Weekend roundup

On Friday after work I made a broad bean, spinach and feta pie using filo pastry. I'm afraid it wasn't very nice though. It lacked something. I also made a cauliflower soup which was nice and will see us through in the freezer for a while. The tesco delivery arrived on time and was swiftly put away.
Saturday I rode out in lydia, my horse. If ever there are any problems or my brain feels full, a ride out fixes most things! I tried to get a few things done in the veg plot but for rained off so I spent the afternoon baking cakes and strawberry shortbread ready for the guests on the night. We had family drop round at 2pm on saturday so we caught up with them and got ready for the evening out.
We went for a meal at our local pub on the night with my Uncle and his wife who are visiting is from Bedford. Mam and Dad joined and we had some great good then back to our house for pudding and a few drinks. It went down really well so I am pleased.
Oh also on saturday, Buddy, the labrador stole a whole loaf of fresh bread! Swine.
Today has been up and down as Sonic, my smallest pony took ill on me. He has had colic which basically is a term for all forms of tummy aches in horses and ponies. I had to call the vet out as he was in a lot of pain so she's given him a shot of buscopan to relax his inside which were hurting him plus some bute which is horse pain killer. I'll be up late tonight to check on him as the injection lasts 8 hours which takes me to midnight when I need to make sure he's still ok.
However in good news today we harvested 800g of raspberries which I am also going to turn into jam. We use a lot of jam in the winter so I'd like to make sure we're well stocked up. There are blackcurrants and red too so I need to figure out what to do with them. The strawberries for the cake and shortbread I made were sooo sweet. I love eating them straight from the ground.
I've taken a photo of my largest beefsteak tomato! I can't wait to eat this one! Started him growing on 14th February! Also Ryan the house goose with his hens behind him and out strawberry haul.
Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend.

The nights are feeling Autumnal but the days are still bright...

The days are starting to get that little bit shorter.  When gorgeous husband is getting up for work it's no longer bright daylight and night time is still lingering.  The chickens are taking themselves to bed earlier and earlier which means we need to start locking them up earlier in case the pesky fox makes his way around.  The curtains are getting closed for the first time in months and I'm remembering where the draughts are in the house!  It's lovely to see and be a part of - starting to wrap up warm and snuggled in the house and see the summer coats shedding from the animals to make way for their winter furs. 

Following the jam making session at the weekend the great news is I have jam at the consistency it's supposed to be and the other great news is it tastes like jam!  It's a tiny bit sweet but could be so much worse - this one is plums as I'd not been back for the brambles when I had time to make it.  Now, what to do with 12 jars of sweet plum jam!!  I see a jam tart session coming on.

Biggest load of plum jam you've ever seen!

Stones from the plums taken out at boiling point as per Good Housekeeping

I've had some (more) thinking time lately - the only me time I get is in my shower after a long day so I relish this time....  I'm wanting to try and cut out, even more than we already do, the junk food that's in our lives.  Over the last couple of years, we've cut down all ready meal type items such as frozen pizza or heat up Indian meals - we literally have one every 6 months or so and that's through emergency type situations and we eat very few jar sauces - one every couple of months.  So I would like to continue and build on this effort. 

I have made our own bread on and off so will make extra effort to make this again.  The aim is to eat things knowing what's in them and that mostly have been provided by nature.  Obviously there are limits here but it's a good starting point!

We've had some lovely days at the farm to balance out the long days at work.  It pays the bills that will eventually mean we can afford that farm!

Our new friend who's appeared out of no where

The kids pampering a very lucky pony