Yellow Egg Plums Don't Grow True From Seed

When we lived around Evesham someone once told me that yellow egg plums grow true from seed. That's one of the reasons there are so many around that area, they'd often grow them around the outside of the market gardens as an extra cash crop. 

Well even though I know the science of why it shouldn't be true I took a punt and dug up a seedling from mum and dads farm. I planted it about 8 years ago. 

New Quay To Aberaeron Walk

Always on the look out for mini adventures with the children, we decided that even though the weather looked a bit iffy (like 80% chance of rain at lunch time) we would go for a nice long walk. 

The route to Aberaeron from where we were staying in New Quay looked nice and we knew we could get a bus easily back at the end of it. 

Pottery Throw Down On Holiday!

We go to the same place on holiday every year at the moment and absolutely love it. We go to the little town of New Quay in Wales, it has beautiful beaches, rock pools and doesn't get too busy. 

I'm very aware that I want to keep it interesting for the children (and for us adults as well) so always looking for something different to try. 

The children have a few programmes they love on the telly, Bake off, Sewing Bee and Pottery Throw Down. These are all crafts and activities we try to do at home. With the pottery I often buy a big bag of air dried clay and let them make items, or watch a video on how to make something and set them to it - but the children have often mentioned how they would like to have a go at a potters wheel to really let their creativity out! 

Team Freezer Prep

 The other night, while I was making tea I picked half a bucketful of French beans. With a quick shout to the living room two helpers appeared to help me prep them (the eldest went off to pick tomatoes). 

 

In fact I didn't do any of the French beans, instead leaving the youngest two to top and tail them, then weigh them out into freezer bags for use later in the year. 

As well as leaving us enough out to steam to have with one of our beautifully roasted Indian Game hens and rice. 

They love helping put food down for winter - good job as well otherwise it can get a bit overwhelming! 

Anyone else make use of their helpers when it comes to food prep?

Mechanical Thinking

 It's funny, my dad always sees me as non mechanical, mainly because I chose to work with wood rather than metal. But, looking back, I'm always fixing machines or maintaining them, changing batteries or topping stuff up, there is always something breaking and although I do phone dad for advice I quite often get things going again myself. 

My little old blue digger is a good case in this one, I've bled it numerous times when there has been problems with the fuel line, replaced pipes, and now dealt with the track coming off. 

Frist Failed Cob Oven! - Earth Oven Part 2

Once we got to grips with the cob as a building material and found a better way to mix it (Using the paddle mixer I use to mix plaster and plaster board adhesive) we set about making a test oven. 

This was just to be a test oven and see if we could get the materials to work for us. 

Chicken Butchery - Indian Game

Obviously this post contains pictures of dead animals so please don't read if that kind of thing upsets you. 

I had planned to process a batch of Indian Game chickens for the freezer this week. I was then disappointed when I found out that the day I had planned to do it the children were going for a sleep over at my mum and dads. 

This is how far things have come with the children, it's so much easier with them that I now plan to do it so they can help. So I made sure we all got up early that morning and got cracking before they had to go!

Messing About With Cob - Earth Oven Part 1

 For a long time now I've been saying how much I'd like to build an earth oven. The trouble with saying it lots, that doesn't mean it happens! 

So yesterday each of the children had asked to do something with me (eldest wanted to do green woodwork, middlest wanted to use my pyro pen to burn some pictures onto wood and the youngest wanted to carve some dinosaurs) So I thought maybe we should do something we can all be involved with. 

Canned British Apricots

 I've been teaching a friend preserving and this week we got to can some apricots!

I just realised I didn't do a post about the cherries they grow so will have to do one soon, but these guys are expert fruit growers and as well as growing cherries they also grow apricots. But some of these had proved to be a bit like avocados to ripen. They were either on the tree hard as bullets or on the floor. For me it was a massive first, I don't think I've had many British Apricots let alone seen enough to do some preserving with! 

Odd Drawer Unit Painted

 I didn't realise that I never got round to adding a picture of the finished Odd Drawer Unit I got commissioned to make from my mum last year. 

So here it is in mums sewing/craft room in all it's glory, with the wonky walls that surround it! 

I love seeing things I make in use and this one is full to the brim! It took a bit of making and messing about with but it was a project I enjoyed. You can watch the video of how I made it here. 

What do you think? Like it or not a practical use of space?