Autumn jobs

lots to do now. Really is harvest time! The pantry shelves are groaning with jars of Apple purée, Apple and blackberry, chutney, various jams and jellies. The freezer has a good stock of homemade passata made from boxes of tomatoes friends have given me. For the first time I have used glass jars in the freezer. This is in line with my bid to ditch plastic. As my Tupperware type things deteriorate I am replacing them with glass jars. I will no longer buy cling film or zip lock bags. Much like no longer using kitchen roll it will take a bit of getting used to.
I have been without kitchen roll for over a month now, using the pads I made. They work very well as do the cloths I have knitted.
Work will start soon on re organizing the veg plot. As part of this I hope to get the polytunnel finished! I would like to grow some winter veg to keep us going.
We need to cut down a tree that at this time of year blocks the sun from the bee hive. I had a visit from my mentor today who suggested it. The bees need to be warm! He is coming back next week on a sunny afternoon to help me remove the super and check the brood box. I want him to do this as I do not really know what I am looking for. He has said to store the frames of honey to put back on in Spring. I will put a syrup tray on for the winter. Over the winter I will have to sort out a second hive ready for when they swarm. I do not want to lose these bees as they are so gentle.
A general pruning is needed now. I have done the lavander bushes and the climbing roses and wisteria on the front of the house. My Hazel hedges need a good prune as they are too high. I do not want them to become trees. The walnut tree is too big too. I also have an apple tree and two pear trees that need a good prune. Then the raspberry canes need cutting back and moving. I am going to take them out of the veg patch as they take up too much room and spread so much.
Next year I mean to increase our food production so that we can buy less from the shops.
I have everything except the milk now for cheese making. The milk will come from our neighbour who is a dairy farmer. I just need a couple of days to make it!
I rather like this time of year, it feels gentle and I like all the making of things to enjoy over winter.
I have lit the Esse a few times bit it has not really been cold enough yet. The mornings are chilly but it is quite warm in the afternoons then cooler again once the sun goes down. We now have the heavy duvet on our bed again!
This will be a good winter as work will finally begin on my house. The other two Gites are progressing well and will be finished before long. We already have a booking of a week for all three Gites...three couples who are friends. We plan to promote this idea. I do hope we have a better year next year, we need to refill the coffers!
The new garage floor is great, making it easier for him indoors to work on the cars. My new brake discs came today so that will be the first job to be done. Along with my oil change!
So really all is good at the first and last house in Normandy.

Last guests for this year

Already our last guests arrive today. There is always a chance we will get another booking for the end of this year but we do not expect it. The couple coming today are from Guernsey so do not have to go anywhere near Calais.
The problems in Calais continue with regular attempts by migrants to go through the tunnel. The English side always say the delays are due to power failure which it is but that is not the whole story...the French side have no problem reporting the power was turned off due to people in the tunnel. I cannot understand how they get that far. There are barriers and checks at several places. There is also a high perimeter fence now. For the ferry there are customs people, French and English, checking lorries with trained dogs. Still migrants manage to climb into the back of the lorries. Now there is to be a big expensive wall built along the access road to the ferry to protect the queuing lorries. The so called jungle has been cleared several times but is rebuilt! I really feel for the residents of Calais who have had their town ruined. I do not have a solution to this problem but cannot understand why it continues. It has affected our bookings this year which has a direct impact on us. Along with the Brexit vote that has affected the exchange rate and reduced our pension payments.  I hope next year is better.
The garage floor is down and looking good. Should be able to put the car in there on Moonday. P plans to make frames to put on the walls and hang tools on. This will mean we will have all the car related tools in one place, creating space in the oldest barn. Once this barn is empty we will take the roof off, cap the walls and create a walled garden. I plan to move the bee hive into here and have it planted with loads of bee friendly flowers. We will also create a seating area. It will be a lovely project to work on.
I will soon start sorting out the veg patch getting it ready for next year. Just waiting for cooler weather. I will carefully plan what we grow based on past successes and failures.
For once I do not dread the thought of winter.

Autumn approaches

The evenings are starting to draw in and it gets light later in the morning. There are a number of foggy starts to the day too. There is just the maize left to harvest and by the look of it the combines will be busy soon. Fields are ploughed and fertilized, the scent of autumn! Winter wheat will be planted soon and the cycle begins again. Before long I will clear out the veg patch and do the changes to get it back to two big beds. The potager idea was pretty but not practical. I need to be growing larger amounts of fruit and veg. I have one whole bed devoted to raspberries which have not fruited well this year so think it is time to remove them and start again in the spring. I wanted to move them anyway.
I am now picking pears and apples and cooking them. The pantry is filling up nicely with bottled fruit. Ready for winter puddings! A few we keep to eat but they go over too quickly and are better made into bottled fruit. Due to the huge effort to remove brambles there are no blackberries this year but I have many jars of last years jam and bags of blackberries in the freezer. Think I will make them into bramble jelly. I do not really need jam this year as am well stocked.
One thing I do need to get on with is chutney. We all love the courgette and tomato one I have made in the past but sadly there is no glut of courgettes this year! I will have to buy them which rather defeats the object! Oh well, we cannot be without chutney!
Today I plan to buy the big pot for cheese making. My first batch of cheddar will be under way soon. I had to save up for the pot as it is €30.. A big chunk of my weekly budget. Will report when it is done.
De cluttering continues but the big difference will come when the other two Gites are finished. I am hanging on to lots of extra household stuff that will go into them.
On Thursday we have a large delivery of concrete coming. This will be the garage floor. It has been a long time coming but the end is in sight. At some point we will change the barn door for garage doors but that will have to wait a while.
Work is progressing well and we are on track to market all three Gites next spring. I just hope we get bookings.

So where has August gone?

seems to be disappearing very quickly in a haze of heat! We have never had it in the 30's here before, this is more like Spanish weather! Makes me feel I must up my efforts to go green!
Veg and fruit has been very disappointing this year, too much rain early on and not enough with excess heat now! Thin pickings this year but already starting to plan next year.
I am gradually putting together menu plans. Four weeks for each season taking into account what we provide for ourselves and what we can get elsewhere for the best price. It will all go on a spreadsheet for future reference. Nothing will be set in stone as I know there will be variables, like visiting friends, meals out and such.
My paperless household is going well. We are happily using the kitchen towels I made and they launder well. Same with washing up cloths. The other thing I have begun this month is making the dog and cat food. The dogs have meat with rice, potatoes and carrots. The cats have fish with pasta and a green veg, currently spinach! The cat food I loosely liquidize. At the moment they have kibble for breakfast and my meals for dinner. All are clearing the plate in one sitting! It will take me a while to build up meals in the freezer but eventually I will stop buying the kibble. I will need to invest in a meat grinder though as they will get calcium and other minerals from the bones. That is for the future now. I buy bones for the dogs as a treat and the cats eat mice. Sorry if that upsets anyone!
This came about as part of my bid to ditch chemicals. When I looked at what was in the kibble I was unhappy. I have read a few bits about how pet food is produced too. For my bird family we no longer buy the pellets, just wheat and maize and I top them up from the kitchen. Everyone is thriving!
The cheese project is about to begin, just getting the gear together! Hope to report first batch of farmhouse cheddar next month.
On the personal front I am now making my clothes. Two cotton skirts to make and two winter ones. Also am knitting a couple of cardigans too.
I am constantly amazed at how little I need to buy from the big guys, makes me happy!

Next homemade project...is.....

Finally I am going to start making a farmhouse cheddar. I can get small pieces of cheddar here but it is factory made and expensive. I spend a fair bit on French cheese each week that again is factory made. As you all know I am on a mission to ditch factory made food.
We have a small Apple press that can be used as a cheese press with a little alteration. I have ordered cheesecloth and am currently searching for starter and vegetable rennet. I have a big stock pot I can heat the milk in and my farmer neighbour will sell me raw milk. 8 litres of milk will give me 1kg cheddar. This will reduce cost once all the gear is assembled. The idea is to make several so that some can be left to mature to improve the taste. When my kitchen is finally built I will include an area for long term storage of my cheese. I am very excited about this as this is a large part of our diet. Simplifying our diet means something like cheese is a treat.
I have greatly reduced the meat intake too. I rarely give him indoors red meat now and do a chicken for our family Sunday dinner. Yesterday's chicken carcass is currently cooking with potatoes, carrots and rice topped up with water that will be dinner for the dogs for a couple of days. They love this. I like them to have it because I know it is chemical free.
I feel I am winning with making most of our food now!
I will put up a photo of my first cheese but do not expect it too soon!

Summer seems to be staying

weather is weird at the moment. Very foggy early mornings like Autumn with a cool start. It heats up as the day progresses peaking around 4pm. From 8pm as the sun starts going down it cools down. We sat out late last night and lit the chiminea which was lovely. There is something comforting about sitting by an open fire.
The apples look as if they are ready but are still a bit small. It is about a month too early to harvest. Runner beans are available daily now and all the red onions are in. The squash does not look as though I will get any this year. Generally it has been a bad year for veg.
Spent a day sorting out my pantry. The mice have been active again so had to clean up. I have rearranged things and it is now organised. I have also rehomed the tins and bits stored on the floor so it feels more open. I want to get some white gloss paint to redo the shelves. This will make them easier to wipe down. Am gradually getting everything into glass jars and metal tins.
I have now made the bags to hold the dirty cloths and have knitted a good stock of them. I have plenty more cotton to make more. I have also started on my paperless kitchen towels. I have made several and the rest are cut ready to be sewn. I plan to keep these in a basket. I have one more paper roll to use but will no longer buy it.
My next campaign is to ditch plastic. The plastic containers I have I will continue to use but will not replace when needed. I will look for glass containers. The challenge will be the freezer. From next year our supermarkets will no longer give plastic bags for fruit and veg which I am pleased about.
On the chemical front I now use homemade makeup wipes as well as my face cream. I use real natural soap for washing me and am looking at other ideas for removing chemicals from our lives.
All of this I saving me money too which cannot be bad!

Apologies

Life has been difficult for a few weeks now. Am beginning to turn the corner but it is hard work.
Our latest guest arrived on Saturday. She is on her own with two cats and a dog and drove from Germany. Her car broke down not far from us! The garage she was taken to ( which we know) kindly brought her, the animals and all her gear here! Yesterday they brought back her car fixed! She is with us three weeks and is a lovely lady who speaks a little English. I had prepared a few German phrases for her arrival which made her smile!
Him indoors went back to the UK last weekend for a reunion come birthday bash. It gave me space to think about things.
My sil who lives next door with our daughter has for sometime suffered from severe depression. They have now been here for nine months and there is light at the end of the tunnel. Much like with all of us who have experienced a complete breakdown, depression is never far from the door. It is the peace here and the relative isolation that has helped.  This means I cannot force the sale of this property. I am now making a conscious decision to bury my negative thoughts and re engage with life here. I very much hope that things will be easier when work begins on my house.
The finishing touches are being done to our roof as I type this. It has been a long haul but at last we are just about there. The last two days we have at last emptied out the duck pond and cleaned it. I cleaned out the pump and filter and today the waterfall and filtration is working again. Another thing that cheers me up. For some time now, whenever I have wanted help with anything it has always been the Gites must come first. This has added to my unhappiness. I am not very good at putting myself first! This morning I have cleaned out and refilled the goose pond. I used our new pump which is very effective but due to my mismanagement was sprayed with the contents of the goose pond! Have now showered and my clothes are in the washing machine.
The latest in my green projects is going well. I have bought a lot of inexpensive crochet cotton and am knitting cleaning cloths. Colored for general cleaning and white for washing up. I have also bought some flannel and terry fabrics to make paperless kitchen towels. An idea I found on Pinterest. I also have oilskin cloth to make a bag to put the dirty cloths in whilst they wait to be washed.
Small sponges are used here but they do not last long. It also occurred to me that there was a time when things like kitchen roll did not exist.
My dream always was to be as self sufficient as possible and rid us of as many chemicals as possible. I am now back on track with that. I am pleased with how far I have come.