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2nd October, 2008 - Mincemeat, Batch #2

 

It was nothing like an Indian Summer today - in fact, it was more like a Scarborough Winter!!!

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30th September, 2008 - If Autumn Came Early, Then Winter...

 

The bright warm sunshine last week has disappeared - we just hope it's a temporary blip on the meteo scale and that normal service will soon be resumed.

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29th September, 2008 - Even Animals Need A Routine

 

How times have changed - in her previous corporate life, Tracey devised a "get-well programme" for her staff who were not pulling their weight - now a "get-well programme" is required for sick livestock!

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29th September, 2008 - Rabbit Pathe News!

 

Mimi, who has just nursed her third litter certainly produces the prettiest babies.

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28th September, 2008 - The Longer You Wait, The More You Appreciate It

 

Never let it be said that Tracey nags!

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27th September, 2008 - A Summer's Day In Autumn

 

It was glorious sunshine today and an "Autumn Scorcher" in fact.

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27th September, 2008 - Playground Bullies

 

Imagine our surprise and disappointment to find yet another turkey had fallen victim to the bullies in the pack.

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26th September, 2008 - From Fireman To Vet

 

With Dan away on a fireman's training course, it was up to Tracey to do the rounds of animal feeding.

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25th September, 2008 - A Power Breakfast

 

Years ago in our corporate lives, we regularly attended "power breakfast" meetings and although we didn't exactly re-engineer a major business process, we did have a great start to the day by catching up with our friends Dale & Andrew over a coffee and baguette first thing.

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24th September, 2008 - A Very Poor Harvest

 

Today saw the end of the longest, driest and warmest spell we can remember this year - but that didn't stop Tracey from picking a kilo of runner beans and a bunch of purple sprouting.

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23rd September, 2008 - Little Pickers Wear Bigger Knickers!

 

As like all men, Dan can't wait for food to be served on his plate and he is always "sampling" and "tasting" - most of the time before the food has even made it inside the house!

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22nd September, 2008 - A Typical Day

 

Even though the pigs will eat almost anything, we are loathed to waste food - especially our own organic produce!

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22nd September, 2008 - Bunny Update

 

For the first time since we've kept rabbits, all 3 mums have litters.

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21st September, 2008 - Strawberry Fields Forever

 

The first job of the day ws to sterilise the jars and when cool enough to handle, they were filled with mincemeat.

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20th September, 2008 - A Walk In The Park

 

It was a glorious day from the outset and just after first light (ok, about an hour after first light), we set off with the dogs to our local Plan d'Eau where they enjoyed a good sniff around and a run.

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19th September, 2008 - In This Ever Changing World That We Live In

 

A re-shuffle of roles and responsibilities was all part and parcel of the corporate jobs we once held.

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19th September, 2008 - Not A Good Sign

 

Sox gave birth last night.

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18th September, 2008 - Preparing For Christmas

 

Christmas preparations have to start somewhere and with a house-full expected this year, it was time to get things underway.

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17th September, 2008 - A Good Haircut

 

With a dry and sunny day forecast, Dan set off on his tractor to give the grass a good haircut.

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16th September, 2008 - Back To Normal...Again!

 

With everybody back home and together again, our lives are once more complete and we can concentrate on our good life.

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15th September, 2008 - Tracey's Back Again

 

Apart from his day's fireman training on Saturday, Dan has spent the last 4 days in the same clothes, not washing and not eating properly - well, not quite, but not too far from the truth either!

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11th September, 2008 - Tracey Goes Away Again

 

This coming weekend will see Vic (Tracey's dad) celebrating his 80th birthday.

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10th September, 2008 - Aromatherapy For Bees

 

Now that the honey harvest is over and the nectar flow is well in decline, it's time to start preparing the bees for winter.

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10th September, 2008 - Dick's Last Injection

 

It's been 6 days now since Dan administered Dick's first injection.

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10th September, 2008 - Spring Clean In September

 

Over the past few weeks, the cucumber and tomato plants in the polytunnel have started to go into decline, both in terms of productivity and health.

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9th September, 2008 - Steady Production

 

Not wanting to count our chickens before they have hatched, we have been monitoring egg laying production over the past few days.

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9th September, 2008 - Blackberry Picking

 

There was a time when picking a blackberry would have meant choosing the latest mobile phone, however, these days are lives are significantly different.

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9th September, 2008 - Turkeys Go Exploring

 

We returned from blackberry picking late in the afternoon to be greeted by several of the turkeys wandering around the garden.

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9th September, 2008 - Bunty Gives Birth

 

Good ol' girl Bunty has, during the night, given birth to another litter.

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8th September, 2008 - A "Free" Beehive

 

One of the items on Dan's to-do list today was to go to the bee shop and enquire about getting some more hives.

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8th September, 2008 - Emergency Clean Out For Bunty

 

This morning while doing the rounds feeding the animals, Dan notied that Bunty had pulled a little bit of fur out in preparation for an imminent birth.

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8th September, 2008 - Back To Normal

 

Even though we are living the good life, we still don't like Monday mornings - especially when it's cold first thing and we've just come back from a short holiday.

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7th September, 2008 - Perfect End To A Great Weekend Away

 

Having spent a thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing the weekend in Royan (if you've not been before, then it's a must for your 'places to visit' list), it was time to head back home.

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5th September, 2008 - Preparing For A Weekend Away

 

If you've ever seen the Winnie The Pooh film where it rains and rains and rains and Hundred Acre Wood floods and everything floats away - well, it's beginning to feel like that here!

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5th September, 2008 - Dan's Dick Is Still Limping...!!!

 

Not that dick! The pig!!!

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4th September, 2008 - Who Needs TV

 

An Autumn evening with nothing on the TV and Dan unable to stand the pace of another game of Scrabble, alternative entertainment had to be found - in the kitchen!

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4th September, 2008 - Is There No End To Dan's Talents?!

 

An early morning visit to the pig pound confirmed that Dick was still only able to stand on 3 legs - no longer squealing and happy to be stroked, he had extreme difficulty in moving around.

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3rd September, 2008 - Feeling Pig Sick

 

One cannot truly appreciate the saying "squealing like a pig" until you've actually heard the noise first hand!

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3rd September, 2008 - More Rain!

 

Any more rain and Ciaran will have to come back and help Dan build an ark!!!

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3rd September, 2009 - What An Eggselent Surprise!

 

For sometime now we have been waiting for Blanche & Henrietta to follow Gloria's one-a-day eggsample!

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2nd September, 2009 - Prevention Is Better Than Cure

 

With the colder weather on it's way and 2 cats living outdoors (neither have set foot through the cat flap for some time), we decided that it's time to give them a regular diet of sardines.

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2nd September, 2008 - Rain, Rain, Go Away!

 

It was forecast and the weatherman was absolutely right!

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1st September, 2008 - Veggie Patch Maintenance

 

It's officially the first day of Autumn but we've had that autumnal feeling for the past 4 weeks.

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31st August, 2008 - Sox

 

Since her unfortunate still birth earlier this month and being back in with Rocky a couple of weeks ago, she has been behaving very strangely.

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31st August, 2008 - Bye Bye Ciaran

 

Yet another thunder and lightning storm kept us awake in the early hours.

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30th August, 2008 - The Final Product

 

A total of 38 jars of honey were bottled - not bad for a first attempt!

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29th August, 2008 - A Good Day's Harvest

 

Enough normal brocolli and purple sprouting brocolli was picked to feed the local village.

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28th August, 2008 - Going Seperate Ways

 

As a "thank you" for cutting down a dead cherry tree in their garden, Dave (Dan's dad), took Ciaran fishing.

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27th August, 2008 - Tilly

 

On her return from the UK, Tracey was upset to see that Tilly's health had deteriorated.

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27th August, 2008 - Chief Weeder On The War Path

 

A slow and relaxing start as it's Tracey's birthday.

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26th August, 2008 - Order Returns To Tree Frog Farm!

 

Boys will be boys, but after 12 days of no supervision, endless discussions about bodily functions (noises and smells!) and messing around with power tools and bonfires it was time for order to be restored.

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25th August, 2008 - A Good Day's Work

 

With Tracey due back tomorrow, Dan & Ciaran spent the day in the garden trying to make it look like they had actually done some work, instead of fishing!

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24th August, 2008 - The Honey Harvest!

 

Now that Autumn is here and the "nectar flow" coming to an end, it was time for our first honey harvest.

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23rd August, 2008 - Graduation From Bee School

 

Today was the last day of Bee School and time for the training bees to be moved from the school to their new home in our garden.

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22nd August, 2008 - Just When We Thought It Was Safe To Go Back To The Turkey Enclosure

 

2 more dead turkeys!

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22nd August, 2008 - Every Hobby Must Have Accessories

 

Having gone through a trial run honey extraction last month with just 2 honey frames, we had discovered that with a few accessories, the process could be made easier.

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21st August, 2008 - Ahoy There, Me Mateys!

 

Despite all of our livestock, fruit and veg coming from within yards of our kitchen we cannot farm one of our favourite foods - fish.

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20th August, 2008 - Helping Friends

 

This morning, it was time to return one of the many favours that we owed our good friends Dale & Andrew. It was not totally one-sided though, as Ciaran's education to home farming continued (in our old corporate world, this was called a "win-win" situation).

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18th August, 2008 - Autumn Is Definitely Here

 

Having slept most of the afternoon, Dan began to feel human again (no-doubt spurred on by the pending fishing trip)

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18th August, 2009 - Triming The Bush

 

OK, the hedge, but Dan can't resist the opportunity for a smutty joke!

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18th August, 2008 - Sox Goes In Again

 

It's been 2 weeks since Sox destroyed her nest and let us know that she'd only had the one kitten that had died.

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16th August, 2008 - Man Flu

 

Whether as a result of bad cooking, or getting too cold while fishing yesterday, Dan awoke feeling like death warmed up.

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14th August, 2008 - Time For Action

 

Having dropped Tracey & Tina off at the airport, Dan & Ciaran returned home to find 2 more dead turkeys.

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13th August, 2008 - Ciaran's Education Continues

 

Last week, Ciaran became a man - as far as rabbit slaughtering and butchering was concerned. Today, his education continued.

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11th August, 2008 - What Is Wrong With These Bloody Turkeys?!

 

Something is going wrong with our turkeys!

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11th August, 2008 - A Bit Of This And A Bit Of That

 

Today was a day of bits.

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10th August, 2008 - Everything Has It's Place...Even Wildlife

 

One of the major bonuses of living in the country, as opposed to a town, is the plethora of natural wildlife.

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10th August, 2008 - Why Are Dans' Birds Never Satisfied?!

 

Despite all the loving care and attention, it seems that Dans' birds always think that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence!

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9th August, 2008 - The Coming Of Age

 

There are many defining moments which turn a boy into a man and today, Ciaran passed another milestone - killing and butchering a rabbit!

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9th August, 2008 - Bunty The Bunny Girl

 

Whilst out feedin the animals, Dan & Ciaran thought Bunty was looking a bit bored with her life.

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9th August, 2008 - 2 Out Of 4 Ain't Bad

 

In spite of Dan's earlier efforts to retrieve the Fab Four (formerly the Jackson 5), 2 of them have now made their own way back.

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8th August, 2008 - Tina Meets The Boys!

 

Depsite being a "townie", she's a country girl at heart and Tina, Tracey's sister, couldn't wait to meet our pigs Dick 'n' Dom.

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8th August, 2008 - Helping Hands Arrive

 

Tina & Ciaran (Tracey's sister and nephew) arrived yesterday.

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7th August, 2008 - The Mother Of All Storms

 

As may already have been mentioned, we have been on the receiving end of an incredible number of storms this year.

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6th August, 2008 - Lots Of Rabbiting But No Talking

 

Clearly there is a lack of communication in the camp!

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6th August, 2008 - Kill Or Cure???

 

We received an email from another expat today who lives a few miles from us.

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5th August, 2008 - Superbug Prize For Most Destruction

 

Every year Mother Nature sends us something to keep us on our toes.

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4th August, 2008 - The Jackson Five Become The Fab Four

 

Having discovered the whereabouts of the ducks and giving them plenty of opportunity to come home on their own, it was now time to take decisive action.

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4th August, 2008 - Red, White Or Rose?

 

Tracey is not sure what is worse - Dan going to the livestock market, or looking for books on Amazon.

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3rd August, 2008 - Harvest Update

 

Inbetween dodging the summer showers, Dan picked 1.2kg of raspberries, a large punnet of strawberries (without wasps), runner beans, mangetout and more courgettes than we know what to do with.

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3rd August, 2008 - Following The Leader

 

Havnig not seen hide nor hair (or should that be "beak nor feather") of the Jackson 5 (our ducks) for 3 days we were satisfied that we had seen the last of them.

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3rd August, 2008 - No Autopsy Required

 

Just when they thought it was safe to back in the water...

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3rd August, 2008 - 8 Out Of 10 Cats Prefer Paracetamol & Sardines!

 

Both Sorbet and Hello have made terrific improvement.

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2nd August, 2008 - Rain Stops Play!

 

We seem to have gone round in complete circles with the weather.

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1st August, 2008 - Flu Epidemic

 

As with most flu patients, they like to spread their germs.

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1st August, 2008 - Another Harvest Festival

 

The last couple of days, rain has paid dividends to the raspberries.

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1st August, 2008 - Dan Just Can't Keep Hold Of His Birds!!!

 

Is it history repeating itself?!

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31st July, 2008 - Early Autumn???

 

The weather has shown definite signs of change - and not for the better!

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31st July, 2008 - Free Range Organic Turkeys

 

For some unknown reason another turkey keeled over and bit the dust.

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31st July, 2008 - Cat Flu!

 

With a runny nose, streaming eyes and sneezing, poor Sorbet was clearly suffering from cat flu.

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30th July, 2008 - Gin & Tonic?

 

Our lemon tree on the balcony outside the front door has survivied an assination attempt by last years turkeys and bizarre weather conditions.

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30th July, 2008 - Garden Update

 

If the old song of "what a difference a day makes" is true, then just imagine what a difference a month makes.

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29th July, 2008 - Lucky Rabbits Foot?!

 

It has to be said that Mimi has the most beautiful babies...

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29th July, 2008 - Duck Patrol!

 

Despite having a free reign of the pond and a quarter of an acre enclosure our 5 ducks were not satisfied, so they took to roaming around our garden as well.

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28th July, 2008 - Fruitless Tasks

 

Each year we are reliant on Mother Nature to be kind so that we can enjoy a bountiful harvest.

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27th July, 2008 - Gloria's Egg!

 

When we visit the birds at different times of the day, we notice different activities and behaviour.

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25th July, 2008 - Yet More Weeding!

 

This morning called for maintenance to the fruit cage.

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24th July, 2008 - Better Late Than Never!

 

Somebody somewhere got the dates wrong!!

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24th July, 2008 - Everything Is Coming Up Roses!

 

Its the time of year when we are achieving a good harvest each and every day.

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23rd July, 2008 - 'Dan' The Lamb

 

Our friends Gilly & Geoff have once again agreed to keep and raise a lamb for us in their paddock.

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23rd July, 2008 - Too Hot To Handle!

 

It was yet another scorching hot day with uninterrupted blue sky.

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22nd July, 2008 - Goats Cheese

 

Having "bought the book", Dan has been dreaming of making cheese. After all, we cannot buy Cheddar cheese in this part of the world!

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22nd July, 2008 - Fit For A Wedding Bouquet!

 

It seems ages ago the bulbs were planted and there was a time when we thought the lillies might drown in the rain!

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22nd July, 2008 - When Size Does Matter!!

 

When you see one this big you just have to get the tape measure out........

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22nd July, 2008 - Three on the Trot!

 

3 eggs in 3 days.

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21st July, 2008 - Eggs-ellent!

 

After misfiring yesterday, one of our girls came up trumps again with a rather large egg.

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21st July, 2008 - The End Of The Road For The Chickens

 

With just 6 fattner upper chickens left and increasing summer heat it was time for the feathered friends to be popped off before they keeled over with heat exhaustion or obesity!

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20th July, 2008 - Hit & Miss!

 

It takes a bit of time for new layers to get in their stride and produce an egg daily

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19th July, 2008 - Our First Honey Harvest

 

Dan took a trip to the bee shop with his parents, Mave & Dave, in search of another early Christmas present.

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19th July, 2008 - Who Came First The Chicken Or The Egg?!

 

Congratulations!

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18th July, 2008 - What A Feeling!

 

For 3 weeks now everything we have eaten, our entire meal, has come from the garden and we are particulary proud of that.

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17th July, 2008 - A Whole Lot Of Clucking!

 

There is a whole lot of clucking going on but its all noise and no action!

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16th July, 2008 - Here's A Good Tip!

 

The lawn was covered in clover and whilst it is good bee food Dan set off on his tractor to cut the grass again.

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15th July, 2008 - Winter Preparations

 

Whilst we are finally now enjoying a 'sunny' summer we cannot afford to be complacent about the rest of the year.

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14th July, 2008 - Mucking Out

 

With the hot & sunny weather finally making a daily appearance it was necessary to muck out the rabbits again but with no hanky panky this time!

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13th July, 2008 - Todays Harvest

 

We're definitely eating more than our '5 a day'!

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12th July, 2008 - Unwins Versus Mr Fothergill's

 

Photographic proof 16 days after planting winter pansy seeds.

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12th July, 2008 - How Much Coleslaw!!

 

The cabbages are growing well and we will soon be picking our first one of the season and tasting Tracey's homemade coleslaw.

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12th July, 2008 - Strawberry Fields Forever

 

Earlier this year we planted 3 new varities of strawberries (our previous ones were eaten by turkeys!)

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11th July, 2008 - Another One Bites The Dust!

 

Two in two days - its getting to be a bit of a habit!

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10th July, 2008 - Plump, Organic And Dead As A Dodo!

 

One of the 'table birds' (fattner upper chickens) was found dead in the pound this morning - there was no sign of foul play.

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9th July, 2008 - Weather Report

 

We had enjoyed a truly wonderful hot & sunny day but around 10pm the heavens opened in true monsoon fashion.

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9th July, 2008 - Bee Sting The Alternative To Botox

 

With no wind and bright sunshine Dan opened up his bee hive for inspection.

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8th July, 2008 - Emergency Repairs

 

Despite paying ten times the budget amount on bird netting and spending two weeks in putting the cage together it has taken no time at all for the turkeys & chickens to peck it to pieces!

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7th July, 2008 - Eggbound!

 

Gloria has clearly forgotten all her worries & woes of the bloody massacre and settled into an easy carefree life with Blanche & Henrietta.

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7th July, 2008 - More Grass Cuttings!!

 

Having just sorted all the grass cuttings from the previous cut it was time for Dan to get back on his mower!

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6th July, 2008 - Our Daily Harvest

 

What was a 'first' a week ago has since been a 'daily' occurrance.

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5th July, 2008 - Dick And Dom In Da Bunalow!

 

Dick and Dom finally found their 'bungalow'.

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5th July, 2008 - A Bit Of This And A Bit OF That!

 

Why do some jobs take some men so long?!!

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4th July, 2008 - Tilly's Batting Average Drops!

 

We have more mole hills in the garden than we have peas in pods!

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4th July, 2008 - Sorbet

 

Sorbet our new kitten has settled in well.

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4th July, 2008 - Flowers For All Seasons

 

The Winter pansy seeds planted just 8 days ago have now germinated.

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4th July, 2008 - Salad Days

 

Our first cucumber is now about 6 inches long!

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4th July, 2008 - Poor Sox!

 

Still no sign of any babies for Sox - its not looking good.

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3rd July, 2008 - Any Excuse For Alcohol!

 

With the fruit cage and veggie patch flourishing nicely it is paramount to keep on top of the weeds.

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2nd July, 2008 - Congratulations Or Commiserations To Sox?!

 

Two days ago Sox was due to give birth but there have been no visible signs this has happened successfully.

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2nd July, 2008 - A New Addition

 

Having decided the organic mouse catcher is the only way to win the war we collected an 8 week old kitten named 'Sorbet'.

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1st July, 2008 - A Big Splash

 

Given the sweltering heat of 33 degrees in the shade (yippee!!), any work in the garden had to be achieved much later in the day and after a dip in the pool.

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1st July, 2008 - Tutti Fruitti

 

The lemons are making a comeback!

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1st July, 2008 - Veggie Harvest

 

In the space of just a couple of days, things have really moved on with the veggie patch.

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1st July, 2008 - Chicken Pathe News!

 

Blanche decided that she would rather be in with the Bronzer Boys (2 bronze turkeys in the naughty pen for bullying!), than in her own pen with Gloria and Henrietta. So, she pecked a hole in the bird proof (?!?!?) netting and let herself in! (maybe she fancied a bit of rough!!)

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1st July, 2008 - Week 1 In The Pig Brother House

 

Although Dick & Dom have now understood the advantages of sleeping in the shade, they've yet to realise that the sun moves around from East to West and what might be in the shade in the morning, might not be in the afternoon.

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29th June, 2008 - Second Helpings

 

Early evening and Tracey picked fresh berries for dessert and whilst she was in the fruit cage, she decided that peas could accompany the brocolli and carrots for tonights dinner

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29th June, 2008 - It's A First!

 

Today we dug up our first potatoes from the garden and given that we weren't expecting much of a crop, we were mightily surprised!

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28th June, 2008 - Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble and Dan!

 

Today was another milestone in our life over here - Dan collected his Fireman's uniform.

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27th June, 2008 - Another Day In Our Life

 

As Sox has a litter due in the next few days, plus the increasing summer heat (we're not complaining!) and the fliesthat naturally come with it, the priority job today was cleaning out the rabbits.

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26th June, 2008 - Who You Gonna Call...Ghostbusters!

 

Dan started the day strimming the lawn and finished the day looking like an extra for a part in the Ghostbusters movie!

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25th June, 2008 - 2 Down, 18 To Go!!

 

The morning tour of the bird pound highlighted once again to us that "no matter what we do to rear healthy livestock and grow organic fruit & veg, we will always be up against Mother Nature"

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25th June, 2008 - Day 2 In The Pig Brother House

 

With a full compliment of livestock, the morning feeding and cuddling process takes about an hour - it would take a lot longer if Dan didn't tear himself away from the pigs!

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24th June, 2008 - Finishing Off

 

After picking up the pigs, Dan spent the rest of the day finishing off the bird net wall to secure the bird pound.

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24th June, 2008 - The Boys Are Back In Town

 

We got pigs today!!!

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23rd June, 2008 - Thank You And Good Luck!

 

Matt & Caitlin returned to Paris to complete their end of year assignments at university.

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22nd June, 2008 - Shovelling Shit

 

We made it home at 1am, following a truly "unique" music experience in honour of the summer solstice.

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21st June, 2008 - Celebrating The Summer Solstice...French Style

 

To celebrate the "longest day" in true French style we all went to a local village to "party the night away".

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21st June, 2008 - Even More Gets Done

 

With the day set to be a scorcher, Dan set off to the bird pound to continue digging the trench that he started 2 weeks ago (please note, that it was the weather that had thus far hindered progress!)

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20th June, 2008 - So Much Done

 

Once the bird pound was safely netted the 4 of us set off to weed the veggie patch and fruit cage.

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20th June, 2008 - Many Hands Make Light Work

 

Up with the lark, Matt & Caitlin set off to undertake the morning ritual of feeding the livestock.

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19th June, 2008 - The Cavalry Arrive

 

Some months ago we advertised ourselves as WWOOFA hosts (WWOOFA stands for "willing workers on organic farms") and recently, our plea for assistance in the garden was answered by 2 American students.

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18th June, 2008 - Here We Go Again

 

Within minutes of the turkeys being in the pound together and coming out of "cardboard city" they were trying to establish their pecking order.

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18th June, 2006 - Dan's Kind Of Shopping

 

Arriving at the livestock market at 8am with a shopping list, we re-aquainted ourselves with Monsieur Gilles and his wonderful range of poultry.

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15th June, 2008 - Rome Wasn't Built In A Day

 

With a distinct lack of sunshine and the garden particularly wet from persistant rain the previous day & night we were limited as to what we could do in the garden.

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14th June, 2008 - What Time Is It Mr Wolf

 

Our good friends Dale & Andrew came round to offer support and their help for the morning.

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13th June, 2008 - Oh Dear!

 

Another day of drizzle and as Dan was keen to have the new bird pens erected he spent the day cutting and stapling the netting to the framework.

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12th June, 2006 - The Next Project

 

With the grass far too wet to cut now and persistent drizzle set in for the day, Dan started cutting lengths of wood ready for the turkey and chicken nursery pens.

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10th June, 2008 - No Rest For The Wicked!

 

It was more of the same today - weeding, weeding and more bloody weeding! Where do they all come from?

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9th June, 2008 - Paying For A Short Break

 

After returning from a long weekend away in the UK, we were amazed at how much the garden had grown in the 4 days that we were away.

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4th June, 2008 - A Bee In My Bonnet

 

With much anticipation, today was the day when Dan was going to inspect the hive for the first time since he'd picked up the bees.

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3rd June, 2008 - Dan Forgets His 10 Times Table

 

With incessant rain for the third day in a row, it was impossible to get outside and tend to the garden.

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31st May, 2008 - Should We Build An Ark?

 

Whilst storms and more rain were forecast for this evening, we were not expecting the absolute delluge of rain that actually fell!

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31st May, 2008 - Bee School

 

Now that we've got our "real" bees in the garden, Dan was looking forward to going to bee school to see how the "training" bees were doing.

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30th May 2008 - It's Dan's Fault!

 

Whilst the forecast was for more rain, we were keen to be outside all the time that the weather was on our side.

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30th May, 2008 - Sox Learns About The Birds & Bees

 

With a few hours sunshine, the bale of straw had dried out sufficiently so it was time to muck out the rabbits.

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29th May, 2008 - Outside Again

 

It was grey skies and rain for what was now the third day on the trot. It was still incredibly warm and we could lieterally see the grass - and the weeds - growing from the window!

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26th May, 2008 - BEE Warned, You Might Get Stung!

 

With rain now forecast off and on for most of the week, Dan took advantage of what was a gratefully received warm and dry spell and set off for the pond with a spage.

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25th May, 2008 - The One That Got Away

 

With rain drizzling most of the day there was no action in the garden today.

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24th May, 2008 - Dan Catches Thrush!!!

 

This weekend, whilst not a Bank Holiday in France, has seen a variety of things including rain!

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24th May 2008 - The 5 Minute Job Is Finally Finished

 

With rain set in for the day, Dan put away his gardening tools and got out his power tools (there's got to be a joke in here somewhere about Dan always playing with his tools!!)

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23rd May, 2008 - A Solution To The Chicken Wire Problem

 

Without the chicken wire to make the pound safe and with time moving on, Dan was desperate to come up with a realistic alternative so we could have new chickens very soon.

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22nd May, 2008 - A Dream Come True!

 

Ever since he was a young teenager, Dan has always wanted to have his very own pond which he could fish.

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22nd May, 2008 - More Progress Is Made

 

Today Dan turned his attention to the polytunnel, but had to make an early start at 8am before it became like an oven in there.

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21st May, 2008 - Short Back And Sides

 

With the back of the garden, the veggie patch, the lawns and the flower pots all under control and coming along nicely, the area surrounding the pond was looking increasingly untidy.

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20th May, 2008 - These Things Are Sent To Try Us!

 

Whilst in the fruit cage, Tracey noticed that the peach tree was looking decidely unhealthy; quite diseased in fact.

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20th May, 2008 - Making The Most Of Good Weather

 

The forecast was warm and dry for this week, which was a relief as there had been several thunderstorms and cloudbursts the previous week. We were both seriously concerned the wet weather was going to be a repeat of last year and we'd end up getting blight!

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18th May, 2008 - Aaarrrggghhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

 

With a dry and warm start to the day, it was imperative the rabbits were cleaned out, just in case the forecast was right and we had an afternoon of rain.

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May 17th, 2008 - How Much?!?!?!?

 

Keen to provide a safe haven for this years poultry we made a trip to the local builders merchants to purchase 150 metres of chicken wire.

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May 17th, 2008 - The To Do List Is Finally Getting Shorter

 

Dan started out by edging the side of the potato plot - a 5 minute job that has been left for over a month! It certainly looks neater now that it's been done.

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May 15th, 2008 - Poor Tilly

 

Just after lunch we headed back outdoors to continue working and as usual the dogs were waiting for us at the front door (normally where visitors will trip over them!)

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15th May, 2008 - Food & Flowers

 

With the forecast promising just a few hours of dry weather in the afternoon, Dan planted 15 cabbage plants in the fruit cage (a necessary precaution against "pigeon damage") and 6 pepper and 3 cucumber plants in the polytunnel.

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14th May, 2008 - More Rain

 

It was a cloudy start to the day but the sun was trying it's best to burn through. It was warm and although we had a thunderstorm the day before, it was clearly evident from the skies and the feel in the air, that another was brewing.

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May 12th, 2008 - A Bit Of This And A Bit Of That

 

Today was a day of odd jobs. There had been quite a bit of rain the night before and the forecast wasn't wonderful, so we had to do the jobs we could in the dry spells.

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May 10th, 2008 - 1:0 To The Bees

 

Saturday afternoon and it was time for Dan to go off to bee school.

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May 10th, 2008 - Somethings Never Change

 

Despite not actually going out to do a 9 to 5, Monday to Friday job, we still seem to spend our Saturday mornings doing "chores".

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May 9th, 2008 - Irrigation System

 

Despite the volume of rain we've had ths Spring, Dan was keen to implement the new irrigation system.

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May 8th, 2008 - Just One Of Those Days

 

In a bid to avoid trailing brambles and thorns when on the tractor, Dan trims the bordering hedges with hedge clippers and a strimmer.

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May 7th, 2008 - Bloody Instructions!

 

Another scorching hot day and Dan was pulling his hair out (well, what there is of it!), trying to make sense of the French instructions on how to fit a fly screen.

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May 6th, 2008 - It's Only Taken 3 Years!

 

Dan, with expert tuition and supervision from his Dad Dave, finally managed to re-point the front steps and make safe all the loose tiles.

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May 5th, 2008 - Almost A Bank Holiday

 

Not a bank holiday here in France, but it rained all the same, so that kinda put a dampener on the gardening we had planned.

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May 4th, 2008 - Disappointment Does Not Begin To Describe It.....

 

Dan awoke like a small child at Christmas - there was something in the trap and it looked bigger than a rat and he couldn't wait to see what it was!

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May 3rd, 2008 - The To-Do List Is Getting Shorter

 

Early Saturday morning and Dan left to run an errand for our good friends Dale & Andrew. Their French neighbour loves English sausages and they asked Dan if he would make 10kg for them.

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May 2nd, 2008 - Progress Is Being Made

 

A clear day with plenty of warm sunshine saw Dan continue to weed and rotivate the veggie patch. Progress is now being made in leaps and bounds and our motivation to complete this project is running high.

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April 30th, 2008 - It's A Rat Trap...An You've Been Caught

 

Always on cue with another 80's classic, Dan was belting out the Boomtown Rats number on Wednesday when we found a water rat caught in the baited trap.

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April 28th, 2008 - For a Dizzy Blonde It Was A Good Idea!

 

Tracey had a brainwave which even Dan had to admit was a good idea - although not something he'd say out loud in male company!!

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April 27th, 2008 - Ideal Growing Weather

 

It was that time again and the lawn looked like it hadn't been cut!

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April 26th, 2008 - Hardly Retail Therapy but The Next Best Thing!

 

With Dan absent from the garden for the afternoon Tracey stopped weeding and did what she enjoys most of all (second to shoe shopping that is!) tending to her flower pots.

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April 26th, 2008 - Dan's Training Bees arrive

 

Loading the car with all the relevant equipment it was sure to be an afternoon of "boys & their toys".

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April 26th, 2008 - And All Because The Lady Loves..........

 

With the pond full to the brim Tracey was keen to fullfil a childhood dream of having water lillies.

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April 25th, 2008 - Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

 

It was sure to be another hot and sunny day and we were both keen to press on. We knew we had to take advantage of the weather whilst it was on our side. Having felt just a few weeks ago like we were fighting a losing battle with the weather and falling behind with the tasks in the garden - We now feel like we are back on schedule and can once again see the light at the end of the tunnel.

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April 24th, 2008 - First Sunburn Of The Season!

 

With another break in the weather we had to crack on with the preparation work required on the veggie patch.

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April 23rd, 2008 - Compost or Tilly Treats?

 

We loathe waste and without the pigs to feed our leftovers too, we've all noticed our expanding waistlines.

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April 22nd, 2008 - Tilly's girl power wipes the floor with the boys.

 

It has to be said that Tilly is probably one of the most loving and loyal creatures on this earth.

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April 20th, 2008 - April Monsoon!

 

The forecast wasn't good but we awoke to another perfect blue sky and warm sunshine. Keen to make the most of it, we quickly donned our gardening gear and headed for the veggie patch.

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April 19th, 2008 - Oh No! Not Again!

 

Early Saturday morning, Tracey took Dan to the firestation for his first aid training.

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April 17th, 2008 - On With The Gardening Gloves

 

With a dry spell teasing us with a taste of Spring, we were only to keen to take up the challenge of the outdoors.

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April 16th, 2008 - Cut the grass for the 3rd time

 

It was warm & windy and the rain clouds looked like they would hold off long enough for Dan to mow the lawn - it was a challenge and he went for it!

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April 12th, 2008 - April Showers

 

The only thing consistent about the weather now is that it's unreliable.

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April 11th, 2008 - Thanks Heavens For Better Weather

 

With the weather starting out fine and dry, it was essential that we cracked on with our list of jobs.

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April 11th, 2008 - The Wanderer Returns

 

At 8am this morning, having had a lie-in as it's school holidays, it was time to let the dogs out - Tilly was probably hopping about with her legs crossed by now!!!

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April 10th, 2008 - Bloody Weather

 

Well, the weather forecast was spot on today - grey, cold, miserable and wet!

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April 9th, 2008 - Fireman Dan!

 

All the early morning jogs and the gut busting diet have definitely been worth the pain and anguish as Dan has passed the fitness test to be a volunteer fireman!

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April 7th, 2008 - Congratulations Mimi & Rocky

 

At the end of last week, Mimi was moved to the "maternity hutch" with lots of extra newspaper and straw bedding, ready for the impending arrivals.

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April 5th, 2008 - Doing Our Bit For The Community

 

A very early start for Dan, who today, was trying out for the local fire brigade.

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April 4th, 2008 - General Maintenance

 

Given that the weather has not been as warm and dry as we would normally expect at this time of year, some of the gardening jobs have had to take a back seat.

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April 2nd, 2008 - CAT-astrophe!

 

To lose 1 cat is unfortunate, but to lose 2 cats is careless - CATastrophic in fact!!!

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March 30th, 2008 - What A Difference A Day Makes

 

Unfortunately we awoke to grey clouds and drizzle - not much later, the heavens opened and any hopes of gardening, fixing fences, mending shed roofs and rotovating were totally out of the question.

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March 29th, 2008 - A Well Deserved Radox Bath

 

With the weather forecast predicting a bright sunny day, we'd planned to spend the whole day gardening. With a full list of "jobs to do" we really couldn't wait to get our hands dirty!

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March 28th, 2008 - Tilly 1, Cats 0

 

Having had her cute (Tracey's words, not Dan's!!!) little nose put out of joint by the arrival of 2 cute fluffy kittens, Tilly clearly decided to prove her worth by catching a rabbit.

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March 22nd, 2008 - Back To School

 

With much excitement, anticipation and associated trips to the toilet, Dan started school today - bee school, that is.

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March 21st, 2008 - Kitty Cat & Scaredy Cat

 

After taking Ant & Dec to the vets for their M.O.T (with an associated bill for €107 there's no such thing as a free pet!), we decided it was fine for them to go outside and then find their way home again.

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March 20th, 2008 - More Planting

 

Despite praying for sun, keeping our fingers crossed and sending begging requests to Mother Nature we have been drowned out for the past week.

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March 18th, 2008 - Boys & Their Toys

 

Like all boys with new toys, despite being 37 Dan is no different!

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March 17th, 2008 - Fit For The Pot

 

With the last remaining 7 of Emsie-Lou's babies at 15 weeks old and mixy's in the garden Dan wasted no time in dispatching them all.

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March 15th, 2008 - All The Best Laid Plans Go To Pot

 

Given our backgrounds we are both good at planning and forecasting, happily talking throuh future projects at our daily breakfast meetings (they were a big thing in our corporate world and some habits are hard to break!!!)

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March 14th, 2008 - First Cut Of The Season

 

Even though we experienced warm and sunny weather at the beginning of the month, the past week has been quite wet. In fact, at one point Tracey suggested buying a canoe to travel up the driveway.

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March 13th, 2008 - Ant & Dec, Organic Mouse Repellent!

 

Many years before in another life of "white collars & office humdrum" Tracey always vowed she would never have a cat as she disliked them immensely and believed that they are "people come back"

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March 13th, 2008 - Myxomatosis is back in the garden

 

With 2 dead wild rabbits in the garden and thoughtfully retrieved by Tilly, it could only mean one thing - mixys!!!

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March 9th, 2008 - Tilly, The Full Story

 

Having made the decision to have another dog we one day received a phone call about some puppies that were available and as a result, we ended up with Tilly.

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March 9th, 2008 - Indie, The Full Story

 

Having made the decision to move to France back in Aug '03 and bought a house in the country with a larger than average back garden we decided to buy a dog.

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March 9th, 2008 - Tracey's Worst Nightmare!

 

As the start of a new livestock season is approaching, Tracey has begun to have nightmares.

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March 7th, 2008 - Rocky Loses His Cherry

 

What a busy day it's been and not just for us - our rabbits have been hard at it as well!

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March 7th, 2008 - Strawberry Fields Forever

 

With Spring most definitely here and the garden centres full of strawberry plants, this afternoon we went to buy some new plants (the turkeys had annihilated the ones that were in the fruit cage)

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March 7th, 2008 - Feel Like We're Getting Started

 

It's something that Dan has been longing to do for weeks and now, it's done!

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March 5th, 2008 - Bee-ginners

 

They say that "time flies" but just a couple of days ago we toyed with the idea of keeping a hive of bees.

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Feb 2008 - When The Cat's Away...

 

During half term, Tracey returned to the UK to catch up with family and friends, knowing full well that Dan couldn't be trusted at all!

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Feb 08 - Farewell Chicken Hilton!

 

Sometime last year our good friend Mark decided to have a go at rearing chickens - he fancies himself as good with the birds!

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2007 - A Year To Forget!

 

You know all those old wives tales and expressions - bad things happen in 3's, no news is good news, always look on the bright side, worst things happen at sea etc

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Dec 07 - Sorry Boy's, It's Time To Meet The Freezer

 

For some, December marks the countdown to Christmas. They say that the first weekend in December is when the world goes mad buying Christmas presents - for us, the first weekend means getting ready for the pig slaughter.

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Dec 07 - The Geese Joined Weight Watchers!

 

When we first decided to get geese earlier in the year, we decided to earmark one for our friends Dale & Andrew. We knew they were going back to the UK for a family Christmas and we thought it would be nice to give them something special.

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Oct & Nov 07 - Bloody Turkeys! Christmas Is Too Good For 'Em

 

The 4 remaining turkeys were practically under lock and key in a bid to keep them safe.

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Aug 07 - Reinforcements Arrive

 

This year hasn't been good - everything that could have gone wrong, has gone wrong!

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June 07 - Blight!

 

This had been our wettest year since arriving. In fact it became a standing joke that if the rain continued we would need a canoe just to get up the driveway!

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June 07 - Worn Down At Last!

 

Like most men, if Dan wants something he goes on and on about it until Tracey surrenders!

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June 07 - Disaster Strikes

 

The term "pecking order" can only really be appreciated when you have witnessed one bird peck away at another.

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May 07 - Jack's Disasterous Visit

 

As this was our first year in growing everything from seed, we were unsure of how much would actually germinate.

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May 07 - The Kray Twins Arrive

 

Having decided to keep a couple of pigs again this year we chose, this time, to get our piglets from a nearby rare breed pig farm.

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May 07 - Where Are Dastardly & Muttley When You Need 'em?!

 

Things started so well - we sowed seeds and they germinated. The seedlings grew strong and healthy and then had to be planted outside - that's when things went wrong!

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Spring 07 - Good Idea James

 

During his Easter school break Dan's nephew James (12) had a great idea - we should extend the bird pound around the pond.

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Apr 07 - That Time Of Year Again!

 

Well it was that time of year again and Dan was off to the market (with a grin from ear to ear) to buy 2 new mummy rabbits.

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Feb 07 - Sowing Seeds

 

Now it has to be said that Dan will very quickly move all the goal posts in a bid to start another project and he quickly loses interest if he doesn't move on to something new.

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Dec 06 - All Good Things Must Come To An End

 

After having looked after Delboy & Rodney for nearly 6 months it was now time for them to be slaughtered.

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Nov 06 - Planting Spring Bulbs & High Hopes

 

It's obviously a girl thing but Tracey likes to have a "pretty bit" in the garden.

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Oct 06 - Polytunnel

 

Given our success in the vegetable garden in 2005 & 2006 we started to think ahead to 2007.

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Aug 06 - Mixxies

 

As well as breeding rabbits we also have a large number of wild rabbits in our garden.

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June 06 - John, Paul, Ringo, George and the other one!

 

We were looking forward to harvesting some great spuds in 2006, especially as our friends Peter & Karen had brought over some King Edward seed potatoes for us earlier in the year.

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Turkeys 06 - Move Over Bernard Matthews

 

Following on from our turkey success of 2005 (albeit on a small scale), we decided to up the ante and not only raise them for ourselves but for neighbouring English as well.

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July 06 - Baby Bunnies

 

Well, nature had taken it's course and Emily produced her first litter.

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June 06 - The Trotters Arrive !

 

Although it was originally never our intention to keep pigs, it has to be one of the best decisions we've ever made.

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May 06 - Breeding Like Rabbits

 

For sometime we had been talking about keeping rabbits - although with everything else that was going on around us we hadn't done much about it, except talk about it.

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Apr 06 - Start Of A New Season

 

A new season and with plenty of work to do to make the fruit & vegetable plot even more productive and even more of a success.

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Dec 05 - Christmas Dinner And Another Milestone

 

Of our 3 remaining turkeys the two white ones were by far the biggest - and guessing their weights as they ran around the garden was much better than doing an office sweepstake for the Grand National!

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Nov 05 - Plucking Ducks

 

After our initial casualties in the summer, Dan went back to the livestock market and bought reinforcements (no surprise there, I hear you say!)

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Aug 05 - Indie Strikes Again!

 

One lovely summers day, with temperatures of 90F, we thought it'd be nice to let our ducks out into the big wide world and let them have a swim in our pond, rather than the basin of water that they had been splashing in.

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July 05 - Dan Goes To The Market...AGAIN!!!

 

Dan took Vic to the livestock market - it's a bit of a tourist attraction around these parts - to show him where we bought our chickens and turkeys from.

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July 05 - From Generation To Generation

 

They were'nt the biggest onions but we were proud of our first harvest nonetheless.

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June 05 - The Start Of Something "Bootiful"

 

Everybody has warned us that rearing turkeys was not easy - apparently, they have "dodgy tickers" and if you scare 'em it could be an early bath and game over!

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Summer 05 - A Slight Miscalculation

 

When we started planting in 2005 we were, it has to be said, a little wet behind the ears.

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Summer 05 - Mine's Bigger Than Yours

 

2005 was our first year of growing a number of veg and the cabbages were a great success - and like potatoes, we had them coming out of our ears!

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Summer 05 - Waiter, Waiter - What's Worse Than A Fly In Your Soup

 

The only trouble with going organic and not buying your vegetables all clean and wrapped in cling-film from the supermarket is the bugs.

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Mar 05 - Digging Time Again!

 

Spurred on by early success with our chickens and the progress of our garlic & onions, it was time to forget last summers back breaking efforts at double digging the veggie patch and finish off what had already been started.

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Dec 04 - The First Kill

 

Our "fattener upper" chickens grew quickly and after a couple of months it was time to kill and pluck them.

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Nov 04 - Not So Much Children In Need as Sheep In Crisis

 

It was a dark and cold night and we were watching Children In Need with Tracey's friend Shelagh, when there was a knock on our front door.

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Oct 04 - Our First Egg!

 

Over the years here, there have been several high points but perhaps our most memorable was the day when we got our first egg.

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Sept 04 - The True Meaning Of Pecking Order

 

After a couple of weeks our hens had settled in nicely to Chicken Hilton, but still hadn't laid any eggs - they were probably still getting used to the 5 star treatment!

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Sept 04 - Chickens Arrive!

 

Early September and our first major project is underway - building a chicken pound.

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Aug 04 - Never Mind Counting Them, Catching Sheep Is Tiring Enough

 

Tracey's brother, Terry, and his family were staying with us.

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June '04 - Don't Dig On A Summers Day

 

The saying goes only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.

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