The days are racing by and I can’t believe it has been so long since I called in. Anyway, that is life and I am still here.
I have been baking bread and wondering what I can do with my oversupply of quinces. How many poached quinces can one family eat?
The season is changing and although we are having an unseasonably warm week the days are shorter and the light is soft and gentle.
We have had beautiful rain. Not enough to immediately put us back into full production but we are in a much better farming position than we were a few months ago. Seeing this water makes my heart sing and also sigh with relief.
The rain has enabled us to start on a major overhaul of our garden. It is amazing how a little bit of moisture in the ground helps both physically and mentally when it comes to gardening.
Some hard decisions on our furry friends have had to be made. Sheep dogs that don’t actually turn out to be great with sheep are always hard to deal with. This little lady, Queenie is moving on to a new home. It is breaking my heart but I know she will be loved by her new family. Farewell Queenie, I will miss your kind soul and your enthusiasm just for being with us.
This week I have had quite a bit of time on my own and this is when I rely on the radio and podcasts while I go about my days. Throne Rangers is hilarious and informative if you are a keen royal watcher like I am. Or perhaps bread is more your thing? I have just started on the Rise Up podcast and there is a lot of good bread and bakery stuff here.
With winter on the way I have been trying to overhaul our (almost) teenagers bedroom with some thoughtful but practical things. I couldn’t go past these blankets made from recycled wool. The other nice part is that for each blanket sold, another will be donated to a women’s shelter during the winter months. I haven’t received this purchase yet but I am looking forward to it arriving.
Very soon I am off to visit Sue at Singing Magpie Produce . I will be working on some special photos, doing some baking, swapping some produce, perhaps cracking some fresh pecans and I can almost guarantee there will be lots of conversation about food, cookbooks and everything in between.
That is it from me.
How about you?
Are you farming, baking, planning or pondering?
Happy Friday, friends. x
franinoz
Membrillo, (quince paste) which I’m sure you’re aware of, uses up a goodly number of my quinces.
Jane S
Thank you!
Anne
Teenagers’ bedrooms! I’m glad we’ve passed that stage :). Those wool blankets sound excellent and there are some interesting articles on their website. Around here, the trend is for easy-care sheep that shed their wool naturally. It seems absurd that wool is worth so little to sheep farmers when it has so many ecologically sound qualities.
Jane S
I have now received that blanket Anne and it is just beautiful. Easy care sheep are the trend all around us too. We are sticking with wool sheep (Merinos) and we are proud to continue in this important industry.
Jenny
Quince jam and quince jelly are always worth having. And lots of middle Eastern recipes use quinces in savoury dishes – tagines and such things. Quince and apple pies are lovely too.
But if you really have more than you need, I wish I could help you out with them! I could eat quinces with my muesli every day of the year I think. I have a few containers in the freezer, and look forward to a larger crop next year. Enjoy.
Jane S
Thank you Jenny, I made quince crumble on the weekend and it was lovely. I wish I could send you a box of quinces!
Amanda
We’ve only just arrived back from 5 weeks overseas, so sadly missed the quinces. I managed to grab 3 at the farmers market yesterday and will be giving them some very serious thought before I commit.
These are lovely photos – well done!
Jane S
Thank you Amanda, lovely to hear from you.
Alphie Soup
Good to hear about the rain, a liitle sad about Queenie; sometimes on farms tough decisions have to be made, at least she has a home to go to.
Quinces. Everyone has already made suggestions (ah, quince jelly! A lot of work but the result is bliss) and my only other idea is straight out of the dim past. Preserving! I know. Archaic idea but they are on hand for cooler months for those middle Eastern recipes.
Alphie
.
Jane S
I like the preserving idea too Alphie, thank you!
Alison
Ohh, Queenie. [sigh]. I bought my little cottage 23 years ago and I was a little frightened living on my own in a large garden. I rang my Dad and I said “I need a dog” and he said “have I got the dog for you”. Her name was Birdie, and when my Dad was moving a mob of sheep he would yell at one of the other dogs, Birdie would get upset and race back to her kennel and hide …. not very reliable. But so sweet and sensitive. My acre garden at that time had no fences and the beautiful Birdsong would never stray. She stayed on the verandah waiting for me to come home from the city, and we would walk. I walked and walked with that dog, through the sunshine, the rain and even the snow, we were well known in our community. She was the best dog ever, a relationship that was meant to happen. I hope Queenie’s new relationship as a retired working dog, is as wonderful as mine was with the wonderful Princess Cuddle Dawg, the Beautiful Birdsong …. Birdie. Thank you for the memory.
Jane S
This is a beautiful story Alison, thank you for sharing it. We have since had photos of Queenie fishing (with her new human) on the Murray river at sunrise. Sigh. It was a hard decision but she is happy and enjoying a new life.
Kate
What a difference that little bit of water makes. I listened to a news article about the rapid decline of water storages across Sydney this morning and was alarmed at how our storages have been so depleted.
We’ve been marvelling at the warm weather too, even though there’s been a cold snap that’s come across today. I pulled the last of my tomatoes out last weekend and there were still fruit setting on them and three little red tomatoes that came off them. I left eggplants in, but should pull them. Even though there are flowers on them, I can’t imagine they’ll amount to much and they take more water than I am prepared to put on the patch.
Podcasts are my constant companion when I am pottering about the house or garden, though I’m starting to dig out old CDs and music and have that on and leave my mind to wander.
Jane S
Would you believe that we have just dug up our dusty CDs too! It is actually a nice, simple option as opposed to apps and downloads etc etc!