I’m sorry if you think I’ve been shirking my blogging duties this week, but the computer has been poorly. Obviously it’s fixed now, but things don’t seem to work quite as they did and it’s taken some time to re-educate myself! Anyway, some catching up to do…
A week to the day after removing the gate between the garden and the adjoining field, MacRae and the Cherry Bs finally demonstrated their adventurous spirit by investigating the back garden thoroughly and presenting themselves at the ARs’ front door. Unfortunately, I think they should have phoned earlier as there was no one home!
Before MacRae’s arrival, Huff laid claim to the Cherry Bs – not that they were keen – and was none too pleased on the arrival of some competition! Much huffing and chasing ensued as MacRae was nowt but a youngster, but as with all youngsters he grew! Unfortunately for Huff, when MacRae became a strapping, fully fledged drake, it was payback time! Consequently, Huff has become pretty miserable after losing his Cherry Bs, as well as being regularly chased by Mr. M.
Temporary home
So we decided to begin our duck moving strategy with the muscovies by letting them take up temporary residence in one of the now vacant chicken coops. It only took a couple of days to settle in and Huff is now a different bird! Rather than spending his day hiding behind a bush, he’s doing all the usual Muscovy things, including lots of tail-wagging, something which seems to indicate excitement or general well-being. The only hiccup in the proceedings has been Biggles, a duck who likes to maintain certain pleasures in her life. One of those pleasures is flying on to the top of the wall of her old home to survey the territory. This is fine except that worried parents Huff and Puff pace anxiously on the opposite side of the fence. So each night we have to coax her down to a family reunion, followed by some duck wrangling across the garden to their new abode. One night she actually flew home without mum and dad realising, which caused considerable confusion all round!
Meeting some of the new neighbours
Meanwhile, part two of duck-moving procedures was implemented yesterday. This involved what you would think of as a fairly minor change in that the ARs needed to transfer from their current residence to the vacant ‘over-by’ chicken coop, a whole three metres away! Obviously it’s not minor to an Aylesbury/Runner though, as for the last two evenings it’s taken both of us to steer the ungainly group into their new temporary home! It’s unfortunate that we’re having to use temporary dwellings and cause all this confusion, but we can’t build/extend any new ones until all the ducks are living within the garden so that we can dismantle ‘Piggy Palace’ and re-use the timber etc.
Tomorrow we’re off to Dingwall to the poultry auction. In theory it’s a day out, but what’s betting we come back with something? Watch this space!
I’ve just been sifting through our animal pictures to create the identity parade on the side bar. I can’t resist sharing the following shots of Boris dealing with the stresses and strains of life at Garybuie. I’m definitely coming back as a cat!
It’s the time of year when we usually undertake any internal repairs and refurbishment. This year the list is short thankfully, as we’re going to have plenty of work over the winter building the new duck accommodation in the garden. When we first moved to Garybuie, the conservatory floor was not high on the list of priorities, so we just put down some ‘temperory flooring’. Six and a half years later, it’s finally reached the number one slot! We’re very pleased with the new look!
messy work
The second chore is to replace some of the wallpaper in the bedroom of the self-catering apartment. I actually only re-decorated the room this time last year, but the patterned wallpaper which I used has become marked very easily so we’re going for a textured paper instead which will be easier to re-paint if there’s any damage. I’ve managed to strip a couple of the walls this afternoon and hopefully will have the room finished by the end of the week.
On the more usual topic of Garybuie livestock, we began an experiment yesterday in preparation for the duck migration between the adjacent field and the garden. The Aylesbury Runners already occupy the garden (and the surrounding croft land, drainage ditches, neighbour’s garden…) so we don’t know how they’ll react to the immigrants, even though they currently spend a lot of time conversing through the fence. So we removed the gate hoping for some kind of duck ceileidh but nothing happened! The Runners even waddled past the gate opening without realising that there was no gate! Later in the afternoon, MacRae and all three Muscovies ventured out – just – but no big adventure ensued.
On guard!
There have been no further developments today, although Biggles, the Muscovy duckling, seemed to have become self-appointed gatekeeper at one stage! (We’ve referred to the duckling as Biggles since the early flying episodes. Unfortunately, we’re pretty convinced – finally – that Biggles is in fact female, and although the name’s none too feminine, it’s stuck. She doesn’t seem to mind though!) Hopefully, tomorrow might see some more pronounced social development between the ‘clans’! As you can see from the picture below, the Aylesbury Runners have become regular visitors to the back door step, (when the chickens aren’t congregating there), so there could be quite a crowd if the new arrivals to the garden decide to join them!
Is it tea time yet?
p.s. With the ever increasing animal names/nicknames, some of which are probably a bit confusing for any new readers, I’ve decided that some kind of glossary is perhaps a good idea. It’ll appear on the sidebar as soon as I get around to it!
There’s been some serious thought going on here at Garybuie over the last couple of weeks concerning our future on the pig front.
A need to recover
After the departure of the pigs, the land is in serious need of some respite. It’s too late to re-sow now and if we were to get more pigs next spring, there’d be no time for any significant regeneration of the ground. Consequently we decided to give pig rearing a miss next year. But then after giving the situation more thought, taking into account rental of the land, increased feed prices and a general high work load over the summer months, we’ve made the difficult decision to give up the land and any future piggy pursuits. Travelling south for our sons’ weddings this summer also made us realise the huge responsibility which we pass on to our poor neighbours, Mark and Gerlinde, whenever we leave the place. Our feathered friends are fairly flexible about when dinner is served, whereas pigs are less forgiving and are consequently far more tying. So we’re taking a step back and over the next few months will move all our livestock to within Garybuie’s perimeter. There’s plenty of timber and paving stones within the Piggy Palace plot to dismantle and transform into new duck houses and chicken coops.
Plot for development
Most of this year’s potato crop was grown in what’s probably our least successful veg plot. It’s certainly the smallest usable area and because of the trees along the far side with their roots and leafy shelter, half of the area can be quite dry, even in rainy weather. We’ve decided that this will make the perfect duck enclosure – half for the Cherry Bs and MacRae, half for the Muscovies – with access to the main garden too. The ducks will be able to utilise the whole space which even has some low beech branches for any Muscovy who fancies reverting to ancestral behaviour and perching in them! There’s a lot of work to do but it looks like a great winter project. So although it’s quite sad to turn aside from pig rearing, we’re both looking forward to the new venture, which is just another step in the evolution of life at Garybuie!
Still swinging in the breeze!
Returning to porky matters, our chorizo sausages are looking good now. They’re drying nicely and are developing some patches of mold which are all part of the process. Meanwhile, our hams have had fourteen days in the cures and so I removed them yesterday to dry off. Kevin commented that the darker hams – Wiltshire cure – look good enough to eat just as they are! He’ll have to wait until Christmas day though I’m afraid!
We’ve had some glorious autumn weather over the last couple of days. The birds have been singing and a whole host of them have been devouring the remaining rowan berries. The tree has been a hive of activity with robins, chaffinches, blackbirds and a whole crowd of thrushes, enjoying the fruity feast!
Blackbird 'n' berries
Robin 'n' rowan
And just as I thought that yesterday couldn’t get any better, as the sun started to set at the end of the glen, look how the evening light made those autumn colours ZING!…
After a pretty wet Saturday, yesterday was lovely. In fact it was a typical autumn day – birds singing, mild and all those lovely earth smells. A perfect day in fact to go tattie picking! Generally I’m the one who likes to do all the seed sowing, planting out and general maintainance of the veg plot. Kevin on the other hand is the harvester which I find a bit tedious. But harvesting root vegetables, now that’s a different matter! There’s something so exciting about plunging your spade or fork into the ground and coming up with underground treasures! It’s like Christmas when you receive a parcel which has a shape that makes the contents obvious such as a CD. However it’s only when you open it that the title and artist are revealed. The same applies to root vegetables. I know well enough that they are potatoes or carrots, but until I ‘unwrap’ them from the earth, I don’t know how many, what size, what shape, or if they’re undamaged. It’s great!
Of course another feature of autumn is that things in the garden are tending to look a bit untidy with plants dying back and the trees shedding their leaves. But it’s not just the vegetation which isn’t looking its best, three or four of our hens are currently moulting and are looking dishevelled to say the least!
Down to her underwear!
This poor Marran is the worst, loosing more feathers every time she moves. I always feel so sorry for them to think that they lose half of their clothing just as the weather turns wet, windy and cold! On the bright side, Queenie, one of or Light Sussex hens who has been half naked for the last twelve months, has suddenly started to re-grow her feathers!
If you’re a regular visitor to Garybuie’s blog, then you’re probably wondering what on earth happened to the pork? Was it ‘hambushed’ ? Nothing so sinister thankfully. In fact I’d virtually got to the point of publishing the whole story of our porky pursuits when suddenly BINK!… the whole thing apart from the last sentence was gone! I have no idea what on earth I did but seemingly it’s lost forever. Unfortunately for any avid readers (!)out there, the day after the disappearance we went away for a couple of days to celebrate our pearl wedding anniversary so I haven’t had the chance to rewrite the tale until now. I hope it’s worth the wait!
Results of a long day
The actual butchering day was a long one as usual. It’s quite daunting looking at those carcasses and realising how much work lies ahead. I’m sure that a qualified butcher wouldn’t bat an eye, but as with most things we undertake, it’s a case of slowly but surely as we consult various diagrams/written instructions and call on our limited previous experience! It took us most of the day but we were pleased with the results and all freezable cuts were in the freezer, the leg joints were in the brine and the bellies, hocks and one boned loin were in the dry cure. After handling meat all day, the last thing we fancied was eating any! So instead we went into Portree for a drink – to toast the pigs of course – followed by a fish supper overlooking the harbour.
Sausages galore!
The following day was less daunting as it was sausage-making day which we both enjoy! We make two types, one with herbs and the other just with salt and pepper, both recipes coming from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s ‘River Cottage Cook Book’. It’s a great way to use up herbs from the polytunnel before they die back. We use natural hog casings for our regular sausages, (www.weschenfelder.co.uk), and beef runners for chorizo sausage which we’ve made for the last couple of years. This year I’ve managed to source some authentic smoked paprika at www.spiceworld.uk.com and I must say if the end result tastes as good as the raw ingredients smelled, we’re in for a real treat!
Chorizo in the breeze!
Pizza was the answer that evening for our over- stimulated meat sensors! So apart from the pork which is currently curing, that’s the end of this year’s piggy products. We enjoy having pigs here at Garybuie very much and try our best to give them a happy and comfortable life while they’re with us. We appreciate their company, but we also appreciate the food which they provide, from the traditional meat cuts down to the offal, trotters and brawn from the head. Just like cooking potatoes pulled straight from the garden, or peas from the pod, eating meat which we’ve reared ourselves is a very rewarding – and tasty! – experience and especially good to share with family and friends.
After all the hard work it was really nice to get away for our 30th anniversary. We went to Gairloch on the west coast of the mainland, which we haven’t visited since before we moved to Skye. We stayed in a pub there – The Old Inn – which was very nice and their food is delicious. The weather was sunshine and showers, thankfully the sunshine predominating. We had some varied walks both inland and on the shore with a dash of archaeology thrown in! With the weather being changeable, the scenery was wonderful, the constantly shifting light adding to the atmosphere. Very relaxing!
Remains of a round house on the Sand archaeology trail near Gairloch
I was pretty busy yesterday making up the various cures in anticipation of the arrival of our pork. The tub on the left contains a basic brine solution, whereas the one on the right is a Wiltshire cure consisting largely of beer and treacle. The aroma is wonderful! We also make a cider cure. The container at the bottom is a dry cure to make bacon and I think the hocks too this year. Essentially the dry cure consists of salt, some brown sugar, a little ground black pepper and saltpetre, which maintains the colour of the meat. Unfortunately, we can’t get saltpetre any longer, a precaution being taken to prevent the production of the wrong kind of ‘banger’! So this year we’ve had to buy a ready mixed cure which already contains an anti-oxidant. It’s not quite the same as mixing our own, but bacon sporting a cadaverous grey hue isn’t particularly appetizing so I’m afraid there’s no choice in the matter!
Today the carcases arrived and tomorrow will be a big day butchering them. We had them split by the abattoir, which makes life considerably easier. Our butchering skills aren’t the best but we get better each year and it’s great as we can have exactly which cuts are most useful to us, rather than the more limited choices from the abattoir. By the way, I’ve only used a small picture here just in case we have any readers of a sensitive nature!
It’s ‘that time of year’ once more when we must say farewell to our pigs. Each year our neighbour, Angus, kindly lends us this wee trailer for the transportation of our beasties to slaughter. The arrival of this piece of equipment has no effect whatsoever on the pigs, but believe me, the mere sight of it can cause anything from cold sweats, palpitations, raised blood pressure or indeed all of the above in both Kevin and I! For a start, we definitely score ‘nil points’ in manoeuvering the thing, which, coupled with our poor pig-steering abilities – on occasion leading to a Kevin/pig mud wrestling bout – results in the only occasion when divorce is considered!!!
So this year we had a cunning plan! We borrowed the trailer a couple of days prior to any pig moving, put it in the pig-pen and left it open. The pigs just thought it was something new to investigate and had no problem going in there particularly if food of any description could be found! So, yesterday morning – the day of departure – breakfast was served a la trailer and – hey presto, the smoothest movement of pork in the last six years!
Even though we felt quite pleased with our achievements, not to mention the lack of divorce proceedings, it was still as sad as every other year seeing the trailer heading down the glen. It was doubly sad this time however, as we’ve decided to give pigs a miss next year. The land is in poor condition and really needs a season to be re-seeded and to regain some structure before being submitted to serious snout destruction once more!
Bird's eye view!
On a more cheerful note, it’s been great over the last couple of days as the Muscovy duckling has moved on from low-level flying forays, to more of a high-level perching strategy! The wall above Piggy Palace seems to be his/her favourite spot to view the surroundings at the moment. Who knows where the next aerial adventure will lead?
For the past few days the weather has been diabolical, gale force winds and everybody’s favourite – horizontal rain! Apart from the ducks, all the creatures here at Garybuie – including the humans – have been taking cover. As you can see, Wallace has discovered the perfect wet weather occupation, the sheltering hens outside getting no sympathy whatsoever from the comfy cat!
Wet weather solution!
Appetizing bird!
One highlight however during the soggy weekend, was our Sunday roast chicken. Quite a few of our birds sport yellow legs and along with those, a delicately coordinated skin colour. This week’s specimen however had a skin colour almost as dark as the legs and looked lovely – almost good enough to eat BEFOREhe was cooked!
Yesterday, the weather was slightly improved and so as the forecast for the next few days is fairly grim, I decided that I’d have to get out anyway and do some serious garden tidying. The combination of going away for the wedding and wild weather conditions have given the veg patch a fairly neglected appearance, so it was on with waterproofs and wellies to do something about it! The main task was to take down the pea and bean supports, along with the weather beaten plants. Fennel isn’t something that we’ve ever eaten a lot of, but this year I fancied growing something new and fennel fit the bill. Giving the plot a good sorting out yesterday revealed just what a lovely crop we have!
A good crop
Last week we tried some for the first time using a recipe from Rick Stein’s French Odyssey cookbook. For the two of us, I sliced 2 medium fennel bulbs lengthways into 5mm thick slices. I microwaved them for the appropriate length of time then mixed them with about 80ml creme fraiche, salt and pepper. This was then spread in an even layer in a well buttered shallow dish, sprinkled with parmesan cheese and put under the grill until golden and bubbling. Mmmm… It was delicious with trout.
Any left-overs?
On the subject of food, one of our youngest chickens, a cockerel, spends a large part of his days in the pig pen. He’s discovered that pigs are great pals to have! Not only do they leave a few oats scattered around at mealtimes, but when they go on a digging exercise – an important occupation for pigs – they unearth all kinds of goodies attractive to passing poultry! And the pigs don’t seem to mind sharing with their feathered friend!
Over the past week, our Muscovy duckling – now 14 weeks old – has discovered his flying skills! Most of his excursions involve a low level aerial reconnaissance of the duck enclosure, but two nights ago at dusk, he decided the the fence was no longer a boundry, so over he went onto the surrounding croft land – right into the path of the Ayelsbury-Runners! Obviously they’re under the impression that the whole croft is their territory so didn’t take long for them to say, ‘Move out Moscovy’! It would be nice to think that the ARs were just concerned about the ducklings’ welfare, being dusk and all, but I very much doubt it!
On the subject of Moscovies, by my calculations, Puff’s two remaining eggs are due to hatch on Wednesday – photos as early as possible!
Unexpected crop!
In an unused corner of the veg plot, a single sunflower has reared it’s head this week! It’s quite close to the bird feeder and presumably an unlucky bird has dropped his lunch which has subsequently taken root! I’d prefer to think that some wee bird has been watching our attempts at vegetable cultivation and decided to have a go at this self-sufficiency thing for himself!
I’ve been returning the favour to Mark and Gerlinde this week, albeit on a much smaller scale, by taking care of their cats while they were away. Fingal and Idrigil are both female and a more ladylike pair you couldn’t wish to meet! No impatient pacing about or miaowing while they wait for their food, they just sit quietly like well brought up girls should do!
Waiting patiently
This week at Garybuie we’ve had some returning guests from Germany, their third visit in fact. George and Barbara Stump have unusual holidays in that they travel extensively and ‘collect’ stone circles, menhirs, ruins and rock formations on camera. They put the photographs, along with the relevent description or story on their website www.hgstump.de – a very interesting place to visit! (Just click onto the union flag for the english version) They stayed with us for three nights and we enjoyed their company as usual. The weather was good so hopefully they should have managed to collect some great new pictures for their site.
Today the carcases arrived and tomorrow will be a big day butchering them. We had them split by the abattoir, which makes life considerably easier. Our butchering skills aren’t the best but we get better each year and it’s great as we can have exactly which cuts are most useful to us, rather than the more limited choices from the abattoir. By the way, I’ve only used a small picture here just in case we have any readers of a sensitive nature!
