That's rather nice

 Friday morning was taken at a gentle pace. 

30% was hosting a sewing circle* this morning and had requested that I stuck around to ensure that the dogs didn't eat any of the guests. This resulted in an extended session of pottering. I read a little, but couldn't settle in to the book I had selected, so I headed out and tidied away the oxalic acid vapour treatment equipment that I had used on Wednesday.

The afternoon started with a snooze, before we headed over to North Littleton to view the lots to be sold at tomorrow's auction. I was interested in a pair of fighting spears and a couple of other bits and pieces, but was not overly enamoured, when I saw them in the flesh.

However, we were both really taken by a large rug, that we stepped over as we wandered through the sale room. On closer examination we could see that it was of beautiful quality** and we overheard that it had been previously sold, but there had been a cock-up with the courier service. The owner had decided that it should be re-sold rather than bother with arranging another collection.

Back at home we checked the size and agreed that it would be perfect in the dining room. We also learnt that it had previously sold for £250, so we had a guide price too.

Our final outing was to take Whiffler in to the Vet's to have the bandage on his foot changed.  The Vet was quite happy with his progress and, all being well, he will be dressing-free*** next Tuesday.

We also settled our account and will probably be eating value beans and items from the reduced price aisle for the next month, or two!

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* also know as a stitch 'n bitch morning

** The pile is unbelievable, you could get lost in it!

*** it is so embarrassing for him to have to wear a plastic bag on his foot, when he goes out for a pee!

Keeping dry

Having collected 30lbs of honey from Pete yesterday, there was only ever going to be one thing that dominated today ... honey bottling.*

My timing was fortuitous, as heavy rain was forecast for most of the day. It really was the perfect day to be occupied indoors.

I was just about to put the first batch in the hot water bath when Craig the roofer arrived for what now seems to be an annual occurrence.  30% had noticed a couple of slipped tiles just before Christmas and, I think, panicked, hence Craig's visit to have a look.

After a quick wander around the house his opinion was thus, "there are a few tiles that need refixing, and the chimney and flashing need some attention, but there is no need for re-roofing ... yet!"

The roof has clearly been replaced at some point in the past, as is evidenced by the presence of bituminous felt under the tiles, but this was obviously many, many years ago. It seems to be holding up well, and attending to a couple of weather worn areas will keep us watertight.

He advised that, if this is to be our forever home, it will need to be re-roofed and he gave me a ball park estimate, based on his quick visual appraisal. I was pleasantly surprised that it was well below twenty thousand pounds.  Even allowing for finding problems when the tiles, laths and felt are stripped off, it is likely to be nowhere near as expensive as we had expected.

I can see this job being scheduled in the next few years.

The honey bottling continued, and a local curtain maker called in to give us a quote for making new curtains in the dining room.

And that is how the day continued. In the intervals when the honey was melting, various domestic duties were progressed, and I now have a ten pound batch of honey, bottled and ready for sale.

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* It's been little more than a week since I ran out of honey, and passersby are already asking when it will be back on sale.

Mostly taken up with Beekeeping

I have been wittering on about giving my bees their Winter oxalic acid vapour treatment since the New Year. However, a combination of icy weather, rainy weather, snow storms and a weekend away with friends has meant that it has still not happened.

Today was to be the day!  I had checked the forecast and it seemed to be perfect. There had been a frost overnight, but by early afternoon it would be four or five degrees celsius ... just right for the treatment.

Obviously my morning was free, so I headed down the road to see Pete the Beekeeper. I ran out of honey about ten days ago, and desperately needed another bucket of honey. Fortunately Pete was at home and I soon had a 30lb tub sat in the back of the car. We then settled in his cosy kitchen and spent half an hour chatting about bees.

I think it's nice for Pete to have someone who he can talk to about bees without them glazing over. For me, I find him incredibly informative, and he is also very complimentary about my beekeeping skills and knowledge, despite the fact that he manages about fifty colonies and I only have three. He often makes a point or observation and then says, "but I don't need to tell you, you know this already."

He is far more skilled than me, and I have learnt an immense amount from our regular chats, particularly about when to intervene, and when to just leave the colony alone.

In the afternoon the weather warmed, as predicted, so I headed up to the orchard to attend to the bees.

It took just over an hour to treat the three colonies and I was delighted to see that each of my hives had healthy clusters of bees within. This was so much better than this time last year when I discovered that one of my two colonies had died. I am well aware that there are still a couple of months of cold weather yet to go, but, so far, I seem to have three strong colonies.

I have mentioned previously that I find beekeeping to be a very zen activity. The oxalic acid treatment is most definitely not zen. There is a lot of hanging around, and the bees really don't appreciate the disturbance. I appreciate that it is very good for the health of the colony, but I'm glad that it is now done.

A more zen activity was this evening's Tai Chi session at the Parish Education Centre.  It was a small group of seven of us that was taken through the Slapping Qigong, followed by Qigong Shibashi, set 5.  

It was our first time at attempting the Shibashi, set 5, and, as expected for a first attempt at a new routine, parts of it were completely baffling. It will take a few run throughs before it starts to make sense.

Running around

 Monday was uneventful, hence the lack of Journal entry.  I can't make tidying the house and a quick walk with the dogs fill a page, no matter how verbose I am.

Today, was slightly more active.

I woke a little before eight o'clock and realised that I really needed to get my arse out of bed. I threw on some clothes and headed downstairs for the obligatory cup of black coffee. The chickens were let out and then job #1 needed my attention.

Back in November TP had booked his car in at the local workshop for its MOT test. He had then headed off to Vietnam and delegated the responsibility for this to me. 

This morning Hobson and I climbed in to his car,* and headed down the lane to drop off the vehicle. We then wandered back, with Hobson taking immense delight in being an only dog.**

Back at home I had sufficient time for breakfast and ablutions, before we headed out again. 

Our first port of call was the local Vet's surgery. Whiffler was booked in for a couple of minor procedures*** and a few minutes were spent dropping him off and signing the necessary consent documents. We were informed to call "after two", to get an update and likely collection time.

The rest of the morning was spent choosing some new bedding and a wander around Aldi to pick up a few essentials.

The afternoon included a short snooze, and I awoke to hear 30% checking on Whiffler's condition. She let me know that all was well, and that he could be collected just before three o'clock. I made a mental note of this just as my phone rang.  TP's car was ready to be collected.  30% and I, therefore, divided and conquered. She headed off to collect Whiffler, and I wandered down the road for TP's Ford.

So, that was Tuesday. Whiffler is fine, but has a bandaged foot that needs to be re-dressed on Friday afternoon. He also needs to wear a plastic bag on his foot when he goes outside ... this makes him look and sound ridiculous. But he had no problems with the sedation and seems completely unperturbed by his trip to the Vet's ... that's all that really matters.

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* Funnily enough, I wasn't really worried about the state of Hobson's feet ... it's not my car!

** He loves a walk with the pack, but a walk with just me seems to be a completely different experience for him. He is incredibly attentive to me, but I can tell from his body posture that he absolutely loving every step of the walk.

*** There is a small growth on his left eyelid that is now making contact with his cornea, and a small cyst on one of his toes that is starting to irritate him. Both of these are to be removed. They are relatively minor procedures, but each has the potential to be problematic if left unattended.

A night out

This weekend we had an overnight stop arranged with C&S down in Aston Clinton.  M&M would also be coming up from Brinkworth, so a lively evening was likely.

The early part of Saturday was spent putting the house in order and getting the dogs exercised.

I had managed to persuade 'Chelle to house sit for us and she arrived mid afternoon. A few minutes were spent handing over brief instructions on canine and poultry care,* before we hit the road and headed off down South.

A lovely evening was spent catching up on each others' news. I think the headline item was that M had finally tendered her notice and would be finishing work at the end of February.

It was concerning to see how unnerved she seemed by this significant life change. She is almost obsessed with her responsibility to her, soon to be former, partnership. It is almost as if she has been brainwashed by them to the point that her identity is limited to that of being a partner in a law firm.

I truly hope that she soon sees that retirement will give her the freedom to be her own person and not feel owned by, or responsible to, anyone but herself. Furthermore, that it allows her to find herself again, once the stresses fall away.

We all breakfasted together, before we headed back home. 'Chelle had left our house mid morning, and we really didn't want to leave them too long on their own.**

The rest of the day was spent catching up on some sleep and getting the fire lit. 

It is nice to go away, but it is lovely to be back home.

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* ... and where all the booze and food was kept!

** We know that they can be left for several hours if they have been emptied beforehand. However, 'Chelle is new to caring for dogs and might not be certain that they have all had a pee.

Processing bacon

The only thing worthy of mention for today was the slicing and packing of the recently smoked bacon.

The slicing* and packing took up the most of the morning, and I can report that we produced a little over five and a half pounds of bacon. 

A half pound didn't make it to the freezer, and was consumed for lunch. As expected, the bacon is a little on the salty side, as it was cured for a couple of days more than planned, However I can report that it produced a lovely bacon sandwich.

The afternoon was spent getting the slicer cleaned and packed away.

Not the most exciting of days, but certainly productive.

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* I sliced it a little thinner than usual, about 2mm, and I think I preferred it that way.

Much less snow than predicted

It was a matter of a few minutes work, this morning, to insert the final screw in the curtain pole bracket, and set the pole in place.  I now regard my dining room curtain responsibilities complete, and hand over to 30% to get the actual curtains sorted.

The rest of the morning was spent putting my tools away, and returning the dining room to some semblance of order. I then headed outside and tidied away the smoker and assorted bacon smoking paraphernalia.

This morning also saw the arrival of the new posts and entrance gates for the drive.  These were tucked away in the car port for the time being. I will need to apply a couple of coats of oil to the gates before we get a man in to install them for us.

I think I must have peaked too early, as I did very little for the rest of the afternoon.

This laziness continued in to the evening as storm Gorretti started to blow in.  The Meteorological Office had issued an amber storm warning for our area and had indicated that we could experience up to a foot of snow.  As seems to be usual, they had been somewhat overcautious, and all we actually had was a couple of inches of very wet snow. 

It was already turning to slush by the time 30% and 'Chelle arrived back from an aborted trip to the cinema.  It seems that the weather was more severe over towards Redditch, and traffic was having problems on the snowy inclines between Redditch and here. As a consequence they had decided to abandon their trip and come home early.

'Chelle was a little nervous about driving on the snowy roads, so I accompanied 30% and we followed her back to Alcester to make certain that she got home without incident.

So that was Thursday. I was really hoping to see a fabulous covering of snow, but was somewhat disappointed by the slushy layer that I expect will be gone by the morning.

Smoked bacon and curtain poles

Yesterday 30% reminded me that I had not yet smoked the two, recently cured, pork loin joints. As a consequence this morning saw me setting up my little tea chest smoker in the car port. Within a few minutes I had the cured loins hung in the smoker, and the oak saw dust was smouldering nicely. 

On recent occasions I have found my smoker to be a little temperamental, but today it performed beautifully, and a trickle of smoke could still be seen when I tucked the smoker in the shed for safety* in the early evening.

I didn't manage to get the final curtain pole installed today.  I got all of the holes drilled, but one of them was either into a mortar joint, or a thermalite block.** The plastic wall plug initially held, but started to rotate as I inserted the screw. There was no way the bloody thing would hold. It was therefore necessary to use an alternative plasterboard plug and also apply a squirt of polyurethane adhesive in to the hole.

I have used this technique previously, and have found it to be really effective when fixing in to more friable substrates. The only downside is that it is best to leave the adhesive to cure for twenty four hours before driving a screw in to the wall plug.

The only other news was that my Tai Chi class resumed after the Christmas break. The group was somewhat reduced this evening, but it was really nice to be back at it. Kung Po Fran had come up with some different sequences for us to learn. One of these is called slapping chi gong. Apparently this improves circulation and makes one feel energised and motivated.

It was most unusual, but not as bizarre as it initially sounded when Fran first demonstrated the various stages.

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* I may have been over cautious, but we see foxes quite regularly in the garden, and I didn't want one attempting to steal my bacon.

** Part of the dining room was an extension erected in the 1980's

Out for lunch

This morning I made a start on replacing the last of the three curtain tracks in the dining room.

I removed the old track, filled the screw holes and marked up the positions of the screw holes for the new pole.

This was a convenient point to stop work, as we had been invited over to Dot 'n Dave's for lunch. We had a lovely few hours catching up with each others' news and Dot had made a venison cottage pie. It would have been plenty on its own, but there was pâté and crusty bread to start, and a cheese board to finish.

It is fair to say that we did very little once we were back at home. In fact we both retired for a post prandial snooze.

I lit a fire in the late afternoon, and it was yet another cozy evening in front of the log burner.

Just like Sunday

Today was very much a copy of Sunday.

We had another hard frost and a further dusting of snow.  I decided it was best to avoid the cold as much as possible, and had the log basket refilled, and kindling prepared very early in the day.

I then set to getting the second curtain pole installed in the dining room.

That job was finished shortly after lunch and a snooze may have taken place too.

We then headed out for a brisk walk with this dogs. On this occasion we took advantage of the frozen ground and headed out across the fields on the ridge just uphill of the cottage.

The dogs had a great time racing about, and seemed to get especially excited by the scent trails left by the local wildlife.

The fire was lit as soon as we returned and another lazy evening was spent in front of the log burner.

An "indoors" day

It was another hard frost and far too cold to be loitering outside.

The short days and the cold weather induce the queen bees to stop laying, and a brood free hive is perfect for an oxalic acid vapour treatment.  The varroa mites are not able to shelter in capped brood cells, so the treatment is far more efficacious.

However, the beekeeping cognoscenti recommend that the treatment is not undertaken if the temperature is below freezing.  That is just as well as I really didn't fancy working on the hives in bitterly cold conditions.

It was definitely an indoors day, so I scouted around for something to keep me occupied.  

I grudgingly convinced myself* that I should make a start on putting up the curtain poles in the dining room.

Tools were gathered, the old track was removed,** and measurements were taken. This was followed by some careful marking out on the walls.  I can report that the first of the three poles has now been installed, and it went reasonably well. I even sought out a palette knife and filler, and ensured that the holes from the old track fixings were filled.

In the afternoon, following a recuperative nap, we headed out for a short walk down the lane with the dogs.  It was lovely to be out in the cold, fresh air under a clear blue sky, but a coat, hat and gloves were vital.

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* This journal entry summarises the reasons for my less than enthusiastic frame of mind

** It was shortened and affixed to the track brackets in 30%'s dressing room.

A frosty start to the New Year

It was a hard frost overnight, and I needed to be out relatively early for the first shoot of the year over at Childswickham.

It was so cold that the car windscreen was frozen both inside and out, so I left the engine running for ten minutes, while I scraped the windows clear, and loaded my shooting kit.

The morning's shooting was pleasant under a clear, blue sky, but the icy temperatures meant that both a coat and gloves were necessary. Neither helped my score ... a paltry 42/80.

I was home by mid-morning and used the time to get the Honda sealed in to its Vac Bag.

The rest of the day involved a snooze on the sofa and a bracing visit to a local dog exercise field to allow the pack to let off a little steam.

We then settled in front of the fire to thaw out, and did little else for the rest of the day.

Preparations

I woke to see that we had had a light dusting of snow overnight ... and I mean a light dusting ... a few flakes is probably a more accurate description.  It was also bloody cold!

I wasn't exactly rushed off my feet today, but I did start preparing for a couple of upcoming jobs.

I got the Honda wheeled inside a Vac Bag, and I will get her sealed up as soon as the moisture absorbing crystals arrive for the dehumidifying packs.  

Having re-read that sentence, it all sounds so straightforward. 

In reality, it involves wrestling a 185kg motorcycle into a large plastic bag, whilst ensuring that the side stand doesn't puncture the bag. One also needs to ensure that there is sufficient bag at the back of the bike, so that it can be scrunched together and sealed with a large cable tie.

It is a bit of a faff, but it can be done solo.

Whilst I was in the garage, I also connected a spare car battery to the charger.  This is needed to provide the power to vaporise oxalic acid crystals.

By this point you may be wondering what the hell I am rattling on about?  It is time for the hives to be given their Winter varroa treatment. At this time of year, my preference is to treat each colony with oxalic acid vapour. It is harmless to the bees, but deadly to the Varroa mites.

Having got the battery on charge, I headed to the store room and assembled the other items that will be needed. 

I now need to pick a day and commit to the task ... it does involve lying on cold ground to get the hives prepared for the treatment and it can also be a bit of a faff.

A moment of delight.

Sometimes I have a mind like a sieve. Yesterday evening I realised that I had totally forgotten about the two pork loin joints that I had set to cure on 22nd December.

Today I extracted them from the cure mixture, dried them off, wrapped them in muslin, and set them to air dry in a cool place.* I'll leave them there for a few days, before smoking them ... that's provided that I don't forget about them again!

Today was relatively quiet. We took the dogs for a walk in the afternoon, but, other than that, nothing of great importance occurred.

That is apart from a brief moment of delight.  As I walked up through the orchard to the log shed, I noticed that the daffodils we planted, back at the beginning of October, have started to shoot.  Not only have they started to shoot. Some of them are already bearing flower buds.

I know it is only a little thing, but I am extraordinarily pleased to see them growing so well. The realist in me knows that we have a few cold months ahead of us, but this is the first sign that Spring will come in time.

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* They are hung up in the workshop