Housework...

Having neglected this I think it's time to pick up and start thinking about more things I want for my Big House and the accompanying land.

Today I think I'll plan my mixed flock of laying hens... I think about a dozen hens will do nicely seeing as I'll have loads of visitors and there's three of us and my friend and her four kids will be living next door.



At the moment we have a Warren (rescued ex battery hen); a Copper black maran (in the picture) and a light sussex. I'd love a Cuckoo maran and a silver laced wyandotte because they're both breeds with stunning markings. I've also seen Barnevelders and they're friendly and lovely looking birds. Dorkings also appeal, purely because of the name and I want one so I can call her Andrea. The kids want a Derbyshire Redcap because it's a local rare(ish) breed.

So, between those we should be able to get our mixed flock of a dozen or so birds and have loads of eggs in different shell colours.

A plan.

My kids drew this and it took them literally hours of discussion, planning, rubbing out and revising. They're very proud and so am I. It's a plan of how they think The Big House might look.

So, from the top ..... There are two cars and a house. The smaller car is ours and it's a hybrid of some sort and the bigger one belongs to the friend that's going to live next door. The house is really two houses stuck together.

Underneath that is the garden, yes it's HUGE, but it's been carefully planned, with much consultation and discussion. On the left at the top is a rectangle with a smaller square and some dots in - that's a deck area/patio with chairs and tables. Directly under that is a round thing with a stick person next to it - that's me next to my dome greenhouse. The thing that looks like a grid is an outdoor run for guinea pigs and rabbits although they weren't too fond of the idea of rabbit pie. The empty rectangle above that is a storage shed/barn.

Back to the top and there's a long thin bit on the right with a pig and some pink spots in - that's the pug pen with sow and piglets. Now the bit to the left of the pigs looks empty but it's actually a HUGE polytunnel and there's nothing in it because my friend and I have to decide what to plant in it - so I've been told.

Under the polytunnel there's the orchard, you see the trees? All fruit and in there is my daughter, climbing them. Under the orchard there are two pens the same size and one smaller one at the end of the pig pen - those are for the chickens. One is for specially chosen layers, the kids would love to choose some that lay blue eggs, a couple of pretty speckledy hens, and rescue some ex battery ones too. The other pen is for the hens for eating, so they don't get mixed up. The really small pen is for when we don't want the cockerel in with the hens, or when hens get sick, bullied or need some space to be broody.

Then right at the bottom, although the positioning and design is currently in dispute, is a bungalow/log cabin/something for friends and relatives to come to stay so they can have their own space and peace and quiet if they want it. Of course anyone staying with us is always more than welcome in the main house too, but in case you need the peace....

The house is big enough but...

My kids keep adding animals. I think we're going to need a small holding instead.
So far they want:

• Chickens for eggs.
• Different chickens for meat.
• Goat for milk.
• Horse for cart and poo for the garden.
• A couple of sheep - for wool.
  
• A cow for milk, and apparently the poo can be dried and used for fuel - What have my kids been watching? Allegedly it's dried, formed into bricks and can be burned.
  
• Pigs - for meat.
  
• Bees for the honey and to pollinate in the garden.
  
• Dog - for playing with and to help with the other animals.

They've got it all worked out - any animal that needs to breed to produce milk can do so and then offspring can either be sold or eaten. A pair of pigs can be kept and each year a couple of piglets used to feed us and the rest sold.

Transport.

I'm fed up with cars. They consume fossil fuel and belch out fumes that destroy the Earth even faster and the damage is irreparable.

So, in the Big House we will need transport of some sort. There will be a car, or something, for longer trips but for local stuff, there and back in a day - I want a horse and cart/wagon/carriage (but not made from a pumpkin!)

It's a win choice for us really, a nice stocky pony to pull the cart and to provide much poo for the garden.

Laying out the garden.

I want a herb bed, raised and sectioned but kinda wild and sprawly at the same time. I know, that makes no sense at all really. I like the idea of a carefully arranged herb garden but I know damned well that I'll not maintain it, so it'll end up sprawly and messy but lush and vigorous at the same time.

Now I like chives, parsley, dill, mint, fennel, thyme, lavender, rosemary, marjoram and oregano. Oh and basil. Hmm, I suspect a trip to The Herb Garden might be in order, if the Big House is near here. I haven't decided that yet but I do like the area here. I'd just like to be out of town a bit.

Remember the hothouse?

Big enough for trees to grow in?

Well, DS has asked - Can we please grow some cocoa beans in there too, so we can produce chocolate........ Well, if we're having a Huge Hothouse for bananas and dates I don't see why not.

In fact Jungle Seeds have Banana's, Date AND Cocoa palms. Browsing through there I think there are a few things that might be fun to add into my tropical hot house - just to add atmosphere and diversity......

Bees for honey please

We're building up a bit of a menagerie for this Big House..... The latest request from my son is that he'd like to keep bees for honey.

So we googled Beekeeping and found The Barefoot Beekeeper.

This site is about sustainable, chemical-free, small-scale, 'organic' beekeeping, using simple equipment that almost anyone can make at home.

That works! I like the organic and sustainable part and I do love honey. Not convinced on the hives, but they can be at the far end of one of the fields right?

discontinued? And a wine cellar please.... (a post for Witchy)

They discontinued the smokers shed....

My Witchy and Horsey friends - feel free to find a new one.... I do need to be selling a few more books per month though, so you have loads of time, probably years.....

And after a Witchy moment today, I'll be having a wine cellar, or somewhere for storage anyway. I shall have to find a good supplier - organic, fair trade, it has to be good stuff....

Oooh, how about Ethical Wine?

We are a small, but perfectly formed team based in Chipping Sodbury in the Cotswolds! The company was founded in 2007 by Susan McCraith - see her story below. Michele Slade is our Office Manager and keeps everything running smoothly. We do not have a shop but sell wine and gifts online for UK delivery dispatched from a bonded warehouse in Wickwar, Gloucestershire.

We aim to be as environmentally responsible as possible, recycling our packaging, shredding office waste and using recycled stationery and products where possible. We use local suppliers and minimise unnecessary travel (which includes not travelling to vineyards and London tastings as much as we would like!).

Sounds ideal, now we'll be wanting a nice relaxed tasting session huh? In the living room? Or round the kitchen table?

They do Chablis - which I seem to recall you're partial to....

Nice butt.....

It's hot and humid here today and I'm hoping for some rain to just ease off the heat a bit, and it would save me watering the garden.

I have a water butt here but it can't be connected to the down pipe from the roof because the single downpipe also channels grey waste from the bathroom - the bath and sink - and I do not want that in my water butt! Grey waste such as bath water begins to really smell after a couple of days and is potentially full of sun cream, wee, bits of skin, soap, bubble bath..... You get the idea, not what is wanted at all. So the butt is filled by hand when it rains - we leave buckets and pots out in the rain and tip the collected water into the butt ourselves. It's a council house and the council won't change the guttering layout, it's standard apparently. So, we're stuck for now.

However, in My Big House I will have a proper rainwater collection system on each shed, greenhouse and on the Big House - with nice water butts...... Or I do like the Moroccan style Beehive or the ones that look like wooden barrels..... Or one that looks like a standing stone? Just scroll down on that last link, those butts are FAB!

Hmm, they have a grey water filtration system too, I'll have those where needed on the Big House too.

It's a bit odd having purple gravy...

But that's what we had for tea tonight.

Home grown spuds - mashed, home grown carrots and home grown beetroot and locally produced pork sausages, with gravy made using the water from the veg, hence the purpleness. It was delicious, but most disconcerting.

I love shopping locally, especially my favourite butcher and even when in the Big House I'll still get meat from them. I might have it delivered though. I also plan to produce much more of my own fruit and veg in the Big House, as I'll be wealthy enough to spend time doing that as well as writing.....