as domestic cooks go. A bit basic maybe, nothing modern or fancy, but as what we want is wholesome, hearty or comfort food, I can do that pretty well. I'm now facing the new challenge of preserving all the vegetables that I've grown for using throughout the winter.

Obviously some will stay in the ground, winter cabbages, parsnips and leaks can be lifted as and when we need them, but others like the softer leafy greens and celery will need to be brought in or they will just turn to mush in the frosts. Because I have grown so many vegetables that I haven't tried growing before, I've had to look up when they need harvesting or whether they can stay in the ground and also find out the best ways to preserve them.

 I've frozen a large number of rainbow chard stems, chopped into two to three inch lengths which will be added to stews, roasted or tossed into a stir-fry. Neither Mr J nor I are very keen on the leaves of chard and while I have frozen a few servings of chard leaves, most of them were given to the chickens as I picked the stems.

The celery (Red Soup variety) will be cut this week, then chopped and frozen to add it's warming effect to meals throughout the winter. I don't like celery in salads, but I do like it braised, made into a soup or added in small quantities to dishes that are cooked gently over a long period, but most of all I like it roasted in a tray filled with a mixture of vegetables with fresh herbs and plenty of garlic.

Every day I have managed to prepare and freeze some vegetables and fruit. I've decided that even if I don't get to make syrups and wine immediately as long as the raw produce is frozen I can spend time in the kitchen once everything is gathered and make them at a later date.

The tomato fruits on the plants in the greenhouse continue to ripen and every few of days I've been bringing in a couple of handfuls of semi-ripe tomatoes.They are left in the warmth of the kitchen to ripen more and then I'm cutting them in half and freezing them. These will be a welcome addition to breakfasts in the colder winter months.

The purple French beans from a late sowing of seeds have yielded about 5lbs and there are still more to come. I planted a few seeds on 31st July in the hope that the plants might grow enough to provide a small crop, but it didn't matter if we didn't get any beans as the plants would fix some nitrogen into the soil following the onion crops that were in those particular raised beds. Having such a good crop from this late sowing feels like a bonus blessing.

Earlier in the week I noticed that one bed in which I've recently planted some purple kale also has lots of small purple leaved seedlings popping up all over it. I thought perhaps that it was red orach as there is a plant nearby, but yesterday I realised that these colourful little leaves are actually a purple oak leaf lettuce. I had forgotten that I had broad cast some seeds from a plant that had gone to seed (and now I think about it, I did the same with a tasty green leaf lettuce somewhere in the garden, I will need to go and look for seedlings). I will cover the bed with fleece to keep the warmth in the soil and hopefully we will have some baby lettuce leaf salad before too long.

I have gathered some fresh herbs and frozen the leaves whole, so that during the winter months when the herbs have died back I will still be able to use them in cooking. Each type of herb is in its own bag in the freezer. I keep them all in a small cardboard box so that I don't have to hunt around in the freezer looking for them.


Out in the garden I'm continuing to lay cardboard and make new raised beds, it's become quite slow going as there is so much to do in the kitchen. I've repositioned some strawberry runners that were growing in long grass in a corner behind the stables. They now have plenty of space in a more open position in the food forest and I've planted another blueberry there too. 

The Australorp chicks are growing fast now and their petrol black feathers are growing with a delightful sheen. They are so soft to the touch and very friendly. It won't be too long before I need to make the decision about which ones to keep for breeding and which to dispatch for the freezer. There are eight chicks and I am certain that two are pullets and two are cockerels, the other four I am not sure about! So hopefully in the next few weeks it will be become clear what gender they are and I will be able to make a proper decision. 

Of the four hybrid chicks that hatched at the same time, two are cockerels and one of the pullets is bantam size. Typically, the two cockerels which we won't be keeping have beautiful colouring while the pullets are white with scruffy black splashes. No matter, they will still provide us with eggs next year.

Yesterday (Sunday) we had sunshine for most of the day and the forecast is for fine weather for the next week. I am delighted to have this last touch of warmth before autumn and winter arrive. 

Today we will be taking one more walk along the hedgerows to pick the late ripening blackberries, they have been particularly good this year, not only have there been masses of berries but they have been large, juicy and sweet. We've already enjoyed blackberry and apple crumbles, blackberry Eton mess, I've made jams and frozen pounds of berries to make syrup and wine from. I want to make the most of this foraged harvest as not only is it free food, but there is such an abundance of it this year.

But before we head out to the fields to pick blackberries, I think it must be time for a cuppa!

If you'd like to receive my blog posts direct to your inbox just enter your email address in the box below and follow the instructions. You'll probably need to confirm by clicking a link in your email inbox and then you will receive my blog each time a new entry is published. You can, of course, cancel your subscription at any time.

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Where there's a will

Amongst all the exciting projects that are happening on the smallholding, there are still some mundane, practical things that need to be done. Sorting out plans for the future is one of those things. I need to update my will so that it reflects my current circumstances and it's been on my mind to get around to it and now seems a good time to tackle it.

I guess I should state that this is not a sponsored post, it's just my thoughts about what for many, can be a difficult subject.

I have very little to leave anyone but I do feel that I have a responsibility not to die intestate (without a will) because that would leave my loved ones with the headache (and potentially heartache) of trying to sort out my estate and the government of the day would decide which direction any belongings will end up. The last thing I want is for my daughter or Mr J to be worrying about legal stuff when my time comes.

I made a will a couple of years ago using a specialist will writing company and I paid around £250 for the service. Now I simply don't have that kind of cash lying around to spend on legal services, so I've been looking at other options. 

My father talked to me at length and on several occasions about his will, his wishes and what was likely to happen once he was gone. Far from being morbid, these conversation brought us closer together and we both became quite comfortable talking about the inevitable future event. He was highly organised and had a file in his filing cabinet marked 'Life & Death' in which he kept a copy of his will, copies life insurance papers etc. which made the practicalities so much easier for us. Luckily my mother (who was generally much less organised than Dad) kept most of her paperwork in the same file, so when the time came to sort out her legal matters there wasn't too much hunting around to do.

With the memories of Dad's conversations in mind, I have started to talk with my daughter about my will, where it's kept, what she'll need to do etc. Hopefully she won't need any of this information for many, many years, but I am happy in the knowledge that among all the things that she may be feeling when I die, confused about what she needs to do as my executor won't be one of them.

Did you know that you can make a will free of charge via a charity campaign? This isn't you taking help from others, it's a valid part of a charity's fundraising efforts. If you don't feel that you have anything to donate to a charity, then you don't even have to leave anything for them, although of course, I think they'd like it if you did.

Anyway, charities find their funding sources from all over the place and legacy funding is a key part of many charities fundraising. For some of the charities I've worked for in the past it has been the source of the bulk of their funding in a year.

I did a quick search online this morning to see which charities have free will writing campaigns running in the near future.

The Free Wills Network has over 50 charities signed up to it, so you if you contact your favourite charity and ask them if they are part of the scheme, then they should be able to put you in touch with a solicitor who can write a will for you under the scheme.

I had a great chat with a funding manager at the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (R.A.B.I.) yesterday about legacy giving and he was super helpful. They are part of the Free Wills Network, the next campaign starts this week, but there is also another campagin in March.

Free Wills Month starts on Monday 3rd October, it's for folks over 55 years old and works with loads of different charities.

Will Aid month is in November and it supports nine charities, they suggest a donation of £95 for a single will and £150 for a pair of mirror wills.

Some individual charities have information on their websites about legacy giving and a quick phone call to them should help you find a solicitor who will help you write a will.

There are of course, many other schemes that allow us to make wills free of charge or for a small donation and an online search should help you find them.

All this thinking and planning is thirsty work, I think it's time for a cuppa!

If you'd like to receive my blog posts direct to your inbox just enter your email address in the box below and follow the instructions. You'll probably need to confirm by clicking a link in your email inbox and then you will receive my blog each time a new entry is published. You can, of course, cancel your subscription at any time.

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Chicken tractor and new feeder

The chickens have kept us busy for the last few days. The youngest chicks are now 9 weeks old and last night we moved 4 of them into the chicken shed with the older birds. 

So this morning we dismantled the run that was attached to the house that has been their home for the last five weeks and stored it in the back part of the stable. Then we moved the house into the stable too. It won't be needed for more chicks until next year and by keeping it inside we will protect it from the winter weather, hopefully helping it to last longer.

It will be interesting trying to get the four to go into the shed tonight, each time we move chicks into the shed we have a couple of evenings that we spend chasing small birds around the field herding them into their new accommodation.

This afternoon I created a vermin-proof feeding system (fingers crossed that it works). I had bought a set of toggles online, so following the written instructions that came with them, I made a hole in the base of a large bucket (a fermenting bin), dropped the toggle thingy into the hole and headed outside. I partially filled the bucket and popped the lid on. Outside I hung it on a rail to see if the birds would be get the hang of how to feed themselves.

 Mr J will make a tripod stand for the bucket to hang from and it should need topping up about once a week or two (depending on how much the birds find to forage and how much they get given from the garden, instead of eating feed).

The birds need to learn to peck at the toggle hanging down which is allow a few pellets of feed to drop out. It took Big Red about five minutes of inspecting the new feeder and watching me tap the toggle to work out how to get more food from it. Hopefully he will teach the other chickens how to use it.

After that, I dismantled the temporary fencing that we had put around the youngest Australorps' house so that I could move them to another part of the garden. They have done an admirable job in reducing the weedy grass to a flattened state and fertilise the ground, but it is time for them to move on to the next area that needs preparing for plants. The permaculture idea of different elements of the smallholding working together works so well for us. The chickens prepare the ground for us to plant in and at the same time get a constant supply of new, fresh green food. Win - win!

Freed from the confines of their run, they headed straight for the 'all you can eat buffet bar' and tucked into some spinach, chard and kale. It's a good job that I am growing these vegetables for the chickens or our greens supply would be severely compromised this week.

I pushed the hen house to the new spot. The young Australorps are in the house on wheels that we bought a couple of months ago, which makes moving it around relatively easy. Their next task is to clear some of the overgrown area into which we will be putting raised beds for vegetables next year. I moved the chicken wire netting with it's bamboo stakes and the makeshift gate, made from a couple of fence stakes and ready-made chicken run panels.

Once their new home was ready for them, I easily gathered up the chickens. They didn't seem to notice me walking towards them as they were too busy scratching in the ground for worms (the protein section of their buffet). They seemed quite happy to start exploring their new allotted space and immediately set to work on scratching the ground and pecking at the weeds. 

This process would be faster and easier if we could use flexible chicken netting that comes with its own spikes to push into the ground, but these little chickens are still small enough to squeeze through the gaps in the netting, so chicken wire and canes it needs to be.

Next year I hope Mr J and I can build a portable run that we can move from raised bed to raised bed so that the chickens can clear each bed as a crop is finished. And, once the food forest is more established the chickens will be allowed to roam through that on a semi-regular basis as they will eat grubs and insects and fertilise the ground. Of course they will eat some of the plants, but I think that's suitable price to pay for the removal of bugs and the adding of rich nitrogen matter.

Anyway, after all that work out in the garden with the chickens, I was pleased to head back inside and put the kettle on for a cuppa.

If you'd like to receive my blog posts direct to your inbox just enter your email address in the box below and follow the instructions. You'll probably need to confirm by clicking a link in your email inbox and then you will receive my blog each time a new entry is published. You can, of course, cancel your subscription at any time.

Enter your email address:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Bit of a squash

Having worked out my planting plan for next year in the vegetable garden (which you can see here) I now know that we will be using a large area at the far end of the paddock as a pumpkin patch among some young fruit trees that are going into this area in November. I won't only plant pumpkins, but all of the squash, pumpkins and courgettes that I want to grow next year.

I've been surprised at how easy the pumpkins have been to grow. This year I planted them into small soil pockets on the top of a straw and spent grain compost heap (see how I made the compost hot bed here) and I've fed them twice with a nettle tea, I have watered them when I've noticed the leaves wilting badly but other than that, I've pretty much left them alone to do their thing. Of the four young plants that I put in, one was eaten by slugs very quickly so only three grew, but I've been rewarded with 9 good sized pumpkins. The smallest of these is approximately 9-10 inches across, similar in size to a football, the largest is, at a guess, 20 inches across and 18 inches high. I'm looking forward to them being ripe enough to lift from their sprawling vines and weigh them. 

The courgettes have totally failed, not a single plant survived the slugs, but I did have some success with summer squashes and have harvested a couple of dozen (or more) patty pan squashes from the four plants that have grown in compost heaps and interestingly fewer per plant from the couple of plants that have grown in the ground.

Three butternut squash plants that looked like they had been eaten by slugs managed to survive the slimy onslaught and produced some small fruits, but sadly they have come so late in the year that I doubt whether they will ripen enough to be able to store for use later in the winter. But nothing goes to waste, if they aren't quite ripe enough for us, I can cut them and give them straight to the chickens, who will happily tuck into them.

So, buoyed by this year's encouraging experience I've decided to grow more (and different) squashes next year. I will start preparing the ground this autumn by making hugelkultur beds. I will pile up logs of wood, small branches, well rotted manure, leaves, garden compost and composted wood chippings and I will cover them with a thick mulch of straw from the duck houses to protect them from leeching too many nutrients in the winter rain.

I've been sorting through the seeds that I have in my seed box and already have several packets of squash seeds that I can use next year and I think the only seeds I'll need to acquire are of some type of spaghetti squash. As my daughter has offered to give me some seeds for Christmas, I will ask her for some spaghetti squash seeds. 

These are the pumpkins, courgettes and squashes that I plan to grow next year.

Image & info at Premier Seeds Direct

Squash delicata (winter squash). 
I really like the look and description of these heirloom squashes. They are sweet like a butternut squash but the skin can also be eaten. I've found some lovely recipes using this squash including a maple glazed one which I will definitely be trying.

Image & info at Premier Seeds Direct

Jumbo pink banana squash
Another heirloom squash that has good keeping properties and as it names suggests, it's a biggie! This recipe from Firesign Farm blog is for a squash pie looks very simple to make, I would probably only use cinnamon and nutmeg as my spices as those are our favourites.

Pumpkin Howden
This is the pumpkin that I've grown this year and I've been very pleased with it. I will grow less of them next year as I don't think we need quite so many.

Image and info at Premier Seeds Direct

Butternut Waltham
This is the butternut squash that we've grown this year and as I still have seeds, I will give it another go next year. We both like butternut squash soup and I like them baked in the oven with goat's cheese and pumpkin seeds.

Image and info Premier Seeds Direct

Courgette Verde de Milano
A deep green courgette which I hope to pick when they are still quite young as I prefer baby courgettes roasted in the oven with a host of over vegetables, garlic, salt and pepper and fresh rosemary.

Image and info Mr Fothergills

Yellow courgette
I currently have seeds for courgette Soleil F1, which look fabulous, but if I can find an organic seed that looks as appealing I will swap these seeds for organic ones. I much prefer yellow courgettes to green ones as they are sweeter, with less course skin and make extremely nice cakes!

Courgette, lemon and poppyseed cake from Riverford Organic Farmers

Oven baked summer squash Sunburst stuffed with Bolognaise sauce

Summer squash Delikates and Summer squash Sunburst
I've grown both of these this year and have been enjoying them baked, friend in ghee, stuffed, shredded and have frozen quite a few of them, sliced and ready to use in meals during the winter. The photo at the top of my blog shows these squashes (and the cabbage) used in this meal. The yellow ones look like sunny pork pies and just ask to be hollowed out and filled.

There are so many other squashes that I'd like to try to grow, but I think it would be better to try a few at a time and discover which ones we most like to eat.

Wherever possible I am using heirloom varieties and organic seeds. By avoiding F1 varieties, I should be able to save some seeds from each plant for use the next year. Our aim is to reduce our living costs and saved seeds will do their part to lower our costs. There is, I guess, a risk that plants will cross pollinate and that we'll end up with some peculiar squashes, but I don't mind, that's all part of the fun of growing our vegetables!

Wading through jelly

 On Sunday we spent a few hours with my sister and brother in law. We live only twenty minutes' drive away from her home which means that we can see other much more often than we used to. If my sister wasn't related to me, I'd choose her as a friend as we get on so well, share the same sense of silliness and have a similar outlook on life.

I took a box of fresh vegetables from the garden, a few frozen runner beans (because they are amongst her favourite vegetables), some duck eggs, hen eggs, a jar of blackberry and apple jam, a jar of apple sauce and one of the smaller pumpkins that are still ripening.

After we'd caught up with each other's latest news, we gathered some rose hips from a rose that had originally been a hybrid tea type, but over the years suckers had grown up from the root stock and now it is a wild rose with no sign of the grafted rose bush. I'm going to use these to make some rose hip syrup and add a few to some hedgerow wine. While we were picking fruits we found a few elderberries, which I will add to the berries in the freezer ready to make into some wine.

We also came home with some wooden battens (that had been on their roof, but have since been replaced), some other wood off-cuts that may have ended up rotting in a corner of their field, wire mesh, a bale of bedding for the ducks.

I felt that we had a much better deal from our swap until I remembered that, except for the bale of bedding, we had taken away items that they considered to be rubbish and would need taking to the local tip eventually, so we have saved them the trip. 

The wood battens and off-cuts will get stored away until we are ready to use them, but to have some spare bits of wood around is very useful for those days that I say 'can we just...?'.

By late afternoon I had started to feel a bit wobbly and irritatingly I have now spent two days on the sofa feeling somewhat worse for wear. I have booked an appointment with my GP to have my blood tests done again to check the level of hormones for my thyroid, unfortunately the first set of appointments that I can have aren't for another two weeks. My hope is that I will be feeling better long before then and the appointments will just be a routine check-up.

Being knocked sideways gives me little to write about in terms of activity on the smallholding as I haven't been up to walking outside, which means that nothing has progressed in the garden or in the kitchen. I've put all the picked fruits straight into the freezer and will deal with them at a later date when every step feels less like I am wading through jelly.

Mr J has been looking after the birds and of course, this is the week that the smallest chickens have worked out how to break out of their field and head straight for the 'all you can eat buffet' that is the vegetable garden. We have foiled their fun by confining them to their house and large run until we have completed putting up more chicken wire netting to prevent the small birds slipping through the flexible netting that surrounds the chickens' fields. Hopefully Mr J will feel up to doing this when he returns from work today.

I did manage to get outside for a short time this morning, but it didn't last long before I needed to come back in and lie down again. However, I got to enjoy the late summer sunrise for a few minutes. I wish my camera could pick up the intense orangey-red of the sun, but suffice to say that the sun and the pumpkins looked beautiful together.