Baking Hot!

Yeah I wish the title was about the weather he he... Well my Mama bought me an unbirthday present of an electric bread maker. We adore home baked bread but a magic box one opens and closes and bread comes out ... well we got to baking in earnest!

My first attempt of a fruit loaf however had everyone amused as it looked like a grumpy old person.

And then there was the Banana Bread Loaf [baked in oven] that was for some forgotten reason nicknamed Jemima Loaf.... lmao I can't remember why perhaps one of the Goddesses reading this can comment and remind me!

As you can see Robert was brave enough to taste my Jemima and live to tell the tale. He enjoyed it... no really he did!!

We then had a discussion about butter and Rio thought butter came from cheese so we made some butter.

The children really enjoyed doing this and seemed to have forgotten making butter a few years ago. I really have let things like this slip since I stopped home educating. Just goes to show though doesn't it? Butter from cheese?? At least he was almost there I guess some wouldn't even make that link.

The butter tasted awesome spread on slices of freshly baked bread. Yes I am putting on weight!!

Still... how can anyone resist home grown, home baked food?

We had a fab crop of tomatoes, aubergines, purple potatoes, chives, white potatoes... It's just too good to resist the urge to EAT!!

Plenty eggs n bread missus!

Back in October Beef laid her very first [and only] double yolk egg! It just so happened to be on the day Torin designated himself as "Beef eater" which isn't as horrendous as it sounds, he just got to have the egg Beef laid. So wasn't he chuffed to bits??

Then we hear a knock at the window and Looky looky who's spying on the Toad eating her egg!!

Now you may be wondering why she looks so ropey... well if you look out the window you will see a rather odd object for a hen run and that is an umbrella... why? Well because while the other three hens ran off for dry shelter beef decided she would go worm hunting. Just look at how disheveled she is!

Photo affectionately known as BEEF DRIPPING !! lol

On the 2nd of October we thought one of our girls had decided to join Beef and lay eggs... white ones too. We weren't sure which hen was laying so the next day I 'lay' in wait and spied Emo coming out of the nest box singing her heart out about what she had just done. To top it all off they weren't white eggs she lay, noooo the first ones were a very very pale version of what we get one of every day and that is a lovely shade of green.
The boys laughed and laughed when they saw the green eggs and one started chanting "I do not like green eggs and ham I do not like them Sam I Am!" But they were equally as amazed to find green eggs don't look green inside and taste just as good as brown eggs.

Unfortunately Beef decided she had laid enough eggs this year and on about 20th October stopped laying every day..... poor girl has done brill so deserves a break!

Emo on the other hand kept us well equipped with green eggs daily.

September!!

How bad am I?

Ok I haven't been very well for a good few weeks, also during that time AOL hacked into our Broadband account and 'slammed' it away from BT. Then to top it all off we come back online and find we had a HUGE amount of people order from us so we are busy busy busy here at HQ.

I will catch up and let you all know what's been happening and how the girls are!

Lay a little egg for me!!

Eggs !!

We have eggs every day... I'm so pleased!

So, we got our hens on Friday 26^th September and got them home about 6pm.... they all pretty much went to bed soon after that and the next day I woke at 06:45 and skipped to the chookery to wake the girls up.

I sat there with a cup of tea and sat there... and sat there... and eventually Beef came out and squinted at me in a “It's awful early you know!” way...

Then Luna came out, then Emo and after about 20 minutes Rocket fell out the roost, straight out the door landing on her chest on the straw outside!!

I think it's the first Sunday that I have been at home that I haven't done ANY work-work.... I spent ALL day outside building, re arranging, buying plants and other Hen related things and actually had the day off work!! Blessings come in feathered packages!

I kind of got myself a feathered admirer too. Beef the ISA Brown decided that I was luffly and wouldn't leave me alone. At one point Robert and I sat on the bench outside the coop and were discussing how we would alter the ladder when beef went in and snuggled in the dirt.

“She's making egg noises” I said remembering my youth on the farm. I threw a bit of straw at her and sure enough she tucked it next to her.... threw another bit and she did the same. “Wow” Robert said.

So we went to stand outside the chookery and arrange bits of wood [as you do when you are waiting for an egg!!! lol] and within minutes Beef came out and quietly said “Bock!”..... I whisked myself back into the chookery, opened the door and... TWO EGGS!!

Ok they were tiny pale eggs and one of them had a soft spot and was leaking but they were our very first eggs. The girls hadn't even been here a full day yet!

That evening when the hens were going in to roost Beef sat next to me on the window sill and wouldn't leave me. She wanted to be petted and wanted to help me preen my messy head of feathers! lol

Beef has laid an egg for us Monday and Today.... lovely brown eggs. Robert says they taste good too!

Now if the other ladies could bring themselves to lay all would be fantastic!

As for four hens being enough..... HA!!! What fool said that? We are now seriously thinking of getting two more.... just two... honest!!!

Here come the girls........

Well, well well.... We got our hens and a swift lesson in “Just 'cause you haven't seen a chook jump 6 foot before, doesn't mean they can't!”

After a lot of faffing about it became apparent that we were getting nowhere with the rescue hen situation so found a local poultry farm and went to visit... well, I say visit but we amazingly had the cage in the back of the car! Not sure HOW that got there!! **innocent grin**

They had a huge field with about 150 chooks of all different shapes and sizes and some fab cockerels... one of which goose stepped around the paddock in a very majestic manor... if only we lived somewhere else. I would SO have him!!

In my head I planned on getting four girls of the same colouring/breed but once we got there my 16 yr old daughter fell in love with a white and black flecked chook at the same time I saw a big fat beefy looking brown hybrid, now named Beef. So instantly the colour coordination plan had failed!

We then spotted a dainty black hen who's feathers shimmered bluey-green as she pecked around the paddock, my daughter instantly named her Emo!!. Then last of all a fabtastical black and silver pebble effect chook caught our eye.

So our new family was quickly despatched into the cage, into the car and into our lives!

Robert [who wasn't excited at all!] was nervously pacing outside the house as we arrived with the girls... queue a big grin that almost split his face in two as he spotted us pulling up. We took the cage round to the chookery and opened the door against the chookery door.

I sat on the ground inside and sprinkled some corn on the floor. The girls bocked quietly to each other and all 8 of us waited for the bravest one to venture out.

The white hen [still unnamed] gingerly stepped out and started to peck at the corn... “oohhh, mmmm,” it sounded like she was clucking. Next was Emo who had a look sideways at the corn, noticed it was disappearing fast down the white hens throat so plopped out beside her shortly followed by Beef and then at last the pebble coloured chook.

They all pecked around me gingerly but making appreciative noises over the corn.

Suddenly Beef made a rumbling noise, then Emo joined in and all of a sudden all four girls were bubbling at each other “Predator! Predator!” I looked up the garden path and saw my Maine Coone cat Each Peach Plum 'n' Pear stalking up to the chookery.... “you're ok girls” I said.... Emo came right up to me and bock-bock-bocked at me in a “If you're the cock round here SAVE US!” she then totally lost her composure and shot through the kitchen window into the lap of my 16 yr old daughter. At that point the pebble hen amazingly went from standing on the ground to being perched 6 foot on the edge of the chookery fence!!!

I stood up with my mouth hanging like sporran round my throat in total amazement!! “BOCK BOCK” she screamed which kicked me back into reality and I scooped her back off into the chookery while my son shooed Peaches away.

Then began a frantic staple-gunning of netting around the perimeter! I will be buying netting for the whole roof today!! Sheesh!!!

So... from that magical transportation she gained the name Rocket! Tis just the white hen we need to name now and apart from the obvious names, snowy, milky, Blanc... etc etc nothing fits her.

I'm sure she will reveal her name to us in due course!

Rocket seems to be the more vocal of the girls. The slightest movement and she is off clucking at the others to BEWARE BEWARE!

My son woke up at 07:15 to find me having my morning tea in the chookery and with a big grin asked, “Cor! Did you find any eggs yet?” lol ..... soon Torin... soon.

September...Where IS the sun?

Lots of changes and business meetings and suchlike ..... The Green parent magazine now sample in the packs and are also going to be giving away one of our competition packs in their winter issue. Here is a photo of the pack!

We've given up on the incompetence of Royal Mail and signed up with a courier company ... there are only so many 'undelivered' packages a company can cope with... sorry Royal Mail but you are pants!

We have also started the ball rolling to find distributors for Mama Packs. It's proving difficult to get the message across that we want them GIVEN away... I think most of the emails we have had from people have asked if we “Have any objections to how much is charged” the Mama Packs are to educate, initiate and open the eyes of families around the nation to a more ethical lifestyle... to introduce companies to families that can offer them an alternative to gak chemicals. NOT to make someone a tidy profit...

One will notice that the packs are marked at £0.00 ...

Still waiting for Innocent smoothies and other similar companies to contact us so watch this space!

We are off on a short adult weekend with friends so no blogging until we return... hopefully with news of our Chooks!!

New Mama & Baby Packs.

What a crazy week! Mama Packs went back on sale again and as per usual sold out within hours, lots of lovely emails from people loving the packs but when I suggest they leave a testimonial or review on the site only a handful do.

Some of the testimonials have me in stitches, I particularly like the one left by Kitty Banham

who said:

“omg I nearly peed myself when it arrived, no one knows I am pregnant so
the postman standing there with a box with Mama Pack written on it made
me grin so far round my head it nearly split in two! “

I remember that so proud feeling very well, the feeling like you could just split in two like a firework when anyone noticed or asked if you were pregnant.

Having a tough time keeping patient this week. Lots of companies want to sample in the packs but it seems they are sensible and work 'normal' hours which means deliveries of samples is slow by my 24/7 workaholic standards!! I have been waiting for one particularly exciting sample to arrive for 2 weeks now. This means I am regularly seen staring out the window at delivery vans hoping they have that package!

I have got quite a good relationship now with the delivery chaps and have a chat and a giggle with them, they can't get their head round what we do here but often comment on how nice the packages smell. This morning the driver said “More smellies?” as he handed me a large squidgy parcel... “Nope” I replied with a big grin, “Sanitary towels.... washable ones!” His face was a picture!!!

The sanitary towels were for the new 'baby' of the packs which is going on sale today!

The New Mama & baby Pack.

This is a gift pack people can buy for the expectant or newly birthed mother. It will contain the following:

Newborn Cloth Nappy.

Newborn Baby Vest.

Baby Soap.

Mummy Massage Bar.

£2 Gift Certificate for Fizz n Suds Shop

Mummy Massage roller.

Cloth Sanitary Towel.

Sanitary Towel bag.

Baby Bandana Bib.

Baby Wash Mit.

Washable Baby Bottom wipes.

A congratulations personalised bar of Green and Blacks chocolate.

£1 Gift Certificate for MORE chocolate from Rizy's Wrappers.

A taggy comfort blanket.

A roll of 100% degradable nappy sacks.

A Booby Reminder breastfeeding bracelet

Newborn knitted booties.

Baby Cream wonda balm.

Beautiful gem phone charm / keyring charm

My goodness it's the first time I've seen the list written down!! Even I am impressed lol

Anyway to buy all of these things individually would cost you a little over £67 but I have not taken into account the separate shipping charges so it's more like £80.

Not a bad little gift to give someone is it?? better than a bunch of grapes!!

The photo doesn't show all the items in the box... must update that!

Right... the sun is out which means I should go and do some more work on the Chookery!

Namaste!