A bee nest under a hive

One of our bee hives sits on top of a set of bricks rather than a wooden stand. We simply had no wooden stands available when the bee hive was assembled. The bricks do a good job. Indeed, too good a job. Another bee colony moved in to the space between the bricks in June. While this block of flats for bees is interesting, it nevertheless presents us with a problem about what to do with the basement bees. The colony can't stay there, at least not permanently. I have a plan however. Earlier this year, I went on a course on how to make a skep in April. I have a half completed one at home and over the winter I will finish making it. In the spring I will cut away the comb and transfer the colony to the skep. Over the winter however I will build up the bricks around the colony. At the moment it is a bit exposed.

A surprise duck egg

We had one duckling hatch in March. It was a disappointing hatch rate but the duckling grew up, living with a small number of chicks that hatched around the same time. As the duckling matured, it looked more and more like a khaki campbell drake. We assumed we would be slaughtering him later this year.

And then we found a small duck egg in the henhouse where he roosted with his family of chicks. So he was a she after all. Roast duck will be off the menu, boiled duck egg is back on!

A sack of pigeons

We did a swap recently for a sack of pigeons. In the summer heat, the carcasses had to be dealt with immediately. The sack arrived at our house when I was away and as dealing with game had always been my job, I had to give David, who was looking after everything in my absence, a quick lecture over the phone on how to strip the breasts from the birds. He coped well.

The breasts went into the freezer but I will be using them to make game sausages soon.

Plum chutney

We had a large quantity of plums acquired in a swap recently so today I've turned them all into chutney. 18 jars so far have been made from half the ingredients. There are two pans on the cooker now. I expect another 18 jars to be ready before I go to bed!

Another glut - branches

The diet of our goats consists entirely of leaves and branches I gather from local hedgerows and verges. If not chopped up every day, the piles of branches left after the goats have fed rapidly build up. We have suffered from this problem recently so I've been spending the last few days working mainly on chopping the branches for firewood. Even the twigs and clippings from the branches are kept as these will be used as fuel for the small stove we have and for the outdoor oven we are planning to get.

I feel as though we have made progress but I am looking forward to getting the job of chopping up the branches finished.

Quail egg salad

The number of quail eggs produced each day has dropped from around 20 at the start of September to around 2 now. Nevertheless, we have lots of eggs laid during the summer to use up. I used 60 in a salad yesterday (we were still eating it today!) Alas, the salad included a few bits bought at a shop, including olives and mushrooms. I intend growing mushrooms but that is a project for next year. In the meantime, we still have lots of quail eggs to use up.

Kid in a henhouse

I cleaned one of the henhouses yesterday only to find that the billy kid decided to check it out. He was able to get through the flap at the front. He won't be able to do that for long. He is almost the size of his mother now and is continuing to grow.