bluegaria: Dog sitting and preparations

The paying of a deposit has meant the end to house hunting and the round of window shopping, looking at appliances etc has now started. But now that my sister and BIL are finding their feet a bit they can be allowed out on their own and have hired a car so that they can get out and about while we are busy. They have now gone off to Sofia for a few days, leaving Bracken with us to learn the ropes with regards living in the countryside, such as getting up early (but it's still DARK!) and going for a walk before the birds are up, going to bed early too. Trying hard not to chase the cats, not dribbling while he watches the chooks going about their business, coming in from a mooch in the garden licking his chops after finding something tasty out there (but of course he is far too well bred to hunt out cat poo!!)

He's desperate to play with Charlie, but he is such a little cat and Bracken is a very large labrador

But Charlie is as friendly as ever and is quite happy to sit with him....

....or Bella

Their first trip once they had the car was the market. They wanted boots and chillis, just a few to spice up G's life, he likes a little on most things. We sent them off with warnings about what they might end up with, even now we sometimes get it wrong and have more than we bargained for. The boots were fine, onions a bit more tricky as the ready prepared bags still had to be weighed (we forgot to tell H that) before being paid for. But there was definitely a breakdown in communication when it came to the chillis and the handful they wanted turned into a carrier bag full. Not a great expense (about 80p) but a lot to find a home for. I took some of them and H strung some up to dry. Great fun.

A carrier bag more than we needed

Dave wasn't going to go out but did and came back with flowers, a plant and new cruet set for one broken that morning. Spoilt I am.

Flowers from my husband

We have had a couple of ground frosts this week so the dahlias have been dug up, but there are still flowers in the garden and a few lazy bees in attendance. The onions and garlic are growing a bit too vigorously for my liking in the mild (sometimes hot) weather, I hope they cope with being frozen for long periods during winter. The moved celery is looking perky and I am hoping for another week or so of growth before I need to freeze it, time seems so short at the moment. It should be fine with light frost. We had our first cabbage the other day, you forget how nice plain green cabbage can be when there is so much to eat that you leave them to grow on. I would like to make some sauerkraut again later but again, depends on time. The chooks are enjoying having the freedom of the lower bed for the winter, busily putting things in order but the ducks have yet to find the hole in the gate.

Chrysanths in the garden

Hydrangea flowers in November

A dozy bee trying unsuccessfully to get inside a rose bud

This chrysanth was bought for me in early spring

Saw this on a visit to a friend's house, absolutely stunning

This week I have managed to get the mincemeat and Christmas cakes made. I have enough marzipan for some but am hoping that the supermarkets will have some nice ground almonds to make more. Usually the ones we get are ground with their skins on, not too pretty in marzipan! Plenty of time for that.

About twelve pounds of mincemeat...now depleted

Cake on the go, a slightly adapted version of James Martin's boiled cake

But we had to try the mincemeat even though it is far too early, and made an apple, mincemeat crumble pie....just research of course. And made some mince pies for visitors.