Birthday jumper, maniacal gardening

 I knitted this v-neck pullover for Franklin for his birthday.  He wore it for a full week before he let me wash it♥  It's my own pattern and is made from a nice lambswool/nylon blend yarn.  I'm trying to replicate the pattern with merino yarn but this one's taking me ages--I'm not quite as dedicated to my knitting now there's outdoorsy stuff to do.

 I remade two adjacent raised bed into one big u-shaped bed, using the hugelkultur technique: that is, logs and sticks piled underneath, soil on top.  I moved most of the strawberries onto the new bed, plus some other random self-seeded plants from various places around the garden including a foxglove, some daisies, and a feverfew or two.  That glass shower door against the garage wall is my cold frame, but nothing's growing under it at the moment. 

 My cute little almond tree blossoms.  The photo shows pretty much all the flowers on the tree.  It has a couple leaves poking out too.

My tiny pond, southeast of the almond tree by about two feet.  The wire guard on it used to be a little greenhouse shelf/rack. 

For the past week we've been eating the last of the winter cabbages;  I picked about 7 for the fridge and let the chickens into the vegetable patch to tidy it up for me.  After a week, it's looking a little more bare;  I think I'll give them one more week inside, and then I'll move them out and start planting stuff.  Well, start planting more stuff, anyway--I began in January really.

I sowed about ten trays of seeds earlier in the month, both vegetable and flower; planted a tiny blue false indigo (crossing my fingers for this one--very small); planted some bamboo rhizomes and a hydrangea sourced from the local freecycle network; got delivered a flowering quince, a baby rooted fig cutting, and three itsy Chilean guavas (even tinier than the blue false indigo) which need to grow a little longer before planting.  Partner thinks there isn't enough room for it all, but there is.  And more (cue maniacal laugh)! 

Garden, chickens, quiet birthday

 The view from my dining room.  We've had several warm days in a row, and the grass is growing again.  I can tell because we cycle the chickens through the different sections of the lawn, and all winter it's been pretty sparse!  Though it's grown slowly through the winter, its picked up suddenly this week and is actually green again.

 The ladies, all watching me!  You can see the orange temporary fence;  we move it every one or two weeks (depending on the size of the current area).  We don't want them to destroy everything--just give things a good trim.  I've noticed that when they return to an area, usually after 4-6 weeks, those trimmed plants/grass/weeds/etc are back to the original size, or if it's summer, even bigger.  Free chicken feed, and they harvest (and fertilize) it themselves.

I don't have a photo at the moment, but my almond tree is now in flower:  so pretty!  Since the sky was clear at sunset tonight, I decided to play things safe and cover the blossoms in case of frost;  I took a pillowcase and slipped it over the flowering branches and clipped it on with a few clothes pegs.  The tree is still small, so only one pillowcase was necessary.  I'll take it off in the morning so insects can get to the blooms.

We celebrated Franklin's birthday fairly low key this year;  I had to work on his birthday so we did it all on the day before instead.  My mother had a tradition of hiding our presents around the house, with a long string showing the way from one to the next;  I did this for Franklin last year and again this year, and he had a great time following the string to find all the gifts.  I made a vanilla and plum cheesecake, and he ate almost all of it himself--he loves cheesecake.  He also had drinks and a brownie at the Leeds Museum tea room, and got to explore the museum. 

Lots of garden photos, more shrubs

 One of five Brussels sprouts in my garden this winter;  they're much less pungent than store-bought ones!

 Franklin showing off his new scarf and gloves I made.  He chose the colors.  Both are made from cashmere/silk blend yarn:  super soft and warm.

 My tiny new pond, unfilled.  It now has water and a wire cover over 2/3 of it (so small people don't fall in).  The two large stones inside are to help amphibians or any other small creatures get out of it. 

 My new almond tree has buds with the bright pink petals just showing.  It won't be long before it flowers, I think.  Excited!

 New growth coming out all over, including this yellow peony

 and plenty of daffodils.

 I planted this window box up last spring and (from left to right) lobelia, parsley, and calendula are still going strong.  I was hoping to replant this spring, but it looks like I'm stuck with it!

This white hellebore, along with a pink counterpart, snuck under the fence from the neighbor's garden.  It's a nice big one, too.  Free plants!

Partner dug up some rooted lilac branches from the hidden lilac and I've potted some up to grow them on, but two were planted straight in the ground:  one in front and one in back.  Hopefully they continue to grow.  If the potted ones survive I may transplant them, or possibly give them away/sell them.  I've not decided.

I also planted another alder and two broom plants this week.  Broom is nitrogen-fixing, like alder.  And it's a nice little shrub with pretty yellow flowers.  Apparently it's classed as an invasive in some parts of the world, but it's a native plant here.  When it comes to natives, the more the merrier:  at least I know they'll grow!

My permaculture plan to plant more perennials is plodding along perfectly.  I hope to get even more things planted this spring.  I sold my fabulous faux fur coat for a nice sum on ebay, and I'm spending it all on plants!

New trees again, pond, Franklin

So since my last post I've received my order of six shrubs/trees, and I've bought a further three fruit trees (a kordia cherry, a williams pear, and an opal plum) going cheap.  And a couple other non-edible ornamentals going cheap.  I've been planting up a storm this month.  Even sowed some seeds while I was at it.

And I put in a very small pond in the corner next to the new almond tree.  It's the bottom third of a 50 gallon steel drum that Partner cut down for me.  I dug a big hole and placed the drum in it and surrounded it with large stones (and put a couple in, as well).  I hope it tempts a few frogs back.  I still feel guilty about all those poor frogs we displaced when we filled in the old pond two years ago.  I kept finding them hopping around the garden, looking confused.  Even last spring there were still a determined few, searching for their lost home.

Franklin had a week off school, and Partner and I took a few days off work too, so we had a visit to London to see the grandparents.  Franklin loves London and he got to play all day with his cousin Grace there, and then all day for several days with his grandad.  We didn't really go anywhere;  we just hung out and socialized at their house, ate their food, and enjoyed having someone else entertain the 3 year old. 

Actually, Franklin's 4th birthday is approaching very soon!  In some ways it seems like we've always had him, and in others, I can hardly believe he's not still a tiny baby.  My life changed so much when I had him;  those pre-Franklin days seem so distant and uninteresting.  What did I do for fun before Franklin?  Sat around and stared at the walls, I think.

Permaculture plans

So far this year I have planted three trees out back in the garden:  one almond tree and two alder seedlings.  Alders are nitrogen-fixing trees, and one of the seedlings went right next to the almond to act as a nurse tree and windbreak.   The almond tree has formed buds since I planted it last month, but as for the alders I'm not sure yet if they survived the transplant.

Lots of things sprouting and growing now--I can hardly believe it.  We have snowdrops, lots of daffodil and hyacinth buds (none open yet), daylily shoots which both Franklin and I like to munch, garlic (also tasty!), a few new tiny broccoli heads, a surprise lilac cutting with buds on it.  I cut back the overgrown lilac last fall and used some of the branches as temporary stakes;  it seems one is still alive.  Maybe I should check the others;  I love lilacs.

We did eat that cauliflower for Christmas, along with its greens, and a handful of Brussels sprouts. Then the week after Christmas, Partner persuaded me to buy another turkey from the butcher, on special.  It was even bigger than our Christmas one!  And at 2/3 the price, I didn't mind eating turkey for two weeks solid.  The Christmas plum pudding was also well-received;  I serve it with brandy butter (or hard sauce), which is really just flavored whipped butter, alcohol optional.  So good. 

Partner gave me two permaculture books for Christmas, and I've got lots of new things I to try.  Planting a nitrogen fixing tree next to a fruit tree was one of those things.  I also have six new shrubs/small trees on order--up until now, my garden food production has been mostly from annual vegetables;  I hope to plant more perennials, both food and non-food perennials. 

The food perennials I have now are:

• Morello cherry 
• Spartan and Loxton Fortune apples,
• Herbs: rosemary, hyssop, oregano, sage, mint, lemon balm, chives, garlic
• Almond
• Blackcurrant
• Rhubarb
• Strawberries
• Nettle
• Daylily
• Nasturtium (technically an annual, but self seeds prolifically)
• And the less palatable, but still edible: mallow, rose, dandelion, (I think Partner might put nettle in this category but I like it), campanula, passionfruit

I once had blueberries and asparagus too, but the chickens destroyed the former and the latter died out on its own with no apparent cause;  I never got a good harvest from it (or the blueberries).  And on order, hopefully to arrive by next week, if not sooner:  wild pear, crabapple, black mulberry bush, pea tree; and two non-edible natives: laburnum and broom.  I'm excited to get them in and growing!

A music video

I didn't share this when I first uploaded it: 


It's my final project for the short film class I took in 2013, and is a collaboration between myself and Partner (though the concept for both the song and video are my own, and I did the editing). And here's the behind the scenes video:

I wanted to remake my music video "Hopscotch" which I originally made with my family several years ago, but I wanted a new take on it. The original was a pop song; this is more of a soul sound, and the lyrics are mostly new. Franklin's been walking around singing "Pop pop pop popscotch; me and my sister" for the past month--too cute.

2013 garden mini-review, goals for 2014

I can hardly believe it's a new year again.  I wrote down a comprehensive 2013 garden review in my own personal journal, of which the main points are: 

• Almost no harvest of root crops:  no carrot, beet, winter radish, fennel, rutabaga, celeriac, onion.  Only turnips (small) and garlic (few).  Fennel and celeriac still growing, but no bulbous roots formed.
• Fantastic year for leafy greens including kale and cabbage, particularly self seeded cabbage, but also lettuce and other salad greens.
• Great yield on new strawberry plants, and 10 apples each on the two new apple trees.   Cherry tree covered in cherries this year (hilarious to watch chickens jumping up to grab cherries).
• Tomatoes in garage produced enough fruits to eat, but not enough to preserve.  Flavor not worth the effort.  Cucumber and peppers in garage also gave small harvest, but better flavors.
• Very nice roses again this year, lots of red peony flowers, nice clematis display, great lilacs.  A good year for flowering shrubs.
• Lawn very lush with almost no weeds, and needing little mowing--thanks to chickens;  also fewer weeds in garden beds.  However, quite a few veg seedling losses due to chickens scratching.

Thinking about the coming year and new goals.  I admit, not many of last year's goals were accomplished.  Maybe I should set the bar a little lower!  But I'll carry over the same goal I've had for several years now:  to grow 100% of our vegetables on site.  Maybe this'll be the year!  Already we're eating greens--mostly cabbage, but some kale.  I also want to plant another two perennial food plants (fruit, veg, herb, or something!) this year and put up a windbreak hedge on the western border at the back. 

In non gardening goals, I want to finish my degree this year!  It's so close.  So so close.  I also want to get this house a bit more decluttered and redecorated.  Maybe I should start with my bedroom, the only room in the house I've never decorated (and I've lived here nearly 10 years). 

And even closer to home, I want to get more sleep and focus more on my personal relationships.  Let's go 2014!

Produce, play, and pudding

This is the second ever cauliflower I've grown, and definitely the best.  I planted about twelve plants, but only two managed to survive (chickens maybe?  or possibly fatal slug attack) and the first was quite small when it started to go to seed.  This one is now softball size and still growing slowly.  We might have it for Christmas dinner.  Or I might let it carry on.

 Most of my cabbages look like this one.  No real heads, but beautiful tender leaves.  This particular one, along with about a dozen others, was self-seeded.  These volunteers have less slug damage than the transplants I put in.  I actually have one cabbage planted in spring 2012 which is still putting out mini heads;  I keep cutting them off the main stem and it still sprouts new ones. 

 Though we've had several frosts and quite a lot of wind, my roses have a few blooms.  This vibrant red rose has a couple more flowers on it, and I have a tall pink rose also flowering. 

Franklin had his first Christmas play at his nursery;  he was a Wise Man and he did well, both playing his role and singing the all songs.  All the kids had a costume and a song--there were snowflakes, elves, toys, snowmen, and the nativity.  The play was only his class, so just the 3 and 4 year olds, and they had a lot of fun preparing and learning for it.  I was very proud of him.  He's been walking around the house for the past couple weeks singing, "We WISH you a merry Christmas!" and "Jinger bells!"

Christmas will be a quiet affair at home for us again this year.  The plum pudding is made--I usually make it around Thanksgiving and let it mature in the fridge for a month.  Plum pudding is very traditional here, and I'd never had it before I'd moved over.  Partner used to buy one, but I never liked it much and usually ended up giving most of it to the birds.  Then one year I decided I would make it instead, using a recipe from The Joy of Cooking (I can't recommend this book enough--everything I've made from it is a winner).  This recipe is so much nicer than anything we ever bought, and I now eat more plum pudding than Partner does! 

Shawls, sewing, goodbyes, Thanksgiving, growing and eating

 I never showed off my alpaca shawl: 

 I've been wearing this shawl pretty much constantly for the past month, wrapped around my neck like a scarf, and it's kept me very toasty and stylish.  I liked knitting it so much I knit another purple one, for a friend of mine:

Other things newly made but not pictured:  a pair of mittens for Franklin, wool on the outside, cashmere on the inside, sewn from some scraps;  two pairs of wool trousers for Franklin, cut down from larger wool items;  and a pair of angora leggings for myself, sewn from a large pullover.  I love these leggings;  I made a similar pair last winter but they've seen a lot of action and needed replacing.  Now I just need one more pair, to wear when these new ones are in the wash.  Everything I've sewn has come from secondhand items I bought at charity shops.

We've had some big changes here at our house in November;  another chicken and our dog have both gone to the happy hunting grounds.  Rooster died in the same way as the other two, of a brief illness, and Beauty, at age 14, we took to the vet for her final journey.  It was a very sad day for us, but we know she had a good long life, more than half of it with our family;  and at her age, she was only going to get worse, not better.  We will miss her, though;  the house feels strange without her.

Since resuming my studies, I've got a lot less time to myself for personal pursuits, but it's nice to have two hours in the morning when Franklin's at nursery to study;  I find mornings a lot better for it than evenings ever were.  However, it also means my housework's suffering again--it's harder to motivate myself to clean in the afternoon when I'm tired out.  Partner's been pretty good about taking initiative on the weekends, thankfully.

Speaking of thanks, we had a nice Thanksgiving with a friend and her husband and baby.  The husband is also American, and though he's lived in the UK at least as long as I have, they've never celebrated Thanksgiving here.  She told me he was thrilled that we'd invited them.  I made most of the food, but it was really nice to not have to cook every single thing, as I usually do.  It was a little strange eating the feast at 6.30pm instead of our usual 2pm, but that certainly didn't stop anyone from overindulging;  I definitely ate more pie than was good for me--as did Franklin.  In fact, over the course of three days, Franklin ate more pie than anyone else in the house;  he loved it.

Still eating cabbage and kale from the garden, and tomatoes are very slowly ripening in the garage still;  I sowed some winter greens in pots in there too, hoping they'll sprout.  We've had some frost, though the plants near the house have mostly been unaffected, including about half the nasturtiums.  Those nasturtiums are something else!  They come back every year, and every year attempt global domination.  I've also got a couple of Brussels sprouts and one cauliflower growing well out back, most of the leeks, and the parsley and fennel.  I've tried nasturtium leaves in stew successfully, by the way.  Raw they're very peppery, but cooking makes them much milder.

Grizzly pullover, costume, my shop, study and work

 Over the spring and summer I gave up knitting and sewing for more outdoorsy pursuits.  Now I'm full speed ahead with the crafting.  Above is Franklin's newest knit pullover, which I call the Kissing Grizzlies.  I kind of copied the bear motif from a pullover we bought him, but the rest of the pattern is made up entirely by me.  This took me far too long to knit--more than a month!  But I'm so happy with it;  it's 100% wool, made with leftovers from the crocheted blanket. 

This is Franklin's Halloween costume, made very quickly in a few hours the day before his nursery school party.  They told us about the party two days before, so I didn't have much time--I cut down an old white shirt of mine to fit him, and made the cape from an old black shirt of Partner's and a piece of red tablecloth.  As far as I could see, Franklin was the only vampire at the party, and had the only hand made costume.  He was really excited to wear it;  he asked me before we left in the morning, "Mummy, you got my costume?"

Also making things for my etsy shop;  my goal is to make one item every week.  I make mostly cashmere baby clothing, though I make some things from wool, too.  I love cashmere;  I wear it almost exclusively in winter, and Franklin has a couple things, too:  he's got two sets of cashmere pajamas I've made, and wears a cashmere vest under his shirt every day to keep him toasty.  Lately I've made several newborn sleeping gowns out of cashmere, which have all sold quite quickly.  It's funny:  I've had my shop open for a year now, and only had three sales--until a month ago, when I suddenly had five sales within that month.  I even ran out of cashmere and had to go on a shopping spree to the local charity shops (I get my cashmere from second-hand sweaters);  I went a little overboard and spent all my profits on new materials!

I'm taking a few weeks off work now that my university classes have started up again, and I'll be going back to just two days a week instead of five.  It was really tough getting up early in the mornings to take Franklin to school, after working till 10.30pm the night before.  And my work is physical--I'm on my feet, in a kitchen;  I think those six weeks of it nearly killed me!  Now Partner's temporarily taking extra hours at his work instead of me, but at least his is a desk job.  We're trying to put aside the extra money in our savings.

Another coat! Garden recap

 I made yet another coat for Franklin.  This is the third!  First and second coats here.

 I sewed this coat from my own pattern, based loosely on a coat he already owns.  It's made of a wool/tencel blend suiting material, with a 100% cotton lining and 100% wool interlining. 

The lining and interlining are quilted together to make it a nice warm coat.  I also gave it welt pockets (I'm an expert at them now!).  It has flaws, but I'm very pleased with it;  I think it's the best coat of the three, design-wise.  I especially like the hood!

 Things are slowing down in the garden;  we've had a few sunny days and plenty of rain.  Star flowers at the moment are my blood red dahlias, above;  and my mallow, below.  This mallow is in my strawberry bed, protected from hungry chickens--they go mad for it!  It's edible to people too, but just tastes like a leaf to me.

We've finished the last of the runner beans--I managed to get one big bag in the freezer, but the way we eat veg, it'll last two meals at most!  Tomatoes are still coming, both indoors and out, but not every day.  Kale is looking and tasting fantastic, and the broccoli has put out a final effort;  there are about a dozen more turnips ready to eat, and about the same amount of leeks.

All in all, I haven't been able to produce 100% of our veg this year.  I would estimate it's been around 50%, so sadly I didn't achieve my goal yet again!  Looking back, part of it was seed failure (the carrots, beets, and onions simply failed to appear), and part of it was just bad luck:  chickens broke into newly sprouted seedbeds on more than one occasion and scratched up the lot, and quite a few of the rain-loving plants I have come to rely on struggled in the unexpectedly hot and sunny summer!  However, even though I didn't meet my goal, it's still been a successful growing year, and I've found my new methods of gardening, including polyculture and chop and drop, have paid off in both high yields and big, tasty vegetables.  It's also meant less work for me!

Window box, knitting, lack of caterpillars

 Partner made me this second window box earlier this year, in which I planted two sweet peppers and two geraniums.  I put in a layer of sticks, then newspaper, then some partly composted chicken bedding, bark dust, and leaf mould.  Definitely a good mix for growing in.  It has also benefited from twice weekly DIY compost tea feedings--very happy plants, particularly the geraniums which have flowered constantly all summer.

I knit these socks last winter, and have got them out again along with my other wool socks;  it's chilly.  These are 100% merino wool, and very cozy to wear.  I joined a new knitting group at the library (I went to a different one in a different library over summer, but had to stop once school started, due to scheduling).  I'm the youngest by about 30 years, but that doesn't bother me--I love to knit, and it's nice to share that!

At the moment I'm knitting a pullover for Franklin out of the leftovers from my crocheted blanket;  it's got grizzly bears and snowflakes.  And it's taking me ages!  Also in the works is yet another coat for him:  a hooded coat with a quilted wool lining.  It's actually nearly finished, but I have two custom orders to fulfil for my etsy shop;  as soon as they're shipped, I'll sew the lining to the shell and it'll be done. 

Still getting tomatoes and runner beans pretty much every day, though I think the beans'll be over soon.  I had one tiny pumpkin, but someone (with feathers, I suspect) broke it off the vine.  It was only about golf ball sized, so I wasn't too heartbroken.  My cabbages are also forming nice heads, and they escaped most of the caterpillar damage this year, thanks in part to my polyculture planting.  Because they weren't planted together in straight rows, but rather scattered about amongst everything, both vegetable and ornamental, the butterflies had a hard time finding them.  In previous years, caterpillars have completely defoliated whole plants.  This year, damage was strictly limited to molluscs.  One of the chickens caught a cabbage white butterfly earlier in the year;  I cheered her on. 

Garden bounty, crocheting, nursery school

 My two little apple trees were planted about a year ago, and after much anticipation, produced 10 apples each.  Above is a Sparta variety, which has been slowly deepening in color over the summer to almost purple.  Below is the Loxton Fortune, not quite so big, but just as delectable.  I can confirm both are crisp and juicy;  Loxton is slightly more tart, but both have an element of sweet/tart and both are extremely tasty.

 The runner beans suddenly switched into fifth gear with production;  in spring, I piled six inches of chicken bedding (i.e. manure and straw) at the base of the fence, shoved a few inches of topsoil onto it, and planted the runner beans in that.  To begin with they struggled as it did not initially hold water well--too many air gaps--but after about a month I think the roots penetrated into the ground underneath, and the pile itself decomposed enough to provide more structure.  I think that spot will be even more productive next year, with the broken down manure and nitrogen from the beans.

 I  planted twelve big planters of tomatoes in my garage with the new transparent roof, and after a summer of sun, heat, and DIY organic fertilizer (chicken manure and nettle tea), they are producing a few handfuls of fruits every day now.  My outdoor tomatoes, of which there are about ten, are not quite so advanced.  The outdoor plants are much more vigorous with many more fruits, leaves, and branches formed.  Though it's been sunny, warm, and not too rainy, that's still not been enough to ripen the outdoor fruits.  I've had a few cherry toms ripen outside, and a small truss of bigger ones, but the rest remain stubbornly green.  Maybe I'll make green tomato relish?

 Also, though the weather's been agreeable, the summer squash just aren't playing ball for me either.  Here's the one patty pan squash I got, from all six various squash plants out there.  It's possible I may get one or two more, but I'm not too hopeful.  I console myself with the fact this one was huge (weighed in at one pound);  I julienned with onion and garlic and sauteed in butter:  tasty. 

 This potato, like the rest of my potatoes this year, was a volunteer.  It came from one plant with three others of a similar size, and the four of them also clocked up at a pound in weight.  Franklin and I enjoyed them as fries/chips over the course of a few meals.  Bonus:  unlike the smaller salad-type potatoes which the rest of my volunteers seem to be, these had virtually no potato scab on them;  while completely harmless, scab makes the skins very fragile to cook--I generally peel them if they have scab, but I'd rather not as the peels are the yummy crispy bit!

 I've been crocheting lately;  here's my new woolly blanket, made in five colors.  I used thick yarn, a nice big hook (size 7mm), and learned how to join the squares as I went along, so it only took about two weeks to make;  I think the last granny square afghan I crocheted took me about six months!  I made it for Franklin's bed, but he says he doesn't want it so it's on mine instead;  it measures approximately 5'x6.5' and is made from 100% wool.

Franklin's now attending nursery school during the week, for three hours in the mornings.  The first day he was a little overwhelmed, but it was only for an hour, and when it was time to go he cried because he wanted to stay with the rest of the kids!  The second day he excitedly ran all the way to school, barged into the classroom, sat down at a table to play with some big chunky beads, barely noticed when I left, and has been doing it every day since;  I can't believe how quickly he acclimatized. 

Franklin's still very attached to me, but has been gaining independence lately.  He's been asking for more snuggles though--to make up for it, I think.  He's a big boy at 3 and a half, and getting bigger every day.  I miss him for those three hours!  But he enjoys it, and I know it's good for him.

Climbing, blue cardigan, decorating, gardening, blueberries

Franklin showed his grandpa just how good at rock climbing he is.

I think I never showed my blue alpaca cardigan?  It's my own design and fits me really well.  I love alpaca--it's so smooth.  I also knit a shawl with some of the leftover yarn, and now I love shawls.  It was so much quicker to knit that a cardigan (1 week versus 4 weeks) and it looks more complicated than it actually was.  No photo this time, though.

Decorating the house!  The kitchen is pretty much done, with a new paint job on the walls, cupboards, trim, and dining chairs, and a few new accessories (rug and seat cushions).  The hall and stairs are also nearly finished with new paint on the walls and trim, and soon a new curtain;  and the bathroom is also nearly finished.  The most neglected room in the house, it now has new trim, new splashback, a paint job, and a new built in sink cabinet;  while it still needs a bit more work, it looks ten times better.

We had another chicken casualty last week:  Blondie passed away after a brief illness.  We don't know what it was, but it happened quickly, unlike Shirley who was unwell for several months.  And on top of it, our dog has a bad case of the fleas and is going senile (she's 14 now).  Animal woes...

Finally we're getting some red tomatoes, but I doubt we'll get many from the outdoor plants;  though they have lots of fruit, the season is coming to a close and it's not likely they have time to ripen.  The greenhouse plants have fewer fruits, but I'm confident they'll ripen eventually as there's no real risk of frost.  We've also harvested several greenhouse cucumbers, with several more growing, and all the pepper plants have little fruits forming (also in the greenhouse).  While the zuccini plants are beautiful and big leaved, the fruits are either not being pollinated, or are being eaten by something (or both);  I'm so sad.

The kale, however, is performing spectacularly, and will probably continue well into winter.  It's a tasty plant, too.  I keep planting winter lettuce seeds, and they keep getting destroyed, by both slugs and chickens:  I can't win!  I fenced the bed off, but the chickens have broken into it at least three times, and what they haven't scratched up, the slugs have mown down.  I need to rethink my winter greens strategy.

We went hiking in the Peak District with grandparents, and discovered wild blueberries.  We turned blue! 

Family photos

Our new family portrait, taken by a friend at the park.  We had a fun day, walking in a nearby village:  visiting the local play parks, meeting pigs and horses, picking cherries, and wearing hats. Both Partner and I have lost weight since last summer's portrait--he's still losing it, too. 

Franklin has grown a lot over the summer, and is so heavy now!  He's always been chunky, but his wide chest and shoulders are really obvious now--not like the skinny boys on my side of the family.  He'll be starting nursery school in September, five days a week, three hours a day--if I can let him go, that is!  He's three and a half now, and is very excited about going to school, and likes to play out front on the street with the neighborhood kids.  Three of them were out yesterday, and Franklin saw them, turned to me and said, "My friends!"

 My parents visited us this month for two weeks, and did some decorating and home repairs, as well as a small amount of sightseeing.  Franklin was very comfortable with them this time, and everyone was sad to see them go. 

I plan on redecorating the entire house by the end of September (mostly this involves painting and decluttering).  I hope I can do it--I'm also working five days a week at my job, instead of the usual two, and my first week into it has left me completely exhausted.  It's not even double the hours I normally work--but waking early, running around after a toddler and taking care of chores during the day and then working a busy five hour shift on my feet in the evening is tough.  I console myself with the reminder that it's only for six weeks.  And then it's back to university I go...

Franklin's black coat, vegetables, it's hot!

Many things happening this past month;  for one, Franklin has a new black wool jacket, which I cut down from a women's coat (bought for £1).  I added welt pockets, a collar (the original was a v-neck), and faced it with leftover olive colored wool from his quilt;  it's unlined, so just a light jacket, and it's nice a big on him, so should last the rest of the year.  I hope.  He's 3,  but his 3T shirts are getting a bit too tight now. 

We briefly made a tipi on the lawn, and also made our handprints on one of our stepping stones.  Mine is yellow.  

We're eating mostly garden veg now, but not quite 100% yet.  On the menu right now:  kale, calabrese broccoli, peas, turnips, potatoes.  The strawberries have just finished, as have the cherries (I made a cherry cheesecake).  I've harvested half the garlic--it's drying out in the garage--and literally used the last of 2012's garlic cloves in our dinner yesterday.  Also drying:  oregano and sage, two very coveted herbs in winter. 

My garage tomatoes are forming fruits;  though not copious amounts, we should have plenty for eating, if not bottling.  Also very excited about my cucumber vines, producing cute little warty fruits--can't wait to eat them!  We love cucumber at this house.

Two weeks off work with Partner and Franklin was a lot of fun;   we spent our wedding anniversary in London with the inlaws, and got to sneak off by ourselves for dinner (curry at the local Indian restaurant).  While in London we also visited the Natural History Museum and Science Museum with Franklin, who loved the dinosaurs.  The only downside to our visit was the heat--the whole month of July has been sunny and hot:  unreasonably hot at 26-32C, and hasn't really rained, or even clouded over.  Last year's summer was one long rain-fest, and this summer's turning out to be a sunburn-fest!  Oh well;  better enjoy it while it lasts.

Goodbye to Shirley, things as usual in the garden

 It was a sad day at our house yesterday;  Shirley, who had not been well for several months, died in her sleep overnight.  I always count the chickens when I check on them in the morning, and noticed there were only six in the enclosure.  I found Shirley laying peacefully at the back of the hen house.  I wanted to perform an autopsy on her to ascertain a cause of death (long illness with no real external symptoms, weight loss, lethargy), but only got as far as cutting open her crop (the place in her neck where her food is stored before it goes to the gizzard) because I then discovered she already had maggots.  I couldn't deal with that, so I just buried her, with Franklin's help.   

 Here she is facing the camera, when we first got her last year.  She and the other six were all rescued ex-factory farm hens, meant for the slaughterhouse.  For the first year of her life, she had never seen the sky or rain or bugs or grass.  She'd never flown, roosted, scratched the ground, or had a dustbath.  Poor Shirley.  She died before her time, but at least we gave her a good year, of fresh air, grass, sunshine, and bugs.

 I picked this bouquet on Friday from my garden and took this photo yesterday (Wednesday).  Still looks amazing.

 Franklin found this branch, cut from our overgrown hedge at the back, and declared it an "angry birds stick" so we made it into a slingshot with rubber bands.  The design needs some work, though.  See my netted cherry tree in the background?

 Well now, who's this on our boot scraper at 11 o'clock at night?  I'd just gone to shut the chicken house door, and heard a little metallic "ping", which I immediately recognized from the boot scraper.  I thought to myself:  oh no.  It's a rat.  And I could see in the dark a small shape on it, but when I got close I found this little sweetie pie, just hanging out, in no rush.

 My main veggie patch!  It's covered in growth, as per my polyculture plans for this year.  A lot of this growth is weeds, or as we now call them:  "chicken feed."  But everything is really big, both weeds and vegetables, and when the weeds get too tall, I chop them down and let them compost/act as mulch where they fall on the bed.  I think the only thing immediately distinguishable from the general green-ness are the peas growing up the fence at the back.  And maybe those onions with flower buds not quite open.  Let me assure you, there are at least 12 different vegetables/flowers in the mayhem, and that's not counting the chicken feed.

The other side of the veg patch, with netted strawberries on the right and billowy yellow flowering broccoli all across the foreground.  I'm determined to collect seed from it this year, so I won't cut it down and replant until I get some.  The strawberries, planted last summer, have formed plenty of berries, and some are blushing up nicely.  Hoping to eat our first one tomorrow.  

We've had a run of dry, sometimes sunny weather this month, a far cry from last year's sodden June.  Actually the whole summer of 2012 was a wash-out for us, raining nearly every day with quite cool temperatures and sun only rarely.  I still got a good harvest of onions, potatoes, cabbages, peas, and garlic, though.  Speaking of garlic, after a year of eating through it, I have a few bulbs from last July's harvest, and they're still good!  The smallest cloves have shrunk and withered a little, but nearly all of them are still in good eating order--and I'm nearly ready to begin this year's garlic harvest.  Which, I might add, was completely planted from last year's harvest, too:  totally self-sufficient in garlic for a whole year!  Now if only I could say that for the rest of our vegetables.