........and here it is..

I still didn't manage to pick all the crab apples but this was a pretty good result - forty-four jars! Still a fully paid up member of insomniacs anonymous I was making it at 5.00am - very 'farmers wife'!!

We have been looking at wood burning boilers as an environmentally friendly (and cheaper) way of heating the house -once the initial costs have been covered in five years or so we should be able to heat the whole house and provide hot water for a few hundred pounds a year - less if we can collect a fair amount of the wood ourselves, which is pretty good. Today I bought a log splitting mawl and may see tomorrow if I can wield it effectively without taking my leg off - watch this space.

We will retain the gas boiler to give an option for Richards Mum and Dad in the unlikely event that there is no-one here to feed the boiler. We had a demonstration from a chap in Grantown who took us into his shed where the boiler was housed and we were met by a strong smell of whisky - not from him I hasten to add but from the discarded whisky barrels that he was chopping up to burn - oak I suspect - sacrilege.

While we were in Grantown we took Rhema to the vet - she had developed a limp the night after I got here and was finding it difficult to get up and lay down and almost impossible to go downstairs . The problem seemed to be in her front leg and we had set a deadline for it resolving on its own before making the appointment. Like many children she had largely recovered by the time she was seen although was limping again after being examined. Fortunately its' nothing too serious and after a couple of doses of anti-inflammatories and rest she is pretty much back to normal. She is only allowed to walk on the lead for a week or so but as she is the most indolent dog and infinitely prefers snoozing in front of a log fire it hasn't been any great hardship!

The weather has been very windy and intermitently wet with snow on the hills so activities have largely been based indoors and I have managed to get the embroidery machine going for the first time since we moved here. It has suffered a little from the transportation - not helped by being dropped on the way into the house although Richard nobly put his head in the way to break its fall!! The scars have faded now though and I have managed to sort out the glitches on the machine so hopefully will be able to start production once my work hours are reduced in the New Year.

Richard is in Sutton at the moment and flies back here on Saturday accompanied by Rutton and Kate while Sarah and Joe drive down South on Friday for ten days visiting friends and family - the first time Joe has been back down since March. With Richards Mum and Dad having just left after another week here and already booked in for a week in February there is plenty of 'coming and going' here!

The seeds are ordered for next years veg although the veg garden won't be fully operational for a while but we have enough areas to grow a fair amount anyway. The existing plots with the veg I planted in the summer are looking great and we are looking forward to eating the produce in due course. We still have a constant supply of salad leaves and the cabbages will be ready shortly. I am hoping to install a polytunnel next year which will extend the growing season considerably but am waiting out a winter to see if the prevailingwinds are likely to demolish it and deposit it in the field. Seeing our garden furniture blown into the middle of the lawn this morning made me think that the secure siting of a polytunnel could be a challenge!

Three blinds and some jam.....

.....was what I managed to make on my last trip back to Moy. There are crab apples by the bucket load on two trees and so I thought I would make some crab appple jelly - something I have never before tasted, let alone made so it was a bit of an experiment. I had no idea if the apples were even at the stage where they would make jam - they taste awful - very bitter as they have a high tannin content, but I thought perhaps once the sugar was added it would be OK. I made one batch as a test run and it was perfect! So 14 jars down and probably about forty pounds of apples left to pick!!

The blinds are now made for the kitchen and as the right bench has now arrived (we waited 10 weeks for it to arrive from France and they sent the wrong one!) I have started to make the cushion for that, but had to leave to catch my flight back down to Sutton.

It was a short visit, but as usual very busy. Some of you will remember Peter, who was an assistant in the early days of the practice. He now lives and works in Aberdeen and came to stay on Thursday night. It was lovely to see him but impossible to catch up with two families news in such a short time so we hope to see him and Tricia again very soon.

Richards Mum and Dad are up there now - apparently having a great time. Unfortunately I won't see them as they will have left before I get back there on Saturday. Richard and I will be passing like ships in the night for the next couple of weeks as we hand over airport car parking tickets to each other and fly up and down and it is strange to think that my next run of duties will be my last as a sister on the unit. My colleagues have informed me that from now on I will be referred to as 'the bank nurse'!! Cheek - that's their shortbread supplies cut!

A 'slice' of country life!!

Life has settled into a bit more of a routine and the last couple of trips have been much easier with a comfortable place to stay (thank you so much Chris) and time to catch up with friends and family while I am down South. Richard was at a conference in Manchester for a couple of days during my last spell here so courtesy of the 'Oxford Express' (three services running every 15 mins - why do so many people go to Oxford?) we convened in Daniel and Julies house and had a lovely, if exhausting few days with them as we helped them with decorating their extension.
We had the added bonus of seeing Tania, Brook and Oliver (3 months) which was great.

In my absence Sarah had press-ganged Joes Mum, Kay into helping to decorate the kitchen (pictures to follow when it is finished) and she also did some jobs in the garden. She was having such a great time that she changed her train ticket and went home several days later than planned which was lovely as I actually got to see her which was the first time since the wedding!

We decided to go to the community coffee morning which I always try to attend when I am up there as it is a good way to get to meet people (and the home baking is good!) and duly set off down our road only to encounter a cow standing serenely in the middle of the road completely unfazed by my fairly large car.
I decided to call in at the farm to let them know but as I was pulling into the yard a tractor pulled up beside me and a beaming man (who I assumed was Dave, the farmer) climbed down.

'Hello.' I said. Are you off to collect your cow? I'm Liz by the way - just moved in to Keilingha.'
The beam grew wider - 'Aye. Wouldyalikaswid?
Not being totally tuned in to the accent yet I said, 'Sorry?' 'Wouldyalikaswid?' came again. He clearly thought it was something I would like so I said 'Yes, -thank you...' at which he climbed back into his cab, and reappeared carrying a large machete, climbed over the fence into the field and proceeded to cut me two enormous swedes!!
'But the cow?' I reminded him, at which point a further car drew up with people that I recognised as regular coffee morning attendees and the driver got out to report, yes, a cow in the middle of the road.
Dave climbed back over the fence into the field, still beaming. 'I'llhavenoswidsleft!'
We look forward to having his sheep back in our paddock soon, in return for which he will clear the snow from our drive with his snow plough.

My time in Moy was only four days this time but Sarah and I have made cushions for the kitchen chairs which look great and I am looking forward to making matching roller blinds on my next trip. The weather was still good although they had experienced torrential rain during the time we were away and some areas of the garden were still too sodden to work in. The pre-winter clearing up carries on for as long as the weather will permit but I was deprived of further leaf collecting on the mower as it has broken down again and been carted off for repair. Hopefully it will be back by the time I return on Monday and if the boys have done their job there will be a few more mesh bins constructed ready to store the leaves.

I have bitten the bullet and handed in my notice at the hospital so officially my last shift is Dec 5th but have already been booked to work some bank shifts and will be back on 15th for a few days - short retirement!

By the way - the swede was delicious!!