Pigs

All set up now and waiting for pigs. Just a little strimming round the bottom of the fence to stop battery draining quick. Looks like an air- raid shelter! Think I can finish off friday so going to have a day off tomorrow. Not decided what I am going to get up to yet.......................... wait till the next blog!!
I must remember not to turn the chicken eggs as there are only two days left before chickens should hatch. Lets hope I wasnt sold dud ones.

bees and pigs

Today on the small holding was about bees and pigs. I have my pigs coming on saturday and the pig arc arrived. Its now built and painted with wood preserver suitable for animal housing. Roof  to put on arc and fencing to set up and feeders to put in the pig run tomorrow and we should be ready for the three Berkshires. I also discovered a new bee hive going very cheap on ebay so I got it very cheap. It was an online shop clearance so had no instructions. That was a sharp learning curve on how a bee hive is made but so glad I did it in more ways then one. I now understand the bee hive completely even though the bee hive is made up on my dining floor at the moment with frames all over the place. Good job not going for the tidy look this evening!!

oh dear demand for egg is more then supply

sold out of eggs!!

what to do on a rainy day on a small holding?

Here's a list - in no particular order

Feed and let animals out! They want fed but do they want out in this!! Apparently so!

Persuade cats they need to be more assertive when trying to get rid of next doors cat!

Wash up from last nights none bbq!

Go round potential shops and talk to shop owners about selling produce.

Make sure I have invoices for everything I have bought - vat at that

Consider registering for vat as volunteer as selling food doesnt include VAT. double check this point with vat 

helpline tomorrow!

Work on financial predictions/Business plan

Test recipes for farmers markets in anticipation for a sept 1st trading day.

Start cheese and yogurt cultures 

Enrol as a member of river cottage and save money going to river cottage as get online course included

See if egg market research experiment will actually work.

research shops and farmers markets in the area

A rainy day can be good when indoor jobs to be done as no temptation!

Another quite day at the office!!! Not......................but nothing there other then paper work that I havent enjoyed and even the paperwork nobody breathing down my neck for it so its bearable.

Getting to that dust time again i wonder what animals I can get to see this evening! I am hoping to see these deer in my field but no luck so far!

Honesty box

Well I set up an honesty box out in the front of my house with eggs in as market research to test if part of my business plan will work and I can sell eggs when I start trading. I was sat in the house reading my small holding mag (that friends kindly bought me the subscription for as a leaving gift) and then talked to family on phone and watched a German group of tourists taking photographs of the honesty box and eggs inside. Oh and yes they bought eggs!! It was very amusing to watch. At least I have put it in a place where people notice it. Also I have learnt that I have a barn owl nesting box on the side of my house and yes a barn owl. However the owl lives in the barn across the road and other birds apparently next in the nest box. I also have a squirrel that comes in my garden. Fencing getting closer I know how much I now need just need to get on and clear space to erect the fence, Another job today I cut some mint and its now drying above the aga. I can see some dry herbs being available soon.

business ideas and socialising

Today - My business idea got accepted as a new enterprise scheme. I experimented with food samples and used them to have my first BBQ - or not. We have not had rain here since I moved I  mention BBQ and invited all my neighbors and the heavens open. so it ended up an aga party. Was a lovely evening getting to know neighbours though. I made the food and everyone really enjoyed it - from that I have a potential order to cater for a party next month! Thats a work stream I hadnt even thought of but would really enjoy.

Walls

Walls in more ways then one. negative or positive first? Thats the questions. Lets get the negative out the way. Well after an hour to do a 4 mile journey thanks to a for Czech coach and a trailer down a road that was in appropriate for it. The road to Boscastle isn't made for it specially the bend on the road to Tinagrel. The coach with 4 foot trailer had to do about a 7 point move to get round bend. Unfortunately i was the car behind it that it nearly hit. I wont mention the coach was following a bunch of cyclists and ask why it couldn't do the suitable route for such a large vehicle and meet the cyclists at their destination. Reason I was going to Boscastle was for a nurse asthma review. I arrived at the surgery to find the receptionist double booked and I couldn't be seen today and  that was a brick wall no negotiation there. I did manage to keep my cool. Positive on walls I found a few today. I hadnt intended on tidying my part of the communal car park however     I started pulling a few weeds and came across this lovely dry stone wall and decided that was a lot better sight when feeding the animals I just carried on and cleared the lot. A few alpine plants on there and it will look amazing. Of course my garden was over grown and looks out over there so I then found myself clearing my house garden. I then discovered another lovely wall all the way up my garden. After removing the grass I found the biggest mint bush i have ever seen!! I can see some drying of mint on the aga. Speaking of aga's another of todays adventures was visiting the dairy. The dairy is a little farm not 1 mile from my house that sells milk, cream and veal getting back to the story I went for double cream and came back with clotted cream. This was to make a quiche for tomorrows bbq with the neighbors  So i tried making quiche with clotted cream and I have to say my quiche taste good but with clotted cream wow. That is a definite for a farmers market may have to market think of a title as courgette, cheese and onion clotted cream flan is more then a gob full!!.