For me, 2023 has been a funny old year. It was the end of our little chicken flock, of course, and I don't feel like I've got very much done around here, but let's take a look back and see. I started with a review of 2022, in which I declared I wanted to write here more regularly. Oops. I also said I'm hesitant to make any predictions, but I'd like 2023 to be a year of progress, where I feel like a few jobs get ticked off the DIY list. I'd like the kitchen and dining room to be finished, to have properly moved into the new bedroom (the mattress is still just on the floor at the minute), and to have set up my craft room. I'd like the stairs to be finished, and maybe even to have made a start on the bathroom. Well. Hmm. I had a long period off work over Christmas, when I painted the second coat of yellow on the kitchen walls, finished the thermal blinds, and shovelled some compost. The chickens were under an avian flu lockdown order, but we did rehome two new ladies, Skippy and Daisy. It snowed a bit, I started planning the garden, and we finally rebuilt our bed in the new bedroom. January on the homestead was relatively uneventful, aside from the new chickens, and a trip to the vets for Bessie. In February, the weather got a little brighter. I spent quite a bit of time outside, starting the new extension to the chicken run, pruning some bushes which were encroaching over the footpath, and weeding the veg patch with some friends. The rhubarb started growing, and I donated some of our tree guards to a community project. Indoors, we cleaned and restocked the pantry - a large and very satisfying job. March on the homestead was slightly more eventful. The daffodils arrived, but then so did a large snow storm that had me staying at a friend's house for three days because the roads home were all closed. I did a bit of batch cooking and got the dehydrator out of hibernation. I had a trip to stay with a friend, and poor old Sunshine chicken had a trip to the vets. April on the homestead was grim. We lost both Sunshine and Budgie, leaving us with just our elderly Bessie and the new chickens we'd rehomed in January. I did clean out the greenhouse and start making some new staging, and we finally took the Christmas tree down, but on the whole I was glad to see the back of April. May on the homestead was also pretty grim. We lost our beloved Bessie chicken at almost six years old, and we were heartbroken, especially so soon after losing Sunshine and Budgie. We made the difficult decision to rehome Skippy and Daisy - we'd only had them a few weeks, and couldn't face getting any more. A horrible time. We took ourselves off for a couple of much-needed restorative trips to the seaside. I did a lot of exercise, joining in with IronMay for Cancer Research UK. June on the homestead was rather more cheerful, although it felt very quite round here without the chickens. I strimmed the grass, we had a BBQ with friends, and I finished making my greenhouse benches. We also looked after our dog friend for a few days. We didn't get any DIY done, but the house did get struck by lightening, wiping out Peter's computer. July on the homestead was busy! I made a new bird table, we started gathering stones to make windowsills, and I finally planted out some courgette plants. I did a fair bit of batch cooking, started clearing compost from the chicken run, and cleared moss from the terrace by the front door. We had the side of the house rendered, set up the spare bedroom as a craft room, and I started the scything. The garden felt quite overwhelming in August, but I did make some progress. Some friends came to help with the scything, and we got a fair bit done over a weekend. We finally got round to hanging the hammock, and I spent quite a bit of my fortnight off just hanging around in it. Yet more scything in September, and I harvested a load of damsons (but not much else) and made some washing liquid from my own homemade soap. The weather was nice at the start of October, so yet more scything was done. We visited some friends, and I spent quite a lot of time applying for a new job.
November and December kind of got lost along the way. We went to Berlin, it snowed quite a bit, and we got all festive and cosy. Did I do all the things I planned for 2023. No. We moved into the new bedroom, and set up the craft room, painted the kitchen and finished sewing the blinds, but that was it for inside the house. Outside, I did more scything than ever (but still didn't finish the field), barely grew any veg, and spent quite a bit of time cursing the grass for growing so quickly. We've had various bouts of illness between us, and losing the chickens took its toll on our enthusiasm for a good while. So what will 2024 bring? I really do want to get the kitchen and dining room finished, and the stairs too. I'd love to make a start on the bathroom too. Outside - finishing scything the whole field of course (I imagine I'll still be saying that when I'm 60, without once having achieved it). I think 2024 might be the year I take a rest from veg growing. The last few years I've grown, failed to plant out in time, and whatever has grown, I've not harvested. I think I want a break. I'll scatter some flower seeds in the veg beds, but otherwise focus on seating, pruning, tidying up what's there, and a few little garden projects. We'll see.
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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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