In a bid to let the weeks stop slipping away from us quite so fast we’ve drawn up a Masterplan and divided this years hopes into small chunks. It all feels a bit structured and to-do listy but does mean we are less likely to fritter time and get to feel all smug and productive and efficient. Having taken the director role back on I am determined to better manage my time so that I get to still do all the things I love and do them well and know when I have taken on things I can’t do anymore and find the way to drop them.
So we divided up things to do this week ensuring we are doing something for animals, crops, business and infrastructure every week and broke down morning / afternoon size things and slotted them into the week, all weather permitting. Yesterday was cockerel cull in the morning and ‘help Mike’ in the afternoon. So Ady and I spent the morning killing cocks and then plucking, gutting and oven readying them. We returned to the static at lunchtime covered in mud, blood and feathers but with six birds – two for dinner last night and six for the freezer. All pretty lean and on the small side but that’s free range birds for you! The balance looks so much better down there now with the hens all visibly relaxed and enjoying the lack of male attention. There is at least one more to get but they are all a little cagey around us so we’ll leave it a week or so before doing it.
We had lunch and then Ady and I went down to the village to see Mike. He was not actually needing any help after all so we came home but there was a load of amazon deliveries for us outside the shop so it was good we had been down and collected those. We fed the animals and came in for showers and to cook dinner.
At bedtime for the kids 1030ish we realised the northern lights were doing stuff so headed out in coats adn wellies over pjs to watch for a while. It was definitely the aurora with a greenish tint to the sky and dancing lights but none of the spectacular colour displays that folk further south seem to have had. Still very chuffed to have seen it :). The others all went to bed but I stayed up til nearly 130am watching and was rewarded with some more greener lights later.
Today on the list was dealing with the compost loo in the morning for Ady (it needs turning periodically and them emptying of the composted material, he does it every 4 months or so) and some chitting of seed pototoes and sowing of seeds for me. The kids and I set up the Potato Council tatties of which we managed to get FOUR this year – our usual two and then one which I’d ordered for the school when I worked there and Derek had just delivered to me instead of the school and a fourth one which came with Ady’s name on it. Hurrah for many tatties! They are now all set up. I sat with my seeds and my River Cottage fruit, herbs and veg books and worked out what could be sown in the polytunnel now and then went down to do so. I cleaned up the last of the evidence of yesterdays chicken cull (we plucked them in the polytunnel as it was quite windy) and then sowed about 12 seed trays of various seeds, must now remember to water every day in there.
Back for lunch and then Ady and I took our wagon and walked down to the pier (2 miles) to collect the fence posts we have on our car rood ready to make our fruit cage extension for the fruit trees we bought earlier this week. Ady was convinced we’d not be able to use the wagon but I was sure we would and so persuaded him we should try. It was a slow walk back with 10 posts loaded on and tied up but with Ady pulling and me steadying and sometimes pushing we did it. We got them to the fork where the road becomes really stoney and so carried them on shoulders from there over two trips – Ady did four on the first trip and two on the second, I did two on both trips. They are now all on the croft ready to start the fruit cage tomorrow afternoon if the weather is kind.
Ady and the kids then went down to have a drink with Mike and do a bit more helping him move stuff. I elected to stay home, catch up on some emails, get dinner going and enjoy an empty house.
Tomorrow is work for me in the morning, where did that week go?