Seasonal work

I was up fairly early Saturday morning. I had relaxed breakfast and made a thermos of Tea to take with me to the lottie. Steve's landy started after a little encouragement. I loaded up the landy with empty crates and set off for the lottie. I had the lottie to myself. The sun was shining brightly in a clear blue sky. The air temperature was not high so despite the sun it was quite cool. I had the usual walk round to inspect the plot. The cold weather had wilted all the tender plants. The Vines had lost all their leaves. It was no surprise to fine the weeds in rude health.

I tidied up the small Rhubarb patch by spreading the semi rotted straw from the forcing tub round the corms. After that a tipped on two barrow loads of manure and spread the manure out. It is only a relatively thin layer but it makes the bed look tidy. After that I bagged up some of stalks that I had left on the paving to dry out, put them in a bag to take home for the green bin. Tuesday is green bin day. Next up I started on the the last of the last three rows of spuds. Despite all the weather we have had lately the soil was still reasonably dry, well at least not sticky. I weeded as it went. I last of the spuds filled the big green tray to the top. That will keep us going for a while.

That done I moved the two big rolls of wire mesh out of the middle path, between beds 3 & 4, out to the paved area. This year I used this wire to support the peas but I did not find it easy to use so I do not think I will use it again. With the wire gone I had access to the path way. I dug out the worst of the weeds from the path. I also weeded the last couple of foot of Bed3. That means I have a quarter the the plot dug and weeded. That is a good start for the winter digging. Time was moving on so I harvested some Broccoli, the last two summer cabbage, the Butternut Squash and some Carrots. I noted that the Brussels Sprouts are coming on as are the Winter Cabbages.

I have been offered some industrial carpet. I am considering it to line the paths. The front of the big compo bins needed straightening up. It just took a few minutes. Digging up the spuds tired back back out. I had a spot of lunch and got showered and shave ready for my course. I had to attend a safeguarding course in Nottingham as final of my coaching assignments. I was home again at seven. After Tea I made up my seed order and made out the cheque in readiness to drop it off on Sunday to the seed secretary.

The clocks went back Sunday night to Greenwich mean Time so I was up early whether I liked it or not. I filtered the Grape must, that I had made from the harvested lottie Grapes, into a demi-john, added and little suger and yeast. I put the air lock on and put the demi-john with the others. H and I went to Tamworth to get a picture frame for the print H bought last week. On the way back we got a couple of bags of seed compost. On getting home we had a sandwich. H spotted that MotoGP was on. It is the penultimate round of the season. In the afternoon we went for a walk round Staunton Harold. The trees were in their full Autumn glory. We could see the Fallow and Red Deer since their cover had died back. The stags were busy rounding up the does and chasing off he opposition. It was all very seasonal.

Holiday

Monday H and her Mum went to a spa near us for the day. I entertained Peter, t'father-in-law. We went over the hertiage railway at Loughbough. It was not open but we had a mooch about for an hour or so. We stopped off at the Gelsmoor Inn for lunch. Back at the house we picked up the landy, six jars of Honey and the cappings for the honey extraction. We drove over the apiary. Peter took the dog for a walk whilst I put the cappings in the hive feeders. The cappings are the wax and honey left over from the processing of the honey. I put it back on the hive for the bees to take back in the hive to build up their stores for the winter. The right hand hive is much stronger than the left hive. I collected Peter and drove over to the Farm office to drop off the year's rent for the apiary, the six jars of honey. I found out that the field that I usual drive down to the apiary is to be down the cereals for the next year two year's and that I cannot drive across the margins as it will disturb the wild life. we had a chat a found I could get without 100 yards of the apiary by another route. Peter, the dog and I took a trip to check out the new route. It has a gate and a field full of sheep to negotiate so that should be easy.

Tuesday, H and I went over to Melton Mowbray to the cattle market. The cattle market is in fact an auction for all sorts of beasts, cattle, sheep, pigs and my favorite fur and feather. There is always different things at auction. Fur and feather had thirty odds lots of ferrets and polecats. There were live and dead rabbits for auction was well as an impressive variety for poultry. H had her eye on a nice lot of Orpington's. They went for a tenner. On the way back we trundled through the hamlets of Leicestershire and ended up at the Gelsmoor again for something to eat.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, H and I went over the Manchester to do some work on my Mum's house. I fitted a new floor, a new sink unit and a couple of new radiators. I managed to get everything done by 4pm on Friday. The floor looks great, even it say so myself. The new radiators make the house nice a warm.

Saturday, I had a quiet morning, a nice breakfast then set off to the lottie with only one job in mind; to harvest the grapes. The vines were perfect. The frost had turned the leaves red and yellow. I snipped off the bunches of grapes. This was my first grape harvest. The vines yielded two gallons of grapes. When I got them home I stripped the grapes from the stems an crushed them in a barrel. So chateau McDowell vintage 2010 is begun. I also prepared the sugar syrup for the Limoncello and set it aside to cool. Next up was t0 clean the gutters on the garage and cut back the hedge in readiness for the winter. H made a nice tea of Haddock in a white sauce.

Sunday was easy. We just went to Lincoln to see Miss L. She has settled in, is enjoying the course and living the student life. It was good to see Miss L and it put an end to a busy week.

The weekend before my "holiday"

Work has been manic and the allotment has been suffering. I do not normally get to the lottie during the week but now I have to contend with shortening days and wet weather as well as being mentally exhausted. Saturday was wet so I spent a large part of the day finishing off processing the honey and cleaning all the equipment. I ended up needing to finish off a jar of H's Strawberry jam to jar the very last of the honey. Sunday was a drier day. I went to the lottie in Steve's landy. I dug up a row of spuds which were well filled. After the spuds I cleared some more of the weeds in Bed3. A vicious shower put an end to the days activities at the lottie. I have a just about two foot of the bed to clear.

H sent a few ours at the lottie one day last week and cleared weeds from the cabbage bed, which was nice. I must had to put H's weeding in the compo bin.

I had a look at the grapes. They are very nearly ready. The books say I have to wait until the leaves turn colour. We are promised frost next week so that will surely make the leaves turn.

101010 = 42

I was in Manchester all day Friday and most of Saturday. When I got back H and I went out to Yoxall Lodge woods, click HERE for website. They have a autumn walks. We had a stroll round then had tea and cake. It was all very nice. H went out for the evening to get some culture at Sir John Moore. I , on the other hand, had an evening in the garage with the bike. Have a look at the link to my BMW blog for what I did on the bike, when I write it.

I got the loan of the land rover for Sunday. I did the trailer run as usual. I did not have to take the trailer back straight away so I had a little time at the lottie. I dug up another row of spuds. Just one or two spuds were not edible. The worms and slugs had eaten holes in them. The remaineder were perfect. Quite a few were huge. I look forward to having them roasted. The plot is very weedy but the main weed is chickweed. The good thing about chickweed is that is very easy to clear. I ripped up great handfuls. As I went I used the fork to dig up the Dock and Sowthistle. It was an easy job but back breaking. I cleared two thirds of Bed3 before my back had had enough. Here a picture of the blighter.



Mr Google says Chickweed has many medicinal properties and can be used as a salad. It looks a lot like watercress but it does not taste peppery as watercress does.

My "crop" of chickweed went into the compo bin but there is still loads to go at.

I harvested the second crop off the Brocolli. I left the remaining small florets to grow on. I shall be grow lots more of this next year. The Brussel sprouts and Purple sprouting brocolli are growing on well. I also had the last of the Sweet Corn and one of the smaller courgette/marrows.



The day brightened up and got better all day. By 1pm the sky was bright blue and the wind had dropped. I took the opportunity to run the wet supers back up to the bees. The bees were flying freely. I took off the ekes and dropped on a crown boards then put the wet supers above the crown boards. The bees had scoffed every crumb of the fondant I had given them a fortnight ago. I hope the weather holds up a little longer so the bees can clean up frames and take the honey down it to the hive proper for the winter.

The bees took no time at all. I then went to Massey's to get a jubilee clip that I needed for the bike. From Massey's I went for some petrol for the landy and some in a fuel can. H was out for the day at Donnington le Heath so when I got home I was able disappear into the garage for more bike fettling.

Apparently the answer to ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is 42. H came across a Douglas Adams related article. It gives a clue to the sort of people The Hitchhiker's guide attracts. Apparently the 10th of October 2010, written as 101010 is binary for 42. Here's another weird Hitchhiker's fan thing, on the anniversary of Douglas Adams death [11th May] devotees carry a towel.

Warm kness

I made the right decision to deal with the bees yesterday. Today started with a bright cold morning but led into the grey cold day. I did the trailer run first thing. Whilst at the lottie I harvested some second crop Broccoli but I H and I had other fish to fry. We went into Ashby for 11am to see the tractor parade. We stood about in the biting wind on Market Street waiting for the tractors to chug by. After about ten minutes the first of the tractors chugged down the street. The Sunday car drivers must have been kicking themselves for being about Ashby this morning. The tractors had been for a spin, at 20mph, round the district, Twenty odd of them. They came down Market Street the castle end then up Kilwardby street. They went out to Blackfordby, Willesley then back to Bath grounds in Ashby.

Amongst the tractors and modern cars were quite a number of vintage cars. The vintage cars turned off for Bath grounds. Once the "parade" was over we walked round to Bath grounds. It was quite a surprise. All the cars we saw on the street plus a number of other were parked up for viewing. There were Alvis, Jensen Interceptor, Austins, Ford Poplar, Jaguars MKII and some marques I did not recognise. There were stalls and kiddies rides. There were just two bikes in the parade. An late 1930s Indian and a Panther of about the same vintage. Both looked very lived in. After 20 or 30 minutes the tractors arrived in triumph and parked up in review order. We, along with everyone else went for a walk round the tractors. I was drawn to a very nice 1940's Austin recovery truck. There were loads of people there to support the parade. We meet the Lord Mayor of Ashby and had a chat. His Missus, the Lady Mayoress, was the leader of Leicestershire County Council and was the person Miss L spent the evening with when she attended the Green footprints award last year. Miss L had designed the award that was presented. There was no brew van and the we had pretty much seen everything there was so we came away.

H had heard there was an open day at the lake at Albert Villages. We drove over to Albert Village treked through the side was rain to find bunch of people in the marquee, on add 18 Newfoundland dogs. These folks turn out each year and take the dogs swimming. we watched one dog swim out to a dingy with four people in it, grab the painter and tow the boat back to shore against the wind. That was the highlight so back to the car. Since we were less than 30 minutes and I was not yet hungry I decide I would like to see the the Castle at Gresley. At the village of Castle Gresley is the remains of a motte and bailey castle. It is a subtle item in the landscape. It was built about 1190. H and I had a good look round and pondered the landscape in 1200AD. It was very interesting. Sir Nigel Gresley, designer of the Mallard an A4 Pacific steam train which holds the land speed record, is descended from the knight who founded the castle. Sir Nigel is buried in the churchyard at Netherseal, just a few miles from the castle. We took a walk down the nearby lane to find a hamlet by the stream. Very ethereal. History done we went home.

I decided to extract the Honey harvest. I got everything ready, brought in the first super and started the de-cap the comb only to find the honey had granulated or solidified. One cannot extract solidified honey but there is a trick. Granulated honey can be returned to a liquid state. Heat is all that is required to change the state. The trouble is that bees wax melts at about 63 degrees Celsius so the heat has to be gentle. A light bulb is the answer. I got my inspection lamp [60 watt] and put it under two empty supers then stacked the supers of granulated honey on top. I put a lid on the top super and sat back. The gentle heat should loosen the honey but it might take a week or more. I had to clear up without extracting a single frame.

I still had a couple of hours before tea. So what to do? I went over to see my neighbour and harvested his Apple trees. He has some very nice eaters but he does not like Apples. What next? I decided to try out my recent cycling clothing purchases. They are a very nice fit. I pumped up the tyres on teh bike and went for a spin. It was very blustery but the soft shell material kept the cold out. The fit was so good and the clothing did restrict movement. For once my knees were nice and warm which is a comfort and bodes well for the winter. By the time I got home I was sweating freely so I was too warm and I did not even have a hat on. I parked the bike up and got changed in time for tea of locally sourced hogget and vegetables from the lottie. We even got a call from Miss L. We arranged to go and see her next Saturday.

Getting back to normal

Today was the first weekend for a couple of months when I had no calls on my time. Time was my own. That is not to say I did not have lots to do. It was very clear last night and I thought we might have a frost. I woke up to a breezy morning and a bright blue sky. You can tell the year is turning. Although the sun was up it lacked the power of a month ago. I decided that I would see the bees today to harvest the honey crop. I have been tussling with how to feed the bees. It is an exchange. The bees make lots of honey, more than enough to see themselves through the winter. I take some of it and in return I feed back sugar. The question is what form is the sugar to take. There essentially two forms to feed bees with, syrup or fondant. Syrup is liquid but it stimulates the bees to start the Queen laying. Not a good thing leading into the winter. The other form is fondant. The trouble is that I have never made fondant. I had a go at making it this morning. One part water to four parts sugar plus a quarter teaspoon of vinegar. Boiled up to 230 degrees and allowed to cool. Whilst it is cooling it has to whisked until it turns white. Boiling hot sugar does not cool down quickly. I put half the mixture in the food processor and set it running. The remainder stayed in the jam pan. That cooled down quicker especially since I had put it outside. I whisked it by hand and as it cooled it turned white. I poured the cooling mixture into greaseproof paper lined trays. Eventually the mixture in the mixer began to cool and solidify. I put the trays outside. When the trays were completely cold the mixture was firm like cheese, in fact it was fondant.

Whilst the fondant was cooling I loaded up the car with my bee fettling gear. I took a run over to Swad to pick up some items from the bike shop. By the time I got back the fondant was ready to go. I had a brew and went to see the bees. The heavy rain of the week had not made the tracks to the apiary impassable. The clearer boards I put in last week had done there job. I snaffled the supers and put them in the car. The then put the ekes [ekes are spacers], I had made during the week, on the hive then placed the fondant on the top bars of the frames, replaced the crown board and tidied up. Before I put the roofs on a I had a peek under the crown boards. The fondant was covered with bees. I put the roofs and came away content.

A had another brew when I came home, took the bee gear out of the car and replaced it with the lottie gear. I had the lottie to myself. It was quite warm. I raked off the bed I had prepared in Bed 2 last week. I planted 50 Radar, white onion sets, and a dozen Shallots [Jermor]. Next I dug up the Caulis that had gone over and weeded the area. I tipped three barrow loads of manure on the area and dug it in. I have some chicken pellets I am trying the use up so I threw a couple handfuls of the pellets about before raking the area flat. The soil is in smashing condition. In to the area I planted 30 Garlic [Marco] cloves. These will form a divider in the bed. The area of the bed below the Garlic will be Onions related crops and above it root crops.

I checked the grapes and they looked great. The weather is due to turn cold this week so I expect I will have to harvest the grapes next week.

I had a little time left so I dug up a row of the main crop spuds, Cara. They are fantastic, large and blight free. The soil dug nicely if a little damp. The row filled one of my storage trays. I got a bucket of water from the trough and washed the spuds before putting them back in the tray and loading the car. I cut the last of Gladioli for H and came home. I pulled a few cobs of Sweet Corn for tea.

H and I went of to Coalville to get the makings for Sloe Gin and Lemoncello. Aldi have cheap spirits. Whilst H made tea [The northern meal] I zested 20 lemons. After tea I finished the first part of lemoncello which involves soaking lemon zest and lemon juice in Vodka. That finished I cleaned up the Sloes Steve had given me. I put the Sloes with equal amount of sugar in a demi-john and topped it up with Gin. That is Christmas sorted.

Aldi has an odd selection of products. It's like going to the super-market on holiday. Kind of the same but different. In the clearance bins was cycling gear. Smart performance long legged, fitted trousers. Merino wool, yes Merino wool jersey and long fingered gloves with gel palms. All these items plus a lights set came to bearly £20. I tried the stuff on when we got home. It fits really well. I hoping to have a spin out to try the stuff out.

Walking

The weekend was the big walk weekend. I had a quick run out to collect the trailer and do a few errands. H and I were to walk 26 miles from Avebury, click HERE for the website, to Stonehenge in aid the Alzheimer's Society. We had a very early start and the B&B owner was not going to get up at 4.30 to make us a breakfast so we had a cold breakfast. We got to the start point with the 300 other walkers, registered, picked up our packed lunch and was given a pep talk. We were then send on our way. The first leg was over the White Horse way which was not designed for lots of people. Too many stiles and narrow paths. The land rose in long undulating hills. Once clear of the farm land the hills were given over to grazing and the paths were wider. We were in good order at he first check point at seven miles. At the half way point we found a spot for lunch. we had been told there was a pub on the route. We walked past it not five minutes after the lunch stop. From pub there was a stiff climb up to one of the many downs we were walk up. Here's a question - why are the hills in the south of England called "downs" when they are definitely up.

The third check point at 20 miles. We were very pleased to see it. The walking between the second and third check points was over Ministry of Defence land. Open rolling countryside, featureless, under a blue sky with the sun beating down. It was tough. Things were starting to hurt. The last six miles were a slog. Our packs were getting heavier even though we had eaten our food. We replenished our water bottles at each check point so the weight of water never really reduced. In the end we came upon the finish banner. The organisers cheered and clapped everyone in. We were given our medals and had a well earned sit down.

We had a celebratory dinner in Salisbury a the New Inn. I recommend it very highly. Then back to the the B&B for a well deserved rest. And that was that. Another epic.