Happy Ducks

I eventually got around to advertising Bean (The black Indian Runner drake) in the paper. I put him in at £15 so that he wouldn’t go to someone who wanted a cheap dinner. To cut a long story short the lady who bought him persuaded me to part with a duck as well. So for £30 Bean and String have gone to pastures new the other side of Hereford and Sargeant has joined Sanjeev’s harem and become one of the Kumars.

Derek the farmer has replaced the fence in the donkey’s field at the side and back of the cattery. Mike has been trimming the inside of the hedge and the ducks will move across there for the summer. We will still keep one winter run in the garden. The Beans trashed their run so badly during the floods last summer it will take at least a year to recover.

New Kitchen

By special request………………… (thank you Richard).

Bike and car to follow.

Cheddarpuss

You can’t hide a fat cat in an Aspidistra!

Cheddarpuss & Marmite

I’ve had to add a new category for ‘cats’ because in October last year we got 2 of our own.

Cheddarpuss is Mum, black with a white tuft on her chest and very wide in the midriff department. Marmite is her son (we think) same description except he is the normal slim cat shape.

We got them from the RSPCA, they had been farm cats, fed on bread and milk. I think they appreciate coming to the world of plentiful cat food. They come into the cattery (the bit with no cats!) every day when I go to feed all the other cats and generally make nuisances of themselves until we feed them.

Marmite (shown here), has discovered that he can play with toys in the cattery by putting his paws underneath the walls into occupied units and hitting ping pong balls around. He also spends a lot of time doing laps of the roof.

Cheddarpuss has to be approached with caution as she will only accept being tickled on the back of the neck whilst eating. We say to visitors ‘Before you try to stroke a cat, check the width!’. Marmite has turned into a very affectionate boy with a penchant for pinching anything he likes the look of to play with, including Boogie’s tail. He must have been bored this morning whilst I was out walking the dogs because he chewed the edge off a bread basket and shredded all the kitchen roll inside it.

Eggs

The Beans (collective term for the Black Indian Runners) have trashed their run over winter so they are in a temporary enclosure whilst the mud hopefully becomes grass again. They started laying again in February and Dipti of the Kumars (the original 3 ducks) started on the 29th of February.

String has now stopped laying again. This is probably due to trauma. She keeps escaping from the temporary run and gets regularly pinned down by either Boogie or Spike who then pull a mouthful of feathers out. She is too stupid to stay safe and they just seem to enjoy the chase.

2008

Ah well, I never promised to update our blog daily, weekly or even monthly!!! Thanks to Corrine I have been reminded that it’s a little bit out of date, so here we go.

The pond is still a large whole in the ground.

The veg garden still has some leeks, celeriac and a lonely perennial broccoli. It also has a fine crop of weeds.

6 varieties of chillies have been sown in the conservatory and also more celeriac.

Parsnip

This photo is especially for my Mother.

I dug up some carrots and a large parsnip this morning. By the time I went to get them off the garden table half the carrots had disappeared and Spike and Boogie were looking very happy. I must remember how much they love raw carrots as a treat next time and leave them somewhere where they can’t help themselves!

Who can resist a sunflower?

If I was a bit more efficient with the weeding this wouldn’t be in the middle of the path in the veg garden!

Courgette Curry

This is being cooked regularly at this time of year. A great one for the freezer and one of my favourite curries. The tinned tomatoes can be the supermarket cheapies. Chillis can be fresh, frozen or dried.

• 4 – 6 tbsp olive oil
• 4 tsp cumin seeds
• 1kg courgettes (5mm slices)
• 2 tsp chilli powder
• 4 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 4 – 6 chillies, halved

Heat the oil and add the cumin seeds. When they start to crackle (put your hearing aids in if needed), add the courgettes. Stir and add the dried spices, mixing well. Add the tomatoes, salt to taste and fresh chillies.

Cover and cook until tender. 20 – 30 minutes.

Even Mike, who thinks every plate should have meat on, likes this one.

One-eyed muddy dog

Forget The Deer Hunter………..

This is The Mole Hunter !

and his partner in crime.