Who needs the gym when you have wood to split! I’ve managed to source a generously sized walnut tree that had recently been felled, its been separated into logs of various sizes, some as large as 2 foot in diameter, these are way to big to be split with a simple axe, enter stage right, the wood grenade.
The wood grenade is diamond shaped with a very sharp point and is designed to split logs into four, the pointy end is great for an easy start and placing directly in the centre of that log you are splitting, this is essential to splitting the log into more than two pieces.
I have a 4 pound sledgehammer and to be honest I’m not that handy with these things, I thought that I should start slowly, for my own sake and everyone around me!
Hi all, you have probably been aware that of late my blog posts have dried up a little, well there is a good reason for this and that is the new member of our household.
I’m pleased as punch to introduce to you baby Hector, born on the 31st of January at 22:55.
This is my first and I’m sure bringing up a little one is hard enough, nevermind doing it sustainably. I’m sure you will all have great fun at my expense as I try to bring up little Hector the self sufficient way.
The last of our original battery farm rescue chickens, Maud, died yesterday from what we suspect was egg yolk peritonitis.
The morning before she look very fluffed and bow legged, we thought that she may have an egg stuck. We made a temporary home for her out our small dog crate, gave her a warm bath and left her overnight to see how she, or rather the stuck egg, progressed. The next day she was no better, so off she went to the vets. It turns out that she had a raging infection and a massive amount of fluid in her abdomen to boot. The decision to put hee to sleep was made.
Maud had a good two summers with us sunbathing, which is a lot better than the alternative once your productive time is over in the battery farm. Now she is with her friends in the great chicken coop in the sky.
If you know me, or indeed have met me, even for a short time, you will know that I love cheese, and love may not be a strong enough word. My name at work use to be mighty mouse, due to me bringing in wacky and often smelly cheeses, I must have been so popular.
Here is a quick guide to making your own soft cheese. Another tiny step to living more self sufficiently.
All you need is some milk, preferably organic whole milk, a large pan, some muslin and lemon juice.
Bring the milk to a low simmer, take it off the heat, squirt in some lemon and stir. The milk should start to curdle, if it doesn’t bung in a little more lemon.
Scoop out the curd with a slatted spoon and place it into the muslin. Once you have it all, tie off the muslin with a piece of string and hang overnight. Make sure you hang it over a container of some sort, to catch the whey that will drain from your cheese.
In the morning open up your muslin and spread out your cheese on the worktop. This cheese is a little bland but you can give it some vavooom with some chives, garlic, salt and pepper.
Note : Don’t throw out the whey after you have separated it from the curds, as it can be used to make soda bread.
Let me know how you get on and if you have any flavour tips, I’ll be happy to try them out!
The new house has really inefficent spotlights in every room and I think they generate more heat than they do light. Before I get hit with a massive energy bill, I think it’s time for a energy saving eco bulb makeover! (say that fast three times!)
Elly likes to be able to dim the lights as she sees fit, but the problem is we only have conventional light switches and no dimmers. After trawling the web I found a great solution, a Switch dimmable energy saving light bulb.
Now we have a bit more space and Jay has assembled Cluckington Towers, the new chicken coop seemed a little empty for our 3 girls, a visit to the rescue centre to get some more ex-batts was needed. The plan was to get 5 girls and a boy to keep them in line, it was all going well until I spotted 2 beautiful silvery grey ladies, so 3 became 11! Cluckington Towers may need an extension sooner than we anticipated. We have called the silver sisters Hyacinth and Violet, although we are not yet sure what they are! We also added 5 more ex-batts Myrtle the smallest of the group, her best pals Holly & Ivy, bossy/stroppy Naomi Campbell and Elizabeth Taylor and our preening Silkie boy Merrick!
Meet 'Merrick' our new boy
New Chickens
Things seem to be settling down after the initial introduction, a rough version of kiss chase seemed to be going on and not just from Merrick. Poor little Myrtle seems to have gotten over the worst of it after we rubbed Shea butter into her comb, so the others couldn’t get a grip on it.
There is not much on the egg front right now, but we are expecting great things come the spring.
Stay tuned and if any of you can tell us what the silvery grey ladies are, please drop us a comment.
UPDATE:
My torch has been great up until now, however I think my mother in law has found its weak spot. Actually there is no thinking about it, she did!
A broken crank handle !
A slight case of over-enthusiasm? maybe, or possibly revenge for me ruining her white sofa with a tomato. Either way the hinge that the handle is attached to is not at all strong, so beware. It’s still a great torch and I have augmented the design of the hinge with a hefty screw!
REVIEW:
It gets very dark out here in the country! Checking on the chickens can be full of pitfalls,
especially in our undulating garden, the last thing I want is Elly and bump taking a tumble.
Time I figured, for a heavy duty torch.
Enter stage left the Lion Power Plus LED searchlight, packing a massive 3 watts of
power. Not impressed with those numbers? Well it’s more about substance than fancy
numbers.
As you probably know we have moved out into the country. Our previous house was on the outskirts of Nottingham and it was a little devoid of critters and wildlife. That is very much not the case in the country. We have a bunch of chickens behind the house and a whole flock of them just across the road with geese and ponies to boot.
With that said I would like to introduce ‘Skinny Phoenix’ our garden pheasant, who seems to wonder across our garden in the morning and return in the afternoon.
Self Sufficient Livings Skinny Phoenix
One day I will follow him, and when I find out where he goes, I will let you know. I just know its a magic pheasant party!
