Bustin' Clays

Or not in my case!

I had a great day yesterday as I got invited to a friends surprise 50th birthday clay pigeon shoot.

It's been years since I've been clay shooting and even then it was on my uncles home made trap that would almost take a finger with it if you weren't paying attention.

The shoot was really well organised and interesting with lots of the clays being fired in different ways to simulate different game. Some were much easier than others, but I was being shown up by the two brothers over from me who didn't seem to miss a clay.

My 12 bore wondered what had happened to it, I don't think it's ever fired so many cartridges in one go. I think I got through 8 boxes (nearly a slab), but I'm not going to say how many of those hit their targets! Maybe I should have some lessons! 

A great day spent outside, with great company. Thanks again Tim and family! 

Spring Is So Close I Can Almost Smell It!

The weather is changing, with cold mornings and winter sunshine it really warms the soul. 

I worked from home yesterday making a door for a customer, so I took advantage of the sunshine spent a bit of time in the garden, planting some early seeds. 

I know I'm late getting my chillies in but I find it doesn't make huge amounts of difference if you haven't got a grow lamp anyway, sometimes they can get too leggy if you sow them too early. I also got some tomatoes in as well, but I'll sow plenty more of them later.

They're all sat quite happily on our bedroom window sill, germinating slowly.

Does anyone on here graft tomatoes or chillies or buy plants that have been grafted? I'd like to try my hand at it but need to buy the root stock seed to try it (and the grafting clips). 

Little 'Un

The boy will be six weeks old on Tuesday and he's growing fast. He's healthy and happy, smiling already and gaining weight fast, so much bigger than the girls were at his age. 

A few of you have asked for some pictures of the little one so I hope this keeps you happy! 
Sorry if I've been bad at replying to comments or reading everyone else's blogs - the days are just blurring into one and I've been very busy with my work as well!

Hand Cream

I've been doing plaster boarding (drywall) and dabbing this week and my hands are pretty much as dry as they can get. My hands also get like this when I'm roofing or working outside a lot as well.

When they get like this I tend to moisturise my hands at night, to try to stop them cracking (and sometimes they get so dry that certain materials even stick to them).

The smell of the Atrixo that I use just sends me straight back to my childhood. I can remember my dad rubbing it on his giant sized hands, winter on the farm would dry them out and I can't remember him ever wearing gloves. 

So now my dad and both my bother and I use this hand cream but it does make me wonder is there a more natural alternative about that I should be using? Who else isn't too manly to admit they put a bit of moisturiser on their hands?

Rabbits Getting Past The Rabbit Proof Fence

########## This post contains pictures of dead animals! ###########

 I was more than a little disappointed to see some apple trees in my "rabbit proof" veg garden had been damaged by rabbits (the same ones that were damaged by mice last year). So tonight I decided to get some payback and remove them from the garden. 

 Armed with a torch and my trusty little bolt action .410 shotgun I removed the offenders that I caught in the act - no trial needed. 

They've now been gutted, skinned and put in the fridge for a tea one night this week. they were both a good size so should make a good stew!

I now need a bit of time in the light to find out where they were getting in or whether is was just as simple as leaving the gate open for an hour whilst I was in the garden the other day?

Seed Swap Herefordshire 2016

At the weekend I went to the seed swap in Hereford for the second time. 

This time I met up with some friends and had a great morning gaining lots of seeds to grow over the coming year. 

 It was great to talk with like minded and passionate people and I was pleased to see it was busy again this year.

 There was another great talk put on, this year it was by Adam Alexander (website www.veggingoutwithadam.com) who is a seed hunter and self confessed vegaholic. His talk was really interesting and I loved how each seed in his collection came with a story, he's literally been all round the world collecting seeds from people that have been growing the same vegetables for generations. He also stores all his seeds in the fridge, something I might consider in the future (although I think I will need a dedicated fridge for this or it might drive my wife mad).

I came home with a good number of seeds and a bit more knowledge! A great way to spend a Saturday morning and hopefully it'll encourage more people to save seeds.
I have plans to dig all my parsnips at the weekend and sort out the bests ones to regrow for seed in the spring.
Has anyone else been to a seed swap this year? Anyone else growing on biannuals for seed?

My Wife's Knitting

My wife is, in my opinion, a bit of an expert knitter. 

In the past she has knitted many things, clothes to wear, an excellent pair of fingerless gloves for me, she's even run knitting clubs in some of the schools she's worked at in the past. 

 This is her latest creation, a pram blanket for the baby. 

Lovely I'm sure you'll agree. 

She did start it over four years ago and has intended to finish it for each baby! But it's done now and looks great, some complicated rows involved as well. I certainly haven't got the patience for it. 

Baking Parchment Vs Greaseproof Paper

Learnt something this week that I'm kind of afraid that everyone else already knows. 

Greaseproof paper and baking parchment are two different things! 

This flapjack proves the point. 

Made with greaseproof paper it sticks to it like the proverbial poo to a blanket. 

No chance of getting it off without loads of paper attached.

Baking parchment on the other hand nothing sticks to. I guess you learn something everyday, won't be buying greaseproof again in a hurry! 

Anyone else learnt anything lately that everyone else already knows?