Various Shades of Green

Compassionate Crofting

2013-01-07T18:02:00.000Z

I shed a lot of labels in 2012, the one that bothered me most was "Vegan".

I guess its human nature to want to belong to a tribe and tribes come with labels and although I still say vegan from time to time for easiness (sometimes its just too dull or inappropriate to explain in minute detail the what/why/when/how of your dietary habits) I pretty much don't identify with the label anymore.

A lot of the time I found my Vegan persona over lapping with my Green one.... And although it is perfectly possible to have an animal free crofting life I also feel its missing an important link in the chain to cut them out completely.

Don't get me wrong.. I'm not looking to start a thing here, I just want to lay out what I see as Compassionate Crofting.

You see, although I strongly believe that its possible to thrive on a 100% plant based diet I also have to look at the fact that I live in the NE of Scotland and a lot of my food is from other countries (like soya) or is fortified with vitamins.

This leaves me with a conundrum.

You see, I'm a planner (or worrier... either way ;)... And one of the reasons I got into self sufficiency was all the "what ifs".

So you see, the last few years I've been "What if"-ing... like

What if... there's a war and food can't be shipped to the UK?
What if ... Global warming fucks up things so much that we no longer get fortified food?
What if... Prices get so high that I can't afford to buy all the foods we need to stay healthy!

So right now.. this very second... its all good.
Most of my food is happily cheaper or the same price as carnivorous fair...

But....

So anyway, the whole point of crofting is to be as self sufficient as possible, which means, in theory, being able to live healthily off the land without having for fortify our diet (in theory) with added vitamins and supplements.

I have 99% of all this covered, the vast majority of essential vitamins and minerals are found in the food I can grow, even this far north. I'm not short on leafy veg, beans, peas, salads, berries... Of course I can't grow bananas, but if I get the house sorted I MIGHT even be able to grow a handful of lemons inside every year!

Its with all this in mind that I continue to eat eggs.

They carry all the B vitamins and vitamin D that else where I have to get fortified.

Besides, if you've read any of my blog you'll know about the chickens here, and yes, in the spring I'm hoping to have a few more rescue hens to the flock.

Chickens are perfect at turning kitchen waste and garden pests into food, even without eating them (NEVER!! Little ladies live in comfort till they die of natural causes!) they give back nutritionally and monetary wise, more than you lay out on additional grain and bedding.

They seem to me to bridge the gap between being truly self sufficient in this country and having to rely on big businesses to plug the vitamin gap.

Or I may just continue to play the lottery, win it and then move to a warmer country where I can grow all my own soya and chick peas ;)

New year planning for the croft.

2013-01-04T15:46:00.000Z

Today I don't feel tooooooo ill!
Which is great.
I can muddle through with pain and illness usually but this jelly legged, woolly headed feeling is just NASTY! Even just a short walk yesterday left me feeling wiped out, and there's always the fear of experiencing a set back.
But today I feel good and so I'm hoping tomorrow I feel just as good, if not better, because DAMNIT!! I have stuff to do!!
There's something about a mild January that leaves me with itchy fingers.
Desperate to get on with something... Anything!!
In the garden, being in the NE of Scotland, any chance to do anything when it isn't a) under 3 feet of snow, b) 6 inches of permafrost c) 12 inches of lashing rain, is a god send, and the last couple of days have been unseasonably mild and dry, which means I have a list as long as my arm of things I COULD do NOW!
A few are....

Fill in the new rhubarb bed.
Lift and divide the last of the rhubarb.
Take apart the old raised beds and use them to make the new ones.
Put up the new semi-temporary chicken run.
Prune fruit trees.
Dig up current bushes (most likely over 40 yrs old and no longer fruiting)
Plant up new fruit bushes.
Prep front of house for spring planting.
General tidying.

So yeah... plenty to get on with.... So who wants to guess it snows tomorrow ;)

So what now?

2012-12-30T13:51:00.000Z

I took down the decorations today.
Not because I wanted to but because some nice twist of bedroom emergency means I now have a futon in my kitchen... it was either the tree or I slept standing up...
To be honest, the last week hasn't been so peachy... Xmas day aside... in fact most of December has been blah and by the time the big day rolled up most of us had been ill, were ill or were shortly to get ill.
I know we're not the only ones.
The truth is, I'm finding I view the run up to Xmas with more dread than excitement now.
On the 1st of December I put up a white board with every date till the 25th and was horrified to see that we had something "xmasy" nearly EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!
What with school plays, carols, pantos, shopping, parties, decorating, wrapping, baking, work.... The kids were so tired by the time school kicked out that its like the immune system goes " uuuuuuuuuuuuuuggghhhhhmmmmrrrffffppppmmmm...plop..." and dies....

Am I the only one who feels rail roaded into being Xmasy and jolly and full o festive cheer for the best part of a month?
Its not even like these are our plans, mostly they're school or village things.... and then you feel mean for thinking like that.

OK people... am I a grinch for wanting to disappear for the whole of December?
To have a quiet, understated, yule celebration and then creep back in the dead quiet of January the 1st?

Tell me I'm not the only one?

Merry Xmas Blogger

2012-12-27T13:28:00.000Z

So that's Xmas over for another year.
Was it a good one?
Sadly we've had Norovirus in the house for the last ten days, although thankfully Xmas day was drama free with only Middle child being a little sick in the morning. But lets face it, its not Xmas if you can't lay in bed all day watching movies and putting Lego together ;)

We still had a good time though and I was pleased as anything that lots of the gifts I gave this year were either made by friends or relatives or I managed to pick up second hand.

Sadly I didn't get round to taking pictures.

Here's a few from the day itself though :)

Our little tree, its over 30 years old and still going strong. Decorated in the main, as always, by the knitted decorations my mother gave me a few years ago.

Mince pies :)

Home made "posh" chocolates,.

Mushroom and cashew pate.

Reaction shot to the big box of 2nd hand transformers and transformer DVD's.

Redmills "Cheatin' turkey roast" was a big hit!

"Merry Bloody Xmas"

Anyway..... 2013.... I have high hopes.

The veggie garden had a major overhaul last year and will be ready to plant up properly this year. We have plans for the house and possibly even a business venture.

Watch this space... blogging will resume in earnest ;)

Rug.

2012-10-16T20:09:00.001+01:00

I suffer from a lack of rugs in my house but, rightly so, am always wary of buying them as a) they're an expense I can't justify and b) invariably with 3 kids, 3 dogs, a cat and a husband, they get filthy.

Anyway, the other day I was in an proper old fashioned hardware store, mooching about while his-self looked at bolts or nails or fecking armadillo polish, I don't know... when I wandered into the carpet section.

They have small selection of carpet to order and big blocks of samples.

My eye fell on a shelf in the corner full of samples from discontinued ranges.

So... guess what I did next?

First pick 6 tiles of similar density.

Next, grab a heavy duty needle and some string and stitch the tiles together end to end.

Now, put by the fire and watch various small animals gravitate towards it.

Gonzo approves of frugal ruggage.....

So yeah. The idea is if it gets dirty or SOMEONE (points up) pee's on it, I can just snip the string off one square and shove it in the washing machine.

One large deep pile checked rug: £3.00

Insert pithy Autumnal title here ;)

2012-09-15T17:12:00.000+01:00

Broke ground on the new veggie garden today.
The other one really hasn't been great to work with. Its too far away from the main house and therefore tools, seeds, water etc, its a mish mash of beds that, having been put up over time, are just scattered randomly about the place.
We talked for a long time about moving the veg garden... After all its a commitment, a lot of work and , well, we already have one!!
It really had run its course though and now its time to move on and treat the garden less as a hobby and more of a lifestyle.
In planning the new garden I have some fairy non-negotiable points.

It has to be close to the house.
It has to be easy to maintain.
It has to be easy to care for the ground around it.
It has to be sheltered AND sunny.

We decided on raised beds again, but have learnt from last time that if you're going to raise them then RAISE them.... 6" off the floor is stupid... you may as well not bother.
We're also making all the beds the same size, this is so that we can build some frames, some in glass/plastic and some in netting to use with any of the beds, rather than having to make heath robbinson contraptions when needed!!

The old veggie garden isn't to be completely abandoned though.
The tractor tyres will be used to plant fruit bushes in, the whole area will be fenced in to act as a forest fruit garden and winter chicken run!

Today feels autumnal.
As I type this I have chili bubbling away in the slow cooker, I can hear the squeak of our poor abused trampoline outside as the youngest two play in the afternoon sun.
The dogs are snoring and across from me is the lovely sight of this stack of logs waiting for the fire to be lit later :)

Most of the day I've been thinking about ...shhhhh..... XMAS!!!
Too early?
Not if your budgets tiny and you hope to make/find all your presents this year!!
A quick look online this morning yielded a surprising amount of good ideas (and a hysterical amount of awful, awful things!), and I now have 5 pages of a note book full of ideas for gifts and a heap of bookmarked tutorials and recipes.
Anyway, below are a few links to get you started.... will post more Xmas stuff in a few weeks!

Do-it-yourself Xmas

100 home made gift ideas

Easy Homemade Xmas gifts

Homemade Christmas gift ideas

Permaculture Day

2012-08-31T16:36:00.001+01:00

Nettles are your friend: Soup, greens, tea, pesto, and amazing fertilizer.

Did you know its still August? Damn....

Permaculture means letting things grow freely. In this container dandelion leaves and strawberry suckers.

The little tree that started it all. Eight years ago he took root in the wall and we laughed at the little sapling that grew there. Getting big now!!

Wild Alpine strawberries.

The potatoes in the blue bucket grew in the muck heap two years after being originally planted!

Raspberry suckers.

Tiny new leaves on this rescued blueberry bush. Hope for next year.

Miss Biko on mouse patrol ;)

Chickens and Permaculture.

2012-08-31T09:22:00.000+01:00

Here on the croft we try and keep our little flock as chicken led as possible and only ever hatch eggs when a hen wants to sit.... and does little blossom ever like to sit!!
The hen is a mega mum..... although we're thinking of renaming her pram face as when her chicks are a few weeks old she likes to do her best to get back to getting laid by her foster son (eww)!

Anyway, as the flock stands we have one ex commercial layer (Sally... knocking on a bit now), two hybrids (Hillary and Nimah) given to us by someone who has surplus, Fluffy legs the cockerel, the two youngsters blossom hatched in April from her own eggs, and now two chicks from the hybrids eggs.

Currently the flock stands at nine, which is as many as I want for the orchard to house comfortably.
In the medium term though we plan on expanding the flock and splitting it into two.
From a permacultre point of view though we're busy re configuring their runs and housing.

One of the main things we want to do is have as many plants in their runs that they can eat as possible. This means more berry trees/bushes, herbs and salad leaves.
I also want to make areas that attract bugs/slugs ... this way between what they "forage" and what they get in veg scraps, bought in food should be kept to a minimal.

The plan is to have the chickens in the orchard from early summer to late autumn and then give them the run of the (nearly finished) fruit garden over the winter and spring.
This means they get to finish off any unripe/damaged fruit, scratch about for hibernating bugs and in the spring make a start on weed seedlings before moving back to the orchard.

(in all fairness its only an orchard in name as there's only two trees left.... *sigh*

Anyway, In the meantime, here's some pics!

The new broody run which means the chicks can go outside from day one, safe from cats, crows and the other chickens!! big enough to stand up in for easy maintenance.

Relearning for the future. Food storage solutions.

2012-08-19T10:54:00.000+01:00

One of our biggest challenges in our small house with limited storage and space, has been storing fruit and vegetables.
Our teeny tiny fridge is really only there to keep open cartons and things that HAVE to stay in the fridge (ie leftovers to be used the next day) here really isn't space to store fruit and veg to feed five people for a week.
I experimented with several storage places but fund they either sped up decomposition or were so "hidden" that I often forgot I even had them till it was too late!
So seeing as I really wanted to re-embrace Various Shades of Green again, I hit the internet for food storage solutions.
Sadly most searches came up with "in the fridge" for the storing of most vegetables, salads and fruit ... which was annoying.

HOWEVER!

Lucky me, I stumbled across No Tech Magazine and THIS amazing article about Korean artist Jihyun Ryou's project on traditional methods of storing foods that her Grandmother used.
PLEASE go and read it as its fascinating!

Anyway, while mid term, we'll look into making some of these storage solutions, I decided to take the basic ideas behind them and try them out myself in the meantime, along with a few other tricks I found along the way.

Tomato and courgette kt at room temperature but humid bu placing a dish of cold water under this colander.

Lettuce and brassicas stay fresh when kept in a small amount of water....

A small X cut into the base allows water to be absorbed, tricking the plant into thinking its still growing!

Carrots seem to store better standing up, although packing vertically in sand would be a better longer term solution.

2012-08-17T09:52:00.000+01:00

I've been absent from here...... Some of it has been because I've been working on other projects, but mostly I'd got to a point where I felt I had nothing relative to say anymore.
The garden here was really pretty neglected the last 12 months. Some of this was to do with the weather (terrible terrible wet summers and late/early frosts), some of it was because I was working... tending other peoples gardens for money.
It was only really a few weeks ago that I realised how ridiculous this was .... what was the point in looking after other peoples gardens for a little money rather than tending my own and growing food.
Seriously, didn't this go against EVERYTHING?

So, currently we're designing and building a real permecultre garden rather than just traditional veg plots, although they will be a small part of it.
We're working hard to find as any native trees, bushes and plants that we can rather than trying to grow "traditional" fruit and veg.... We're in the NE of Scotland, growing tomatos and cucumber without a heated greenhouse is ... if not impossible... at least difficult and at best hit and miss.

Anyway for those that are interested, here's a pictorial run down of the last year before I crack on with starting this blog up again properly :)

New blog :D

2012-06-24T17:47:00.004+01:00

For all you vegan/veggie dog owners out there!! I have a new blog Doggy Veggie Kitchen pop over and have a look :) xx

space saving

2012-02-16T20:54:00.002Z

Space saving in a tiny home is not a frivolous past time, its an all consuming passion borne of necessity.

In our never ending quest for more space we've been quietly down sizing appliances and maximizing storage options.

Nowhere near finished but he's some pics so you have a rough idea of where we're heading.

Theres no wiring (or money for) for a real cooker so we have a toaster oven and combination microwave instead. Yes I cook for 5 (+ sometimes) and even bake in this.

In the winter we can use the logburner to stove top cooking.

With no pipe work for an airing cupboard we customised a shelf unit (which was itself customised from an old wardrobe)... A curtain keeps the ash/dust off the sheets.....

.. and open.

The kitchen is a large room, but awkward in that it leads onto EVERY other room in the house, so we find zoning helps. An old hygena cupboard used as room divider is made to work extra hard.

... On the back we put up shoe storage and even somewhere to hang the dogs leads!

Opposite the "coat zone" (noooo we don't actually call it that :P) leads into the living room/bedroom. A second hand futon works as both seating and a spare bed, or just useful for family movie watching when pulled out.

We're trying to keep specific shelves for office materials, art supplies and paper work.

Books shelved at the back of the steps.

Build in wardrobe space.

..and open.... yes... Kim has more clothes than me ;)

The Steps up to the bed.

Sock drawers!!!

Next project is to make a small desk here, probably on the side of the shelves, big enough for the laptop so I have somewhere specific to work.

Built in shelves above the door.

Views of the bed.

Utilising all the space we can find with shelving....

Entering the kitchen from the hall...

Drop leaf table gives us a huge amount of space... room for one..

......Three.....

Or even all five of us!

And now ....some dogs...!

The rich/poor divide. (Or how David Cameron is sitting on a time bomb)

2011-11-10T15:12:00.003Z

Sometimes it feels like it would be easy to just give in.
Bugger the values and the moral and the beliefs, time to throw in the towel and slip back into society like a grinning dog with the remains of regret still dripping from its lips.

Too dramatic?

Meh.

Anyway, my point is this.
Although in theory its cheaper to lead a sustainable life in reality its not.

No.

That's not quite right.

Let me try an analogy.

Years ago I heard a radio program about the poor in African shanty towns (can't remember where in Africa, lets just say it was somewhere poor ok?).
The presenter was talking to some women waiting outside a shabby shop, each of them had the equivalent of around 20 pence gripped in their hands.
"Whats it for?" He asked.
"Shampoo!" They said excitedly, explaining that they only washed their hair infrequently because of the cost. When the shop opened they rushed in and all came out with tiny sachets of shampoo. The presenter pointed out that if they bought a bottle they could not only wash their hair more often but also save lots of money. At 20 pence a wash what should have been a £2 bottle of shampoo would in reality have cost them nearly £10.
They hooted with laughter at this concept.
These girls saved money for weeks for the luxury of washing their hair. The thought of saving the monetary equivalent £2 was ridiculous to them, unobtainable, an obscene amount of money to hand over in one go when they had food to buy for their families.
"...And besides." One retorted. "What if I bought the whole bottle and someone stole it? If I just buy one sachet I only have to worry about it until I wash my hair see?"

And this is my problem.
Sometimes I feel like the woman buying the single sachet, even though she knows it makes no sense financially.

When you're on a budget every penny is accounted for.
Magazines are not thrown without thought into the shopping basket.
Shoes are bought only when you physically need a pair, not because they look pretty.
Trips in the car have to work to make it worth spending money on fuel, so its never a trip to the park, but a trip to the park via the shops, the garage, the hardware store and the chemist.
None of these are BAD things of course, but it doesn't really stop there.

The catalyst came last week when I was putting in my greengrocer order.
Now The "Green" Grocer is an amazing little independent grocer I use for all the specialist stuff I can't get in Tesco. Its jam packed with organic, fair trade, cruelty free and vegan fayre.
They can order goods in for you via the Suma website and deliver every Wednesday for a small charge which means I don;t have to drive into town.
They also run a veg box scheme at a very reasonable price and last year I made good use of it, but stopped it by late spring as we had so much growing in the garden.
Now winters nearly here I thought about starting it up again..... But after doing the sums I had to sadly decide I couldn't.
I just could not afford to.
But its not just that.
More and more the big supermarkets are stocking some of the more specialist foods and working on a tighter than tight budget if I find my brand of vegan mayo 20p cheaper I'm gonna have to go for it.

This frustrates the hell out of me because I really want to support small, local shops and I know damn well there's plenty of people out there with the money to do that who don;t give a rats arse.
It's my dream, if I ever became rich, to do all my shopping there.... no way I could even try and do that on the income we have now.

Even shopping at Tesco isn't without its problems.
At least 60% of the money I spend at Tesco is on fruit, veg and orange juice.
Now if you have kids you'll know that pieces of fruit can often end up only going for a day out in your child's lunch box, coming home bruised, battered and pretty inedible and definitely not eaten.
I would hazard a guess that a 1/4 of all fruit and veg I buy is not eaten, that is, it comes home in a lunch box or is left of a dinner plate.
Luckily I have dogs and chickens so I can be fairly sanguine about it, but its easy to see why some people fill their trolleys with cheap food that is guaranteed to be eaten, even if that means value range chips and cookies.

Its all very well for the government to shake their heads at the "uneducated poor", stuffing their kids with junk food and berating them for being fat.... How shiny it must be in your ivory tower Mr member of parliament, how wonderful to live a life where you probably have no idea how much your groceries cost.
It helps none that the supermarkets are paid to push branded items on their offers, and the big brands are always junk food. Oh yeah, they put a few token fruit and veg in there, but its still buy one get one half price on Papaya or BOGOF on chicken nuggets, what choice is that for the struggling parent who knows no better?

Anyway, looking at our last grocery bill I tried to work out where I could cut back.
The horrible truth was that I was going to have to spend less on fruit and veg. It's not a choice I want to make. Our shopping isn't full of frivolities, no interesting desserts or meals for one, no crates of alcohol, no stacks of snacks....It's pasta, rice, beans, basics, staples, THAT'S what grates.

So now comes the tricky task of cutting back on what I see as basic food rights and juggling things so that health and nutrition isn't affected.
But thank you Mr Cameron.
Do think of us while your children tuck into their organic hotpot.

Adapting and some catching up.

2011-10-21T09:16:00.000+01:00

Its been a long time since I posted anything here.
Real life has a way of stopping you doing all the fun stuff, but thats not the whole reason. This year I just didn't feel like I had anything new or insightful to share and so would occasionally I'd find myself with my fingers paused over the keyboard waiting for inspiration and finding none would come.

One of my most time consuming activities this summer has been writing. You can read more about that on my other blog The Scribbled Mess. Don't be alarmed by the adult content warning, its safe for work, no nasty pictures I promise!

Anyway most of this year has been about working out our available time for growing food and maintaining the land and has found us woefully lacking.
Our main problem is keeping on top of mowing the grass around the beds. Our very wet summer meant a perpetual circle of wet grass that grew longer and longer so that even when we had a rare dry day the grass was still too wet to cut.
There are many times in the past I have silently wished for a "normal" sized garden, even more so when I can no longer see the raised beds for what passes as Scottish jungle.
Although we've talked about it in the past we've never got round to laying a surface around the beds (like bark or gravel) purely because of money restraints. Our plan is though (after we finally attack the jungle!) is to lay paper feed bags around the beds and start dumping the wet shavings from the stables in leu of traditional bark. This isn't as yukky as it sounds. we'll be separating the horse poo and depositing that in the muck heaps and raised beds and so long as you don't make the wet shavings layer too deep the weather soon dissipates any smell. We did something similar a few years ago for a pony riding arena and the plus point is also that the paper and shavings will rot down in time, so are not as permenat or as long term damaging as treated bark or chippings.

Theres also the problem of the dark summers we've been having the last couple of years, almost constantly overcast.
The first few years we lived here we were blessed with a run of beautiful summers and the small inroads we made into gardening where stupidly fruitful.
Think three courgette plants and more courgettes than a person could ever eat EVER! However they really don;t seem to like a dimpsy wet summer and this year I had ONE courgette... I mean... come on...
A big problem is not being able to plant out early. with frosts that can be harsh enough to kill a tender leaf plant like that as late as the 2nd week in June I'm constantly left with two choices... Risk it (and it never works) or try to grow in the green house then plant out. But my green house is small and also home to many othe plants in a similar situation and so they get pot bound and once they're planted out they do nothing for a few weeks while they re-establish themselves... And then its October and frosty again.
Of course the answer would be a nice large polytunnel but again, money (or lack of) is the problem.

It wasn't all doom and gloom though.
For the first time ever I actually managed to grow tomato's.
Carefully grown from seed on my windowsill (in February!) and then planted in the green house, for a few weeks I didn;t have to buy a tomato. Next year we're going to make a designated tomato house so that they get maximum sun for as long as possible, our greenhouse being in shade for some of the day.

We also had a nice outcome with the hens after a bad start to the year.

This year we lost all but Sally and Blossom and the two of them looked very unhappy about it. Then Blossom went broody and because she wasn't listening to my pleas of the impossibility of virgin births, I finally put a couple of eggs under here that we'd been given (to eat!) by a friend.
I didn;t really expect anything but a few weeks later we had two chicks! Which was pretty amazing and dare I say it, made us feel almost like "real" crofters.
The chicks are now bigger than "mum" and are likely to be HUGE, but they still try to bury under her at night!
We were also given a pair of hybrid POL who are leggy and robust, so here's hoping 2012 is a bumper egg year.

The chicks, about a week old.

With "Mum" Blossom.

..... erm... They're actually quite a bit bigger than when this was taken about two weeks ago!

The whole flock. This group really get along well, no fighting or bullying, a joy to watch.

Well slap my wrists! Heres some pictures to keep you happy !

2011-06-23T18:25:00.000+01:00

My goodness I've been slack of late!!! Lots going on, as there always is this time of year. So to say sorry I took a bunch of pics around the croft to show you whats going on :)

Enjoy!

Jenny dog waiting for me to come out. The Front of the house has been getting an extensive overhaul the last few months, its now looking much less of an eye sore!

Jenny and Merle in the front herb garden. Kim built this for me this spring and its slowly getting filled with herbs. Some of the Thyme and Sage is even grown from seed on the windowsill over the winter!

This year I planted lots of pots and beds with wild flowers to attract more incects.

Elder flowers waiting for a sunny day to be picked!

Yes. That is a toilet cistern! We follow the three R's up here!

Growing lots of sunflowers to use primarily as bird food in the autumn.

It hasn't all been rosey in the garden. We've had major tree problems, namely coral fungus.

Hens are laying 2 eggs a day at the moment. Sadly we lost two last month and are down to four hens again.

Sally aka Purple chicken, escaped to come and see what I was doing in the veg garden.

Lots of DIY planters made this year. Curly kale growing in this old feed trough.

Salad in this old wheel barrow.

Rocket in a supported bit of black plastic.

The new rhubarb bed has exploded!!!!

More wild flowers

Jerusalam artichokes.

A no dig experiment with potatoes this year!

Two old tractor tyres utilised to grow courgette and pumpkin in.

Onions, salad potatos and garlic.

Facebook!

2011-04-12T13:54:00.001+01:00

Facebook gets a bad rap a lot of the time.
Even though 200 million world wide use it, it seems that its not done to admit you use it or even (horror) enjoy using it!

Nice Grown Ups Middle Class People like to look down on Facebook as something which people with too much time on their hands poddle about on. They think its for kids or for 40 year old men living in their Mums back bedroom.

So you see, its easy to get a little paranoid about using it. Keeping quiet about your online life seems to be the "Adult" thing to do.

NGUMC people like to laugh about "pretend" friends and throwing sheep at other FaceBookers (which... sorry guys.... dates you. No one has thrown a sheep for about 2 years ;)

The thing is, social networking sites like Facebook are multi layered, and like real life, you receive as much as you look for.
For sure you can waste hours of your life setting up virtual farms or zoos and trawling through the news updates of 1500 "friends" but you can also make FB work FOR you.

They key word here is Network.
FB was set up as an online networking site.

Through joining groups/pages and commenting on posts, you start dialogues with new people.
Some of my dearest online friends I have met this way.
Some of my real life friends I have met this way as well.

I now have a small network of friends who support my ideals as I in turn support theirs. We share gardening tips, vegan anecdotes, parenting ups and downs, horse woes and yays, artistic critiques.

I don't "poke".

The novelty for that wore off years ago.

Through FB I have met some amazing and inspiring people, not just online but in Real Life too.
I've swapped, bought, sold and gifted items and had the same back.
I've found work through friends of friends.
I've wallowed in the ideas pool and taken all I can carry.
I've even got chickens through FB!

There's also the human interaction thing as well.

When you're at home, either working, taking care of kids or whatever, there is often a real lack in "adult" conversation during the working day.
Sometimes just venting on a status (Arrrrggghhh!!! Clients cancelled and messed my whole day up!) can means that the one or two people who comment back sympathising or giving you their own tale of woe, can buck you up a little, make you smile.

Sometimes I think the scoffers simply don't understand it.
Its easier to deride something you don't get than admit you find it confusing.
Like the Greek philosopher who derided the written word as the downfall of youth, for words written down would dull the minds of those who won't need to remember things, they see something this popular as only bad for intellect in general.

For every FB group that is childish or mean, there are many more that are welcoming, informative, charitable and giving.

Still not convinced?
Heres a few examples....

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_169517559727246&ap=1 Eco interest FB group.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_145907615465178&ap=1 Friends of container gardening, helping villages in Malawi.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_173747075997223&ap=1 eco urban sustainability.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_108016595941197&ap=1 Pay it forwards, being nice for being nices sake :)

So want to connect?

My FB page , come along and say hi! Just remember to leave me a message, I don't add people who don't introduce themselves first! ;)

There's always the block button for weirdos and stalkers ;)

Shop smart.

2011-04-07T11:14:00.000+01:00

My grocery bill has been quietly creeping up.
Some of this is no doubt due to the general rise in price of fuel and the knock on effect on food costs, but I seriously wanted to knock the price down a bit.
I mean its not BAD.
It usually works out at around £20-25 per person, that's 21 meals plus snacks, plus household things like toiletries and washing liquid, but its still a lot of money for a family on a budget to fork out each week.
So this week I really tried hard to shop smart and of course I'm going to share with you!

Stock take. I am terrible for just doing the shopping without checking what we already have. Its not unknown for us to have several bags of pasta and 4 jars of dried basil. So this time, before shopping, I had a good look at what we really needed, what was running low, what store cupboard essentials were still OK.
Make meal plans. You don't have to stick to them, but having a rough idea of what you'll eat for your main meal throughout the week really helps concentrate the mind on the food you need. It also cuts down on those evenings stood in front of a cupboard full of food wailing "there's NOTHING to eat!".

Make a list. You're fooling no one with your "the lists in my head" skit.
Shop online. I can't stress this enough. If you're using a supermarket for your bulk shopping shop online! Not only are these places hell to visit but they are masters of manipulation. you WILL spend more than you need to if you walk through the door! Online you can take your time and take control of your shopping.
Check your online basket frequently. As you shop online keep an eye on the price. I often do a rough shop, like a first draft, then go back and see what I can omit or change to bring the price down.
Use special offers but take care. Buy One Get One Free (BOGOF), 2 for 1 etc can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Its worth noting that most offers are brand names (they work out deals with the store to prominently advertise them with offers) and often dubious brand names like Unilever and Mars. Sometimes though there are offers on things like fruit and veg and other products you might get. Follow the rules. Is it cheaper? Sometimes it looks cheaper but isn't, check those £ per kg's! Is it something you were going to buy? Don't buy it if its not on your list. If its NOT on the list and you still want it, see if you can swap something on the list for it. I manage to save enough on offers to "pay" for my delivery.
Be aware of packaging. Not only from a re-cycling aspect but from a re-usable aspect. If a brand of tea bag has a free tin with it that week maybe its worth the extra few pence? Some Coffee comes in jars with fancy lids and seals, perfect for dry goods storage later.

Take a close look at what you buy usually. where can you cut costs? If you buy heaps of individual yogurts (soya for me of course ;) a switch to large pots of plain with jam mixed in can cut a good couple of £ off your weekly bill. Do you buy heaps of cookies or muffins? Its cheaper, healthier AND often tastier to bake yourself.
Buy food in season. Don't stick to the same foods all year. Fruit and veg (and sometimes fish and meat) come in seasons and are often cheaper when plentiful in this country. So save the strawberries till summer, the pumpkins till October and the apple until September.
Saving money isn't about buying crap. Don't go so far the other way that no one wants to eat at your house! A couple of years ago I tried buying all the cheap value ranges, spread that was foul, cereal like cardboard, bread as thin as paper. Ugh! Buy quality food and eat less of it.

So how did I do this week?
Well I got the supermarket shop down to @ £15 per person for this week :)

What tips do you have to add to clever shopping?

April 1st can't fool us its spring.

2011-04-01T17:53:00.000+01:00

April In Scotland is pretty cruel.

Oh sure there are days when the sun shines bright enough that you can potter about in t-shirt and shorts, and the fields are full of wobbly legged lambs, and the daffodils are waving their elegant trumpets about....

But....

Its not unknown for a few days of snow to still settle in, or for hard frosts to cover the ground every night until the middle of June.

Scotland has its own unique growing season, its short but intense, with long hours of daylight and dry weather during the summer, perfect for many soft fruits, not so great for more delicate, longer season fruit and veg.

But what do you do?

You persevere and work out what grows in your area and laugh at the adverts that try to sell you citrus trees that can withstand the "........harshest of British weather!!!! Down to 7oC!!!!!!!"

Hmmm

What was our lowest temp this year??

@ -25oC at least one night if I recall........... Ho hum.

One of the things you quickly learn is to add weeks onto the sowing/planting out times given in gardening books and on the back of seed packets.

Sow peas in March?

Not if I don't want them to die in April.

Anyway.... to the croft this year.....

The new Rhubarb bed. These plants are all growing on from the rhubarb roots I dug up and divided a few weeks ago. The biggest two I had started on in pots in January, the rest have gone straight in. As we won't be able to pick any this year I've still left a couple of plants in the old bed. After this season I'll dig those up as well.

Kims been busy making raised beds and planters for me from re-claimed timber. The manky bits of these lengths have been going on the log burner. This little planter makes use of a dead space on the corner of the house.

Some of the new raised beds won;t be ready to use until next year. My aim is to make all the beds no dig, that is mucking out straight into the beds, heaping up to around 3ft high and then covering the muck and leaving to rot down. The two beds I've done this with over the last couple of years are beautiful, easy to use and full of the most amazing compost, deep and crumbly like it came out of a packet!! The plastic on this one is just to stop some dry stuff blowing off in the wind.

I've had to bulk up the orchard fence, were the hens are at the moment, after two ladies decided that clipped wings or no, they would still manage to escape. Not a great idea when it comes time to start planting in the garden!! Thinking about planting some willow around all the chicken areas (we have 2 main paddocks for them) and weaving it into a fence/hedge so it not only looks nice but also attracts bees and insects.

Sally (aka purple chicken) says hi!

We have two knew chickens as well... Foggy, a Scots Dumpy x......

..... And Blossom a Yokohama x Silki (I think!)

Little Blossom lays TEENY TINY eggs! But like the Tardis there seems to be room in there for a yoke as big as the egg on the left!

Buds in abundance on one of the apple trees.

The window sill is pretty productive. My green house is too cold to start things off early (February) and so I've never had luck with plants like tomatoes. After a shaky start, with some of the plants looking a little leggy due to the windows North/West aspect, every things seems to be doing well! I have sunflowers growing (for future bird food), lettuce in pots nearly ready to eat, courgettes, pumpkin (from my own seed), chickpeas, haricot, herbs, gherkin, pepper even a bit of ginger.

The log burner in the kitchen means the temp never drops below around 10oC, which seems to be plenty for what I've started and now the suns out longer and moved a little everything's growing nicely.

Fun and freebies

2011-03-26T14:36:00.001Z

Owen Alfie and Mouse, all tacked up and ready for a trip to the woods!

The Boys helping to clear the tracks of wind damaged wood.

Secateurs for path tidying and a nice pot of wild garlic!!

Ready to go home with our stash.

Owen liberates some thick black plastic from a field, on the way home.

The freebie haul. fallen wood for the log burner, plant poy found on the way home,

the black plastic, perfect for the garden and the wild garlic!

The shed we got for FREE!!!!

Nice to have a designated space for the gardening stuff :)

Lunch for the hungry gatherers. Tomato and veg soup with wild garlic.

Looking for Badgers

2011-03-15T17:35:00.000Z

Some of you will have already seen this but for those that I don't see elswhere online heres the

Great Badger Mystery!!

Garden pics and windy mornings!

2011-03-10T10:18:00.000Z

March is a sneaky month, especially in the North East of Scotland.
Some days can be beautiful, spring like. The ground feels warm to the touch, I start itching to plant something, ANYTHING.

But then within hours it can change.
A couple of foot of snow over Easter isn't unknown.

So March is a month were one has to sit on ones hands, metaphorically speaking.

Its all the harder cause I have started a job.
Only a few hours a week but its fantastic! Gardening so yeah, I'm happy.
Hoping this will lead to a little more but for now its all fitting in well.

But today is WIIIIIINNNNDDDYYYYY!!!!!
So windy in fact that today's work was cancelled. As most if it is raking up leaves and twigs at the moment, it would be foolish to waste two hours chasing the same few leaves!

Can you hear the wind!!!!!????

So anyway, today the dogs are on super high alert and barking at every bang and knock and naturally the ships bell outside keeps ringing, not happy doggies!

I'd better finish this before the wind cuts the power! So heres some recent pics :)

The North west facing windowsill full of early planting.

So far so good, Herbs, salad leaves, tomato. In the back we have pumpkin and sunflower, all now come through since this pic was taken.

The new herb garden!

Bird boxes made by the boys at the Bennachie centre.

Ollie's.

Owens

Alfie's.

Dusting off the bike for 2011!

2011-03-01T12:21:00.000Z

My poor bike hasn't had a good winter.
For a start winter came early, stopping her from feeling the wind in her spokes and THEN some careless person left her outside and it snowed.... and snowed.....and snowed ....AND snowed some more.

Luckily she is a well made bike and a little tlc and grease and shes up and about again.

I've been out 3 times in the last 5 days and GOD have I missed it!

A bit like doing anything that involves effort, I put it off and off until I really DID have to use the bike because I had a job interview.
Of course it doesn't hurt that the last few days have been very spring like, blue skies, light breeze, lots of bird song, weather like this after the horror show of winter can't help but raise the spirits.

The reason I love riding the bike is because its exercise with a purpose.

I'm not a huge fan of just going for a bike ride, but I do love using two wheels to get somewhere, to run errands or go to work. I feel the same about walking, I need a dog to walk with otherwise I don't see the point.
This is why I can't do anything in the gym.
Cycling or running on the spot? With no purpose?

Some may argue that the purpose is to loose weight or get fit but maybe I just see it as a waste of time. I mean come on... most people drive to the gym, you could style there and back for FREE and not have to go in.

What I love about cycling in real life is the fact that if you reach a hill you have to get to the top. Even if you can't cycle all the way you still HAVE to physically get there, even if you get off and walk, its still exercise. In a gym, on a stationary bike I would give up as soon as I got a bit puffed.

So shoot me, I'm weak.

Also you have to love the fact that every slog up a hill is rewarded with a fee wheel down hill to get your breath back!

This year though I am going to treat myself to a new saddle.
Mine is a fairly bog standard saddle and although I own a ladies bike its not really a ladies saddle. In fact my seat bones sit snugly either side of the saddle... not comfy.
So a nice new WIDE seat is the way forwards I think.

I also want to kit the bike out better for carrying stuff.
I use a backpack but its limiting and makes your back sweat on hot days.
Last year I tried a basket on the front, although it was better it wasn't very stable, only being attached to the handle bars, I really need something like a front parcel rack to keep the basket steady.
Panniers might also be a way to go as well.

Anyway.

Here comes spring :)

More Eco-dilemmas

2011-02-27T22:24:00.000Z

The other week I brought two pairs of leggings from Tesco, two pairs for £8.
Nothing fancy, just bog standard leggings.

Wore the one pair under a dress when i went out for a drink, then went to wear the other pair yesterday.

But DAMN IT!!!

As I went to pull them on I noticed a gaping hole along the inside leg seam.
On closer inspection it looks like something went wrong while being sewn up, one end it sewn tight, the other unravelling.

Well for a moment I stood there glaring at the hole filled with consumer indignation!
How inconvenient!
Now I was going to have to take them back to Tesco.

Then I stopped.

What would happen to the leggings once I handed them over?

I'm not sure, but I'm betting they don't get sent away to be mended and sold again.
In fact I'm pretty sure they go in the bin.

I had a quick search online to see if I could find any reference to what happens to returned damaged clothes and couldn't find any.
I wondered if they donated them to one of the clothing charities, but figured they would publicize something like that pretty well.

So I looked at the hole again.

Wouldn't take a few minutes to fix good as new.

Put them on the mending pile and saved my consumer rage for something I won't be able to fix myself.

Puppy love?

2011-02-24T10:27:00.001Z

Well its Nealy March.
Birds are singing, grass is growing, days are getting warmer, shelters filling up with puppies...........

Yup, that's right folks. Its now 3 months after Xmas which means that a lot of puppies bought just before Xmas (because it would be wrong to get a puppy FOR Xmas, right? *eye roll*) have not fulfilled their promise and are now waiting for a new home.

What possible reason could there be for getting rid of a 6 month old puppy?
Let me count the ways....

Not yet toilet trained.
Barking.
Destructiveness.
Nipping children.
Chasing livestock/cats.

Hmm.

When you take on a puppy you take on the responsibility for training that puppy.
Would you have a child and then expect him to raise himself?
Would you put your 4 year old child up for adoption because he wasn't toilet trained or drew on the walls or hit his brother?

I have had dogs since I was 6 years old.
There are some genuine reasons for rehoming a dog, I have rehomed two in my time.

The first was a beautiful dalmation who was picked on mercilessly by my other two dogs, the second was my border collies daughter who used to fight with her mother. In both cases I picked their new homes myself, visiting the owners and then following up with visits after. I did not wash my hands of the problem and make it someone else's.

So if your thinking of buying a puppy, heres what to expect.

Puppies need house training. They will not do it themselves and a dog crate won't do the job for you. How long will it take? Well how long is a piece of string? Every dog is different. My border collie was house trained within a couple of weeks my Yorkshire terrier took a good 9 months to be 100%. You will need to be ultra vigilant in the first few weeks, making it clear that outside is where he toilets, you need to be hawk like in noticing the signs he needs to "go" and work hard to help him do the right thing by accident so that he can learn it the right thing. So if you think putting your new pup in crate and then going to work for 8 hrs a day is fine, you are setting yourself up for a lifetime of cleaning up poop.
Puppies need quite time. The new puppy is not a toy. Allowing children to play with the puppy unsupervised is the quickest way to raise a fearful and snappy dog. The problem with snapping at children is either fear or excitment at this age. Again, if the pup is left alone all day and then wound up to a frenzy by the kids when you get home, snapping will happen.

Alfie and Merle. Play time was
closely supervised.

Puppies need to feel secure. Many homes consist of two adult working full time and kids at school. Would you have a toddler in the house and leave him alone for hours at a time? Would you be surprised when he became sad, destructive or noisy? Puppies CAN be left alone but you need to work up to it. Working quiet time (in a crate or other room) away from you into your puppy's routine means he can get used to spending time alone without getting distressed. A few minutes to start with working upto an hour. If your puppy is secure, has a routine (feeding and walks at the same time each day ) and has learnt to be calm there should be no problem with leaving him for a few hours at a time. Behavioral problems are often due to a dog feeling distressed. DO the correct ground work in the beginning and you won't have major problems.
Puppies need rules. Whats cute at 8 weeks isn't cute at 8 months. Don't allow your puppy to bite you in play, you're giving him the green light to bite in play as an adult, not good! If your pup accidentally catches you with his teeth while you're playing say no and stop the game. They soon learn to be careful. I used the word "ouch" with my Yorkshire terrier (a breed known as being snappy.... apparently), this means that if it happens with a child they are more likely to say ouch than no. Now if you say "ouch" he stops immediately and waits. Likewise jumping up and guarding toys and food. Also puppy "time outs" are very useful. When the yorkie was around six months old he growled at my youngest son. He was pushing the boundaries, trying to see if he could get the child to go away. I immediately growled "No" and whisked him off to the cat carrier and put him in another room for 10 minutes. Highly effective, none physical. He was put swiftly in his place and he knew it. Now he seeks out my youngest son and often sneaks into bed with him!
Puppies need time. Like small children they need time with someone to care for them, to teach them and to play with them. They are not toys to be left in crates until YOU want to play with them. A typical day in the life of a new puppy would go something like this.

Up and out to toilet.
Breakfast.
Out to toilet.
Play time.
Out to toilet.
Quiet time.
Out to toilet.
lunch
Out to toilet.
Playtime
Out to toilet
Quiet time.
Out to toilet.
Dinner.
Out to toilet.
Playtime.
Out to toilet.
Bed.

Do you see a pattern here?
A young puppy needs to toilet after every meal, nap and playtime.... and often in between as well. Until they are on the way to being housetrained someone will need to look after pup.

Now I'm not saying that a working family can't have a dog. But if you can't offer that initial level of care in the first couple of months at least, maybe a puppy isn't for you. Of course you could ask a neighbour or friend to help out, or you could adopt an older dog who is happy for long periods of quiet time in the day.

Puppies are not toys, they come to you at 10 weeks or so at the same stage as a human pre-schooler. They need just as much love, attention and hard work as one too.
Think before you impulse buy that cute bundle off fluff.
Think about the mess, the chewed shoes, the fact that when puppy is six months or so they will start behaving like stroppy teenagers.
When you buy a puppy you commit to around 15 years of care.
15 years is a long time and there will be problems along the way, health issues, behavioural changes, changes in your own life.
Can you commit?
Or will you be like the others who throw out a puppy for not being "The perfect Dog".

ADOPT A DOG!!!!

Mrs Murray's Home for stray dogs and cats

SSPCA

RSPCA

Battersea dogs home

Dogs Trust

Time to get the hands dirty again!!!

2011-02-17T16:46:00.001Z