Just a quicky!

Not alot today.

The Jam went well and it's probably the best set I've ever had, so I'm pleased!

Sorry it's short,
Martin

A lot to tell!

Wow!

I haven't posted in ten days! If you carry on reading you'll know why!

On Monday I have my French Speaking Exam which counts as 12.5% towards my final GCSE. It's very nerve racking. It's taken me 3 weeks to write and now I only have until Monday to learn it by heart. I'm really nervous, I'll definately be practising non-stop this weekend. I also need to shorten it because we have 5 minutes to do it in and it takes me 4 minutes 44 seconds to read it off a sheet. It will be natural to fumble, mumble and panic so I want to leave at least 45seconds to allow for that.

Last Friday we travelled down to Ipswich as a Family, and we stayed in the travelodge. On Saturday Morning we had Breakfast at the Little Chef (who now serve all their products with free-range eggs and outdoor reared British Sausages aswell, bravo!). After breakfast we met up with some people from the Omlet Forum at Jimmy's Farm. It was his Christmas Market and I had a great day working for the BHWT (Battery Hen Welfare Trust). I was shaking my bucket and shouting "Save a Hen this Christmas", the BHWT also had a stall in the Market which was run by the Omleteers!
I have selected a few photos to share with you.





The view of Jimmy's Farm from the nature trail. You can see the derilect Farmhouse in the background along with some stalls and plenty of chicken arks.






I met Dolly, he was wrestling Christmas Trees into nets, but he was more than happy to talk and pose for a photo.





I also had my photo taken with Jimmy. He is so kind, and he signed my book for me which was really nice of him.

On the day I was also given an official letter of thank you from the BHWT, who had aknowledged all of my efforts throughout the year. I'm going to get it framed.

When I got home, it looked like someone had been in the garden and moved some things about. Don't worry. It was only Roy the Omlet delivery man who left my Christmas present on the doorstep!





How cool is that! A purple eglu!
Lesley and Carly move in on 25th December! They also have some space to rent out to other chooks, and they hope to move some more in with them in January!

It's great getting back to basics. I'm making Strawberry Jam for the first time in about 2 or 3 months.

It's good to be back on the blog. See you tomorrow...

I promise!

Thanks for reading,
Martin

What time of day are you?

You Are Sunset

Even though you still may be young, you already feel like you've accomplished a lot in life.And you feel free to pave your own path now, and you're not even sure where it will take you.Maybe you'll pursue higher education in a subject you enjoy - or travel the world for a few years.Either way, you approach life with a relaxed, open attitude. And that will take you far!

What'>http://www.blogthings.com/whattimeofdayareyouquiz/">What Time Of Day Are You?

I just found this on Mrs.Nesbitts blog and had to do it for myself!
Martin

Busy Sunday

I appologise again for not being able to post on here much but I should be back daily again very soon.
Yesterday I hosed the eglu and rablu ready for todays visit of Daniella and Kevin. They are a young couple from Solihull who are interested in purchasing an eglu after seeing it on the Paul O'Grady Show. Which is quite cool. They arrived at about 11:40 and stayed for a further 45 minues looking at the eglu size, set up and of course the beautiful chickens and rabbits. They are thinking of buying a green one in January. I was unbelievably nervosus just before they arrived, I was scared I would completely put them off keeping chickens for life. Fortubately I answered all their questions and they already had a bit of knowledge about chicken welfare. They were also very passionate about where their food comes from, so overall it was very enjoyable and we had a lot in common. I need to contact Omlet now to tell them all about it and hopefully get a reward like others have before me!

Yesterday I met up with Clare, Rosie, Sally, Emma, Maurice, Lesley, Carl, Lauren and Jake at the Organic Cafe before going around the farmers market. I bought some bacon to have for my breakfast and some mushrooms from the mushroom man. I also gave Clare the money for the bag she got for me. It's lovely, made of cotton with the Omlet chicken and logo on. Emma also gave me a (colour can not be named) glug and grub and some pumpkin seeds, and an unexpected Christmas Present, which inspired me to start writing some cards and purchasing some gifts.

When I got back from the Farmers Market I went straight out to Solihull with my Mum and brother to buy some Christmas things. I bought some Organic Chocholates from Thorntons for a few friends and also a few birthday presents for those who have Birthday near Christmas. These are all now wrapped.

I just thought I'd let you know that I made my own lasagne for lunch today. I improvised hugely using organic egg lasagne, red pepper chutney, mild cheese and mushrooms. No meat unfourtunately. I was very pleased with the outcome, it was delicious!

Only just over 5 days until Jimmy's farm.

Oh yes and advent has started aswell. Very hectic weekend.

Thanks for reading and God Bless,
Martin

Been a long time.

I've been a very naughty blogger and I haven't been around much to post updates. I've been busy but not busy enough to interest all of my loyal readers.

I've made Lemonade a few times using a very simple recipe I found on a certain forum and it tastes delicious. I hope to be more creative this week and I have a lot planned, including creating a logo for putting on my jams for 2007.

Thanks for Reading,
Martin

Yes Jam.

Good evening everybody. Especially to those who discovered my blog in Music today and have been addicted ever since.

Today has been pretty long. Well not reallly any longer than every other day it just felt longer unfortunately.

School was pretty much straight forward and I came home to make some preserves!

I firstly used up some of the satsumas on the table to make some satsuma jam, before trying a new and improved recipe for my lemon curd. They're both delicious, I just need to try them out on people now which should be exciting.

This is one of the jars of satsuma jam I made next to some duck eggs.

The chickens are really enjoying the expanded ranging area, and there are some craters near to the edge of the fencing. "The great Escape" may only be around the corner. I let them out to Free-Range as soon as I got up and my Dad locked them up when he went to work and then I let them out for thirty minutes when I got home from school which was just as it was getting dark.

Georgeous Carly.

Thanks for reading more tommorow,
Martin

Busy Weekend!

First of all I would like to appologise for not posting in a while.

I had a hectic weekend of travelling and watching football, and from all the shouting at both matches I've unfortunately lost my voice. Typical.

On Friday I visited the local rugby clubs firework display. It was a bit expensive at £3 per head and I could already see the fireworks from my bedroom window and I don't think any of it was going to charity which was a bit selfish of them. It was a very cold night but I had lots of fun meeting and talking to people who used to go to my old junior school. I left the rugby club at about 9.30pm because I had a very early morning to follow. However my friend Mat stayed overnight so we was up quite late talking and using the computer.

When Saturday morning came I was up at 7am to have a shower and t0 get ready to meet Lesley, Carl, Clare T, Rosie, Emma and Maurice at the Organic cafe in Stratford before heading off to the farmers market. I had to be in a rush because I was meeting relatives in Derby for lunch before going off to the football. Derby won 2-1 against West Brom.
On Saturday Emma adopted 4 ex-battery hens and re-homed them in a luxurious purple eglu. Fantastic well done Emma.

On Sunday I had to get up early AGAIN because I was going to watch Aston Villa play Blackburn which was quite exciting. I had a duck egg for breakfast, poached. I had brought the eggs from Lesley on Saturday and I would like to thank Mindy for the great eggs. The one I have had so far was delicious and I hope the rest are just as good!

The egg was easier to traditionally poach than a hen egg, and it looks absolutely perfect. I could't help sharing a picture of the eggs the lushious blue colour really does look attractive.

Sunday afternoon, I went to Aston Villa and we won 2-0 with Gareth Barry scoring from the penalty spot and Juan Pablo Angel with an excellent finish just after half time.

Another late night and a continually sore throat.

Today I went to school for lesson 1. Then I came home to go to the orthadontist for a check up on my brace. They said all is well and it should be almost finished and that is really positive. I then came home for about an hour to have some lunch. I also got to errect the chicken netting I bought on Saturday. It gives the chickens a much bigger area and they seem to have really enjoyed roaming around without pooing on the step or coming into the house.

Here are a few pictures I took.

The first one shows the eglu and rablu and you can just about see the netting border. The other is a rare snap of the front side of Lesley.

Another tiring day and I've jsut got back from Stratford after having my hair cut and delivering some eggs to my grandparents.

Thanks for reading, hopefully more to follow tomorrow.

Martin

Almost Friday

Another day with very little to talk about but unfortunately I have some bad news which I shall save untill the end.

I haven't had a lot to do, I've watched River Cottage and been on the Omlet Forum alot but that's good enough for me. I have a busy weekend so this blog should be very eventful.

I've also recieved some oranges from my Nan which will allow me to make my first batch of Marmalade. Super! I hope it tastes nice, I may even do a step by step!

Now the bad news..

Unexpectedly our second youngest rabbit (of 4) has passed away. My Dad discovered him dead in the eglu run whilst Sean and I were at school. We were both very shocked and Sean was very upset. It is such a shame and I'll miss tickling his belly and lovely paws. It also leaves Kevin lonely in the rablu so I suppose we shall have to get a new male rabbit for him to play with. Doobie will be sorely missed.

Thanks for reading,
Martin

Not the greatest picture but all I can find really. Doobie is the white rabbit and his friend Kevin is the grey rabbit. This picture was took only a week ago. Rest in Peace Doobie.

Love you x x x x x

Not alot to talk about

Today all I seem to have done is work. I went to school and then came home to finish my R.E project on Marriage. At school I continued to make my bird table and I've got most of the wood pieces cut out, I just need to assemble them now. I'll try to take some pictures on the school camera next time I have Technology.

After the work I went round to my nans to watch Manchester United, but it was a really boring game. Science exam in the morning. Oh Joy!

What a boring day,
The only thing to put a good smile on my face was a good sized Carly egg. 5-4 to Lesley though. Come on Girls.

Thanks for reading.
Martin

Pumpkin Jam

I've made pumpkin jam twice now and I quite like it. I have plenty of jars worth to last untill next Halloween!
I've followed the same recipe both times but both times I've had completely different results.

The one on the left is the newest batch and the bit on the right is the last batch. The first batch I made (right) looks like melted toffee or caramel but is very thick textured, I mashed it all and it does not have any large bits. The new batch is very runny but tastes exactly the same. It's quite strange.

I hope that I haven't forgot to do something and if you know why my pumpkin jam tastes the same but looks different I'd be very greatful.

Would love to hear from you!

Martin

Happy Halloween

Today I was back at school for the first time after half term. It was quite a good day and the assembly we had was all about halloween which was quite cool. I don't usually make a masiinve hype over halloween but this year has been great. With lots of inspiration from various blogs and forums a pumpkin is not just for carving it is for soup and jams. I made lots of them today with the flesh I scooped from the inside.

Doesn't look tasty does it! The first one is the jam and the second is the soup. It looks better now and is stored in the fridge. However these days I can't get much into the fridge it is full of preserves and homemade lemonade etc. Take a look for yourself. This is now my half of the fridge.

So I bet you are wondering what I did with the main part of the pumpkin well I put this scary man onto it.

Sorry it's short but Happy Halloween.
Martin

Runny Preserves

Today I got up early again and because I had a teacher training day decided to make some jam, curd and lemonade. First of all I made some Pineapple Jam, next time I make it then I'll try to do some step by steps for you all to see. The pineapple jam is very thin and quite runny but tastes delicious, not bad for a first attempt at this type of jam. After I made 3 pots of this I then made 4 jars of lemon curd, it was really runny at first and it made me quite dissapointed but then after an hour in the fridge it is perfect, so that has made me smile today.
After the curd making I checked for eggs and Lesley did not fail to provide an egg, which was great. We've had 3 from her in the last 3 days.
After making the curd I still had 3 lemons left so I made some bitter lemonade, this was another thing I made for the first time today. It is absolutely delicious even though it is not fully finished even yet.
With all this cooking I took the time to use my oven glove and wooden spoon my mum and brother brought me back from Disneyland they are really cool and brighten up the kitchen.

I hope you will join me tomorrow for the blog halloween special. I'll be carving a pumpkin for the omlet competition and hopefully making some soup/jam/both with the flesh I will not need.
Although it was a teacher training day I did take the opportunity to catch up with some coursework ready for the new half term which starts tomorrow.
Just a quick note that since this blog has started Carly has laid 3 eggs and Lesley has laid 5!

Thanks for reading,
Martin

An extra hour does go a long way.

Today I woke up at about 9.26am and was then thinking I was washing the eglus at about 10.30am! WRONG I was up at 8.26am and was washing the eglus at 9.30am! I had remembered that the clocks had gone back an hour but had presumed my Mum or Dad would have already turned back all the clocks, I was wrong again. I suppose I'm the most casual chicken cleaner in the U.K wearing a pair of Jeff Banks jeans to do the cleaning, those Jeans are slighly more dirty than before now, and I think my Mum has washed them, which is good.

When I was cleaning the eglu I used the hose because althoug cleaning an eglu is very easy doing it this way is even easier! It took me about an hour to power wash and waterlog the garden, and of course chang ethe bedding in the rablu, give the chickens a wash and a few treats. Whilst I cleaned out the eglu and rablu he cleaned out his rabbits which are in the wooden hutches at the side of the house. Whilst I was cleaning Sean took this picture of me washing the rablu.

I think the eglus and rablus are looking even better than on 18th May when the eglu arrived and 12th August when the rablu arrived. They are so clean and are shining in the sun.

You may be able to see on the picture above that the eglu door is closed, I did this whilst I hosed the roosting bars and laying area, but I forgot to open it again afterwards and about an hour later I returned to a huge crater in the middle of the run which Lelsey had made. Maybe she wanted to lay again? (A plus of taking the clocks back is that I should get an egg from Lesley at about 9am like I did today and not 10.30am!

I let the chooks free-range until about 3pm when I went out to my Aunties, they love scratching around the garden but sometimes it can get on my Mums nerves when they poo on the step or scratch up the flowerbeds. They didn't do too much damage which is quite surprising seeing as the ground was very damp.

When I arrived at my Aunties house my cousins were preparing for a Halloween Party they had been invited to so they were not looking their best but were still a perfect picture standing next to their pink rablu. You can see all 3 rabbits huddles up at the front of the run.

This picture is currently my Desktop Background.
They left for the party and my aunty cooked my brother and I a spicy free-range chicken pizza! Very impressive, especially from Marks and Spencers.
When I came home I continued my Technology Coursework and produced a birdhouse made out of card. When it is made properly it will be made out of wood and plastic. Their will be a plastic arc on the top and this is based on the eglu.

I've had a good day and tomorrow is a teacher training day. I'll be making some lemon curd and pineapple jam.
Just off to read Kooringas blog and then off to do more coursework.

Goodnight
Martin

Capital of Culture "My A**e"

That's what the banner read as I entered Liverpool City today, driving past the burnt down and battered houses. Some people have the idea that all of Liverpool is like that, if it was why would it be European Capital of Culture?

The reason I was in Liverpool was because I was travelling to Anfield to watch the "unbeatable" Villa take on the once mighty reds. It was very tiring and unfortunately Villa fell to a 3-1 defeat.

I'm very tired so that's it for my blog today, just letting you know. Enjoy the pictures!

Thanks for reading,
Martin

Match Sh0t

My scouse Bichon Friese wearing a Villa Scarf

You'll NEVER Walk Alone

Break Away

I've just got home from my trip to St.Ives in Cornwall. I stayed there in a challet from Monday to Friday and I had a really good time. The weather was very good for us most of the time but on Wednesday it was gale force winds and heavy rain.

I'm going to start todays posting by looking back at last Saturday, 21st October. I had been staying at my Nans house whilst my Mum and brother were in Disneyland. I woke them up early to go to the local Farmers Market. I took them and one of my school friends for the first time and I think they really enjoyed it! Everybody bought something and it was really good to get out and breathe in the morning air.

I took a picture of what we bought, the pumpkin you can see is still downstairs and ready to be turned into Jam and Soup!

The apples were made into an Apple pie, and the soup is in the freezer I think!

Saturday afternoon normally means football. As it did on the 21st. Villa were at home to Fulham and we remained unbeaten, by scraping a 1-1 draw to take a point. I got a few photos but this is probably my favourite.

In the background you can see (from left to right) Ridgewell,Barry, Davis, Baros and Mellberg.

Tomorrow I'm off to Anfield to watch Villa take on Liverpool and hopefully take a point or three.

Anyhow I'm sure you are bored of the football! Next topic- Cornwall.

It's a very nice place to visit, but I think that if you go for a week you would struggle to find much to do. There are many enjoyable sights and experiences but most things only take half-a-day max to look around them. The first day was mainly travelling and cornish pasties. However the second day was very exciting. I'd always wanted to go to visit the Eden Project, and I was very pleased to take up the opportunity. I think we'd gone a little late in the season, and some of the fruits had already fallen and they were beggining to plant the bulbs for next year however there were still some fascinating things on show. I would not have believed that the loacation of the project is infact a former quarry site. This is the first picture taken. It shows my brother and I above the biodomes.

This next one is very original but one of my favourites.

Inside the Tropics biodome I was fascinated at the wonderful crop of all the chillis, I couldn't resist taking a picture of this one it was over 30cm long! It definately puts my ones to shame!

I think the photo I took inside the warm temperate biodomes deserves a place in their guide or even a cornwall brochure it's fascinating! At least it can prove my photography skills are getting better.

On Wednesday it was a hidious day, we took a trip to lands end and it was not a wise move. The weather was so grim it really did put a downer on the day. I also thought it was a rip off that they charge you about £20 to complete and take part in the activities and experiences. It was very expensive and I wouldn't go again really.

This photo is of Sean and I standing approximately 850 miles away from John O'Groats.

Yesterday I managed to fulfil a long time ambition. I went to the National Seal Sanctuary, it was amazing but a bit of a walk. I loved seeing all the seals and sealions rehabilitating so that they can eventually return to the wild, where they belong! I took many photos, far two many to post on the blog so I have chosen two random ones. One of a sealion which was rescued from a zoo and is now getting ready to either move to another sanctuary or in with the other sealions. The other is of a common seal which is almost ready to go back into the wild.

Sealion(above)

Seal(above)

Well that is almost it, it has taken me well over half an hour to sort out todays posting, so I'm just about to pop downstairs for some tea. Although the clever girls must have knew I was coming back today and they wanted to impress me.....

Clever girls.

I think it's Lesley 3 - 2 Carly, something like that I'll confirm tomorrow.

Thanks for reading and have a nice weekend,

Martin

The starting of a real blog.

Today I have the feeling that this is going to be the real start of my blog. I now have pictures to share, and more to talk about! I've had a very relaxing day, I was sent home slightly ill from school at about 9am, because I was burning up and started to feel feint, I waited for about 2 hours for my Mum to pick me up, because she was working in Birmingham. So at the moment I'm very tired, but excited to tell you about my day.

So after I got sent home, I began to read my book based on the popular BBC series "Dragons Den", It's all about how to set up your own business and all that kind of stuff, it's very interesting. Talking of books, I bought "The Big Allotment Book" (something like that) today using my WHSmiths gift cards I got for my birthday, I also bough a game for my playstation!

After my Nan picked up my brother from school she came around for a cup of tea, and a slice of the homemade cake I recieved from Dave the day before. This is when I let the chickens out to free-range. I have problems with letting the girls out before 4o'clock because that is the time Carly usually lays, so if she is out and about in the garden she hides the eggs from us or Jess, my dog gets to them first. I gave them some corn and I managed to take some pictures of them running after me with the corn bag. At the time the pictures were take it was very windy, that explains the weird feather formations!



For those of you that didn't know Lesley is the Ginger one and Carly is the black one! Carly's feathers look amazing in both of these pictures.



I thought I'd let you see a picture of me, my brother took this whilst I was giving Carly a quick check over.




Whilst out in the garden with the chooks I checked up on my confused chillis. One of them is almost bright red now! It should be ready for harvesting tommorrow. It should make a fiery edition to my next batch of homemade soup.




After finding a recipe for both Pumpkin Jam and Pumpkin soup I gave them both a go this evening and they were both devine. I made 5 full jars of pumpkin goodness. 3 of which were soup, and the other 2 a fiery jam. Most importantly my Mum, Dad, Brother and I all agreed they tasted marvelous. I tried to get every sing last bit of soup and jam from their pans, there is no point wasting anything that delicious.
I took a before and after picture(s). The first one is of all the ingredients I had to use during the process of making both products.



It was a very good recipe, but a chef never tells his recipes. So sorry if I dissapointed you.
Here is a picture of the final product (after)!


....and errmm.... well, alot of washing up is called for!




They're both amazingly tasty and I hope to distribute them amongst my family this weekend along with any eggs, homemade bread, lemon or orange curds.

I hope you enjoyed todays account,
Goodnight,
Martin

Still NO Photos

No eggs again today! Silly chickens, it's definately the winter weather in my opinion, and Carly seems to be going through another mini moult! The second this year, she shreds huge amounts of feathers all of the garden and then goes back into her usual form of egg production!

I recieved a lovely home made cake from one of my Nan's friends today and it was really tasty, and I also got another £15 in Birthday Money towards my eglu fund!

I'm now up to £82.87 in my eglu fund which is very good, hopefully I'll have a mk2 soon.

I'd also like to thank everybody for the Birthday Wishes I recieved.

Unfortunately I still haven't managed to work out how to upload photos from camera to computer. Hopefully Tomorrow!

Thanks for reading,
Martin

Happy Birthday to me!

I did say I'd have photos on today but unfortunately the camera has to charge for awhile! I've had a great day, but I've been really busy. I got loads of presents including endless football shirts and £50 towards my eglu fund!

Eglu Fund - £67.87

The chickens forgot it was my Birthday so they decided not to lay me any eggs.

However some good news is that the letter I wrote to the Town Clerk was in the post box at 8.05 am as I passed it on the way to school! Hopefully I'll be able to get my allotment soon, when I do get my allotment the blog will also be much more interesting.

Another "confused" (very very late) chilli is almost ready for harvesting, and the strawberry plants need to be cut down and all the brown leaves cut off and put onto the composter.

That's just about all I can bare to write after such a tiring day!

Martin

Visit to London

Today I went on a school trip to the Houses of Parliament in London. It was a great day out, better than school anyway. I won't have my camera untill tomorrow so no pictures unfortunately.

I came home to a Lesley egg so that is:

Lesley - 1
Carly - 0

I now also have £17.83 towards my new eglu!

All the best.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

No eggs today from Lesley or Carly, I think it is the cold weather which is effecting them.

Maybe the mk2 eglu I'm saving up for may change that. Yes it's true I'm back to boring you all with my funds total. The decision to to get a new eglu came around when I desperately wanted to get a yellow eglu and one came available for sale. I was nagging both of my parents and they didn't understand why I wanted to spend so much money on just changing the colour of the eglu and not the size or mk. So Mum came up with the ingenious idea and said that I could have a brand new one for Christmas. Brilliant. But... I'm still saving up for it, because if I can buy one before Christmas it means more Christmas presents doesn't it? Well now I have a dilemma, green, blue, red, pink, orange, green or purple! If you have any advice please leave a comment!

Also I have now been promised a 3rd (I'll try and get a 4th through bribery) hen in the new year! Imagine having a 3 or 4 egg day! It would be amazing.

Today I also wrote my letter to the Town Clerk to apply for an allotment. I'm really excited that I'm going to be put on the waiting list and I just hope that it is not a long one. I don't think it is a long one round here, most people who apply in November generally have one by April. Which of course is very positive to here. When I get my allotment I may be able to get another eglu and keep some more chickens up there or maybe quail or bantams! It's very exciting.

I'm off to The Houses of Parliament on a school trip tomorrow so I won't be able to post untill late.

---Martin---

Start Again

Although I think I've been living "The Good Life" since I was born, on May 18th this year my first eglu was delivered and that was when I really did want to start a greener, more organic and maybe most importantly, active life.

I have grown various "garden" veg since I was small, these include aubergienes, strawberries, tomatos, cucumbers and this year chillis and herbs. On May 18th my second hand green mk1 eglu was delivered with 2 chickens. Both chickens are hybrids based mainly on the Rhode-Island-Red, a traditional meat and egg laying bird. Due to part laziness I never recorded the tally of eggs from the chickens, so from tomorrow October 16th I will update you with how many eggs they have laid since today everyday.

The blog will be used as a general blog, and I hope to update it every single day. I will try to allicate 10-20 minutes of my day to look at and improve this blog, most importantly posting new topics and reading your comments.

I really do hope both you and I enjoy this blog.

Sorry no photos untill Tuesday when it is my Birthday! I will then reguarlly post photos.