We went for a wee drive . . .

. . . and spent the night in Portree!

After a not-so-good Christmas and an un-eventful New Year we decided that Bank Holiday Monday we should do something.

So we planned to drive to Fort William and perhaps go to Mallaig via Arisaig.

But instead we drove to Fort William, kept going till we got to Kyle of Lochalsh.

As we got that far we thought we might as well go over the Skye Bridge, quickly realising it was getting dark so best find somewhere to stay for the night.

Our journey finally ended in Portree. 234 miles and quite a few hours later!

We found a room at The Isles Inn where we got some lovely dinner and a welcome bed for the night.

Tuesday morning started with a good cooked breakfast ahead of our epic, but slightly shorter drive home at 210 miles.

Here are a few pictures of our adventure:

Summer into Autumn

Well, the summer is almost over and autumn is definitely starting to show it’s colour.

We’ve had a very busy summer with lots going on, so much going on there has been very little time to tend the blog!

There have been 2 wonderful weeks of Guide camp. It being the centenary year these were extra special experiences for myself, the teenager and my girls. Everyone had a ball and have many memories that will stay with us for a long time.

The garden had it’s ups and downs – we had a glut of potatoes but sadly the rest of the veg weren’t quite as successful, but we learned a lot in the process which is always helpful.

Our plan for next year is to have the shed moved to the back of the garden, giving us more growing space in our patch outside the back door. For next year I think we will plant some things in pots but will only put potatoes in the ground.

That said, the rhubarb which I thought was dead sprouted a new head and has given a s fair crop. The strawberries had no fruit but they have given us lots of new plants!

In addition there is a plan for fruit trees and bushes in the larger open part of the garden.

Baking, making and creating in the kitchen has continued with 3 flavours of jam in the cupboard shortly top be joined by our first attempt at spring onions.

Sadly, crafting hasn’t progressed much beyond a very tidy and organised room. But the winter is approaching so there will be many nights to find activities to occupy us!

One thing I will find more time for is blogging!

Little and Large Craft Swap

Recently, the Teenager and I took part in our first ever craft swap as organised by the wonderful Blottedcopybook.

This one was a Little and Large craft swap with us being paired with Marina and her son James. Parents had to help their kids make something for the other kids, and then make something for the kids themselves. Also, most importantly, include a treat for mum!

So, we set about planning our makes, then realised we were running out of time! But we made it and posted our parcel off in time.

What we sent was this:

The Teenager made a little drawstring bag from lovely Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric we had and I made a tidy with felt vehicles sewn on.

We were really excited when our parcel arrived!

Here is what we received:

A lovely treasure chest painted by James, a crochet bracelt and bookmark made by Marina and lots of yummy sweets!

For mum, a smelly candle for “me” time!!

We really enjoyed taking part, definately know that the Teenager is better at sewing than me! Re-learned lots of sewing machine techniques and had a few testing moments with it but really enjoyed it! And we’ll definately do something like this again!

More piccies:

Wee bit of advertising – Vonnie (Blottedcopybook) and her hubby Bob are in the beginnings of setting up their own wonderful new business venture. Check them out – The Life Craft . Please support them!!

Self sufficiency? In Surbiton?

Well maybe not! Not exactly Surrey and certainly not self sufficient! Yet 😉

Over the past week we’ve been working away at our wee back green, digging it, turning it and trying to rid it of the dreaded creeping buttercups that infest the place.

Today, we got it planted up.

There are three rows of onions, two different kinds of carrots and two of beetroot.  A row of cabbage, a row of leeks, cauliflower and of broccoli. 

I also transplanted the rhubarb thats been living in a tub the past 3 years, on doing so realised that its more than overdue! Strawberries have also finally got their own home, I kept the best 8 plants in the hope that they flourish this year.

Finally we got the spuds in, still tubs this year but bigger, deeper tubs than before, in the hope that we get a much better yeild than previous years.

Quite excited about it as the past few years have really just been a few things in tubs, now we have an almost “proper” veggie patch! Currently taking up only one half of our small plot at the back door, the other half being dominated by the shed which we hope to relocated to the back of the nearly-football-pitch sized main “green” in the autumn.  This would double our growing space and hopefully creating an area where chickens could be a possibility. 

Bill also planted a rowan tree in the front garden.  It was one we got free from the Woodland Trust a few years back and has lived in a tub ever since.  Looks alot more lively in the ground already!

In turning the earth over we discovered a number of bricks, these must have been the original bed for the shed which we believe used to be where our veggie plot is now.  There were from local brick works and still have the names clearly showing on them.  Most are from the Muir Brickworks in Armadale but a couple are from the Etna Brickworks, which I think was also Armadale but the other was from Loudon and Russell Tile and Fireclay Works, Allanton, Newmains.  We’ve kept these bricks as a reminder of the local industries that are now gone.

Jammy

I’ve just made my first ever batch of jam!

Santa claus was kind enough to bring me the River Cottage Everyday book, which is where I found the recipe.

The recipe is called “fridge jam” and is not quite a jam and not quite a fruit sauce with the advantage of being really quick to do.

I used a packed of frozen raspberries that were getting lonely in the bottom of the freezer to make a part-quantity to try it out.

The recipe really was quick and very hassle free and I’m pleased with the result so far!

There are two half filled jars of jam cooling on the worktop, crying out for fresh pancakes to be spread on!!

Now, to wait for the autumn and make a whole batch of real jam from forraged berries!!

First post :-)

Excited!! My first post in my new blog!!

So, why a new blog? Because I want to keep a note of our adventures in starting to grow more of our own veggies, live a more environmentally friendly life, be more creative and pretty much work towards a much more self sufficient, healthy and fulfilling lifestyle.

In the process we will all need to learn loads of new skills and make difficult choices and even a few sacrifices.  But in the long term, it’ll be worth it!! I’m confident!

My first set of learning new, is finding out how this thing works and what it can do for me.  Sure I’ll manage to make a ton of mistakes and silly errors along the way but how else do we learn? Better to try and fail and all that.

I guess I could use a few words on “us” but I think I might make that a separate post. 

Now, off to explore the wonderful world of WordPress!!

Susi.  26 October 2009