Hennock House Blog

How Rabbit stole fire

2011-02-21T17:16:00.000Z

In the beginning there was no fire on earth and the world was a cold place.

The sky people had fire, but they guarded it from the animals.

When the autumn leaves began to fall the animals asked,

"Who will steal the fire?"

The bison was strong.

The wolf was cunning.

The bear was brave.

The wildcat was fierce.

But Rabbit was the leader of them all in mischief.

Rabbit made himself the most beautiful head-dress. He carefully coated each feather and every stitch with pine resin. When he was done he put it on his head and began to walk to where the Sky People lived.

When the Sky People saw that Rabbit was at the gates of their village they said,

" Be careful! It is Rabbit! He is the chief mischief-maker. Do not trust him!!

Rabbit greeted the Sky People with the great news that he had come to teach them a new dance. He told them he had even made a special head-dress for the occasion. He told the Sky people that it was no ordinary head-dress because it was no ordinary dance!

"This dance will bring the corn from the earth. It is a dance to guide the fish to your nets." he explained.

The Sky People were not convinced.

"You are Rabbit, the chief mischief-maker, we do not trust you!" they cried.

"Oh!" cried Rabbit. "Do you think this dance is a trick? Why! No! This is my gift to you the Sky people. Today is my day off from being chief mischief-maker."

With his words Rabbit the Trickster soothed the Sky people. He charmed them. He flattered them. Soon they forgot that he was chief mischief-maker and they welcomed him into their village.

"Rabbit shall teach us the dance!" they cried.

So Rabbit lead the dance. Round and round the fire danced Rabbit followed by the Sky People. Round and round the fire danced Rabbit. As he danced he sang his song, wearing his beautiful head-dress and as he sang he bent low to the fire, singing his dancing song. The Sky People bent low. The Sky People sang his song. The Sky People danced round and round the fire, following Rabbit in the dance. Round and round danced Rabbit, and very, very low he bent ...

WOOSH!

The head-dress was alight! Away raced Rabbit, out of the village and into his woods.

"We have been tricked!" shouted the Sky People. "Rabbit has stolen the fire!"

Rabbit ran and the Sky People followed.

They made rain.

They made thunder and lightening.

They made snow.

The wonderful head-dress with the resin-coated feathers burned brightly.

Rabbit was soon tired.

"Quick!" he cried to Squirrel. "Take the head-dress." Squirrel took the head-dress.

She ran as fast as she could. As she went, the heat from the fire made her tail curl up over her back. And so are squirrels to this day.

Squirrel was soon tired.

"Quick!" she gasped to Crow. "Take the head-dress."

Crow took the head-dress. As he flew the smoke from the fire turned his pure white feathers black. And so are crows to this day.

Crow was soon tired.

"Quick!" cawed Crow to Raccoon. "Take the head-dress."

Raccoon took the Head-dress and ran. As she went some of the ash burned rings around her tail and face. And so are raccoons to this day.

Raccoon was soon tired.

"Quick!" she panted to Turkey. "Take the head-dress."

Turkey took the head-dress and ran. As he went the fire burned all the feathers off his head and neck. And so are turkeys to this day.

Turkey was not a fast runner. The fire began to die.

"Set my tail alight," said Deer.

For in those days deer had long tails.

Deer took the fire on her tail and ran as fast as she could to fan the flames.

As Deer ran she heard the trees call to her, quietly at first,

"Give us the fire. We will hide it."

Deer ran.

The trees called to her.

"Give us the fire. We will hide it."

Deer was soon tired.

"Trees, hide the fire!" she called as she swished her tail this way and that.

The trees took the fire and hid it in their wood.

The fire had burned most of Deer's tail. And so are deer to this day.

The Sky People returned to their village.

Wood had hidden the fire and they did not know how to find it again.

Rabbit, leader of all mischief knew how to find it.

He knew the secret of finding fire in the wood.

He knew how to rub sticks together to get fire.

He showed the animals how to find fire hidden by Wood.

Now the animals have fire to warm the cold winters and light to brighten the dark nights.

Would you like to know how to find fire hidden in wood?

How to find fire hidden by Wood

Princess Polly Goldilocks Poule!

2010-10-17T15:21:00.000+01:00

Once upon a time there lived a little white chicken.

She was a very white chicken and very nosey!

One day, the Big One left the front door open.
The little white chicken looked through the window into the big one's house .

"Oh!" she said to herself, that looks a comfy chair, I think I will sit on it!

And so that is what she did!

"Well, this is too hard!" she said to herself. "I will have to look else where."

Just then the Big One came back home and went upstairs, leaving the living room door open, just a tiny bit.

The little white chicken saw the door was open and went in for a look!

"Oh!" she said to herself, that looks a comfy chair, I think I will sit on it!

And so that is what she did!

"Well, this is too soft!" she said to herself. "I will have to look else where."

The little white chicken looked at the stairs.

"I wonder what is up here?" she asked herself with a cheeky cluck.

The Big One heard a funny noise and came to have a look.

"Who has been climbing up my stairs?" he said.

The little white chicken turned around and began the tricky job of going back down the slippy slidey stairs!

The Big One followed her down.

"Who has been sitting in the Little One's chair?" he asked the little white chicken.

The little white chicken said nothing.

The little white chicken went outside, disappointed that she had not found the perfect chair on which to sit.

As she walked around the garden she saw that The Big one had left his drink on the lawn.

"Oh!" she said to herself, "I am quite thirsty. I think I will taste some."

She had a little sip.

"Not too hot, not too cold, not too fizzy, not very blackcurranty, not quite right." She gurgled to herself.

Then she spotted the Little One's drink was also on the lawn.

"Oh!" she said to herself, "I am quite thirsty. I think I will taste some."

She had a little sip.

"Not too hot, not too cold, not too fizzy and very, very blackcurranty. Perfect!" she clucked.

Just then the Big and Little One came out for their drinks.

"Who has been drinking my drink?" asked the Big One.

"Who has been drinking my drink?" asked the Little One. "And finished it!"

Both the Big One and the Little One had a pretty good idea who had been drinking their drinks. And when they looked for the little white chicken she was no where to be seen!

"I bet she is looking for porridge" said the Little One.

The Big One laughed.
He knew that Dolly had found that earlier, and eaten everyone's up!

Clever old Dolly!

Meet the girls

2010-08-21T18:57:00.000+01:00

This time last year we had just been given our two little chickens Molly and Flo and that reminded me that I had promised a friend to do a profile on the girls, so here goes!

I shall start with the top chicken.

Name: Jonesy

How she got her name: We called her Jonesy because when we first got her she was very frightened and ran around the place shouting "Don't panic!" a lot.

Age: unknown, but probably 5+

Type: Maran

Eggs: Lovely little round brown eggs

Likes: Dust baths and scratching through the undergrowth for chickeny treats. Her favourite treats are the flowers of the honesty plant. She has learnt to jump to reach those flowers above her head hight - jumping chickens are very funny to watch!

Dislikes: Fast moving or noisy humans!

Name: Poppy

How she got her name: Poppy has a funny eye, the iris is frozen in one position. This reminded us of our friend's dog so we named her after Poppy the dog.

Age: 3

Type: White Sussex

Eggs: Lovely big white eggs

Likes: Chasing the other chickens. Shouting whilst standing on things.Copying Jonesy to get the honesty flowers. Being very piratey - she is not very well mannered really!

Dislikes: Being clean!

Name: Lovely

How she got her name: I thought she was lovely - if only I had known her better. She really needs to be called rat bag! BUT! When she is broody she is lovely and she likes nothing better than to sit on Jon's lap for a cuddle!

Age: 3 (she is Poppy's sister)

Type: White Sussex

Eggs: Lovely big white eggs

Likes: Chasing the other chickens. Eating. Chasing the other chickens. Scratching. Chasing the other chickens. Standing in the bird bath. Chasing the other chickens.

Dislikes: Being clean. Cats. Sharing.

Name: Dolly

How she got her name: When we first got Dolly she was very upset by her move and was frightened to come out of the hen house. Jon spent hours with her, talking to her and coaxing her out. He gave her lots of cake when doing this! Then Dolly stopped being frightened, but stayed in the hen house so that Jon would still bring her cake! Dolly Parton once said,"I ain't blonde and I ain't dumb!" Nor is Dolly the chicken!

Age: 3

Type: Wheaten Maran - she has partly feathered feet

Eggs: Beautiful dark brown pointy eggs

(when she feels like laying them; she is a part time egg layer.

We show her an egg now and again to remind her what they look like!)

Likes: Cake. Sitting under the kitchen table and making a nest with the mat. Being the breakfast, dinner and tea time cheer leader. Cake. Sleeping. Sleeping by the range in the winter. Cake. Sleeping in the sun. Cake. Sleeping on Jon's lap. Cake.

Dislikes: Not having any cake. Snow. The sparrow hawk.

Name: Molly Moppit

How she got her name: I thought that her crown of feathers looked like a little mop cap.

Age: 1

Type: Cream Legbar

Eggs: Beautiful little blue eggs

Likes: Being with her best friend Flo. Sunflower seeds. Pecking - anything that is near to hand, including Flo! Making lots of fuss. Being with Flo.

Dislikes: Being chased by Poppy or Lovely. Chicken food, preferring the finer things in life if you don't mind! (Well, she sees Dolly getting away with it!)

Name: Flopperty Flo

How she got her name: Because she is a Leghorn she reminded us of the cartoon character Foghorn Leghorn - Flo seemed the best girls version of this name!

Age: 1

Type: Brown Leghorn

Eggs: Lovely little white eggs

Likes: Being with her best friend Molly. Currants. Dust baths.

Dislikes: Being chased by Poppy and Lovely. Being pecked too much by Molly. Sunflower seeds.

Name: Henny Penny - The wonder Chicken

How she got he name: She looks like a Henny Penny and Jon saved her from the mouth of a fox!

Age: 4?

Type: She is a mixture of breeds and has Road Island Red in her

Eggs: Great big beautiful speckled brown eggs

Likes: Helping me garden. Scratching. Eating. Dust baths. Being a chicken. Blackcurrant cordial.

Loves Jon.

Dislikes: Anything fox related.

Name: Princess Polly Poule

How she got her name: She came with Henny Penny and I liked the idea of having a French version of the name! The Princess part was added when we got to know her better!

Age 3?

Type: White Leghorn

Eggs: Huge white eggs

Likes: Being where ever we are. Helping me garden. Helping me uncover the compost bin. Eating the dried scrapings for the food bowls at the end of the day. Earwigs. Spiders. Worms. Blackcurrant cordial, elderflower cordial, beer...anything Jon is trying to drink!

Announcing her arrival with a fanfare call.

Laying her eggs in exactly the right place - but don't assume that will be the same place each time!

Announcing her intention to lay an egg.

Announcing the fact that she has laid her egg.

Being a princess.

Dislikes: Being chased by Poppy and Lovely. Jon taking his drink away.

And we think they are all fantastic!

On a misty holiday morning.

2010-08-02T15:34:00.000+01:00

Oh! for holidays.What a luxury to wake up and just see what the day brings.

Last week my morning began with this view...

...the baby blackbird showed me that the black currants were more than ready to be picked so I set about the task.

I decided that this year I would like to try and make a cordial from the berries.

After taking off the stalks and washing the berries... a long job!... I put them in a pan with water, sugar and a lemon and brought it all to a gentle simmer.

When it had simmered for about 10 minutes I took it off the heat and let it cool for a while. Then I strained it all through a sieve ..

..by which time it was cool enough to bottle...

...and then all that was left to do was dilute some with soda water and have a taste...

...it is delicious!

Much to the blackbirds disappointment I was back out again the next day picking more berries, to make more cordial.

Not to worry though.. I have made sure there is enough for us both!

Champagne !

2010-07-04T16:29:00.001+01:00

Cheers!

A toast to the Elderflower.

You can probably guess what I have been doing during June.

We had a fantastic amount of Elderflowers this year and so I have been busy making champagne and cordial.

The champagne is so easy to make.

The flowers are best picked on a warm day so that they are full of pollen, and as luck would have it we have had plenty of those!!

Just add sugar, water, white wine vinegar and lemon to the gently washed flower heads.

Leave for 24 hours, stirring occasionally, strain and then bottle.

Leave for 2 weeks and then consume within 2 weeks.

So simple.

Cheers!

The cordial is simple to make too.

I use my Mum's recipe for this.

For this I add water, lemons and limes and with the sugar a little bit of citric acid.

I leave this to stand for 36 hours, stirring occasionally.

It uses more sugar than the champagne so I heat it up for a very short while to make sure it is all dissolved.

The house smells heavenly when I do this.

When it is cool I sieve it.

and pour it into bottles.

So simple.

This year I am going to try freezing some of the cordial.

I usually try to save at least one bottle to have at Christmas time.

A little taste of summer in December is a lovely treat.

Now, where did I put my glass?...

Elderflower Champagne...

12 Heads of Elderflowers (in full bloom and scent, picked on a hot day)

1.5 lbs.white sugar, 0.7Kg.

1 Lemon.

2 Tablespoons wine vinegar.

Put blooms in a bowl with the juice of the lemon. Cut up the rind of the Lemon and put that in (minus the white pith).

Add the sugar, vinegar and a gallon of water, 4.5 Litres, and leave for 24 Hours.

Strain liquor into screw- top bottles, place caps on tight and leave for a fortnight.

Don't add yeast-the weak yeast on the flowers is enough.

Drink before three weeks old...

ENJOY...

Elderflower Cordial...

2 Lemons.

2 Limes.

2 Oz / 60 Grams Citric Acid.

20 / 25 Elderflower heads.

3 lbs / 1.35 Grams Granulated sugar.

3 pt / 1.7 L Water.

Quarter the Lemons and Limes, squeeze the juice into a large bowl and add the skins, together with the tartaric acid and the well washed and drained flower heads.

Add the sugar and water and stir well, cover loosely and let it stand for 24 to 36 hours, stirring from time to time. Remove the lemon and lime pieces. Pour the flowers and liquid into a large saucepan and bring to the boil, boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool, strain into bottles...

ENJOY...

A Top Day Out!

2010-06-13T13:11:00.001+01:00

Isn't it great when you can have a holiday day out right on your door step?

Jon and I are not ones for going to the 'big city' but the other day we took a friend to Topsham and had a wonderful day.

We found a lovely indoor market selling all sorts of things and once we had browsed enough there we went for a stroll down the High Street.

We had to stop here! Yum! The window display reminded us of France.And so with a holiday feeling we continued on our way!

We loved this next shop very much.

When we win the lottery we are going right back!

There are plenty of 'watering holes'!

And some intriguing old buildings...

This is our friend's favourite..

...when she wins the lottery! ...

We enjoyed the mural...

..and this trompe-l'oeil...

...did you spot it?

We ended our day eating the yummy things we had bought down by the water, contemplating the view and watching the boats...

..and wondering who else was on a day trip!

A lovely, different, day out for us.

Now... where are those lottery numbers? ...

Jon will be in Topsham next weekend with

The Ideford Art Group

for another of their Road Show events.

You will find them at

Matthews Hall, Topsham

from 10am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday, June 19 and 20.

For more information go to Jon's Spoon Carving Blog and click on the Ideford Arts on The Road image.

A proper Princess!

2010-05-23T10:32:00.000+01:00

Princess Polly Poule is a 'roughty toughty', 'daring do' sort of a chicken.

She is always with me in the garden, watching what I do, in case she spots a juicy worm where I have been digging.

However. She has gone broody and as a result has gone slightly mad!

She spent about a week making very funny popping noises and fanning her tail whenever we approached and then one day last week we lost her!

After lots of searching we discovered her lying very low in the side car; we hadn't spotted her the first time we looked.

And so that is where she spends most of her time at the moment.

Her day starts by rushing out of the hen house, grabbing a quick bite to eat and then dashing for the side car.

Every few hours Jon goes and collects her...

and brings her in for a drink and some food.

Do you think he gets any thanks for this?

Oh! No! You should hear her language!

Because she sits for so long without moving, her little princess legs go all stiff and it takes her a while to get the circulation going again.

So she sits on the apple room floor for a while...

...swearing at anyone who catches her eye...

until she is ready to have a little bit to eat and drink...

before rushing back to the nest with maybe a quick dust bath on route!

And then last thing at night, when all the other girls are in bed, Jon goes and collects her one last time...

for her evening snack, drink and swear!...

He patiently waits for her to be ready...

and then takes her back down to the hen house...

for it all to begin again tomorrow!

Jons' Spring Time Pique Nique

2010-04-28T15:57:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I packed a few things in my rucksack and went for a walk...

I wanted to find out how the woods are getting on after a long cold winter.

The leaf canopy seems to be a little late this year. I didn't expect to find many plants showing through the leaf litter. I was thrilled to find some of my favourite salad plants have made an appearance...

The first and most obvious being the lovely....

Beech ...

( Fagus Sylvatica ).

You can eat the leaves early in the season when they are brand new....

I quickly gathered a good amount, popped them in my pocket and carried on through the forest.

On one of the lower tracks I encountered a very tasty plant.

We call it...

Jack-by-the-hedge....

( Alliaria Petiolata )

It has a rather nice garlic taste, very mild and perfect for a salad...

There are quite a lot out at the moment so I will pop back for a few more soon...

The next plant I came across is rather special.

The Pig Nut

( Conopodium Majus )

They are very small at the moment, I will post some more pictures later in the season...

What you have to do is very carefully follow the stem down to the ground, and with your fingers dig down...following the stem. The stem turns through 90 degrees as it nears the tuba. If you are successful you will find a tasty morsel in the form of a soft skinned nut. These can be eaten raw, as I like them, or lightly roasted on the embers of a fire...

They taste to me like a peppery chestnut...

You can quite clearly see the delicate stem turn before it meets the tuba...

And washed in the stream...

I found plenty of young

Goose Grass...

( Galium Aparine )

Quite a hairy little blighter, you will have to cook it, by boiling or steaming.
I have in the past eaten quite a lot of this plant, but to be quite honest it isn't a clear favourite.

Chopped and added to a stew to mask the taste is the way to go....

The next plant I found will have to be treated in the same manner.

But after steaming or a light boil this plant is a more palatable option...

Black Berry

( Rubus Fructicosus )

Pick and cook the young shoots...

A nice treat on a sunny day is the
Navel Wort...
( Umbilicus Sylvestris )
A succulent addition to your salad ...

So some of these little, green, round gems were picked and put carefully in my rucksack for later...
With my thoughts turning toward a super pique nique I wanted a hot drink to go with it...
Finding a suitable pine tree I took some young needles.
These will make a fine tea to go with lunch...

And just to give my taste buds a final tweak I picked a few leaves of
Wood Sorrel
( Oxalis Acetosella )

Now you don't want to go eating a lot of these tasty morceaux as they are full of Oxalates, which are not good for you, but gives this plant an apple peel citric taste...

And so once I had found my salad I repaired to the nearby stream and set about making my pique nique...

Boiling water for the Pine Needle Tea...

Add a little sugar if you have it...

I had a splendid walk and a great Pique nique...
Ready to do it again on the weekend when I have an old friend of mine to stay for the Bank Holiday...
Cant wait....

See what else we get up to at...http://spooncarvingfirststeps.blogspot.com/

Enjoy....

Today I heard a cuckoo!

2010-04-25T16:23:00.000+01:00

Spring has sprung in the garden!

The grass is riz!

I wonder where d'em birdies is?

Who? Me?

She is such a naughty chicken!

And this morning I heard my first cuckoo of the spring, marvellous!

Well done Jon, you have taken some wonderful pictures with our little camera.

Find out what else Jon has been up to at spoon carving first steps

Indoor play!

2010-04-05T16:47:00.001+01:00

With the weather so wet over the weekend and it being a holiday, I sat down with my knitting needles to enjoy some uninterrupted knitting time!

First of all I finished knitting some booties. I got the pattern from the ravelry website which is brilliant, with lots of free patterns available to down load.

As well as knitting with wool I really enjoy the challenge of knitting with wire!

Sometimes I add detail to the wire by threading a selection of different glass beads onto the wire.

I then knit the wire as you would wool. It takes some getting used to as there is no 'give' in the wire.

But it doesn't matter if you drop a stitch because the wire holds the shape of the stitch!

For this wire and bead project I chose to knit alternate rows with beads. I find that it can be hard work to knit every row with beads.

This weekend's project became a beaded napkin ring. Here is the finished ring.

I have got a few wire projects that I have completed.

A bag knitted out of wire which I lined with velvet.

I like to use knitted wire to add

a detail to other things I have made. Here I have added a circle of knitted wire to a bag.

I have experimented with different thickness's of wire and made napkin rings which I have decorated with paper roses instead of adding beads.

And so back to this weekend's project!

With welcome interruptions of cups of tea and chocolate to eat, I finished two beaded napkin rings. I am now making some more out of different coloured wire to complete the set.

Ah! holidays. :-)

I think Jon and Dolly would agree too...

Find out what else we get up to at
http://spooncarvingfirststeps.blogspot.com/

Knot just any old blog post!

2010-03-14T18:37:00.000Z

I am very proud!

I have learnt how to do a Reindeer herder's slippery figure-of-eight hitch.

It goes like this!

Wrap the string around your tree. Have one long length and one short length.

Wrap the short length around your hand.

Bring the loop you have made under the long length.

Open your hand so that the loop opens too and grab down to the short length which is in your right hand.

Pull the short length through.

Take your hand out and you will see a figure of eight.

Snug the knot up to the tree. Job done and your reindeer will not escape!

Jon is jolly good at knots. I think that they are really beautiful and useful all at the same time. Here are some of the knots we use.

On the gate.

On Jon's pendant.

On Jon's carving knife sheath.

And finally, on Jon's boot laces.

This is an adaptation of the Surgeons' knot. It doesn't get unpicked by brambles and grabby branches!

I am looking forward to learning my next new knot!

Saved by the bell

2010-03-07T14:24:00.000Z

We had a pretty amazing visitor to the garden this week, although the sparrows may tell you a different story!

The sparrows, which nest in the roof are, on a normal day, very noisy little things. However, one morning this week, when Jon was in the kitchen preparing a rather splendid Bolognese sauce for our evening meal, he could hear them making MUCH more noise than usual. He looked out of the window to see what was going on and saw this...

All the neighbourhood sparrows were crowded into the little round bush on the right of the photo. They were shouting at our visitor to go away in no uncertain terms!

The sparrow hawk was not happy with just waiting for a sparrow to break cover and come out of the bush, it kept jumping into the bush after them...

It looked like the sparrow hawk was determined to have a sparrow and they were panicking...

but just then our neighbour happened along and the sparrow hawk flew away- much to the relief of all the sparrows! They were, you might say, saved by the bell!

Jon and I hope that it comes back again sometime, but we won't tell the sparrows we said that!

Good things

2010-02-15T17:25:00.016Z

Things are good when you find your first one of these...

..very near to these...

..and these...

And then you look up and see these...

Things are very good when this happens...

and the blackcurrants start to wake up.

Things are REALLY good when Dolly is so cosy and warm all she needs to do is make a nest out of the mat!

And Lovely can concentrate on having a really good dust bath.

It is great when the sunshine is back in the kitchen.

Things are very lovely when you can share a hot chocolate on your day off!

Life is really good when you can swap this...

...for one of these...

It is a wonderful life when you have chance encounters like this.

But the icing on the cake comes when little Molly Moppit...

...lays her very first egg!

And if you are wondering about the colour- only the finest Cream Legbars lay such beautiful blue eggs!

Bread making in France

2010-01-31T12:38:00.016Z

When we stayed with our friend Alain he showed us how to make bread using a traditional beehive oven. It was such a wonderful thing to do.

Alain got Jon up at 'une bonne heure' to go into the nearest village to collect three large terrines of bread dough from his friend at the boulangerie. Before they left they had filled the oven with oak logs and started the fire, so that it would be at the right temperature when they returned. They had time to have a coffee and a talk with everyone in the café before returning home!

With the oven at the correct temperature Alain moved the burning logs to the edge.

He then used a wet rag on a pole to clean the floor of the oven. This was amazing to watch. In an instant it was clean. This was a VERY hot oven!

With the dough spread out on the table, and the rest of us just beginning to wake up, Alain began to cut the dough into loaves.

Then the baking could begin!

Because the oven is SO hot the bread takes only minutes to bake. It is really quite amazing.

So, with the bread cooling outside and everyone ready for breakfast all that was left to do was inspect the oven...

...ready to put the meat in for dinner! And what a feast it was! miam!

Alain passed away this week.
This is how we remember out lovely friend.

Lovely Lavender

2010-01-24T16:55:00.010Z

I love to use lavender.

I have a friend who grows lots of it in her garden...

...and when the bees have finished with it she lets me have some too.

My favourite thing to do with it is to make Lavender buns using my Mum's recipe.
So, with the latest delivery...

I set about baking!

First of all I chop the flowers up quite small.

I mix these with the sugar.

Then add the rest of the ingredients and bake.
Et voilà!

They taste wonderful!

I also like to use the lavender in the baskets I make.

So. With the longest day past and the days getting a little longer, I am looking forward to this years lavender days.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

2010-01-10T12:58:00.029Z

It is snowing and Jon is happy.

...but the girls don't like it!

We had to cover the ground with hay before they would even consider coming out!

Dolly tried it under the hen house with the others for a while but decided it was all too much. She would take her meals inside the hen house until the weather improves!

So, with all the girls sorted and fed..

..Jon could not resist a stroll in the snow!

Up to the top gate...

...and down to the woods.

Where he saw a fox stalking a blackbird,

..but we won't tell the girls!

We really do live in a beautiful place, just look at this view...

..and up close too.

And then there is the walk home...

... for a warm by the fire with hot chocolate and brandy and freshly baked apple pie and buns!

Just a perfect Jon sort of a day!

A Blue Moon New Year

2009-12-31T09:07:00.002Z

Happy New Year to you all.
Enjoy the blue moon.

Cheers!

2009-12-29T11:36:00.009Z

Having discovered that the Blackberry Wine would be ready at Christmas Jon decided that we had better taste it to check!

So, on Christmas Eve, there was much clinking in the cupboard, followed by a bit of syphoning!

Then there was some concentrated pouring...

..followed by happy tasting!

Cheers!
It was lovely, well done Jon!

Happy New Year!

Visitors

2009-12-10T20:00:00.013Z

The weather has been so wet!

We couldn't blame the rather beautiful male pheasant for seeking shelter in the garden.

Our chickens were more than a little surprised by his arrival and looked on in awe as he flew over the gate!

They were not too pleased to see him helping himself to their corn though. He has now become a regular visitor, coming for a lunch time snack each day.

His visit made us think about a few of our other visitors.

This spring we had a female pheasant visit for a while.

She got so bold that she would go into the hen house run to eat the girls food.

We also have a sparrow hawk which visits the garden fairly regularly. We have many sparrows here so there is lots of food for it! We were even lucky enough to take a photo of it as it sat in the ash tree catching its breath.

We know when it is around because the garden goes very, very quiet!

We have two young badgers which visit most nights. They come up and eat the spilled grain from the chicken feeders.

They don't seem to mind if we shine a torch where they are feeding, so we get an amazing view of them from our front door! We have had successful badger watch parties and when we camped out in the summer, if we were quiet, they would come up past us to feed.

One of my favourite sounds is of the tawny owl as it sits on the roof and calls to its friends around the village. At the moment I listen to it as I eat my breakfast - while the blackbird sings its beautiful morning song.

I love it when the starlings come to have a bath. They are so noisy and can empty the bath in one go. The little birds sit around the edge having a shower.

Our friend the robin is getting very brave and greets us in the morning with the most beautiful song. He likes to share the girls grain - and they don't seem to be that bothered!

We think that we are very lucky to have such a collection of visitors to the garden.

A Great Success

2009-11-29T17:07:00.005Z

Thank you to everyone who came to The Ideford Arts Autumn Exhibition. It was such a great success. Everyone was so positive and we had such fun.
Jon is furiously carving to catch up on commissions and to try to re-stock! Fantastic!

Jon always signs his work with his own special mark.

He was asked about this during the exhibition and the story was much enjoyed.

It is his initials made into mountains and a moon.
It also represents the most amazing night we spent together when we were travelling in France.

We were travelling from Geneva into the French Alps. Jon had been in France for a couple of months. I flew out to join him as soon as I finished work.

He picked me up from Geneva airport in the late afternoon. By the time we were out of the city and heading for the mountains it was already getting dark.

It was a beautiful clear night and the moon was full and shining very brightly.
It was a special moon because it was a blue moon - once in a blue moon you get two full moons in a month.

The moon was so bright the mountains were clearly visible and the roads were the most amazing silver ribbons between them.

We stopped a few times on route just to take it all in. As we stood soaking in the view all we could hear was the song of the crickets.

It is a journey we shall never forget.

Getting ready for the show!

2009-11-13T18:59:00.019Z

Today began with us collecting all of Jon's lovely spoons up and putting them into a basket.
Then we headed over to Ideford because we had a show to get ready for.

There were lots of labels to write.

And lots of standing back to check how it all looked.

There came the moment when everything was in the right place ...

...and Jon could feel very proud.

Hope to see you at the show!

Polly and Penny

2009-10-31T18:02:00.018Z

We were asked if we would like to give a home to two more chickens who needed a flock of their own. How could we refuse?

Here they are, Polly Poule...

...and Henny Penny.

Henny Penny is not too happy to have her picture taken at the moment because she is moulting!

The first day of their arrival was a bit tense, our girls spent the whole day shouting that we had strangers in the garden. However, it very soon settled down in the hen house and calm was restored.
Well, that was until Polly decided that she wanted to lay an egg. The art of egg laying is apparently quite complicated. There are many places that our chickens lay their eggs, some are more popular than others - under the piano in the garage is very much in demand.

As far as Polly was concerned the hunt for the perfect egg laying spot was a serious and somewhat urgent matter.

She could have laid her egg under the piano in the garage, but that was not quite right.

She tried to lay an egg in the cosy box under the work bench, but it really wouldn't do.

She really wanted to lay her egg in Dolly's nest in the apple room but...

...Dolly said "NO!"

She thought about using the hen house, but she couldn't get comfy.

She considered using the nest in the Periwinkle plant, but it wasn't really what she wanted.

She briefly considered the nest under the magnolia tree, but it was never going to work.

She looked everywhere again.

And then she had another look.

She looked all over the garage. Under the side car. On top of the work bench. Under the side car? On top of the freezer. Under the side car? Under the side car? Well it might work. But what about the oil? Luckily for Polly Poule Jon came along just at that very moment.

"You don't want to go under there." he said."What you want to do is go IN the side car."

Polly looked at it for a while. She went under the side car again just to be sure she was making the right decision.

We think she made a very good choice and told her so as we thanked her for her perfect white egg. But we think that perhaps she needs to be called Princess Polly Poule from now on!

So much fruit!

2009-10-12T18:16:00.019+01:00

We have had the most fantastic crop of fruit this year.

Lots of Damsons...

...and Pears.

We have also been given some lovely grapes, thank you Nick.

Problem is what to do with it all?
I really could not face that much jam!
Jon has solved the problem by deciding to make some wine, something I am actively encouraging!

So the house has been filled with much activity over the last couple of weeks. I am terribly excited about it all.

There has been...

...the stoning of all those plums which went on ALL day,

even through the Grand Prix - now that is dedication!...

... and sieving...

...and sugaring...

..and then sieving again...

...and siphoning..

...yeast adding...

..and gadget making ...

..and tucking them up in the warm!

Fingers crossed for this time next year!
Exciting isn't it?

My Favourite Story

2009-09-25T16:13:00.015+01:00

I love this time of the year because I get to tell my favourite story.

Before people walked the earth Coyote was Chief of all the animals.
Great Spirit had given him some very important news. So he had called a meeting of all the Chiefs of all the animals so that he could share the news with them.

He waited as one by one they arrived at the meeting place in the forest.
Everyone was talking at once as the meeting place slowly filled. The Chiefs did not know why they had been called to meet with Coyote, but they realised that it was important.

When Coyote was sure that all the Chiefs had arrived he slowly stood up and one by one they fell silent.
"I have called you here to share some very important news with you," he began. "Very soon a big freeze will come to this land and it will become so cold that the clouds will shatter and fall as flakes to the ground. It will become so cold that the earth will turn to stone and the water will turn to rock."

Well, immediately, the Chiefs all began talking at once. How were they going to survive such a thing? Coyote rose to his feet again and gradually the Chiefs fell silent.
"I have called you here because I believe, that with your help, we can come up with a solution for each of us."
The Chiefs nodded their heads in agreement.

They talked long into the night and were still talking as the sun rose the next morning. Once again Coyote rose to his feet and the Chiefs fell silent.
"What have you decided to do?" he asked.

The first to stand was the Bear Chief.
"We have decided to eat as much food as we can now, and then just before the big freeze comes, we will find a warm place to rest and sleep until the big freeze has gone."
"Very good," said the Coyote.

The next to stand was one of the Bird Clan Chiefs'.
"My clan have decided that we will fly away from this place just before the big freeze comes, and return when the big freeze has gone."
"Very good," agreed the Coyote.

The Squirrel Chief stood next.
"We have decide that we will collect as much food as we can now, and hide it in stores all over the forest, so that when the big freeze comes we will have enough food to eat."
"An excellent idea," said the Coyote.

The Chief of all the Rabbits stood next and explained that his clan would change their coats in time for the big freeze.

"We shall grow thick white fur, so that we shall be warm and able to hide in the cloud flakes."
The Coyote agreed this was a very good idea.

The Chief of all the Beavers stood next.
"We have decided that we shall build a lodge below the water so that we shall be ready for when the water turns to iron."

The Coyote smiled as he listened to what the Chiefs had to say. By the time the sun was low in the sky he had heard all the Chiefs speak and thanked them for their strength. He wished them all well as, one by one, they left the meeting place to return to their clans and make their preparations for the big freeze.

The Coyote was exhausted. He sat in the empty meeting place and closed his eyes for a moment. As he sat in the silence of the forest he became aware of a faint noise. He listened more closely and realised that it was coming from the ground before him As he looked, he realised that he was looking at the Chiefs of all The Little People. He was shocked to see that they were crying.

"What troubles you?" he asked.
"We do not know what to do when the big freeze comes," they sobbed.
The Coyote was troubled. He thought that he had heard all the Chiefs speak.

He looked at the Chief of the Wasps. "Can't you do as the Bird Clan and fly away from here?" he asked.
"We are too small, we would not be able to fly that far," explained the Chief.

"What about you, Chief of all the Beetles. Why don't you do like the Beaver Clan and share their underwater lodge?"
"We are not as strong as they are. We could not dive that far below the water,"explained the Chief.

The Coyote looked at the Chief of all the Mice.
"Well you could do as the Bear Clan and find a warm place to sleep through the big freeze."
"Oh, we are too small. We would not be able to eat enough before the big freeze came,"explained the Chief.

The Coyote thought of as many ideas as he could, but each time the Chiefs explained why it was not possible for them. He realised that he needed to have some time to think. The sun had long since set and the moon was now high in the sky.
"I shall return with a solution by sun rise," he explained.

Coyote walked for hours. He thought and thought and thought, but he could not think of the answer for The Little People.

He came to the part of the forest where his friend The Thought Tree lived and he flopped down at her roots and began to sob. Very gradually he became aware that The Thought Tree was calling to him. He sat up and listened. He rubbed his ears and listened again. He shook his head to make sure he wasn't hearing things.
"What was that you said?" he asked his friend.
"My clan want to help The Little People," she repeated. "Just before the big freeze comes we shall drop all our leaves to the ground and make a lovely warm blanket for The Little People to hide under."

The Coyote was overjoyed. He jumped and leapt and ran around the tree until he felt quite dizzy.
"That is the most generous of gifts!" he exclaimed. "And my gift to you for helping The Little People is that just before you drop your leaves to the ground I will paint them the most beautiful colours.

I shall paint them all with beautiful reds and golds and yellows and browns. This shall be my gift to you and your Clan."

And every year, just before the big freeze comes to this land Bear finds a warm place to sleep, Squirrel hides food all over the forest, the Bird Clan fly to a warmer place, Rabbit grows a new coat and Beaver makes a warm lodge.

And every year, just before the big freeze comes, Coyote paints The Thought Tree Clan's leaves the most beautiful colours - just before they drop them to the ground to make a warm blanket for The Little People.

All made by Jon

2009-09-20T16:11:00.025+01:00

Jon set himself the challenge of making fire using only natural materials. He didn't want to use anything that had been shop bought, like boot laces. I think you will agree, this is quite a challenge!

I watched him get ready for this. First he soaked the lovely nettle string he had made earlier for about half an hour.

Then he attached the string to the new bow he had made in the week.

Then he made the hole for the drill in the hearth and bedded the drill in.

He padded the bearing with a leaf to stop it catching fire.

Once he had bedded the drill in, he was ready to cut out the notch in the hearth.

Next he put a shaving underneath the hearth to catch the coal or ember.

Then he was ready to use the bow to make an ember.
He makes this bit seem really easy.

A few moments later and he gently rolled the hearth away, revealing the coal,

added it to the hay and birch bark bundle,

blew on it to get it going,

and made fire!

WOW!

A Grand Day Out

2009-09-13T15:13:00.013+01:00

What a treat this week to have a Friday off! So, to celebrate this fact, and to enjoy the lovely sunshine we set off into the countryside!

We decided to visit our friend Angie Carter-Woodwark who is exhibiting her photos and paintings as part of the Devon Open Studios over in Ideford.

We found her busily working on her next picture. She did have time to stop for a cup of tea and a chat though!

It was such a treat to join her with her fellow artists at the studio. What a talented group of people.

The group of artists are; Vicki Gardener, Paul Freestone, Oliver Lucas and Jan Lunn. They are all very welcoming and we had such fun visiting them.

Before leaving Ideford we went to have a look at the Millennium Green and sit on the bench that Angie designed. There was also an exhibition of patchwork quilts in the village that day, so we had a look at that too.

As we headed out of the village we had to stop for a moment and look at the ducks who were enjoying the shade of the trees.

All in all, we had a grand day out.

Hennock Holiday

2009-08-31T16:00:00.030+01:00

What a lovely Hennock Holiday weekend. Thank you to everyone who came.

It started with feather stick making...

and moved on to chopping thin sticks...

then a bit of fire laying...

and adding of the all important spark.
No pressure!

Then the first flames...

which we celebrated with a nice cup of tea!

With just a bit more fire starting to do!

Then there was knife sharpening

and a bit of foraging for food! Can you spot the small people?

Which was followed by Silver Birch bark rolling

and some i-pod sharing- well you need to know how it all works don't you!

Then we had a very unusual and rare visitor- a noctule bat. It is unlikely that any of us will be this close to one of these little bats again. Very special. She is a youngster who got a bit hungry so had been given lots to eat and Jim Jam was about to release her. Wow!

After all that excitement we needed dinner.
Followed by cheese and biscuits by the fire before snuggling up for the night.

Ssh! Everyone is asleep.

First signs of life!

Did someone mention breakfast?

Then we were all set for a gentle walk in the nearby beautiful wooded valley, looking at the industrial ruins of the micacoeus hematite mines.

And our holiday ended with a pint in The Palk before we all waved our goodbyes and two small people started planning the next one!

Oh! and if you were wondering how Molly Moppit and Flo are settling in, well see for yourselves...

What a lovely suprise

2009-08-24T21:23:00.024+01:00

This week we had the most delightful surprise. We were given two new chickens as a thank you present for helping our friends.

They arrived in the evening when it was dark so that they were calm and we could introduce them to our girls in the hen house.

Jon and I were up at sunrise to make sure everyone was behaving and so that we could meet our new girls properly.

They were a bit shy at first and our girls were being a bit bossy with them.

A chat with Jon soon helped them to feel at home.

Our girls were furious with us for not letting them out that first day. They shouted at us most of the day "You forgot to let us out! You forgot to let us out! You forgot to let us out!" Dolly shouted so much that she made her throat sore and ended up sounding like a deflating bagpipe! A cuddle with Jon soon made her feel better though.

The next day we let our lot out and gave our new girls a bit of time to get to know their surroundings in peace.

Here they are...

...Little Molly Moppit ...

...and Flo.

Molly Moppit gets her name from her crest - which I think looks little a mop cap and Flo is a Brown Leghorn so I had to name her after Foghorn Leghorn the cartoon character!

Each day they get a little bit braver and come out of the run for longer.

I don't think it will be long before they join the others ...

Lovely discusses the news over breakfast with Jon!

Poppy enjoys a drink from the bird bath.

Jonesy helps me with the gardening.

And Dolly... well she enjoys cuddles with Jon...

...and sleeping on the step.

Wild food and some furious painting

2009-08-18T21:07:00.038+01:00

I decided that the kitchen needed painting and with Cally's wonderful help began covering everything in paint! She is a bit shy of the camera but if you look closely you can see her in the corner. Thank you Cally - you really are Mrs Christmas!

Jon was busy making some spoons - but he was able to pop out to the woods and find us a delicious lunch of Chantrelle mushrooms.

Jon cooked them to perfection and we had them with freshly laid eggs from our lovely chickens. Yum!

On his way back from the mushroom hunt Jon found a mushroom he thought he recognised, so he brought it home with him. We are really lucky to have a neighbour who is something of an expert in mushroom identification. He told us that it was a Cep or Penny Bun...

... and then went on to show us how to prepare it for drying. He advised this was the best thing to do with it.

And so it is now sitting on the window sill drying out - we can't wait to try it in our cooking.

While I continued to paint the kitchen Jon carried on with spoon carving down in his office. He made more delicious lunches for me - one of them was eggs cooked on the fire. I was very excited about this. It is very tricky to do it as they can explode!

And with the egg now cooked all that was left was to eat and enjoy!
I peeled the shell off while Jon toasted some bread and spread it with lots of butter. Then we sliced the egg on to the melted pools of butter and thoroughly enjoyed our lunch!

To celebrate the end of all the painting Jon picked some special treats from the garden for our supper.

Some were easier to reach than others...

He found Green Gages, Victoria plums, peas and some more Chantrelle collected this morning. I am not sure which tree the wine came from but it was very welcome!

The sun came out!

2009-08-10T09:49:00.019+01:00

It wasn't just Dolly and Jonesy who enjoyed a bit of sunshine this weekend!

Saturday began very early - I was up before the chickens to get ready to go to market with Cally. Check out Cally's Cottage blog for more about our lovely morning.

After a snooze in the afternoon I was woken by the most delicious cooking smells. Jon was making a curry!

He had got everything ready for a curry evening by the office with our friend Tas.
The fire was laid - with fire sticks cut and ready. The table was set too.

Just to add to the mood he had even organised a beautiful moon rise!

It was a delicious meal and Tas and I decided that he makes an exceedingly good curry! Well, he was taught by an expert!

It was such a gorgeous evening - we decided to sleep out by the fire.

Jon kindly let Tas and I sleep in the office, which was SO cosy. We both slept like logs!
The next morning we were woken by the sound of the birds - and the chickens calling for their breakfast!
Once we had sorted them out we got to work organising our breakfast.
Jon got the fire going again using the embers and I found the coffee and bacon.

There is something very special about breakfast cooked on an open fire.

We all felt like we had been on holiday - and we hadn't even left the garden!

The new office

2009-08-05T18:00:00.000+01:00

Jon decided that he needed a new office and I decided that the grass in the bottom field needed cutting! So, with that happy coincidence, he carefully dismantled last years office and by re using the branches from that, along with some newly collected branches from the garden, he began to build.

Once he had made the frame he then began the very long job of cutting the long grass into bundles to use as thatching.

He had to dodge the rain showers, but managed to complete it in time for us to enjoy an evening by the fire.

A perfect way to enjoy the view from the new office.

Nettle string making

2009-08-04T17:42:00.001+01:00

We have been busy clearing some of the stinging nettles here this week - between the rain showers! Jon has used them to make string for us to use in the garden.After pulling all the leaves off he bashed the stems to make them easier to work.

Then he carefully separated the fibers from the pith. This is easier to do when the nettles are fresh.

He then hung the fibers up to dry. The tough pith can go in the compost.

He then wound two strands of the fibers together by twisting each of the two strands individually and then rolling these two together.

Once it stops raining we will be able to use our lovely string in the garden!