A bit of this and a bit of that

Hb's new shift schedule is making our lives if not miserable, at least complicated. He works long weeks (6days work and 1day off) or really confusing weeks (2nights and two evenings and then some). There is no rhythm, and being nearly 50 he really can't adapt well. He can't sleep when he should and then sleeps during his day/s off and can't keep doing anything really. So annoying. And of course we had to turn the clocks which caused havoc to my inner clock.

And of course we all should be keeping silent when he tries to sleep...

I have tried to keep 'Suma occupied in the mornings, so we have had some amazing morning walks. We saw more swans moving to north, one couple stayed in our village for a while. Our cranes are back, they are wonderful big animals with very loud voices.
And geese! Neverending stream of geese flying back and forth - I just don't get it why some of them fly to north and some to south - and then there are simultaneously flocks flying to east AND west in the sky. Very confusing to my tired brains.

Mornings sound very summery already with skylarks, blackbirds and lapwings and of course (wood)pigeons. But fear not, there's still almost 30cm snow in our field and lower yard. Herb bed is almost free of snow and ice - i did give it some help with tossing ashes over polytunnel beds. Polytunnel itself is still folded in my greenhouse, I can't put it over the frame until snow has gone around the frame. Aaaaand my sister just made a video call to show they have got 25cm of snow so far and more is coming. Can't wait to have it here. Not.

Hb managed to fell down some trees which were growing on the back end of the field (alders, willows, few aspens) (some=30ish). They grow there because we don't actually farm that field, only small part of it is used as my veg path and polytunnel. The whole field hasn't been plought and harrowed for a very long time. Old man did most of it few years ago, but couldn't get to very edges, and therefore trees. Hb felled them and I lopped them with billhook and dragged trunks into a pile. Or as many of the trunks I managed, some of them overpowered me even after cut them in two. So there's some half a dozen trunks left in the end of the field and a pile of trunks next to my veg path. Saturday was easy, snow was hard and it was easy to walk on, because I didn't sink. By Sunday snow had thawed a little, so it was heavier to walk on. Yesterday (I had a day off) snow was soft and sinking; I felt I was walking on a quick sand.

And now I'm hurting. my back is stiff and my hands are swollen (that's what you get if you're a delicate office worker and keep hitting branches with billhook all day). My legs are so tired I didn't even have restless legs at night!
Now if someone just cuts and splits those to make us some firewood...

But yesterday was a nice day off. I managed to deal all trunks I could (now we have a nice pile of branches to have a bonfire or maybe to chip some of them), made pizzas (I made the dough myself; it's suprisingly hard to knead the dough if your hands are boiled spaghetti), made paneer (next time I will make just "cottage cheese" by adding salt); it was the second time ever I have made any kind of cheese, first time I made egg cheese (basically cottage cheese but with added eggs and then it's baked in the oven), wrote minutes of the last two village comittee meetings (had to send them to old man to print because my printer doesn't work). and attended another meeting. Late in the evening I decided I had had enough and sat in front of telly and watched some mindless reality tv and knitted sock for a while.

Today I'll make something out of the paneer I made ( I don't have spinach so no saag/palak paneer). Kids have some leftover pizza so I can use as much ginger I want.

I finally made through ST Discovery first season (knitted rainbow socks for d, she is finally over that all-black teenage phase) and now I've catched up this new season. So I binge watched Night Flyer and once that was over I started on Firefly (I saw it in 2002/2003 but as with everything else in 2002 and 2003 I can't remember a single thing, even 2004 is a bit hazy). Soon that's done, Serenity (the film) is left and then I might have to return to Star Trek. Seen the original series, the animated series and Enterprise, and all the films. Now I "only" have Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager (which I have seen before)...

Preparing for the winter

On friday evening old man told us he'll come at eleven am to fell our last remaining silver willow. We had five or six of them here, but they grow so fast to huge monsters which produce tremendous amounts of dried branches and sticks and even pieces of bark, and of course there is the impenetrable layer of dead leaves every autunm. Others were felled when we started to build the extension.

This one was planted as a twig about 40 years ago, it's diameter was now over 50cm. Annual rings were over 1cm thick - not very usual aroud here. It is not the most valuable fire wood, it produces masses of ashes, but it will provide us warmth on next winter.

So, old man came driving his tractor at 9:30, first he took down one big branch (which narrowly missed my precious damson bush). Then the whole tree (which also didn't hit my damson). After that it was only matter of chopping off branches and cutting the trunk... Yeah.
Now we have sunlight in downstairs much earlier in spring. So much light!

By noon we had dragged and lugged all the logs and thicker branches to the pile. Most of rest of branches were dragged to two huge heaps, and most of dry sticks and branches were burning. And when there is fire burning, there are wieners to roast...

I'm an office worker, so I was exhausted by three o'clock. I cleaned my glass greenhouse to be ready for plants (not much needed, because I had made most of it in autunm when I was hoping i could start my growing season in the polytunnel). I had heated the sauna already, so we just took 'Suma for a walk (which she really didn't need because she had been running around the whole day) and then we took the most rewarding sauna bath, ate some cheese on toast and coleslaw, tried to play few rounds of Scrabble and went to bed.
A nice productive day.

Today I was so sick (not because of yesterday) I hardly could make the first 'Sumawalk. By the afternoon I had found the right pills, but it was too late to do anything outside. So instead I observed four cranes right next to our field (they are really big birds). Oh yes, my ankle is sore because I hit it with a small log i was dragging with log tongs - I was wearing my boots but momentum was too much... But if I wear right kind of footwear it doesn't hurt. I can't currently wear my safety boots, but I hopefully don't need them until friday.

I'm thinking I need to plant another silver willow somewhere in our plot, haven't found the right place yet. Silver willows have been growing here more than a century, there is still left some of the originals around the old fish ponds. I have ten acres of land and can't find a place for a one lousy tree.

I have still a big mess to clean on the yard, maybe we might even have a decent lawn now. I wanted to sow some seed today, but it must wait another day.
Logs must be cut and split, but it cannot be done before yard is clean of snow and dried a little bit.

All I want for Christmas is...

The end of the year is coming closer. We do celebrate Christmas, not because of its religious background but rather of its ancient function - turn of time. Days keep getting darker and darker towards Christmas, and by the 21st Dec day is at shortest. It is by no means turning point of winter, because winter usually starts properly just around the New Year.

Of course there is a feast - or feasts, and gifts. I love giving gifts! Not just gifts, but really thoughtful and meaningful gifts. I have been asking my closest people what would they like to have for Christmas, and by now most of them do understand I DO want to know. I want to give gifts that are wanted and needed. They don't have to be practical or useful - if someone indeed wants to have a snowglobe with singing elves, I'm delighted if I can find one!

I have been known to knit socks only few minutes before we're suppose to open gifts (and finished them on time!) because someone has told they actually would like to have knitted socks only the previous day... Because I KNOW I can make it in time - it gives me satisfaction. I know I'm different.

Our youngests are bit difficult. They usually dont need or want anything specific. Two years ago they asked for... long johns! (they were 10y and 7y at time), last year it was socks and colourful sheets! This year 4S has asked for legos (Which we have tons already) and 5S doesn't want anything.
OS doesn't need anything, but maybe (maybe) he wants to have a video game.
DD wants/needs new drawing pad/ pen tablet, she had one two years ago and it's all worn out. She has spent hours after hours drawing with both paper and pencils and with pen tablet, and is extreme skillful. I think it is not wasted money to buy her a new and maybe a bigger one.

My brother told he needs a decent bread knife, my sister's spouse would like to have a pasta machine or mincer...

So. I'm going to spent money on gifts, and I feel good about it. I don't except to get a lot of gifts, I'm fine if I don't get any. A few years ago I asked for a marble mortar - and I got one. It was lovingly wrapped in two different packages, the mortar and the pestle separately. I feel joy every time I take it in my hand, and I know for sure it didn't cost more than 15€. I could have bought it myself, I know.

It's been snowing and raining on and off, right now there is a 10cm blanket of white stuff, but it's raining water atm so bye bye white stuff. Two weeks ago my polytunnel got off, there was a big storm (power cuts all around) and one specially nastu gust of wind took my poly. It didn't fly far, so during the weekend we just picked it up and put it back. Some strings were cut off, but no holes. Now it's anchored once more and I really hope that was the big storm.

Today was the day. I  cleared top of my wood stove and lit the fire for the first time this autunm. The flue was a bit cold because i ended up having most of the smoke inside... Door open and few minutes later all was good. Maybe there is a faint smell of smoked salmon. Pork chops, some mushrooms and spices are shimmering on the stove tops and kitchen is nicely warm. It's nice to have warm fingers too, because today I work at home and I've been typing since six o'clock this morning.
We have three other fireplaces which I have been using, but lighting the wood stove for the first time is always a special occasion.

Winter is coming

Today has been a bleary day. Mist in the early morning, fog in the morning and clouds all through the day. No rain thoug, a week late, at least. This is September, it is supposed to rain! No frost today either, we had it last week, thank you. Not on my garden nor on my veg plot, thanks for that, I still have an odd cucumber and beanstalk there.

All marks of autumn is here. Threes have shedded half of their leaves, rest are golden (or brown, there is some fungal disease which is drying the leaves, it shouldn't have lasting effect).

I have been foragin food all summer and early autumn. Berries, veggies and mushrooms. Some more mushrooms, and then some. I pick chanterelles in my dreams, and I find maggot filled porcinos in my nightmares. When I close my eyes during daytime, I see black trumpets...
Berries have been freezed, rendered into cordial (by my mother), dried (by my sister) or cooked to jams and marmalades. I also made few jars of liqueur (1 part berries, 1 part sugar 1 part vodka; you can use brown sugar but I just use the cheapest available granulated sugar). Blueberries, raspberries, black-, red- and whitecurrants (red and white from our only but mosty absent neighbour). I also tried this with some rowan berries, but I forgot to freese them beforehand, so I think they may not come up the way I want... Time will see.

Mushrooms have been dried, pickled and freezed. No liqueur here.

Bullbeans and green beans are blanced (bullbeans peeled, I'm glad I have teenagers to do that).

Potatoes last till end of this month, then I have to forage my parents cellar. Carrots are barely there, they just don't like clay. Beetroots are almost as miserable as carrots, and I have no idea why. Maybe it was too cold?

Wood has been chopped and stacked to dry, they should do till next summer.

What I do need is a wood burner. A new one. I have one already in our extension, but it burnt out last winter (I got it for free from my colleague, and it was already a bit worn, we replaced some cast iron pieces with fire bricks, but now the top plate broke and it really must not be used without it). It is old, and although I can get spare parts for it, I would prefer a brand new burner (for it is going to stay there the next decade or something before I can replace it with decent brick fireplace). We have few other fireplaces, nice and sturdy wood-burning stove in our old kitchen and a fireplace in the livingroom.

We do have a central heating, but because of the long renevation process, it is electric at the moment, so burning some wood makes my energy bills cheaper. We don't need to buy wood, but of course, we bought the forest few years ago. You can count that on the energy bills if you like.

But I haven't started knitting socks yet.