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