Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! It has been too long. 

It takes a great deal of effect to maintain a blog and due to this, I had to put it on hold while I gave my attention to other areas of my life.

I am currently working and studying, in addition to being a mother, a wife, a milk maid, a cook and unfortunately a cleaner.

So with exams recently sat, I am able to update you on the goings on here at the cottage.

We are all ready for Christmas and the children are very excited. They finished up with school and play school on Friday and are counting down the nights still Santa comes.

We are over wintering my two young horses and the children's pony max together in a new sand paddock. It is working out very well and it doesn't hold a drop of rain.

They are feed haylage along the fence and it is super easy to keep them now.

Moo, the jersey cow has  been dry since we brought her in, back in October. She is her own cow yard near the horses. She is due her calf early in March and her belly is growing everyday. We let her out on grass for a few hours on dry days.

Our milking machine failed just before we dried her up, It will require a new motor and after some consideration, we have decided to purchase a brand new portable milking machine in the New Year. In the long run it should be more cost efficient. I do not want a newly freshening cow without a reliable milk machine.

The bees are clustered for winter. They fly on warmer days to collect water and empty their bowels. I will start to feed them when the days warm up in the new year. At the moment they can't break cluster to feed, I just hope that they stored enough for themselves during last season. We only took a few frames of heather honey from one hive. Some of this has been stored, should I need to it give it to a lighter/weaker hive.

The fox visited and took our two ducks and a young pet chicken called chirp chirp. The children were very saddened by this.

We currently have two roosters and ten hens that are still laying well for us. I collect about four eggs each morning at the moment.

Hubby got two male ferrets a few months ago to resolve the rat issue that we had. Our shed was alive with the amount of rats that were present.

Thankfully the ferrets have cleared out all rats in our immediate area. They have proven to be very easy to keep as we release them a few times a week and they come back for feeding, which is raw meat and off cuts free from our butcher. They are not very tame and handling of them requires gloves. I'm glad we got them.

Merry Christmas xx

September

The turf is all home. There is comfort is having a shed full of fuel as we approach the winter. This will heat our cottage, provide hot water and do much of our cooking over the next six months. 

The children had been busy yesterday helping me collect mushrooms after school.

The fields are full of them. I made and am still making large amounts of mushroom and courgette soup for freezing.

We have lots of courgette and maturing pumpkins in the veg garden.

The piglets are very cute and hardy now. They get out of their yard through the gate and ramble around the field and garden exploring until Sally sow calls them back with her grunts. 

They are great fun to watch. Soon they will have grown too big to fit through and escape. 

The children are back at school and I'm back at work part time. Our home has became  hectic is the mornings and quite during the day. Life is moving on!

The cow has dropped milk production as  is expected for this time of year. In the next 4-6 wks she will come in off the land and stay in her cow yard for the winter. At Christmas we will dry her off. She is due her calf in March. 

The bees are doing well and are flying everyday now. The ivy and heather is starting here and they are bringing in loads of pollen to build up for winter.

I will have less time to update the blog but I will update it :-)

July Update

We have one broody hen sitting on eggs for the last week. I have marked them but I am finding it difficult to remove the additional eggs that the other hens are laying in her box. 

She doesn't appreciate my interference!

Last week we forgot to close the door on the hen house. A fox came and climbed the stairs and pulled four hens from their perch. Hubby was so annoyed in the morning! We have decided to change the design of the stairs to make it fox proof. It is inevitable that we will forget to close the hen door once in a while. 

The mart is held on Wednesdays in our local town, I will go there tomorrow and buy more pullets to replace these. Our egg supply is getting worryingly low!

We started to harvest the new potatoes in the veg garden as we need them. I made a lovely seafood chowder yesterday using our veg and herbs from the garden, fish that we caught last month and our new potatoes . It tasted so good and didn't last long.

I have started to harvest the soft fruits before the birds get every last one. They are busy pecking the young apples and pears from the trees and doing all sorts of damage. 

I checked the mating nuc on Friday. The queen cells where due to hatch on Thursday. Every cell was hatched in the four chambers and I could hear but not find the virgin queens. They make a strange high pitched sound that has a pattern similar to hens clocking. I even found that the workers behaved very different. They all were wiggle dancing on the frames and making a strong hiss sound while being very calm and gentle.

I will leave them alone for the next two weeks as they seem to be doing well. At that stage I will be looking out for eggs and a chance to mark the queens. The weather is promising for successful mating flights.

The cow was ai'ed about five weeks ago. I had marked in my diary when she was due to come into heat again. I was pleased when this date had passed with no signs of heat. A few days later I noticed that for a few hours, the bullocks showed interest in her and a couple tried to mount her although she wouldn't stand. This passed as quickly as it came.

She could be pregnant and that was a false heat! We will have her scanned in the next few weeks to confirm, but the vet tells me that it is typical for a cow to have a 'break through heat' in early pregnancy. 

A typical heat for her lasts about three days. A day coming into heat, a half day at standing heat and a day coming out. Fingers crossed she took to the Angus straw.

We are going to England at the end of the month to holiday and visit friends for four days. I can really see the disadvantage of having so many animals as it can be difficult to get someone reliable to look after them. Especially if you have a cow in milk!

In the future it will suit us better to holiday during the winter when the cow is dry and the farm is sleeping!

Footing the turf

Our bog is located about 6 miles away from our cottage. 

It came with the cottage when we bought it, although it hadn't been cut is several decades and had only ever been cut by hand.

A few weeks ago we arranged to have it cut by a machine that passes through the local bogs in the area once a year, usually in May depending on the weather.

We left it dry on the spread for a few weeks before going out this week and footing the turf to allow it to dry fully before we arrange to bring it home.

It took about 4-5 man hours to foot it and it is an unpleasant job! 

I was disturbing ant nests as I worked which retaliated by climbing up my legs in attack. It is a job that requires gloves as the turf is rough on the hands and all kind of slimy creatures hide underneath.

My back took a day to recover and straighten up again :-)

Most families in our area cut turf each year, either as a supplement to oil or as their main fuel source. As the bogs are divided into many individual small plots and only a small amount of these are cut each year and it provides a wonderful wildlife habitat. 

I don't agree with industrial bog cutting as it is very damaging to bog lands. 

If anyone has an interest in the economics of it. Here it comes!

Turf cutting costs - 4 hoppers of turf cut (€45 x 4)   €180

4-5 hrs to foot ( about 2 hrs for two adults)

2-3 hrs to draw it home

So to heat our cottage for one year will be as followings:

Turf -  €180

Timber & kindling - Free

Coal & briquettes - €100

Fire-lighters & matches - €50

Total €330 per year for heating, cooking and hot water. 

It is a very economical cottage! And we plan to install solar panels this year or next which will reduce that further.

Enjoying life!

The weather has being amazing! I am trying to make the must of every ray of sun.

We went kayaking during the week on a nearby lough. The scenery was so beautiful that I had to remind myself that I was in Ireland. We went out far onto the lough and went diving, swimming and snorkelling. The water was so clear that I could follow schools of fish as they swim.

This made me reflect how beautiful the world is if we have the time to embrace it. For me I know the hardest thing is to plan or allocate days like this! 

It made me wonder; why don't I do this more often? Why can't I take the time to plan days like this more often?

What holds we back is guilt and getting caught up with my busy life. 

The sad part is that I can easily choose these days with a bit of planning but have instead chosen not to enjoy them. 

Maybe I was in a rut? Not anymore;-)

 

June Update

A few updates!

My exams are finished for now, thankfully!

One of the pigs was sent to the freezer last week. He killed out at a good weight and not too fatty. We just have the gilt left. She was very lonely at first but has become more friendly and enjoys all the attention she gets now.

There was a hatched queen cell in one of the hives a few days ago. I had put in a frame of young brood a week before and these were not raised into queen cells. My take on this is that the hive has a virgin queen and I will check in another week for eggs. The weather has been good for mating flights. 

The other hives are very strong and may consider swarming. I need to open the brood area in these by putting a foundation less frame in the centre of the brood. It should occupy them enough to not produce queen cells, hopefully! 

I will spilt one of these hives to make increases but the other, I want it as a production hive. We really want honey this year!

I picked up two broody hens today at the mart. I put them into the orchard with the other hens and when I checked on them later, I could only find one! Hubby will be disappointed when he gets home. We checked the roads and fields but no sign of her. She may or may not turn up.

I am busy at home toilet training our youngest. It is a messy and challenging experience for us both. 

One of our dogs is in heat which has caught the attention of all the neighbouring dogs. One even came inside the cottage today to mark his territory .Grrrrrr!

The veg garden is finally getting attention since the hens have been secured in the orchard. I rejoice in no longer having to hop over the hen poo on the doorstep each morning or crying when the kids carry it in on their shoes. They are no longer able to scratch out flower boxes and veg beds. 

Amber the cow or moo moo as the kids call her, was ai'ed last week to an angus  bull. She was also TB tested a few days ago. 

She is a sweet cow but I think I am the only one that can milk her now. She hates hubby since he had difficulty to bring her in and used a stick. She hates all men in case they are of the vet/ai type.

But she loves me and the kids, and is so easy but if she sees hubby she will turn around and refuse to come in till he goes.

So much for hubby being the relief milker!

Orchard

Hubby has been busy all day. He has planted three extra fruit trees and staked fifteen more, of apples, plum, cherries and pears. Did you notice amber in the background? She is looking over the stonewall. 

He then brought a wheelbarrow of muck to each tree and spread it at the base.

The orchard is looking loved now. I'm very proud of his work!

I noticed that some of the willow cuttings are starting to take. I need to keep the pony out of the paddocks as he keeps stepping on them!

Amber went out today for the first time in the big field. She was not very happy about this! She spent the day mooing and following hubby around by the fence line. I think she might be in heat!

We still do not have the milking machine working. It is not producing enough vacuum. Hubby has tried tightening the belt and did a total disassembly and still doesn't understand why! 

Either way, we know it is a sample problem, just too damn simple for us to fix. He will visit a neighbouring dairy farmer this evening to see if he has any ideas. We have asked about five people so far and they all assure us it is a simple problem/fix but don't have any suggestions.

I spent some of the day with my little girl building a woodpile by the porch door for the approaching week. The boys were busy exploring for bugs!

Happy St.Patricks Day...

It was too cold and wet for us to bring the children to the parade this year.

What did you do for St.Patrick's Day if anything ?  

Reflections of hand milking

So I have been hand milking everyday, twice a day for nine days now. My arms have gone through the pain, tension and numbness of extreme exercise inflicked upon them for forty minutes at a time. 

They are now strong and more efficient, with milkings only taking twenty minutes.

I have cursed my hubby for not learning how to hand milk and I have felt self pity for carrying all the milking responsibility on my shoulders, I mean forearms!

Hand milking a cow is not as romantic as one might think. Yes, amber is very quiet and willing. She has never once gone to the toilet while inside the milk shed but hand milking is work, sweaty work! And I have to do it twice a day, everyday regardless of how much it doesn't suit my mood or schedule on that particular day.

I get up earlier than everyone else and head outside to check on the animals. The hens are waiting for me at the doorstep and follow me to the shed. I turn on the lights and get the feed ready. 

A scope of grain is thrown out in the yard for the hens to pick at, one bucket of nuts for the pony and a large amount of nuts for the cow. I have a bucket of milk and barley already soaked overnight for the pigs. 

The pigs are shouting for breakfast from their sty as soon as they hear me in the shed. I get their bucket and pour it into their trough. They are very excited!

Next into the cow yard, where max the pony and amber the jersey are. They have been waiting impatiently. Amber mooing very loudly. I gave the pony his nuts in the yard while amber makes her way into the milk house.

She stands into her stall where her breakfast is waiting. I tie her in and take a seat down at her udder.

I usually take off my jumper or jacket. Milking is hard work! 

I clean off her udder and wash and dry it. I put a bucket under her and milk hard for twenty minutes. Once Amber's nuts are eaten, she starts on her hay. She looks back at me frequently while chewing. Once I have milked her out, I put her back into the yard or if the fields are dry she might go out for a few hours. I leave the bucket of warm milk outside the shed where our dogs are waiting. They drink 2-3 litres at each milking. The rest I use to soak barley for the pigs next meal.

We are not using much of the milk at the moment. Because she has a rear teat that has two openings, it makes hand milking very messy as it sprays everywhere. She needs to be machine milked to produce milk of a good hygiene  standard for our home.

I occasionally milk a few litres from her front teats into a bottle for the house.

We have a milking machine! I have being begging and pleading with hubby to get it functional as soon as possible. There is a problem with either the motor or vacuum pump.

Hubby is gone away today to a neighbouring dairy farm to figure out how to fix the machine and get spare parts. I, hopefully, will be a very pleased wife this evening when the milk machine is fully functioning. 

Fingers crossed!

And then I can consider making some Greek yogurt or some soft cheeses. Or even taking a bath in milk :-) I always wanted to do that !

Woodpiles & Ponies

We have been busy sorting out wood piles. Some fresh cut timber needs stacking to season and some seasoned timber needs to be brought into the wood/turf shed to dry out and be split.

We have about twenty trees that will be cut back or felled in the coming weeks if the weather improves. 

We have planted 270 willow cuttings recently and these will replace any trees that are felled. Trees are like crops, they should be harvested when they mature. Our trees are very mature at about forty feet tall and we worry about the next storm knocking them and all the damage that might bring.

It was a nice sunny spring day today. The dogs enjoyed sunbathing and our new pony 'max' has settled in. We brought him home on Saturday and our little Shetland went to a new home on Sunday. He was not quiet enough for the children or for my nerves. 

This pony is much gentler and quieter. I expect he should stay with us about eight years, by then the children will have outgrown him. 

He is eligible to compete at 128cm showjumping with our eldest boy next year. 

Our lovely neighbours dropped over at lunchtime today, a gift of five red pullets. I was delighted as we needed to replace the lost hens. Soon we won't need to buy anymore eggs!

We are cow shopping at the moment. So hopefully we will have news on that front soon.

Planting willow cuttings

I set about planting willow cuttings today ( thanks Kate ).  They were partially soaking in water since I got them last week. It was well time to get them planted.

These are a mixture of basket making varieties. I planted them around the bees and along a fence line.

I am hoping they will give the bees more shelter and encourage them to fly higher in the orchard. 

As they grow, we hope to weave them into fedges, a living willow hedge/fence.

We will use the winter pruning rods for basket making.

A few more signs of life in the garden. The rhubarb has awoken as have many flowering bulbs around the garden. The daffodils and tulips are pushing up through the cold soil. There are lambs in the surrounding fields, it is spring!

I have made a start to clearing out the veg beds. The pigs are reaping the rewards of turnips, kale, radishes and cabbages that have been damaged by recent storms. 

One pigs is to go to the butcher shortly, and the other is to remain as our breeding sow. 

I need to get the veg beds cleared out and add compost to them. Maybe try and heat up the soil using plastic sheeting. There is no polytunnel for this season. It will not be worth our while to replace the plastic on it after the storms. 

My to-do list is very long. February is alway a very panicked month, as I try to get ahead of the weeding, planting, beekeeping etc.

The hens need to move back into their moveable coop. I am getting no eggs and are having to buy them. But the dogs are well feed and have a great shine from all the extra protein. I want eggs!!! We also need to replace the hens that we lost last month. 

The bees need plenty of attention from now on. I need to check their food stores every week as now is the time for them to starve, as the queen starts to lay. This puts a great deal of pressure on the colony. 

We need to buy a new cow. I miss raw jersey milk so much!!

Although I feel pressured, I am very excited for spring. The winter is a very inactive period, and I long for its rest by autumn.

 But now, I long for activity, longer days, sunshine and sandals. 

 

Seasonal Changes

I have noticed changes in the last couple of days, here at the cottage.

The birds are singing a different tune, a tune of spring coming. Starlings fly overhead in large flocks before settling in nearby groves of sycamores. 

The sky is different also. It is clearer and the sun a little stronger. The damp misty winter fog has lifted for now. The sun shines a little longer each day. 

I have been opening the windows during the day to freshen our home. There is heat in the sun, felt on glass of the south facing windows.

Soon the lambs will appear in the fields that surround us. And then the daffodils will follow.

When I see those two things, Spring has arrived! But not yet...

Happy New Year !

Happy New Year everyone!

I am not one for looking back but 2013 has been a good year here. Like every year it has had it's low and highlights. But overall it has been a good year. 

But on to 2014! I have many plans.

We are looking to find a quiet pony for the children so that I can start to teach them to ride. I have got myself a horse to start show jumping this coming season. So I am very excited about this. Isn't it wonderful to have something to look forward to?

I have started making/using fermented foods and I hope to explore/improve this further. 

In the veg garden, we need to take down the polytunnel frame. It has been damaged in the recent storms and we don't intend to replace it.

We will build a glasshouse/potting shed instead and use cloche in our outdoor beds as much as possible. We are going to remove a few outdoor beds as I feel we have too much growing ground and it is too much work for me. I don't use it efficiently enough and I don't see the point in growing veg just to give away.

I will be more fussy about want we grow. Only grow what we eat! That means much more peas and no more broadbeans. 

We are also planning to buy a new cow shortly. Very exciting indeed! Hubby has the cow yard/shed almost finished and it should be ready in a couple of weeks.

We also need to buy a few more pullets as we do use a dozen+ eggs a day. We currently have eight hens, which just isn't enough. The neighbours dog has taken three young rooster over the Christmas. That sorted our excess rooster problem, but it also means that it is going to be a problem to free range the girls come spring. 

We have built up the bees to four strong hives. I don't plan to make further increases this year so we should be able to take a good honey crop off them in August. All going well, but with everything with bees, it will depend on the weather. 

The home brew has been going very well and I plan to make more country wines and of greater variety. I feel I have mastered this skill and I can produce a light fragrant enjoyable country wine and good beers/ales.

Hubby has plans to get laying ducks for the orchard and dig out a small pond for them. Again, I'm worried about the neighbours dog and the odd fox.

Our bog needs the drains cleared before we can cut turf for next winter. 

On a personal side, I hope to take piano lessons. I got a piano last year and I have started to play, but lessons would be a big help. I also started going to the gym last Oct in the mornings while the boys were in school and I hope to keep that up. Maybe not the five mornings as I have a horse to exercise now.

What are your plans for 2014?

Dec Update

With only a few days left for Christmas, everything is settling down here at the cottage.

The boys have finished their last day of school for this year. The recent storms have kept us all indoors and thankful for comforts such as open fires.

There is a daily countdown to Santa as the kids eagerly await his arrival. 

We will spend Christmas away from the cottage in the homes of extended family.

I have been experimenting with several fermented foods/drinks; water kefir, milk kefir, kombucha and sauerkraut. 

When I get the hang of them, I will write some posts in the new year. 

I made up a large batch of fed for the bees yesterday. I poured them into old take away container and I shall place them upside down over the crown broad.

I am restocking their food supplies every month at the moment.

As the temperature are still quite high, the bees are still flying and taking feed when they can.

I bought a competition horse last week. We are keeping him at a nearby stables that has a indoor arena over the winter. The plan is to show jump him next spring at SJI events.

I gave up horses after having our third child and it is nice to get back into it again. The children are enjoying helping looking after him and we are considering getting them a small pony this summer. 

The hens have moved indoors

The weather has been very unpleasant recently with high rainfall and strong winds.

We decided to move the hens into the stable for the winter from their moveable coop in the paddock. It is warm, dry and well lit. We may choose to use the lights to extend daylight hours and simulate egg production. 

We brought in some strong branches and a pallet for them to roost on at night and left a double laying box in the corner to lay in, but of course they have chosen another corner :-)

I don't mind as long as the eggs are clean and not at risk from breakage or savaging crows or magpies.

Hubby sealed the top of the half door with mesh to stop them escaping yet allowing in plenty of light and air.

So far it is working great! They are very warm and the stress/pecking order fights have settled down due to the extra space. 

We are getting 5-6 eggs a day at the moment although I discovered yesterday that what I had assumed to be a chicken is in fact a rooster. So another one to join the bachelor group that are free ranging out of doors.

We eat a large amount of eggs here every day. Mainly due to the fact that I don't like the children to eat breakfast cereals. I cook porridge, oat pancakes or eggs with smoked salmon every morning for our breakfast.

We are buying in eggs once or twice a week at the moment and are therefore considering buying in another six young pullets to booster production.

The range is lit in the morning now and I haven't had to use our electric oven in two weeks now. The kettle is always on the boil and a heavy casserole pot is always gently slow cooking something for later.

Life is slowing down now for winter and my favourite time is spent sitting next to the range reading a book with a hot cup of tea. 

Obviously for me to do this, I need to ignore the chaos, the mess and the frantic children who won't stop fighting that surround me. 

Headphones are a blessing ;-) and a good hubby!