Well, since the last post, I’ve processed the broiler chickens, we ended up with ten of them, and they’re now in the freezer. The other chicks have gone into a pen outside. So we’ve got our greenhouse back. Yay! And I’ve been happily growing away and planting. So we’ve got the tomatoes and cucumbers in, I’ve also had to put onions and beetroot inside because I’ve run out of room in the beds outside. Onions probably aren’t ideal in there, but I’m hoping they’ll be ok. Outside, so far, there’s peas, beans, garlic, spinach, some onions, and I’ve planted some salad stuff that hasn’t yet germinated. It’s been warmer than last year, but a lot wetter, so outdoor weeding and sorting beds etc has been a bit of a challenge. I still need to get a lot done, what I call the strawberry bed is almost waist high grass. Hopefully I’ll manage it this week, it’s supposed to be dry. Chris said the bed isn’t salvageable, but I say it is! I might be eating my words later this week. I’m still sorting the flower beds on the front as well, I need to plant my sweet peas. One side is in, the other, not yet. You seriously sink in if you stand on the soil at the moment. But as we say from Derbyshire ‘it’ll be rate’.
It seems to have turned into tick season, seriously, they seem to be everywhere! I know we did have them in Derbyshire, but I never had to extract them off animals and children when I was there. I think over the last two weeks, I’ve extracted 5 or so off the dog, one off one of my children and another off the cat. In fact, I took the dog to the vets lasts week for his vaccinations and whilst we were sat in the waiting room, I stroked his neck and a massively fat tick rolled off him (I had checked him before we went too). bleeurgh. I now keep tick tweezers on my key ring and am vigilantly checking everyone all the time. In fact, one of my sons has a small dark mole on his arm and I was absolutely positive the other night that it was a tick and was about to try and extract it. It was only his impassioned pleading that stopped me and I said I’d check again in the morning. It is indeed a mole. Listen to your children. 😀
I’ve ordered some goose eggs to hatch, they’re from Embden geese. I’m not sure how they’ll do, by all accounts they’re not as easy to hatch as chickens, but we’re going to try our best. One of the reasonings, is that they eat grass, and sound the alarm if foxes etc are around and that is always a good thing. I also love trying new things, so here we go. I have got a broody hen at the moment, but unless another one goes broody, I think I’m going to use the incubator because the one that is broody at the moment is horrible if you try and touch her and pecks you very hard if you try to move her. According to what I read, if I put goose eggs under her, I’ll still have to help her to turn them 2-3 times a day and I am most definitely not up for fighting with a chicken 2-3 times a day for 30 odd days. So incubator it is.
There’s probably a lot more I could say, but I’ll leave it there for now, it is very beautiful at the moment. One of the amazing things about Ireland is that no matter what you do to the land, it greens over really quickly. Not so good when you are attempting to make a planted garden, but good in general. And in the spring, when the sun is shining, and the gorse and the primroses and the hawthorn are out, and everything is growing, it is exceedingly beautiful. So, thankyou God!
See you soon.
Cathy.
The Shepherds Adventure 