Interesting start to 2014

Well  what happened with the weather.   We go into winter with stockpiles of essentials ready for being snowed in and mid January I'm building raised beds in the garden only for the snow to arrive and bury them all a couple of weeks later.

Admittedly it's only our second winter here but we were worried at one stage that the snow wouldn't arrive.   Surprisingly it feels much colder than it did last year, even though the temperatures haven't dropped below minus 15 celsius.   It may be that this year is more windy and we had some days of fog which dampened spirits.


The boys room has been put on hold as I'm too mean to heat parts of the house we are not yet living in, and I refuse to voluntarily give myself frostbite.    The only part of the main house being used currently is the bathroom, which is wonderful  when the petchka is lit and we can have a soak in hot water before getting out into a warm room.  It's a guaranteed way of warming my feet up, which are rarely warm at the minute.

January feels like it has been a month of not doing much, other than keeping warm, but small steps forward have been taken on various projects, like the garden and the boys room.   I think I have probably made more biscuits than normal this month, so another reason to look forward to spring and getting rid of the winter tyres.

Paul has been working on increasing the supply of pieces he is turning so that when we eventually list them, for sale on  Etsy, he has a good selection of work to display.    His work did get interrupted by a most unusual commission, it can't be every day a woodturner  gets asked to make a new wand as the old one broke after the cauldron was dropped on it.

As a point of interest only novice witches use 'whippy' wands

We are also experimenting with making lamb prosciutto (lamb ham), more about that at a later date.    The jars I 'put up' during the summer are supplementing  the dried goods we stockpile in the run up to winter and some weird but tasty concoctions are being enjoyed.     One gap in the  'made' jars  is curry sauces - all the ones in the cellar are tomato based so research is being conducted into other options such as spinach and aubergine for this summers crop.    I think a cabbage based curry sauce may be a step too far though.

There are lots of things that need doing but at the moment the weather is against us, although we have taken a gamble and covered half our kitchen table with seed pots of herbs and spices in the hope they germinate - it's really too early for them but if it works it frees up tubs for later sowings.

More about crops sowings, lamb prosciutto and room demolitions next month.

Love and laughter to all.