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!

Sold

 

The billy kid born a few months ago has now moved to a farm near Dipton, Co Durham. He is now living with 2 nannies which he will be servicing once he has grown up. He has a very calm and friendly temperament. I'm told he has settled in well with the two nannies.

A woolly story

 

At the moment we have no use for the wool we took off our sheep this year. We have been giving it away and another 8 sacks went today. A friend took the wool to act as a fleece on the ground around her soft fruit plants. It will protect the root systems over the coming winter from frost while gradually rotting and releasing nutrients. We will have lots more wool next year!

Windfall

 

The apple tree on our Farside plot has produced a massive crop. The ground is carpeted with apples. Expect lots of pies etc to be made. Apples are also important in preserves. Many however will be used for chicken feed over the coming weeks.