January in the Chicken Coop

This month our hens have been.... ... laying eggs! Well, Pepper has anyway. As with last year she's been the first to end the winter break and is laying most days. We were very impressed that she started again within a week of last winters date, and that gives us great hope that Frog and Lemon might not be too far behind.  ... continuing the festive season. We've been filling the nest box...

Read More

A Winter Trim

Winter is a time of year for clearing up in the garden. With no fresh plants to tend to and the weeds mostly hiding there is space to focus on big things. Particularly trees. When the leaves have fallen and the trees are dormant it is generally a good time to give them a good prune. Fruit trees that are pruned when dormant will sprout more shoots whilst those pruned in the summer are less inclined...

Read More

Mini Knitting

I love how quickly knitting for babies comes together. By the time I'd thought about telling you I'd cast on a new project, this had happened: One newborn size hat! Next up, some mini socks. We have a few friends with babies due in 2014 and I'm quite excited about all the knitting opportunities that this produces. I'm spending lots of time browsing Ravelry for interesting looking...

Read More

The Paperwhite Experiment Part 2: The Waiting Game

Back in November I planted some paperwhites that I had attempted to force into blooming for Christmas. I was a little late in getting them planted but I think it is about time for an update: Paperwhite watch day 73. Still no sign of a flower bud. Unless something changes I think this experiment will have to go to the archives of the journal of negative results. The bulbs have given us some extra...

Read More

Drip, Drip, Drip

The new year has brought us a lovely little present. We came home after a weekend with family to that dreaded noise; drip, drip, drip. Yes, the bay window has sprung a leak. After hanging out of the bedroom window with a torch to examine the flat roof we realised there was very little to be done in the dark and wet. Joe pricked the wet points in the ceiling to relieve any water pressure, popped a...

Read More

Life's a Game: 1. Shave a Sheep

One aspect of our life that, up till now, we've not mentioned on this blog is a love of board games. In particular we enjoy hunting down older games from charity shops. While this has a tendency to be hit and miss (we've certainly bought a couple of duds) it has also produced some gems which we'd like to share with you. Therefore, in 2014, we're going to feature a board game of the month, working...

Read More

December's unseen crafts

While we were absent we tried not to be idle. Christmas for us was a wonderful mix of busy family moments, and quiet corners in which to sit and craft. Joe found time to get his spinning wheel out for the first time in several months. This wool was bought at Christmas last year as pre-dyed tops. Joe has been slowly blending and spinning it in occasional free moments all year. He doesn't yet...

Read More

Kitchen Gadget 4. Hand Blender

Happy New Year! I hope you all had fun, relaxing Christmases and ate lots of good food. I know we certainly did. We also put our heads together over the break to come up with a few challenges and series for the blog this year, but we'll be sharing those with you as we go along. For now we're diving straight into 2014 with the next in our series of Kitchen Gadgets. This month we're taking a little...

Read More