Our Smallholding Adventure
We are Tracy & Steven and along with our 2 children we moved to the countryside in the North East of England in 2016. On our smallholding we strive for a more self reliant life by growing our own food, raising our own meat, cooking, preserving & foraging all whilst working full time.
Friday 17 May 2024
Monday 22 April 2024
Week 16 - Back to the paid job - w/c April 15th
April 15th, 2024.
The wind and rain were relentless again last night. It continued through in to the early morning, finally easing with the rain around 8:30. The wind is still howling as I type and the rose bush on the front of the house, which has put on a growth spurt, keeps tapping the window as if it wants to be let in.
I've worked from home today and a strange thing has happened. On 3 different occasions, a bird has flown in to the window. I noticed one did it the other day too. I'm not sure if the wind is doing it or there's something on the window to suggest to them that they can fly in. None of them were on the floor so I hope they got away ok.
Despite the rain that's passed and the ongoing wind, the sun is bright. I look forward to being able to enjoy the sun more, as this Winter seems to be going on and on. I said over on Instagram that I have done my bit for stopping the rain by getting a new rain coat. It's usually the case isn't it?
Despite the weather, we managed to have a dry spell where I set up the outdoor space in anticipation of the dry days to come.
Monday 15 April 2024
Eat, Drink and be Merry - but now what?
In the words of the old adage "eat, drink and be merry", we can safely say we have done that during our time off the paid job. As I write this, today sees Steven return to work after his week off and I start my second week. It's such a shame that it's harder for him to take 2 weeks off with the way his work is.
After our somewhat indulgent week, this intention for this week is to make a steady start back on to the routines, with healthier meals and more efficient routines.Monday needed to start by doing what had been getting put off, you know, the things that would sit in my head for the rest of the week otherwise. The somewhat boring bits of being an adult and having your own home. So the pots got washed, the dirty clothes went in to the washing machine, the fridge had a wipe out and the kitchen was ready to receive the goodies from the garden. I didn't stretch to mopping the floor just yet, after all, teenagers are making up lamb feeds and the floor is often the receiver of some of that!
Thinking about the coming weeks ahead, a priority for me is to have future meals prepped and canned or frozen so that on those days when it's just needed, future Tracy gets a break.
I did manage to meal plan for the week of returning to work and it looked like this:
In addition to meal prepping and planning, I have an abundance of rhubarb to preserve, eggs get on the honesty stall and sell (not to mention eat ourselves), wild garlic to harvest and use plus a lovely and long list of things to do in the garden to keep our food coming for the year ahead.Last week has been a frustrating one weather wise. If it's not been raining, the wind has been taking your breath away. We did have some sun dappled in between the showers but it was few and far between. It has meant I haven't used the outdoor kitchen as I wanted to, as it's just been so cold. The warmth and sun will come I know, but the waiting is getting harder.That aside, let's get on with the day. Right now, the rain has stopped for now and the sun is peeking through, though I can see the wind is still here, maybe not quite as bad as it has been. I've already got a lot done this morning and I don't want to feel like I have been at the computer more than I need to (even though I have a list of things I need to achieve today that involve it). So I'll do that when the rain starts again. Let's get these eggs sorted and a loaf of bread on the go then see if it's dry enough to head out in to the garden as tomorrow is due to be rain all day.
Monday 8 April 2024
Easter - Good Friday and Easter Saturday 2024
As I type this, Steven is (frantically) looking for our wallpaper stripper. You know the electric steamer types? It's a rainy start to today, Easter Monday 2024 and we are getting some indoor jobs started. Grace, our eldest is at work, our youngest still in bed (pick your battles) and we are at the beginning of our Easter annual leave. The photo below left was early morning on Good Friday and the dry weather set the tone (for the weekend at least). It's been dry and bright, bitterly cold in the wind and beautiful in the sun.
I'm taking the opportunity to enjoy some morning walks when the weather is like this. The views on them are beautiful and I'm so proud to have them on our doorstep.Tuesday 27 February 2024
Week 8 - The depths of February and going strong.
We have decided to put the area where the pigs were a few years ago back to grass. They did a great job of eating what was there, weeds and all. We tried to turn it in to a veg area, unsuccessfully for multiple reasons and then covered it in membrane to suppress the weeds. So now is the perfect time to buy grass seed to spread, ready for when it warms up.
week 17 w/c 22 April Just photos :)
April 22, 2024 - Week 17