Watching the sun rise this morning it was the promise of a good day,
Cold yes there was nip in the air but blue skies sunshine and a breeze
After getting everyone fed, I worked my way around the Alpaca paddocks poo picking
It had been done for a couple of days because of the weather, all clean again now.
Then making the most of the sunshine,
I moved all the delicate plants from the garden into the small poly tunnel
Three trailer loads, all tucked up for winter,
Then I turned my attention to some-one else
It was time to put Flash to bed for his winter hibernation
We hibernate Flash in the fridge that is in the barn, Martin uses this fridge for his beer.
There is a good reason for keeping him in the fridge, it keeps him at a constant cool temperature
So if there is any warm days he doesn't wake up and use up his stores.
This way he has a good hibernation, although its always a nervous time waking him up in Spring.
There was a couple of interruptions to the sunshine
Hail stopped play a few times
So a quick dash inside resulted in
A couple of bottles of toffee vodka being made.
They will be decanted into nice bottles for gifts.
Then during the second interruption I finished off the Apple Cider vinegar
It was marked on the calender for this week, it had the grey scum on top like the recipe said
It was strained and bottled, it tasted alright.
the apple mush that was strained out will go to the chickens tomorrow.
I hadn't eaten much bread this week so there was some in the bread bin left going a bit stale
so whizzed up into breadcrumbs and into the freezer
This evening I made some Pitta bread
They are lovely and fluffy
we will have them for lunch tomorrow
I had a couple of peeled potatoes left from making dinner last night,
I sliced them thinly with the mandolin, left them cover with water in the fridge
spread out on a tray and patted them dry
Heated up a pan of oil
Drop handfuls at a time into the hot oil
once cooked, out of the oil and drained on kitchen towel
once cool into a bag and a sprinkling of salt, I do love home made crisps.
Remember earlier in the year I took some cuttings off the Blueberries
out of the five cuttings two had taken and are now putting on growth
I will leave them under cover until the spring.
I noticed some of the onions I had in the rack were starting to sprout
They got chopped up and into the freezer
They will get added to soups or something
That sums up my day today a good all round day, how was yours ?
Certainly not as productive as yours! My day was spent with controlling children and getting angry with a boiler company for letting me down at the last minute! Freezing the onions is a good idea, Hopefully get our old freezer up and running again before christmas. I want to get some meals in there ready for when baby number three comes!
ReplyDeleteMy goodness, another very busy day! Good to get the plants in before the weather gets any worse, it has been very windy here today, hope that it hasn't been so bad with you. xx
ReplyDeleteGosh this post is very interesting to this Australian. Putting Flash in the fridge for hibernation is so interesting for me. This is so unlike anything I have known. When in spring do you take him out? Does it take long once they are out of the fridge to come out of their hibernation?
ReplyDeleteFlash will come around March time depending on the weather, all we do is take him out put him in his little house I usually pick a nice sunny day in the morning, he then takes a couple of hours to warm up, he wont start eating for a couple of days, spending the time basking, he will once warmed up empty his bowls and bladder contents then he will start eating, every day he will bask and once his body temperature is risen he can get on with his tortoise day, munching plenty of fruit and veg, tortoises very rarely drink as they get there moisture from food :-)
DeleteThanks so much Dawn for the hibernation explanation. Myself and my 10 and 12 year old sons were fascinated by this . Thank you for explaining this to these Aussie's.
DeleteSounds like a great day - I love days when I get a variety of things done. Me? You ask? Well, I took Don to work - came home and had a bowl of oatmeal - sat down in the comfy chair and slept from 8 to 12:30 - I was shocked when I woke up. Then to our grandson's choir performance at his school - home to pizza dinner and now I'm reading blogs - that was my day - I'll have to be more productive tomorrow for sure.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like YOU were the domestic goddess yesterday! I must try some pitta breads - I keep meaning to, but at the present I am trying to cut the carbs, so I'll leave it until Tam's home at Christmas.
ReplyDeleteYour plants look so healthy and will appreciate the polytunnel now it'sturned cold. I must put my Fig in mine, and the Geraniums too.
My mind tends to store interesting and weird information, putting a tortoise in the fridge for the winter is one of those things I will be telling people for years to come! I can imagine my sons groans when I tell them, mum doesn't know how to change the time on the clock in the car or anything useful like that, but knows what to do with a tortoise.......even though she doesn't have one!!
ReplyDeleteTortoise in fridge Dawn? Is there enough air in there - I thought fridges were airtight.
ReplyDeleteHow was my day -not an eighth as active as yours Dawn, that's for sure.
Another busy day. I hope Flash enjoys his long sleep, I often feel like hibernating myself, especially when the weather's as bad as it is today.
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