January has been quite snowy. Not in a disruptive way - we've not been prevented from going anywhere for more than a few hours (not that there's really anywhere to go right now anyway). But it's definitely put a stop to outside jobs. Still, as always, some progress is made regardless. Let's have a bit of a round up... The veg patch Much to my surprise, the veg patch is still producing! Yes, the remaining veg has been periodically buried under snow, but we had our first leeks in January, as well as kale, turnips, and the last of the sage. I've started to plan in earnest for the new growing season as well. I did a vague plan in the autumn, and ordered my seeds in November, but now I have a definite plan of what's going in which bed, and when things need to be planted. Exciting stuff. That picture was taken in mid January, but I should confess that our Christmas tree is still up, and I won't be taking it down until something decidedly cheerful happens. Chickens The chickens are still under bird flu lockdown orders, shut in their run away from the wild birds and threat of infection. We miss having them roaming free, but they're cosy, and fine. I've been digging some of the ground from their run out every few weeks, and adding it as mulch to the fruit trees. Egg production is starting to ramp up again now, which is a nice sign of the lengthening days. After an average of one a day for the past few weeks, we've had three a day for the last few days. Their run isn't pretty, but it's predator and (mostly) weather proof, and there's plenty of space. We've got all kinds of plans for improvements, but our planned extension hasn't materialised, mostly because of all the snow. We've now added bird proof mesh and a temporary roof cover to the outside bit of the run, which was always ramshackle and never meant to be permanent, but it's not going to last five minutes in our current winds. I think they'll just have to put up with their normal run for the next few weeks, and then we'll build them a permanent extension when the weather picks up. Our kitchen More progress has been made on our own house. I spent much of January finishing the battens between the kitchen ceiling beams, and adding insulation. We salvaged most of the insulation from other people's building projects, and it's been stored in an outbuilding for a couple of years. Inevitably, some of it had been enjoyed by rats... Most of it was fine though, and I only needed to buy a single roll to finish the job. I'd like to say the kitchen is cosy now with it's patchwork ceiling, but it's not. There's only one radiator in there for a start, and no curtains. Some of the wall is just stone, and three of the windows in the offshot utility room are single glazing. We're slowly starting to tackle those things, one at a time. Still, it's exciting to have insulation up - definitely feels like things are moving forwards. Plasterboard next. Signs of spring I hardly dare speak it out loud, but there have even been a couple of signs of spring. First of all, the snowdrops are starting to peek through, and I noticed a couple of what I think are crocuses along the drive the other day too. And finally the rhubarb is starting to emerge, although it doesn't seem too impressed with the snow. What's next?
I'm planning to start sowing a few seeds towards the end of February - early for me, and possibly too early for here, but I'll keep everything cosy in the greenhouse and see how it goes. I'd like to get the plasterboard up on the kitchen ceiling, and preferably sealed and painted as well, although that might be ambitious. I'm hoping the end of February will bring the end of chicken lockdown, but that might be rather overambitious too. It doesn't seem worth speculating any more than that, everything is still so uncertain at the minute. One day at a time, as always.
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Hello!Sit down and make yourself comfortable. I'm Jenni, and I write here about our new foray into country living, which includes growing food, knitting, baking, wandering around the fields, and seeing which local cafe serves the best cake. Categories
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