Greetings, Ken here, suffering through a miserably hot day in Upper Canada. I have the week off, and that means catching up on all the chores and jobs that were supposed to be done in the spring. That's right ... spring tasks in July! The spring monsoon we had this year co-incided with time off I had booked to get things done before the heat of summer. A good idea if the weather co-operates!
That being said, I have a list of tasks to complete before I head back to work and I am only slightly behind. Todays task was to make screens for the kitchen windows. Cat proof screens I might add and I was able to complete one of them. I find the first time I do a particular thing it always takes longer than subsequent efforts. I hope to finish the other screen tomorrow as well as tomorrows scheduled clean up job. Thursday's task is a new roof on the chicken run and Friday's task is picking berries and other odd jobs.
The lawn growth has slowed down considerably, but we did get a large amount of grass for bedding the birds and for the gardens. I suspect I'll have to cut the grass this week and then not again for two weeks unless we get some serious rain.
Rain, we need it desperately. There are cracks in the soil a foot and a half deep (45 cm for the younger crowd) There's a lot of clay in the soil around here and it really shows in the dry weather.
Despite the lack of rain, the gardens are doing well as are our fruit trees. The birds got all the cherries again this year but we should have a good crop of pears.
Margaret has been slaving away in the kitchen, making raspberry jam and mango chutney. The heat has been even worse in the kitchen, another reason I want to get the screens done so there's air movement in the kitchen.
That's all for now. Stay cool if you can.
Thanks, Margaret & Ken.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Has it really been 2 weeks
Margaret here to start...
I apologise for not posting for so long. Had a couple of very busy weeks. Had 3 of our Grandchildren here for a week. Was slightly apprehensive about the kids being here with us doing what we are doing, but soon realised that they are used to our lifestyle . So things went along as they normally do, with a few exceptions.They had to get used to absolutely no lights in the house. They flicked on switches only to discover no lights.Then learned to take a traveller in with them when going into a dark room. I do not have to worry about them touching hot wood stoves or playing with the candles, as they are Aidan 11, Zoe 6 and Jude 5, so lot's big enough to understand about fire. Plus I have cooked with wood for so long it is same old, same old for them. They did have lot's of fun this trip dipping candles though. They learned about how the ice box workes in it's simplicity. Freaked them out a bit,but they soon learned it was just as cool there as it is in a fridge if you do things properly. The kid's know we do not watch tv so that was not an issue. They spent lots of time in the gardens and discovering all the wonderful wild berries nature has to offer...oh and Zoe discovered the pea patch and now there are none for dinner...she ate all of them. Good thing I have started another bunch.
As an aside ...these are our 3 grand children who live in Guelph. We have another who lives in Mass USA, Thor who just turned 3, July 3rd. He is getting a new sister who will be named Freya ...exciting news for us to share with whomever will listen.
We have received wonderful imput here on our blog and got a new letter from the South Bay Ladies Tea guild...gave us valuable information on tea and how it was packaged during our time period..so if you have a minute read the comment in the Potables post.Very informative . I thank them again for the information and will be doing further research on this ..It is easy to assume ..
I guess I could summarize these past couple of weeks as "hot", I now truly understand the need for a summer kitchen. It gets brutally hot in the kitchen with the stove going all day. I have been trying to do extra research on summer meals .But am surprised how little is available here in this part of the world for information.But I am still looking .I have some fantastic books but always looking for more information.
What I have experienced so far in our little project is the satisfaction of what we are doing here together. The satisfaction of dipping candles and using them, of building a fire and making our meals. Realising how easy these things are in reality. The beauty and quiteness of a room lit by candles and simple conversation or a word game. Watching chicken tv.... watching the chickens be chickens..
We have been working in our gardens and enjoying our bounty. It is raspberry season so we have been collecting lots of raspberries and making this years jams. The house smells wonderful. I will be canning everything I can get my hands on this year so we will be busy.
Forgot to mention we have our buggy, picked it up when the kid's were here. So it has been well welcomed by all. In touch with someone for the horse to go with it ,but that will have to wait a while.
We got some new chickens and their chicks from our friends Sue & Dave and they are happily mixing with the rest of our chicken crew. Haven't convinced them that inside is best at night but I am sure that will come. Dave and Sue leave them out day and night so they are not used to a chicken coop at night. I am just afraid that racoons will get them , but these chickens are pretty smart.Or seem to be. And it is lovely to see these moms with their little ones cruising around the yard munching on everything that moves.
I am going to leave room for Ken to write a few lines so for now I will say "keep cool"
I apologise for not posting for so long. Had a couple of very busy weeks. Had 3 of our Grandchildren here for a week. Was slightly apprehensive about the kids being here with us doing what we are doing, but soon realised that they are used to our lifestyle . So things went along as they normally do, with a few exceptions.They had to get used to absolutely no lights in the house. They flicked on switches only to discover no lights.Then learned to take a traveller in with them when going into a dark room. I do not have to worry about them touching hot wood stoves or playing with the candles, as they are Aidan 11, Zoe 6 and Jude 5, so lot's big enough to understand about fire. Plus I have cooked with wood for so long it is same old, same old for them. They did have lot's of fun this trip dipping candles though. They learned about how the ice box workes in it's simplicity. Freaked them out a bit,but they soon learned it was just as cool there as it is in a fridge if you do things properly. The kid's know we do not watch tv so that was not an issue. They spent lots of time in the gardens and discovering all the wonderful wild berries nature has to offer...oh and Zoe discovered the pea patch and now there are none for dinner...she ate all of them. Good thing I have started another bunch.
As an aside ...these are our 3 grand children who live in Guelph. We have another who lives in Mass USA, Thor who just turned 3, July 3rd. He is getting a new sister who will be named Freya ...exciting news for us to share with whomever will listen.
We have received wonderful imput here on our blog and got a new letter from the South Bay Ladies Tea guild...gave us valuable information on tea and how it was packaged during our time period..so if you have a minute read the comment in the Potables post.Very informative . I thank them again for the information and will be doing further research on this ..It is easy to assume ..
I guess I could summarize these past couple of weeks as "hot", I now truly understand the need for a summer kitchen. It gets brutally hot in the kitchen with the stove going all day. I have been trying to do extra research on summer meals .But am surprised how little is available here in this part of the world for information.But I am still looking .I have some fantastic books but always looking for more information.
What I have experienced so far in our little project is the satisfaction of what we are doing here together. The satisfaction of dipping candles and using them, of building a fire and making our meals. Realising how easy these things are in reality. The beauty and quiteness of a room lit by candles and simple conversation or a word game. Watching chicken tv.... watching the chickens be chickens..
We have been working in our gardens and enjoying our bounty. It is raspberry season so we have been collecting lots of raspberries and making this years jams. The house smells wonderful. I will be canning everything I can get my hands on this year so we will be busy.
Forgot to mention we have our buggy, picked it up when the kid's were here. So it has been well welcomed by all. In touch with someone for the horse to go with it ,but that will have to wait a while.
We got some new chickens and their chicks from our friends Sue & Dave and they are happily mixing with the rest of our chicken crew. Haven't convinced them that inside is best at night but I am sure that will come. Dave and Sue leave them out day and night so they are not used to a chicken coop at night. I am just afraid that racoons will get them , but these chickens are pretty smart.Or seem to be. And it is lovely to see these moms with their little ones cruising around the yard munching on everything that moves.
I am going to leave room for Ken to write a few lines so for now I will say "keep cool"
Friday, July 1, 2011
Another beautiful week
Greetings to you all. What a wonderful week it has been. We have been so fortunate with the weather. The gardens are growing amazingly and our feathered friends have enjoyed good days running around the yard visiting with the cats and birds and whomever else they run across. I was watching one of the chickens yesterday and she seemed to be acting unusual.Jumping kind of straight up and down.Then it registered what whe was actually doing...she was jumping straight up in the air and stealing cherries off of our cherry tree. Who says chickens are dumb. Ok Ok!!! most of them are but this one was clearly thinking with her tummy.
Ken here, it was truly a sight to behold! A leaping chicken, feasting on cherries. Never seen anything like it before. I finally got the last of the hay (grass) off the lawn. We use it to cover the soil in the gardens, over top of newsprint to help keep the weeds down and keep the moisture in. It works quite well actually and we've been doing this for three years now. No new purchases or devices to tell about. Just catching up on all the work which was supposed to be done in the spring. The very wet spring really delayed the outside work and we'll likely get it caught up just before the snow flies again.
Not much else to say other than Happy Dominion Day! (Canada Day for the younger types). Enjoy your day and the weekend.
Ken here, it was truly a sight to behold! A leaping chicken, feasting on cherries. Never seen anything like it before. I finally got the last of the hay (grass) off the lawn. We use it to cover the soil in the gardens, over top of newsprint to help keep the weeds down and keep the moisture in. It works quite well actually and we've been doing this for three years now. No new purchases or devices to tell about. Just catching up on all the work which was supposed to be done in the spring. The very wet spring really delayed the outside work and we'll likely get it caught up just before the snow flies again.
Not much else to say other than Happy Dominion Day! (Canada Day for the younger types). Enjoy your day and the weekend.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
