tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-571675640155914582024-03-12T15:57:20.176-07:00Circle of Good LifeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768947698199820129noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57167564015591458.post-38895532594423761942017-03-24T05:53:00.002-07:002017-03-24T05:53:39.366-07:00Six Little Menaces
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">Lots of things have happened in March.<br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 1.5pt;">I started sowing again, doing
general gardening and Houdini and the Hurkies have been <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so</i> bad!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 1.5pt;"></span>Let’s start with the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">misbehaving
hens</b>...<br />
JP and I have been away for two weeks visiting friends and family in the
Netherlands. I had been telling my parents (also keen grow-your-own-ers) that
we were looking forward to eating spring cauliflower in just a few weeks’ time.
Before we left the cauliflowers I had sown had grown into healthy, sturdy
plants with small heads forming inside.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">But when we got back home.... the vegetable bed had been destroyed! By the chickens.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">Completely and utterly wrecked! Trashed! By the chickens!<br /> Strangely enough Houdini and the Hurkies mysteriously vanished after I made this shocking discovery. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The soup we had that night was delicious, though.... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">I’m joking of course. It could’ve done with a little more salt. No, seriously, we don’t kill chickens, not even after they have gorged themselves on our spring vegetables! But to say I was very angry with them is an understatement! Thankfully our neighbour has agreed that we can use a patch of bare land next to our garden to house the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">6 little menaces</b>.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;">And that’s exactly where they are now and where they’re going to stay. Maybe this year we will be able to create a fenced off area within our own garden for the hens, but we’ve got so many other projects on the go, that I’m not sure if we’ll have time to fit this in as well.</span><br />
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It’s nice that the growing season has started again and to be honest, the weather hasn’t been <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i> bad overall. I know we’re not out of the woods just yet, but it seems very unlikely we will have snow lying for more than a few days now. Everything is still indoors: I’ve sown tomatoes, chillies and aubergines in January and they are coming along nicely. I’ve also pre-planted onions in the greenhouse and sowed the Dutch ‘kapucijner’ peas at the start of March. Needless to say Houdini and the Hurkies are <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">not</b> allowed in the greenhouse, so I’ve still got some kale left to harvest. The <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">weeds</b> will have started growing too, so I can always eat ground elder (which is quite tasty actually!), nettles, sorrel and dock leaves.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 1.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 1.5pt;">One of the projects we have
this year involves replacing more grassy areas (or should I say <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">mossy?) </b>with flower beds. </span>We’ve found it very
difficult to grow and maintain a nice lawn in Scotland. The wetter weather and
the fact we also have tons of stones in the ground, don’t help either. We’ve
already built a massive, elevated pond with all the stones and <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">rocks</b> we’ve dug up and now we’re
creating a little pond next to it. With waterways, more bridges the whole
shebang! Basically, we are extending the <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">‘Beechgrove
Garden Bog’</b>, to make our garden more adventurous. </span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB; mso-font-kerning: 1.5pt;">We’ll just have to wait and
see how many more midges the extra water attracts.</span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768947698199820129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57167564015591458.post-23399056184655854002016-08-02T03:52:00.002-07:002016-08-02T03:52:19.780-07:00Strawberries coming oot o' ma earsThe good thing about growing (and eating) your own is that you only eat fruit and vegetables which are in season.<br />
Which, in my opinion, makes life a lot more exciting; mid winter you're really looking forward to the first fresh salad leafs, mid summer you're almost looking the neeps and tatties out of the ground and by the end of June you really want those strawberries to ripen.<br />
<br />
And that's what is in season right now; strawberries, strawberries and more strawberries.<br />
I wish we hadn't decided to plant over 120 strawberry plants.... And I'm not even the one picking them every single day!<br />
My job is to make jam, lots of it, strawberry wine and eat them of course.<br />
So, that's strawberries for breakfast, for lunch and as a snack in between.<br />
And you know what? It's not even boring me yet!<br />
That's probably because I've been waiting for fresh strawberries since last year November.<br />
Apparently I miss strawberries for 9 months of the year. That's quite long, isn't it?!<br />
<br />
Scotland is well known for its soft fruit and this year didn't disappoint. The reasonably mild weather and (sorry) the rain too, made for a bumper harvest of fruit.<br />
So far, we've picked 8 kilograms (1.2 stone) strawberries, 1 kilogram (0.16 stone) raspberries, 6 kilo (1 stone) black currants and another whopping 6 kilo (1 stone) red currants.<br />
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This is not even all!</div>
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Needless to say, I've been spending a lot of time in the kitchen trying to use it all. <br />
So far, I've made 18 jars of jam; our two favourite jams are 'The Full Minty' (strawberries, red currants and mint) and 'Currants in Black' (black currant).<br />
Then we've also used 2 kilograms of the strawberries to make strawberry wine (another one of our favourites) and with the left-over pulp I make 'Some Like it Hotter' jam which is pulped strawberries, red currants, balsamic vinegar and black pepper.<br />
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Now we first go away for a short break, before I start making more jam.<br />
I don't think I'll order strawberries with cream for pudding!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768947698199820129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57167564015591458.post-898943818628130922016-07-15T06:56:00.002-07:002016-07-15T06:56:58.098-07:00Self-sufficiency?Did you know you could be too <em><strong>self</strong></em>-sufficient??<br />
No? I didn't either.<br />
But you can.<br />
<br />
My husband and I have been exactly that; too self-sufficient.<br />
With building works going on since last year August, illness and bereavement in the family and a garden to run, we kind of lost track of each other.<br />
We used to joke we worked 6,5 day per week with only Sunday afternoon (from 3pm) off.<br />
We tried to be as efficient as possible, saying to each other: "If you paint this wall then I can weed that vegetable bed." Or "If you bottle the wine, then I can clean the hen house."<br />
In the end we weren't doing anything together any longer and every job became an unpleasant chore.<br />
And when my mother-in-law became very ill, my husband, understandably, went back to the Netherlands to be with her in her last days. <br />
There are things in life you can't change, but when he came back and we both felt we were strangers to each other, we had to rethink our way of life.<br />
<br />
Why had we come to Scotland? Why did we want to grow our own vegetables and keep chickens? What are the more important things in life?<br />
So, we decided that from then on we would be <strong><em>together-sufficient</em></strong>!<br />
Just what we wanted (and did!) in the first place when we came to Scotland.<br />
It's much more fun to pick fruits, make wine and bottle it together or to weed the garden together.<br />
You're sharing these experiences and enjoying it more (like we did here doing voluntary work for wwoof).<br />
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We also decided that we really need at least one day off.<br />
Religious people aren't that wrong when they say you have to have at least one day off. Whether that is Sunday or not is up to yourself, but you have to have time to relax and do things you enjoy.<br />
Sunday is a suitable day, however, with most people not working, so we are trying to take the Sunday off. <br />It's really hard though, with so much still to do. <br />
And, okay, I admit, we have agreed to only clean the hen house (together) on Sunday morning.<br />
<br />
To cope with the pressure we have also decided to finish some projects first, before starting new ones.<br />
I'm glad to say that we have now very nearly finished buildings works indoors and are looking forward to spending a bit more time in the garden (if the weather improves that is).<br />
The garden, although planted full with vegetables, is in a bit of a state. But it's remarkable how well plants grow without any attention from our side. I suppose that's how they do it in the wild too!<br />
<br />
So, once we've finished painting etc. it's time to spend some time together making wine, jam, pickles and everything what comes with being self (uh, together-) sufficient!<br />
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And Sundays we'll have a bit more of <strong><em>we-time</em></strong>!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768947698199820129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57167564015591458.post-31454103331570836192016-06-18T02:58:00.000-07:002016-06-18T02:58:09.808-07:00Mighty oaks from little acorns growLet me tell you about my dream of leaving this world a greener place.<br />
I'm trying to leave more trees when I die then when I came into this world. Knowing that my legacy to this world will hopefully be some lovely big oak trees with lots of other types of native trees. As a matter of fact, I want to leave a small forest behind and leave an environment which is beneficial to wildlife and humans alike.<br />
<br />
Last year autumn I've sowed (or should I say planted?) acorns and other seeds from trees in big pots next to the house. After a long, long wait I nearly gave up, because by the beginning of May there was no sign of any seed germinating.<br />
Luckily there is this brilliant story book from the Forestry Commission Scotland which tells a series of stories (written by Claire Hewitt) about a tree for every month of the year.<br />
And the oak story is my favourite and most inspiring one. <br />
It's all about patience (which I lack sometimes).<br />
<br />
<em>'One day an acorn falls off a tree and wants to become something important. It's very impatient and keeps asking mother oak when it will be big. After lots and lots of years and lots and lots of questions, the little oak tree looks into a river thinking it will see a sapling, but instead sees a big, mighty oak.'</em><br />
<em></em><br />
I won't rewrite the whole story, but you can read it at <a href="http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fcms128.pdf/$FILE/fcms128.pdf">http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fcms128.pdf/$FILE/fcms128.pdf</a><br />
<br />
I too can be impatient sometimes, especially when growing things, but lo and behold, after being very impatient all spring, my acorns finally germinated in mid May!<br />
And, yes, I know it would take over 60 years for an oak tree to grow big, but just seeing it grow into a tree would be good enough. I just have to think of the story and be patient!<br />
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There was this programme on BBC4 not that long ago, about a year in the life of an oak tree, which was really interesting. It showed an acorn springing into life, which looked amazing.</div>
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And isn't it just unbelievable that from these tiny plants, huge big oaks grow! </div>
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I've started to call them 'my oak babies'.</div>
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We've got an 'oak toddler' too in the garden. Which is a tree we bought some 4 years ago as a one-year old tree. It's grown taller than me already, but still looks very small compared to the oak trees nearby.</div>
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It's just acorns which germinated this time, but I'm going to sow other trees this autumn again and make sure the soil conditions are right for the right tree. Maybe dig up some soil from underneath </div>
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certain trees and sow the right seeds.</div>
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Who knows? Maybe one day, I'll have grown enough trees to plant a forest!</div>
And at the end of my life I'll know that I've generated more trees than what I've used. <br />
My final wish would then be to be buried beneath a tree, preferably my own home grown one! But that would all depend on how long I've got left. One thing is for sure, the 'oak babies' are most likely to overtake me in age. <br />
And will have become 'oak mothers'!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768947698199820129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57167564015591458.post-57866216087028088932016-04-23T06:02:00.002-07:002016-04-26T07:13:07.940-07:00A History of the Hooligan<strong><em>My first 1,5 years</em></strong><br />
<br />
I came out of my shell around 4,5 years ago looking forward to life as a chicken. I had big plans; I was going to travel the world, eat lots of worms and enjoy a little bit of sunshine.<br />
When I turned a few weeks old, things appeared different than what I imaged life would be like. There was no sunshine, no worms and a lot of other chickens.<br />
When I turned teenager, I suddenly had to fight with the other chickens to get the best food. <br />
So, that's what I did and I soon became the top hen.<br />
<br />
We lived in a dark barn with no natural light and just a concrete floor with some straw. The eggs we laid were taken away by men in suits. The woman who came to feed us was quite nice; well she fed us, but nobody ever said a word to us. <br />
I felt very sad in this place.<br />
Sure, we got extra vitamins to keep us going, but in hindsight I think it was just so that we could keep on laying eggs 365 days a year. Chickens are not meant to do that! They are meant to have a resting period too!<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nTTY8c8mf3w/VxpLaKAdl4I/AAAAAAAAAYE/TeVPFsVLVXMU7BC5omEO5-FD0ioLXJAEACLcB/s1600/close%2Bup%2Bminil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nTTY8c8mf3w/VxpLaKAdl4I/AAAAAAAAAYE/TeVPFsVLVXMU7BC5omEO5-FD0ioLXJAEACLcB/s1600/close%2Bup%2Bminil.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />
Than after 1,5 years living in this terrible barn with thousands of other chickens and no space to move, things changed.<br />
Lovely people from a charity called The British Hen Welfare Trust came to the barn and took some of us away. I wasn't sure what was happening, but I could see brighter light when we were moved into a carrier. Five of us went with this man and girl (who I never met again) and they spoke to us about this wonderful place with lots of worms and outdoor light. <br />
I didn't believe it at first, I thought that place only existed in the land of stories.<br />
But it was true!<br />
<br />
<strong><em>Living in the wilderness</em></strong><br />
<br />
When we were let out of the carriers we stepped onto soil! "What is soil?" I remember thinking, but it felt nice and the light was bright too. It turned out to be a 'sun'!<br />
So, this was going to be our new lives. A small run with a nice new chicken coop; or that is what I thought, but it only got better!<br />
After a week or so, another hatch opened and we were let out onto something green called grass! I thought we already had a lot of space in the run, but here we had no fencing whatsoever. Where was I going to go?? Luckily, there was still the five of us, so we stayed close together. It was all very exciting, there were plants and soil and worms and sunlight and other chickens from the neighbours. Oh, and there was this lady who always gave us a few more titbits, like seeds and cheese and other things. I liked her a lot.<br />
I had to bully and shout at the other chickens at first, so that I became top hen again, but I felt very happy in my new place.<br />
The other chickens would follow me everywhere and I would follow this lady into the house, so that in the end the whole lot of us walked into the house. We weren't really allowed, but we did it anyway and it was fun and we always got some more seeds.<br />
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<br />
We are not as strong and healthy as other chickens after we had spent our first years in a barn, so 'The One Who Called Herself The Lady's Friend' passed away after only 1 year. That was sad, but there were still 4 of us left and we formed a clique against the neighbour's invading chickens with me as leader of course.<br />
After a while I wanted to see more of the world and also felt an urge to stay close to my eggs. I found a secluded spot somewhere away from the chicken coop where I laid lots of eggs and guarded them against possible invaders. When the neighbour came too close for my liking I hissed and spat at him, so that he left me alone. I could hear the lady call for me, but I didn't want to leave. After 10 days I didn't feel very well and also had a constant itch on my leg. The neighbour found me limping around and returned me to my own place.<br />
Where I was met by the lady and her man who looked aghast at my leg. I wasn't sure why, but after the lady had cleaned my leg while gagging all the time, the itch had stopped. I was put in a separate area of the house for a few days until I was recovered. <br />
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Living in the wilderness was fun. We did lots of things, like destroying newly planted seedlings and lawns, chase the neighbour's chickens out of the garden and follow the lady around. She was like our mother hen to us, it seemed that wherever she went, she would either dig up worms with her huge big claws (called garden forks for some reason) or she would give us seeds from the bird table. </div>
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The rumour went that a picture she took with us following her even won her 'Best Chicken Pix' in a well-known Chicken magazine. Apparently it also appeared on the website of the charity who rescued us. I wouldn't know for sure because I don't read and don't have access to the internet, but this might have been the first step to celebrity status for me.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wgQbFRvzoQI/VxpNu-Bf4tI/AAAAAAAAAYc/eUR_knHOMbATzEtu_3SzbCPn6CHlU8AgACLcB/s1600/ninja_me_small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wgQbFRvzoQI/VxpNu-Bf4tI/AAAAAAAAAYc/eUR_knHOMbATzEtu_3SzbCPn6CHlU8AgACLcB/s1600/ninja_me_small.jpg" /></a></div>
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Then the days got colder, there weren't that many worms or insects left and one morning when the second hatch opened, the grass had all turned white! That was scary! The other chickens looked at me as if I knew what had happened to the outside world. "You are quite the adventurer, you'll know", they said. Well I didn't!</div>
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The lady kept looking at us from that white world and laughed. But when she called us over and were throwing seeds in the white fluff, I took some tender steps outside the run. Gosh, it was cold! I sank away a little bit and couldn't see my feet. Scary stuff!</div>
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The other chickens followed me after a while and we got used to cold, invisible feet.</div>
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Then the grass turned green again and we were back to normal.</div>
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<strong><em>Becoming famous</em></strong></div>
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<strong><em></em></strong> </div>
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I had lots of adventures. That time wasn't the last time I sat on eggs for a while, I did it two more times and got the lady all worried. Although the other times I made sure I didn't get ill.</div>
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According to the others, I shouted and bullied, which of course I never did! Anyway, because of all of this and my many adventures, I became quite the celebrity.</div>
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I was well known in Stirling, because the lady wrote about me in her newsletter. Not that she ever asked permission for that! Ach, I didn't mind, I would still get my special treats.</div>
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By this time, I was known as The Hooligan. Don't ask me why, I never did anything! I can't help it either, that I've got such a loud voice!</div>
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After a while more of my pals passed away and there were only three of us left. Not that I minded, it only meant fewer chickens to keep under control.</div>
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We still had fun with the three of us.</div>
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But I wasn't content with just being famous in a newsletter, I wanted to be on TV too!</div>
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I told the lady I wanted a newly planted garden, where I could scratch and cause mayhem and that I had heard of a TV programme where they came to do up your garden.</div>
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Good job, she understood what I said, because in May 2015 The Beechgrove Garden descended in the garden. It was great fun posing for the camera and being a general nuisance, although I didn't like the presenter's 'joke' of us ending in the soup!</div>
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People spoke about me how they had seen me on TV and I heard that even people in Holland had seen me! I was quite the star!</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wgpS_s0jXS8/VxtErsTJz2I/AAAAAAAAAY4/gYjGrCA9SD89G6x118t6yHGwnsXUBmgrgCLcB/s1600/hen_front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wgpS_s0jXS8/VxtErsTJz2I/AAAAAAAAAY4/gYjGrCA9SD89G6x118t6yHGwnsXUBmgrgCLcB/s1600/hen_front.jpg" /></a></div>
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Soon after the filming however, more of my pals passed away. Maybe they couldn't cope with the pressure of being recognized, or they were just old and got ill.</div>
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And in August 2015 all of a sudden I was on my own. All my pals from the barn had passed away. Luckily they had lived more of their lives in the wilderness than in the barn and that made me feel good.</div>
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Being on my own was fine too, the neighbour's chickens had also reduced to just three and they had formed their own clique. Although I was still top hen, I went back to my own private chicken coop at night. Life was good and bright!</div>
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<strong><em>The ChickPeas</em></strong></div>
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<strong><em></em></strong> </div>
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Don't ask me why, but the lady and her man decided I wasn't laying enough eggs any longer and that they needed more chickens. How stupid is that?! </div>
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I'm retired, of course I don't lay an egg a day any more!! </div>
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So, when they introduced me to the five 'ChickPeas' I made sure I told them who was boss! Those idiotic 'ChickPeas' were cowering in a corner of the run while I was trying to break it down! Yeah, now they can call me The Hooligan!</div>
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Luckily, the wilderness is quite large, so when we went out, I could leave the 'ChickPeas' on their own and play with the neighbour's chickens. Just at night I had to share my coop with them.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cpqO9v8LEQA/VxtJRYOAoHI/AAAAAAAAAZI/XWG_F3M_XAAL1q-DvQ9ztJ-jLHOvdrFzgCLcB/s1600/P1000970.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cpqO9v8LEQA/VxtJRYOAoHI/AAAAAAAAAZI/XWG_F3M_XAAL1q-DvQ9ztJ-jLHOvdrFzgCLcB/s320/P1000970.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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On this picture one of them is asking for help from the lady because she is being bullied by me. Which is nonsense of course!</div>
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I had this plan of getting rid of them again. </div>
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I told them not to lay eggs and how to thoroughly destroy the garden. Because they were that afraid of me, they did exactly what I told them. The silly sods didn't lay one egg for 8 weeks and also demolished the whole garden. The man became increasingly frustrated with them while I secretly laughed at them being naughty.</div>
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My plan worked however and after 8 weeks the man was so fed up with these destroying garden monsters, that he took them back.</div>
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I finally had the wilderness for myself again.</div>
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<strong><em>My final months</em></strong></div>
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<strong><em></em></strong> </div>
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After the debacle of the 'ChickPeas' the lady and the man didn't introduce any other chickens and I happily lived my life in the wilderness on my own. During the day I still had company from the neighbour's chickens and during the night I had my own private bed chambers. </div>
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Talking about the good life!</div>
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Being the adventurer, I tried to stay the night with the neighbour's chickens, but I was that used to being on my own at night, that I kept it to just the one night.</div>
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By now I was around 4,5 years old and sometimes I was feeling a bit stiff in the legs. </div>
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Then one day I laid my last egg and it was massive! I was impressed myself, let alone the lady and the man!</div>
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Being on my own had an other advantage; I got spoiled to bits!</div>
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Life was good and entirely as I expected from the day I crawled out of my egg.</div>
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I had forgotten about my first 1,5 years of my life and was just living life to the full.</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cWTeWnN0Knc/VxtWFvpQMDI/AAAAAAAAAZc/i_tYc6pUZE8Dq4lP__plCelBDaR7gw-mgCLcB/s1600/hooli_closeup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cWTeWnN0Knc/VxtWFvpQMDI/AAAAAAAAAZc/i_tYc6pUZE8Dq4lP__plCelBDaR7gw-mgCLcB/s1600/hooli_closeup.jpg" /></a></div>
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Still being the adventurer and having mistakenly been locked up with the neighbour's chickens at night, I decided I would try to stay with them for a few more nights.</div>
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But when I started feeling unwell again, I wanted to go back to my trusted own chicken coop. By this time I could hardly walk, but the lady and the man weren't home to pick me up. But I made it and when they came home at night I was sitting in the run.</div>
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I really didn't feel well. </div>
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The lady gave me Echinacea, which had helped in the past, and herbal worming solution, but it was too late. </div>
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After one more day at home, I saw a very bright light and somehow knew this was not the sun.</div>
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It looked so good and peaceful and that's when I left my life on earth to sunbath forever and eat all the worms and seeds I could.</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hwNXnDU2xyw/VxtVqa-CD-I/AAAAAAAAAZY/NwZ3uUI7qecGt3jh6aTEbseT2M16hNHMgCLcB/s1600/hooli_sign.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hwNXnDU2xyw/VxtVqa-CD-I/AAAAAAAAAZY/NwZ3uUI7qecGt3jh6aTEbseT2M16hNHMgCLcB/s1600/hooli_sign.jpg" /></a></div>
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Looking down from the eternal wilderness, I could see the lady and man were sad I wasn't there any longer. They buried my earthly remains and made a sign especially for me. </div>
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Well, I <em>was</em> Stirling's most famous chicken after all!</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CGEIcoQAteE/Vx93Z3GvEcI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/S6JwNLJgG6UdZa4SCNaRUdBL2eBfYKqSgCLcB/s1600/hooli_memoriam_big2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CGEIcoQAteE/Vx93Z3GvEcI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/S6JwNLJgG6UdZa4SCNaRUdBL2eBfYKqSgCLcB/s320/hooli_memoriam_big2.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768947698199820129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57167564015591458.post-40244389547226923462015-11-03T06:33:00.000-08:002015-11-03T06:33:24.041-08:00The Chick-Peas are in troubleDear oh dear, the Chick-Peas (our new Black Rock chickens) are in trouble.<br />
Destroying the vegetable garden, eating the paksoi, curly kale and spinach, pooing everywhere (including the window sills!) and not giving anything in return, means they will have to go soon.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h6u8lE1hz4o/VjjFAmRCVII/AAAAAAAAAV0/xQIofDq0Nzs/s1600/P1000979.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h6u8lE1hz4o/VjjFAmRCVII/AAAAAAAAAV0/xQIofDq0Nzs/s320/P1000979.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Unfortunately we've been paying way too much for these underage chickens, who weren't point-of-lay by far. Point-of-lay means they should start laying within a week or two after you've brought them home, but we've had them for 8 weeks now and no sign of any eggs.<br />
But in the meantime they destroy everything and still we have to feed them (of course) and clean their hen house. Also I always need to make sure my shoes are clean before I enter the shop.<br />
<br />
My husband doesn't want this to go on, not knowing if they will ever produce eggs, so he is returning them to the breeder this weekend.<br />
Hopefully the breeder is willing to refund the whole amount, because we don't really trust him any longer. Even if he replaces them with older ones, how do know how old the new ones will be?<br />
<br />
Anyway, we've decided we won't have any more chickens during the Winter. Come Spring we'll build a large pen for any new chickens we might decide to get then.<br />
This means The Hooligan is on her own. Well, almost.<br />
Luckily for her, the neighbour's chickens come to our garden too (destroying and pooing), so she is not lonely during the day. <br />
The problem lies with the nights; chickens keep each other warm during really cold nights by huddling together. But of course The Hooligan can't do that if there are no other chickens around.<br />
So, we've decided she has to sleep in a cat carrier in the porch. I think she is intelligent enough to go to her new sleeping place once we've put her in.<br />
It benefits us too: no more Sunday mornings putting socks on, shoes on, jacket on, gloves on and hat on, just to let the chickens out.<br />
Now we can just walk to the porch on our slippers, open the cat carrier and wish The Hooligan a nice day.<br />
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But we still don't know for sure if the breeder is willing to refund us, so we might still have to struggle through snow on Sunday mornings.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768947698199820129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57167564015591458.post-62681026037376520982015-09-18T04:27:00.000-07:002015-09-18T04:28:24.142-07:00Conversation with The HooliganThe other day, the new hens (the Chick-Peas) complained about The Hooligan's behaviour.<br />
This is how it went:<br />
<br />
<strong>Me</strong>:" Hello Chick-Peas, how was your day?"<br />
<br />
<strong>Chick-Peas</strong>:"It was horrible! The Hooligan was blocking the exit to the garden and pecking and swearing at us! We really don't like The Hooligan."<br />
<br />
<strong>Me</strong>:"Okay, I'll have a word with her."<br />
<br />
<strong>Me</strong>:"Hello, Hooli Bully. I got some complaints from the Chick-Peas about you bullying them. What did you do?"<br />
<br />
<strong>The Hooligan</strong>: "First of all, don't call me Hooli Bully! I hate that! Just call me The Hooligan! Secondly, those new ones are *#**## and ***###!!!<br />
<br />
<strong>Me</strong>: "Calm down alright! Just tell me why you don't like them and what you did.<br />
<br />
<strong>The Hooligan</strong>: "Those awful hens have no idea who the boss is here. I want to go to bed first. I want to eat first. I want to get out first. And I want to be in the garden first!! Yet, they refuse to listen to me. They run out before I can get out of bed, they start eating without my permission and now they want to eat the first worms in the garden too! I can't let that happen!<br />
So, all I did was block the exit and told them to f off!!<br />
<br />
<strong>Me</strong>: "Right, okay. Maybe you shouldn't use profane language this much. Maybe you ......."<br />
<br />
<strong>The Hooligan</strong>:"Right that's it, I'm off. I'm sick of listening to you! I'll do and say what and when I like. You can't stop me!!!<br />
<br />
And off she runs.<br />
<br />
<strong>Me</strong>:"Sigh, there really is no reason in that chicken. I'll go to the Chick-Peas and tell them what happened."<br />
<br />
<strong>The Chick-Peas</strong>:" Oh no, there is The Hooligan again! She's coming to us! She's coming to beat us up for squealing on her. Let's hide!! Aaarrrggh!"<br />
<br />
<strong>The Hooligan</strong>: "Where are you little b####rds?! I'll get you for this!!<br />
<br />
<strong>Me</strong>: "Oh dear, The Hooligan is chasing the Chick-Peas. I'll lure her away with some bird food. That will help."<br />
<br />
<strong>Me</strong>: "Chicky, chicky! Come chicky, chicky!"<br />
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The Hooligan stops in her tracks and runs to the bird food, leaving the Chick-Peas bewildered, but in peace.<br />
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All is well again in Glendevon (until next time).Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768947698199820129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57167564015591458.post-74459075092699236542015-09-10T11:36:00.000-07:002015-09-10T11:36:11.310-07:00Stories from the Hen houseThe Hooligan is, not surprisingly, the last one standing.<br />
All the other ex-battery chickens have sadly passed away. They have all been buried under various trees in our garden and it's good to know that they had a nice retirement.<br />
<br />
Because chickens can get lonely, we decided to get 5 new ones to keep The Hooligan company. <br />
Well, introducing them to each other gave me enough inspiration to write a whole new blog about!<br />
The Hooligan really lives up to her name.<br />
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Here is what happened:<br />
The first day we got our 5 Black Rocks, we locked them in the run while The Hooligan was happily playing outside with the neighbour's chickens.<br />
When it started to get dark, we let The Hooligan into the run, so that she could go into the hen house for the night. She didn't really notice there were 5 extra chickens, it seemed. She just commented on how she wasn't able to get into the run.<br />
And went to bed.<br />
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Because the new additions didn't know where to go to sleep we lifted them into the hen house where The Hooligan was already snoozing. There was some gentle scuffling going on, but nothing dramatic.<br />
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The trouble started when the whole lot woke up the next morning.<br />I got up at 6am to let them out into the run, so that The Hooligan wouldn't eat them alive while still in the hen house.<br />
When my husband wanted to let The Hooligan out at 7.30am; the 5 new ones were cowering in the corner while The Hooligan was shouting, swearing and generally trashing the place!<br />
She didn't attack the 5 Black Rocks, but she was trying to break through the fence and the language she was using, gosh, I really can't repeat what she was saying.<br />
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Anyway The Hooligan was free to go and play with her friends from next door, while the new ones stayed in their run. They were quite happy without The Hooligan.<br />
But, my oh my, can they eat! Okay, they are only 16 weeks old, so still have to grow a wee bit, but the amount of food consumed is pretty astonishing.<br />
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So night fell and we had to let The Hooligan into the run again...<br />
Poor wee chickens, 4 of them were already on the ramp to settle down for the night, but as soon as they saw The Hooligan they clambered down. The Hooligan was now bullying them and chasing them away from the food. But I had already put two bowls out; even The Hooligan can't be at two places at the same time.<br />
And all the time she felt she also had to verbally abuse the new ones.<br />
Who knows what goes through their little minds.<br />
<br />
Anyway, the top hen (aka The Hooligan) has to go in first, so that's what happened and the new ones followed one by one. There was a little bit more scuffling going on this time and I almost interfered, but all seemed well after a few minutes.<br />
Clever aren't they? After just one night of help, they knew where they had to go!<br />
Chickens are known for establishing a pecking order, so we'll try to let nature run its course and only intervene when there is blood drawn (which hasn't happened so far).<br />
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Tomorrow the new ones can go out into a small, fenced off area of the garden, so that they can eat grass and clover and can enjoy the sun a little bit.<br />
We'll just have to wait and see what happens when all of them can rummage through the garden and meet the neighbour's chickens at the same time. But that will be in a few more days.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768947698199820129noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57167564015591458.post-37344541347432300412015-07-12T05:09:00.001-07:002015-07-12T05:09:20.768-07:00When will it warm up?We are now mid July and the weather still hasn't warmed up much. <br />
Okay, we might have had one day of 26C and a couple of days of around 20C, but we are now back to struggling to get over 15C. <br />
I'm probably the last one to complain about the weather; I quite like wind and storm and snow and dislike any temperatures over 22C, but when trying to grow your own fruit and vegetables, a little bit of sunshine is much appreciated.<br />
<br />
Everything is just so slow this year.<br />The elderflower has just started flowering, the gooseberries are not ripe yet (not for another two weeks I think!), the strawberries are now beginning to ripen and the cabbages... well let's just forget about those.<br />
I don't think we'll be making sauerkraut this year.<br />
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The kapucijners (a Dutch pea variety which you dry and then eat with bacon bits and piccalilli in the cold winter months) are doing reasonably well.<br />
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They've got lovely purple flowers which the bees and bumblebees love and after pollination the pods are also dark purple. They then form peas inside and when you leave them on the plant to dry out, you can pod them and store for use in winter.<br />
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I moved the pumpkins (Uchiki Kuri) outside, using the old herb rack from the shop. Now that's what I would call recycling! <br />
They are okay, I suppose, but one night the temperature went down to 4.5C. <br />
Luckily it was forecast, so we put some protection around these tender plants.<br />
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The cabbages are one sad bunch. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong, or whether it's just been too wet and cold. My first lot of white cabbages, all but 3 died. Then we bought red cabbage plants in Holland and took them with us, but all of them wilted away within a week. Last week we bought more white cabbage plants in the hope we might be able to make sauerkraut after all, but they too are still not looking too healthy. The Brussels sprouts are doing fine now, but they were also a sad bunch when I planted them out in early May. I covered them with a poly tunnel for about 2 months, until they were too big and now they've got buckets around them to protect them from the wind. But they are looking healthy enough, so fingers crossed, we'll be eating sprouts this winter.<br />
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Let's just hope the weather warms up eventually, so that my gooseberries and other fruit can ripen, the French beans can come out from under the poly tunnel and the pumpkins grow nice and big.<br />
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But that's all we can do: HOPE....Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768947698199820129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57167564015591458.post-67764952223788373602015-06-13T07:28:00.000-07:002015-06-13T07:28:35.153-07:00How to be a C2 celebrityLet me be clear first; I don't consider myself a celebrity, not for one bit. <br />But since some of you might have seen me on BBC2, I suppose I am a little bit more famous than my plumber (sorry Ryan!).<br />
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Watching oneself on the small screen felt very surreal, it was like watching a home video, a very well filmed and edited one. <br />
A lot of customers watched the Beechgrove Garden either on TV or on BBC iPlayer (at the Beechgrove Garden they probably noticed a spike in online viewings!). And luckily they all liked our TV appearance.<br />
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But it was the Hooligan (chicken) and her friends who really were the stars of the show. It was a shame the camera man didn't catch George, me and JP chasing away the Hooligan when she started digging out the newly planted plants! </div>
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Here she is, following us to see if there are any tasty snacks appearing from the soil.</div>
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JP and I made up a scale which rates how much of a celebrity someone is, so that we can say:" I had a C3 celebrity in the shop today." </div>
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The C obviously stands for Celebrity and the scale is based on the Fujita scale used for measuring tornadoes.</div>
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Our C scale also starts at C1 and ends at C5, C5 being a celebrity who can literally blow you off your feet (excuse the pun!).</div>
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So this is it:</div>
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C1 someone who has been in the local newspaper and gets recognized on a very local scale (ie my colleague Stuart)</div>
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C2 someone who has been in the local newspaper and on TV and gets recognized slightly further afield by a small number of people (I suppose that's were me and The Hooligan fit in now)</div>
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C3 someone who is well known from TV in their own country and gets recognized by fellow brits (ie Alan Davies from Qi)</div>
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C4 someone who is also well known outside their own country and most people would recognize him or her (ie Dame Helen Mirren)</div>
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C5 someone who is super well known around the globe and you'll have something to talk about once you've met him or her (ie Barack Obama, Brad Pitt or the Queen)</div>
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Celebrity status is a strange thing; you don't really change yourself, but some people think you do and start to treat you in a different way. I know I do when there are more or less famous people in the shop. And it's silly, because you don't want to behave like that and yet it almost happens involuntarily. And now I've been on the other side as well and let's just say it has been an experience.</div>
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Anyway, I'm still that silly Dutch girl who moved to Scotland to grow fruit and veggies and just so happened to have been chosen to be on the Beechgrove Garden. After this fun and weird experience, I can't say I have any aspirations to become a C3 (although getting Brad Pitt through the door would blow me of my socks!).</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768947698199820129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57167564015591458.post-47236448462261515202015-05-14T09:50:00.001-07:002015-05-14T09:50:19.331-07:00Filming with The Beechgrove GardenWe have gained another experience! <br />
Watch it on: <strong>The Beechgrove Garden, 21st May 7.30pm BBC2 Scotland.</strong><br />
<br />
Last Thursday BBC2's Beechgrove Garden came to our place in Glendevon, Central Scotland to show us how to create a bog garden. <br />
We had a fantastic day: the weather was dry, but windy (true Glendevon-style). JP and I even got sunburned! The film crew was very nice and we had lots of fun.<br />
<br />
Firstly, George and the film crew went to film the introduction. I have no idea what they have filmed or said, though, they went filming on the path leading up to our house (we stayed at the house).<br />
I guess we'll just have to wait until it's on TV. <br />
<br />
Then George, JP and I had to explain what the plan for the day was. <br />
JP and I are creating a five senses garden and the bog area is to separate the vision from the smell borders. So, I was telling George the five senses; smell, taste, touch, vision and hearing. Which, when being filmed for the first time in your life, was tricky. In the end we had to do it again and again, because I kept forgetting the fifth sense (or mentioned 'scent and smell' which of course are the same thing!) And then there was the issue of only one camera, so we had to do everything at least 3 times from different angles.<br />
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So, that was all the introductions done and we all started digging over the bog area. Our two wwoofers (Nick and Silke) were a great help and were being filmed too.<br />
JP started building a wee bridge in the background.<br />
Because it all had to be done 3 to 4 times, I think I dug the same bit several times. Raking the whole thing was no different.<br />
Camera man: " Could you rake that again?" Me: "Absolutely, not sure what else to do, I've only done it 4 times so far!"<br />
Again planting and moving plants was the same. <br />
First we had to carry the trays with the plants to the bog area, three times. <br />
The camera man would say: "Stop!" And we all froze in mid air. Camera man: "Okay, and walk!" So we walked.<br />
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Who knew that for only 5/6 minutes of screen time you need a full day's filming?<br />
George Anderson (presenter), Shiona (director), Bob (sound man), Martin (camera man) and Callum (garden landscaper) and Nick & Silke (wwoofers) came at 9am to help us. And all the excitement was over again by 4.30pm (it seems ages ago now).<br />
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I wasn't that nervous to be honest, I'm more nervous about it being shown on TV than I was for the actual filming. Funny thing was, before they all came, I had a kind of impression in my head of how it would be, but didn't expect to get a microphone and a transmitter in our pocket! I suppose it makes sense, if they want to record what we are saying....<br />
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The chickens and especially the Hooligan were great. They noticed us digging and came in force 'to help us finding worms' (which they ate of course). I think the Hooligan thought it was all about her...<br />
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They are on camera too (as you can see above) and you can watch the chickens (and us) on <br />
<strong>The Beechgrove Garden, 21st May 7.30pm BBC2 Scotland.</strong><br />
Or if you're south of the border (or Europe) Sunday 24th May 9.00am on BBC2 London (local time).<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768947698199820129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57167564015591458.post-91387888674912010892015-04-04T05:57:00.001-07:002015-04-04T05:57:42.091-07:00One more chicken gone to heaven.Sadly we've lost another of our ex-battery chickens.<br />
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For some reason they all got poultry lice (apparently quite common and transferred by other chickens or wild birds) and the one which passed away was pretty badly infested with it.<br />
We powdered them all on Monday and I even had to pull out some feathers which had the egg clusters on them, but she didn't manage to pull through.<br />
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At least I gave her the same length of her life living in freedom and running around as she had in the chicken factory.<br />
Normally when you get chickens from the British Hen Welfare Trust (<a href="http://www.bhwt.org.uk)/">www.bhwt.org.uk)</a> they are around 1,5 years old, they say because they've stopped laying. Well, the ones we got, kept on laying for another 6 months!<br />
Anyway, we've now had them for 1,5 years and they have stopped laying after producing wrinkly eggs.<br />
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Three years is already a good age for an ex-battery chicken and luckily the other three are looking quite healthy. <br />
The one which passed away on Thursday has been buried under the hawthorn tree, so her spirit can live on in the tree!<br />
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The average age of ex-battery chickens is around 4 to 5 years old, but I know the Hooligan will live for longest, simply because she is a fighter! (literally!!)<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768947698199820129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57167564015591458.post-49014085071200302612015-02-21T05:21:00.001-08:002015-02-21T05:21:37.108-08:00Wrinkly eggs and wine bottlingOne of the chickens has been laying very weird eggs lately. They are all wrinkly! <br />
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I suppose being retired means you'll be getting more wrinkles, but who knew hens (and their eggs) would get the same problem?! Our 4 hens are now approximately 3,5 years old, which means they are getting towards the end of their lives. <br />
I do wish however that they will live for another half year because that would mean they have spend the same amount of their lives in the fields as they did in the battery farms.<br />
The Hooligan is still shouting at us though, so I don't know if she is the one presenting us with those wrinkled eggs! Maybe she does, just to show us her discontent!<br />
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What else do you do in the midst of Winter apart from bottling wine? I know what you want to say. "Drinking the wine of course!"<br />
We made around 9 gallons of wines, ranging from sweet cicely to strawberry to parsley wine. I normally just leave it in the demijohn with a solid bung and bottle it when there is nothing else to do.<br />
Winter is a good time for that.<br />
These are the last of the bottled wines of last year. <br />
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People who received homemade wines in their Christmas hampers said that the sweet cicely was very tasty. So, that will be the one to make next year again. Luckily we've got lots of sweet cicely growing in the wild next to our house.<br />
Oh, can't wait for the new season to start! <br />
In the meantime, we'll just enjoy last year's wines. :-)Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768947698199820129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57167564015591458.post-24352068194461400082015-01-14T05:18:00.000-08:002015-01-14T05:18:14.614-08:00Chickens are fed up with snow (and so are we).Another day in January. Another weather system brought snow, lots of it.<br />
<br />Couldn't get to work because of a snowdrift 40 inches deep blocking our path to the main road.<br />
<br />
Dug a path to fill the birdfeeders. Dug a path for the chickens to walk on (which they didn't!) and dug a path back to the front door to let myself in.<br />
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I quite like snow to be honest. After all, we need some snow each winter to notice the change of the seasons, don't we? But living 270m above sea level gives me a bit more of the white stuff than I need to be happy. One year we had lots of snow in Glendevon making driving really difficult and again snowdrifts blocking the path, unbelievably Stirling didn't have any snow whatsoever! <br />
My colleagues keep me up to date with the situation in Stirling and this time they have some snow as well. I keep them updated with pictures of our situation. What else is there to do?!<br />
<br />
So chickens, well they didn't have a lot to say about today's weather.<br />
The Hooligan was shouting first, only to pipe down when she saw the real situation. I think they were pretty flabbergasted. <br />
I dug out a path for them to a bit of the lawn where the snow had literally been blown off. Of course they didn't pay attention and just trotted through the deeper bits.<br />
But when the wind was picking up and I noticed two of the hens sitting rather sad in between two heaps of snow, I decided it was time to lock them up in their run.<br />
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Did you know you can actually teach chickens to follow you? <br />
When me and my husband were wwoofing (<a href="http://www.wwoof.org.uk/">www.wwoof.org.uk</a>) I once had the task to look after the chickens. We were lucky enough to be there when the youngsters were let out for the first time. I think I sat there looking at them for over an hour. It was super fun to watch and some are braver than others. Chickens really do have different personalities!<br />
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Anyway, every time I fed the young chickens I said:"Chicky, chicky" and without the farmer knowing I had taught them to come whenever I called out. They never forget! When we came back half a year later with my parents I told them how the chickens came when I said "chicky, chicky" and believe it or not, they actually came! <br />
So, when we got our new rescue hens, the first thing we did was to teach them to come on demand. And it works really well, like today when I wanted to coax them into their run. <br />
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All four of them are now locked up in their run. Not that they mind, it's out of the wind and out of the snow (sort of) and they have food with extra barley grain and water with extra vitamins.<br />
Don't want them to catch a cold, do we? That's what I'll be getting for looking after the them!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768947698199820129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57167564015591458.post-8990105400949119072014-12-13T06:09:00.000-08:002014-12-13T06:09:13.621-08:00Chickens don't like snow (or do they?!)Started snowing the other night. Woke up to a white Christmassy scene.<br />
This is what the chickens (translated from chicken language) thought of it:<br />
<br />
The Hooligan (as usual) shouted first:<br />
"<em>What the *****! Why can't we go out yet! They are always late in this place! And why is it so cold??!!</em><br />
<em>Oh, finally, there you are, what the **** took you so long?!"</em><br />
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The other chickens were quietly listening and muttering to themselves:<br />
"<em>Ooohhh, what is happening? Oooohhh, why is it so cold? Oooohhh, why can't The Hooligan not shut up?"</em><br />
<em></em><br />
So, under much pressure from The Hooligan, I opened the hatch <br />
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The Hooligan (and the rest) stood still and looked at the white landscape.<br />
<em>"My god that took ages!! What on earth is that??!! It normally is green, isn't it?! Why is it white all of a sudden?! I don't want to go out there! I don't know what that ***** white stuff is!!</em><br />
<em></em><br />
The rest of the chickens were getting impatient, because The Hooligan was blocking the exit.<br />
<em>"Oooohhh, why are you not moving? Ooooohhh, what's happening? Ooooohhh, why does it all look differently? Is it safe The Hooligan??"</em><br />
<em></em><br />
The Hooligan couldn't make up his mind as to whether venture out in that strange landscape or to stay in.<br />
<em>"I don't know what to do! It looks kind of the same, but it's white instead of green! Oh, wait a minute over there is a partially green spot! What if I can jump there and see what happens?"</em><br />
<em></em><br />
The Hooligan squatted a wee bit and finally made the jump to the partially green spot.<br />
The rest of the chickens took this as a good sign and went outside with no problems whatsoever.<br />
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But the snow wasn't as deep near the chicken coop as it was in the rest of the garden, so the chickens all stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of the garden.<br />
<em>"Oooohhh, why is it so white? Oooohhh, why are my feet this cold? Oooohhh, I don't dare to go out any further!"</em><br />
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Luckily after a few minutes lingering next to the shed and absorbing the sight of a white garden, they ventured out. Up to their bellies in the snow, but they enjoyed it, especially hanging around under the bird feeders hoping for titbits to fall down.<br />
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"<em>Ooooohhh, it's alright isn't it? Oooohhh, I'm quite enjoying this. </em></div>
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<em>Oooohhh, is there any more food falling down?"</em></div>
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The Hooligan was also back to her normal self, shouting and swearing at me while running away to the neighbour's garden.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768947698199820129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57167564015591458.post-14933324506078482272014-12-02T06:15:00.000-08:002014-12-02T06:15:10.676-08:00No time to rest.Nothing better than creating your own homemade Christmas presents. For the third year I'm assembling hampers for my colleagues (don't tell them though!).<br />
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There will be pickled eggs for the ones which love them, there is wine for everyone (don't need to be afraid to miss out myself, since we've made around 10 gallons of the stuff!), probably some pickled vegetables and beer. And if I feel like it, maybe some homemade biscuits or truffles or something else sweet. Feeling peckish myself now...<br />
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Soon, I'll be trying out my homemade sauerkraut, I wonder if it worked out just as well as last year. It always smells a bit funny and sometimes there is some mould on top, but that's normal. You can remove the mould, the sauerkraut is still edible. Actually, the mould would be edible too, but it doesn't look too appetizing.<br />
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One of my hens is moulting, which means replacing her feathers. This actually puts a lot of strain on the bird, so they won't lay any eggs, until all the feathers have been replaced. I've been giving her extra poultry vitamins to keep her energy levels up. She seems to be doing fine. <br />
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Anyway, back to bottling and labelling wine now!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768947698199820129noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57167564015591458.post-42690653416158036142014-11-29T05:38:00.000-08:002014-11-29T05:38:02.465-08:00Winter is near.Hi all,<br />
<br />
Winter is nearly here. <br />
Soon we'll be covered in snow or rain or wind and (hopefully) sun.<br />
<br />
The garden is resting, so should we really. <br />
Sometimes I wish I could just go to sleep like my hens do; at 4pm they roost and at 8am they wake up again. One of the hens is extremely loud if I don't let her out in time, so we nicknamed her 'The hooligan'. Although she used to be called 'The runaway chicken' because she also has a habit of running away to the neighbour's garden and building a nest there.<br />
We normally don't give the hens names, as they are not meant to be pets. They supply us with eggs and the future chickens, hopefully, with meat too, but because these four were ex-battery chickens, they are allowed to enjoy their retirement. So, they won't end up in the pot!<br />
<br />
Although there is not to do in the garden, there is still lots of wine to bottle. I've already bottled about 3 gallons, but there is still 5 gallons left to bottle. I'll better hurry up, because the wines are going to be Christmas presents for my colleagues and friends. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02768947698199820129noreply@blogger.com0