Day two of kitchen project

Look units!! And the floor tiles are missing! horrible noisy and dusty job that was too.


you can see from the first picture where the new sink will go and from the second where the range will live - that gets delivered tomorrow which is very exciting!

New Kitchen Update

This is the state of the room after one days work. Absolutely stripped of all appliances, units etc etc. The old kitchen is a sorry heap on the drive at the moment. However it looks like a friend has a use for some of the old cupboards so it won't all be going to landfill.


I'll do a new post now for day two which was yesterday

The surprising benefit of blogging

I'm quite hard on myself at times. My biggest fear is to be thought lazy - really... I have selective memory loss about what I've done in the week.

I remember sitting and reading or being on the Internet but sometimes its hard to realise just what else I've actually done. Writing it down here is actually very helpful to me and how I perceive myself. I can see just how much we get done and what we've achieved in a week. Be it the plot, the kitchen, the workroom or even the new projects like bees or the kitchen.

Tim is a very active person - one of the many things I love about him - and together we really get things done, which is great! Its so much easier when you can motivate each other and work on a project together. We must sound driven and workaholic but we're not. Last Saturday for example, we spent an indulgent day at Blenheim Palace with a romantic picnic by the lake in the late summer sunshine - just reading and enjoying the peaceful views.

I do find it hard to juggle everything, of course I do and then of course its harder still not to bemoan all I didn't get round to doing. I'm trying to plan the week better so that there is some mind space time to rest and rejuvenate without guilt, before setting off again. Time management is one of the hardest things to get right I think. I want to do it all, but of course I can't.

This brings me on to the Autumn Equinox which is this weekend. As well as being a harvest festival point in the Pagan calendar it is also a festival of balance and equal-ness. I'm going to do some musing on that and how I can better balance 'work' and 'not work'. Not an easy thing to do at times, I'm sure we all think that.

On another point, thank you for your comments. Keep them coming! I really like to feel you're reading this. Do disagree with me, I learn that way. Either that my thoughts need to evolve or that I need to express myself better perhaps.

The photo was taken at Westonbirt, one of my favourite places, last autumn. Won't be long before we can go there again to take in more of the glorious autumn colours that make it such a special place

Things I've made

Thingymas the Desk Dragon made in needle felt

My first attempt at producing a felted fabric using bought undyed and unspun fleece

Pots painted with glass paints

This is a quilted purse I made for a Christmas hamper

A painting I did to match the decoration in Tim's old house.

There are other things like pegloom cushions, tapestries, quilted oven gloves (why buy when I have all the ingredients to hand to make a pair) cushion covers and basic knitting, that I haven't got round to photographing . Of course there are also a sorry amount of things still to be completed -

perhaps if I put up this photo of an incomplete tapestry I'll be shamed in to getting on with it!

random green thoughts

Just some mixed musings.

1.If the media publicising green behaviour would only point out that 'saving the planet' by using resources carefully would actually save householders money, more folk'd be keen to join in. The whole campaign has hints of a hippie lifestyle which turns people off.

2. If councils want recycling rates up then recycling has to be simple for householders to do. Its often seen as 'too much work' or 'I haven't got time' not true but if it's made complicated by arbitrary rules or too many containers to separate things in to folk will switch off.

3. Those that argue that climate change isn't caused by man are muddying the waters. Again arguing about 'saving the planet' or 'man isn't responsible for climate change' is off putting and gives folk a chance to opt out. More pressing is the problem that we are running out of oil. Whether you believe that curbing transport is good for the environment (and smog is an equally nasty problem whether you think exhausts add to CO2 emissions or not) or sensible, as petrol will only get too expensive or run out entirely, the action is the same.


4. The idea that it doesn't matter what we do cos in{insert developing country of your choice here}they are growing economically so fast that it'll all cancel out our efforts is a shame. Could you stand by and do nothing still? Responsibility has to come from somewhere, why not from the little guy?

5. One of the best ways to be 'green' is to watch your consumption of everything. We buy for one hundred and one reasons but often its not about the item. 'Shopping' has confused wants and needs. A new whatever doesn't buy you happiness it just satisfies a lust for an item. Once you have it you want the next thing. Stop and appreciate what you've got. It applies to our resources like electricity and water, why would you waste something you pay for?

6. I've learnt a green lesson in our decluttering week. I've looked at exactly what I own and passed on the excess in clothes and books. I am better prepared when I do go shopping not to buy another one of something I already have. I discovered I own 4 body lotions - how did that happen- I've not wasted them, I'm using them and won't be buying any more until they are used up. Hey, that's saved me money!! You can apply that to anything you like.

7. Years ago we horded food for the winter from our harvest. I still get a thrill out of 'all is safely gathered in' but I think that is an entirely different thing to extrapolate that to CDs, books, clothes or any other 'thing' you may own. How much do you generally need?

8. How can not consuming help? You're not buying in to packaging, child or other suspect labouring, other unethical aspects of its manufacture or transport to get the thing here. We just cannot 'consume' in the way we have been doing - there isn't enough planet to let everyone spend like that. It alters the mentality that says that everything is disposable if you just keep enough and no more.

9. There is no need to be hair shirted however. We are here to enjoy and get the most out of our life here, but with that comes responsibility and adult behaviour. Do you not think we should have outgrown the 'I want everything in the sweet shop' mentality by now?

10. I still believe that Authentic living is the key to our way of doing things. Engaging in what we produce is so much more satisfying than just putting a package in the microwave. We are suppose to be physically active, busy humans. We certainly don't sit still in this house!

Photo of a delightful bowl of freshly picked figs!

The Great Kitchen Project

Starts here and now. We've been deciding on and designing a new kitchen, and utility room - here on called the cat room, and after sorting all this out and ordering stuff the project formally begins on Monday with the existing one being ripped out. This week the new cupboards and other paraphernalia arrived and are completely filling the garage.

The cooker will be delivered in line with it being fitted. Its a range - of course - which will be so exciting! I can do more cooking when I want to rather the present of having to juggle things around. At present I work on a ceramic hob with only 3 rings working and one single fan oven who's seals have gone. The range has 6 ceramic rings, 2 ovens and a separate grill. I'm use to cooking twice of an evening as Tim gets in later than the boys want to eat and with the improved cooking facilities I can do the boys tea and put a casserole or similar in to the oven at the same time and then my cooking for the evening will be done. Sounds good doesn't it? It'll also help with baking and processing jobs as I can utilise my time better and get more than one thing in the ovens.

Cupboard wise we're trying to improve the light levels in the kitchen. The original pine cupboards have darkened to that strange orange colour and with terracotta red walls and a mid green worktop the effect is rather dark. As the kitchen faces north east I end up having a light on most of the time. The new cupboards are a shaker cream effect which should help with light and the stainless steel sink is being replaced with a ceramic belfast one - which should be better for plot harvest washing. We're to have a granite type worktop actually in black but its shiny reflective surface will help with the lights that are to go under the wall units. The floor tiles are also being replaced. They are terracotta at the moment and small and fiddly to clean. We've got to go shopping this afternoon and are aiming to get a limestone pale tile in a much bigger size which will also help with creating a light filled airy room.

So this weekend is Pre-Kitchen (we've got in to a habit at the moment of deferring things to Post Kitchen when planning stuff in to the diary at the moment). We're in the middle of finding homes for all the things that normally fit in to a kitchen and cat room. There are at the moment coats, spare mugs and empty demijohns in our bedroom. Delicate china and glassware in the workroom (my desk is out of bounds for the duration). Next all the usual crockery, bakeware, appliances and food will come in the sitting room.

A mate of Tim's has kindly lent us a microwave so that we can do some basic cooking but with no sink and only the dining table to work on I fear we may have to cross over to the 'dark side' and exist on ready meals for next week.

The washing machine is going to be hard to reach so I've been trying to keep up with washing as well. Luckily all of the urgent (i.e won't keep) processing has been done.

We'll post some pictures later of the existing kitchen and progress report it as we go along.

Edited to add pictures of most of it as it was this afternoon being cleared - hence its a bit muddly!

A round up of news

As always keeping busy here.

The bees are being fed so that they can create stores to see themselves through the winter. They're looking strong so hopefully this is a good sign for the winter.

The chickens are well. Flossie has been slowly retiring herself and we now only get about an egg a week from her. She's well and beaky though. Henrietta continues to lay well.

Plot is looking a little dowdy- normal for this time of year - but there are now 2 sacks of potatoes and a good selection of pumpkins, onions and garlic in store. Courgettes haven't done so well this year but I'm up to about 20 pints of soup in the freezer and there are a couple of marrows I've not processed yet. Soft fruit has been good and there are plenty of raspberries in the freezer and more to come yet.

We've foraged for elderberries and I've some in the freezer ready for wine. I'm aiming to get out and blackberry in the coming weeks to add to that. Hops in the back garden are looking good but that is so dependant on the weather that its a matter of catching them before they go over - some years we've been unlucky.

We've had a lovely little harvest of figs and the tree looks very healthy. Tomatoes have been variable. Those on the plot have sucumbed to blight and we've had very few. Cherry tomatoes in the greenhouse have been good but again the bigger Roma plum type ones were less successful. Havested one fine red pepper and the chillies have started to be harvestable.

I was going to find a picture of the plot, but then I realised I'd already used it - so its a goat picture instead, for no other reason than its a nice picture..

Hunny - it really is Hunny!

So the finished article. 7 and a bit lbs of lovely golden honey. Oh we'd have liked more certainly but its been such a bad year for bees in terms of weather (they don't go out when its wet) and avaliability of forage ( the floods would have damaged flowers for sure) but its our first year and honey we have!! It tastes delicious and we're really pleased to have managed our bees - we must have done the right things then.

Now we have to start thinking about winter for them; yes even though the weather is still lovely. Having taken off their carefully gathered stores we need to replace that with sugar syrup that they can then pack in to the hive for stores over the winter. There are plenty of bees about and we really hope that means they are in fine shape as they go in to the winter time.

Don't need to comment on the photo do I? Its obvious what it is!

Hunny!!

We've started to extract the honey. We've not finished yet and in fact merely started to do a few frames just to find out what it was like. So first picture shows the first process which is uncapping. A sharp flat knife is used to gently carve off the top thin layer of beeswax that the bees have capped the honey with. The uncapped honey is the white bit you can see towards the top of the frame.



close up of uncapping - delicious dripping shiny HONEY!!

These frames are then loaded in to the extractor which works by centrifugal force to spin the honey out. And why buy an electric motored extractor when there is a keen boy or two to turn the handle for you.


There is more to it than that. It needs straining of bits of wax etc before pouring in to jars and being labelled but we were so excited at the prospect of Honey that we had to post up how far we'd got this evening. Oh and its sticky but delicious work - well done bees!

New Term, New Emphasis

So as the kids set off for new schools or at least new classes, all smart with new clothing and shoes I felt it was a good time to do something similar for me. The summer is nearly over, its September now, and changing something to reflect a new 'beginning' seemed right somehow. I'm sure you have memories of a new hair cut or similar as you started back to school so why not do the same as you're older?

As my eldest son is about to start secondary school I felt it was a good time to revisit how I felt my role within the family was and how it needed to evolve. My sons are growing up and whilst of course they still need me, their growing independence means that I need to learn to spread my wings further. I don't work and still don't feel I want to follow that path (although having been at home now for over 11 years its something I'm slowly musing on) but I can make stronger moves towards doing things to help me grow rather than my previous emphasis (and I realise its merely words but never underestimate their strength) on being a Mum and Homemaker. These things are still of course important and they don't loose that importance - this is difficult to explain, it does make sense honest - but they can safely move down the list more since my 'mum skills' are less in demand whilst they're at school.

So thinking on from this, this is what I propose to change and I hope then you can see what I mean. I've been doing an OU course for the past 7months - T172 Working with our environment:technology for a sustainable future, and have signed up for my next one starting in October which is DD100 An introduction to the social sciences: understanding social change. Its a more intense course and will need more hours study. So top of my list now is going to be Student! Setting that as my first planning duty each week feels a very positive thing to do and a setting out of own identity rather than being Just A Mum - now does it make sense?

Homemaking and processing are still very important to me (as are my kids, but we'll take that as read) and I can find enough to do to fill the week if I include the craft things I enjoy but of course they're all solitary things. This isn't good is it? So I've volunteered to help out at a charity bookshop to get me out more. I've an 'interview' next week to see if I can do this.

Another Me thing (this all sounds so selfish but its not, honest) is that I've been doing Pilates for the past year and have really noticed a difference in my shape. Keen to build on that as well as restarting lessons I'm going to explore having private sessions at my teachers home studio. Pilates is so good for immediate health and strength but also the preservation of future suppleness and core stability. - I'll put my teachers website in the links after this.

Its subtle things in a way but its about outlook and more authenticity I guess. Having found the beginning of authentic living, there is then room to grow from that. Its giving me the confidence to then tackle other ideas and projects.

A good sunflower picture to end I think. It was a very tall sunflower so Tim had to lean back to get it in and considering its using the camera on his phone its a great picture!