Crops still awaiting harvest

 

The harvests are still coming in. This video explains what needs to be picked.

Late rowan

 

I was out and about recently and spotted a rowan tree sagging under the weight of berries. It is very late in the season for them still to be on the trees. Not being one to miss an opportunity, I filled a carrier bag. Though the berries can be made into a jelly, I fed them to the poultry instead. I find rowan to be rather bitter but the ducks and hens love them.

Farewell Pushka

 

Our cat Pushka died earlier this week. She was very elderly and had not been in the best of health in recent months. Fortunately I filmed this video of her earlier in September.

She was previously living as a stray but adopted us 13 years ago. She never moved out once she had discovered our house.

Hedge trimmings via the van load

 

A friend recently dropped off a huge quantity of privet from a hedge that presumably had not been cut for a few years. It took 2 runs in his pickup to transport the branches to our nannies' paddock. The goats had stripped them bare in just a couple of hours. The thicker branches will now be chopped up and used as kindling.

Competing at the Bowes Show

 

On Saturday 14th September, we headed to south Co Durham for the Bowes Agricultural Show. We had entries for 12 competitions, from jam-making to cake-baking. How did we do? Click on the video to find out.

Stuffed marrow

 

A common sight in the late summer is stuffed marrows in our house. The seeds are scraped out and replaced with sausage meat, cheese, vegetables and herbs. Baked in the oven they make a great dinner.

Tomato soup

 

We got a big load of tomatoes recently in a produce swap. When a glut appears, the normal response is to turn some of it into soup. That's what happened here. Very pleasant!