Winkos: a straw bale building adventure in Poland

Big Bad Boris

As I finished the milking today I heard the cry or bark of a fox nearby, not unusual, but it did seem quite close so I popped out back to have a look.

Thirteen goats stood there starring over the electric fence at a fox about 30 meters away, just behind a wired fenced area that our neighbour keeps for vegetables. Then I spotted Boris sitting down in the garden area minding his own business with his back to the fox. Has Boris gone deaf I wondered, the fox continued to bark at him and was only 5m or so behind him with a very flimsy wire fence between them.

‘Boris, get out f there, Boris, Boris’ I shouted hoping to get his attention whilst looking for my phone to take a picture or video. Then the fox made it through the fence just as Boris had started to walk towards me. I dropped the phone and jumped the electric fence hoping to scare the fox away before it got to Boris.

Boris has a very lazy style of walking, and not just because of the winter fat he is carrying, he walks like that because he’s the top cat around here, but even then when he gently turned his head to look what was happening behind him his pace SLOWED down! The fox was making ground fast, certainly faster than me, and Boris and me for that matter.

‘BORIS’ I shouted again, just as the fox was upon him and still a good 20m away from me.

Fur up, claws out, a quick one two move, no doubt making contact, and the fox did a runner!

I nearly gave him a hug, but then I saw what he did to the fox and had second thoughts J

And finally

Jackie is still with us and remains my faithful companion, although the walks are getting shorter and less frequent. Dennis and Zara still disappear every morning to be fed at a neighbour, only to return as darkness falls, to sleep in the boiler room where it is nice and warm. I would put pictures up of the two of them but I don’t have a lens with a wide enough angle! Let’s just say the neighbour spoils them, despite her denials that she feeds then at all.

They are free, fat and happy, so I don’t plan to change things.

Despite my love of dogs the house is now overrun by cats, three of them, Bubbles, Whitey and Marshmallow (English translations). We do have a forth, a tom called Borris who lives in the barn, but his habits are far from polite and he is kept outside when he visits the house for food. I don’t think he actually does much as his figure is much the same as Dennis and Zaras, but on the odd occasion that he wants to play, when I’m in the barn, I’m sure to wear gauntlets. He has been known to kill the rabbits we keep so his death grip is strong. In fact of all the animals we have he is probably the most dangerous!

We had a few volunteers again this last year through the Workaway program, but the numbers and applications were notably down due to Covid and the two couples who stayed were already in Poland.

One couple in particular really gelled well with the family and as we do with a few other past volunteers, we have kept in touch. Not only is it great for me to have an extra pair of hands, we also get to meet a variety of people who share their experiences and culture, something that I hope may help the kids to think a little differently in the future. After all its not every day that you meet someone who has climbed mountains in the Himalayas, rafted in South America, spent weeks in silent meditation or simply come from somewhere other than Poland or the UK.

So that’s it, I have written a post, who would have thought, thank you Pete for nudging me once again. Hopefully this will also prompt me to write a few emails that I have put off for far too long with old friends and if I manage that then maybe I’ll start keeping a record of our slow lifestyle again.

Thanks for sticking with me and the family and a Happy New Year to you all.

Goats and horses (part 2)

I’m glad I split this post up as it gave me a chance to download pictures from Gosias phone and it has to be said she takes a far better picture than me, and of more relevant things 🙂 Hopefully some of them will fit with the narrative that I have already written.

All of this new planned work is possible as I managed to secure a grant to develop the farm. So the lavender, along with an increase in goat numbers, forms the basis of the business plan that we put forward. We will use the grant to purchase new equipment for the tractor for cultivation and care of the new crops, a milking machine to stop my hands from cramping up during milking, and a good few hundred plants to supplement the ones we have already planted. Welcome to Winkos Lavender Farm!

We have already converted more of our house cellar into a shop and second kitchen for processing cheese, so with all the extra products that will be coming out of the farm and products from other local artisans, we should truly become a cottage industry, with horse riding?

A shop of sorts, with lots of products from other local artisans

It has given Malina something to do as she fills bags with dried lavender for the shop, and she is saving the money for that pony 🙂

One thing that we did notice during the last year and a half of Covid is that people really wanted to get out of the cities and whilst we remained cautious about guests at first, as the vaccines rolled out we experienced a steady increase in customers visiting the house, a trend we hope continues. The visitors, not the Covid.

This more than made up for the lack of markets throughout the year and has now reached the point that, with the exception of a few long term commitments, we no longer need to pack up the van, set out and set up our market stall. Of course we are ready to go back to this if required, but if the customers keep on visiting then it fits our life better.

Mentioning Covid reminded me that I took Malina on a road trip to Austria to see family back in October, it was a nice easy drive of about 9 hours down to the south by Gratz. We were spoilt rotten whilst we were there and taken to various restaurants on our short stay. As someone who was happy to get the jab I had my Covid pass on me and the process of showing it to gain entry was smooth as silk. I only mention this as I’m surprised to hear about the resistance that there is in the UK and some other countries. If you don’t want to get jabbed that’s fine by me, I’m more of a risk to you than you are to me, but having a pass to enter places where crowds gather seems like a good idea to me and we didn’t experience any of the downsides that I have read about in the UK press.

By the way Pete…The composting toilets are still going strong, the operation, not the smell, and you would be surprised at the interest they generate by casual visitors. The guided tour of the process can take a good ten minutes and it’s only a matter of time before I do a YouTube video for the one or two people who are truly interested 🙂 Of course this is just one of the things that we do to try and minimise the impact we have on the planet. Solar panels for heating water, solar PV for generating some of our own electricity, growing as much of our own food as possible…I won’t go on, but if I was going to start blogging on a regular basis again I think I would have to start offering tips on how we can all make a difference. The problem is it would be one of many, so would it really be worth it if it didn’t have an audience?

Almost 700 hundred words again, my fault for getting onto Covid, so time to break it down to a third part, I hope you don’t mind? More tomorrow….

Goating and riding around in 2022 (part 1)

Where to start after more than a year without posting? A look back over the last year, a list of hopes and dreams for the future or just an unstructured ramble as is my habit? 🙂

I should start with the children, yes, they are still here. I haven’t shipped them off to boarding school (in my dreams) or worked them to the point of exhaustion (it’s a struggle to get them to empty the dishwasher) nor have we moved to a new house whilst they were at school, home schooling put a stop to that idea!

Truth be told they have just got taller, more independent, talkative, inquisitive and annoying 🙂 Fortunately, despite becoming grumpier, I have also become more patient as I have got older, I just wish I had a bit more energy, but then don’t we all?

I even tried locking them up with the rabbits
Hoof cleaning time

Thankfully as they age they are more inclined to play with each other (80% of the time) without fighting too much and they have developed a common love of horses.

Luckily Gosia supplies a nearby stable with soaps which they sell as souvenirs and this has become a handy exchange for horse riding lessons, which is where they spent their summer weekends. Unluckily this love of horses has turned into the new expectation. Try as I might to discourage the idea of getting a horse\pony I fear I am outnumbered, given that Gosia also quite likes the idea.

So this year I will be building a stable.

Now to be honest it’s not all bad, as it fits in with the bigger plans that we have, in fact I don’t mind at all as long as I’m not the one left mucking out at the end of every day. This I have made clear. The thirteen goats that we have, soon to be twenty, provide enough crap for one man to deal with. But it is due to this planned expansion that I had already taken steps to build a shelter for the farm equipment and drying area for the various plants that we now grow to compliment the cosmetics, which in turn freed up space in the barn for the extra goats and potentially a small horse. As with most things nothing is planned around here, it just happens, so I have probably said too much already.

One thing I do know for sure is that we will be planting out the top field with more lavender this year after the success of the four rows that we planted last year. I’m hoping I find a picture as it’s hard to describe, but we have essentially set aside around a half hectare (1 ¼ acres) for lavender along with some space for other botanicals for Gosia cosmetics.

Ok, not such a good picture, the four rows of plants are pruned for the winter, but we did learn that red deer do not eat lavender, although our goats do like to rub their horns on the plants, no doubt trying to improve their aroma, so fencing or hedging is also on the cards this year.

I just noticed I’m probably pushing your attention span, so this is to be continued tomorrow….. 🙂

In the garden this year

Someone asked me recently, about a month ago, what we were growing this year. I logged the question with intentions of writing a post as soon I had taken some pictures, which I promptly did. Take some pictures that is.

So here you go, some pictures of the veg gardens this year, albeit from around 4 weeks ago, with a brief listing of what we are growing.

The bean triangle, not to be mistaken for the Bermuda triangle, although it is true to say that many things were lost to weeds over time.

Green beans, yellow beans, purple beans all dwarf varieties (for freezing and eating fresh) Climbing Borlotti beans in the foreground growing on hazel tepees (our beans for drying). And then filling in the gaps we have purple spouting broccoli, Brussel sprouts, green and purple kale, paprika, a couple of varieties of chillies, sunflowers, garlic, shallots and a permanent bed of 5 asparagus plants that we grew from seed about 4 years ago. Oh, I almost forgot, there is also a variety of French pumpkin in there.

Moving onto the green house, which is new for me, we have had great success with cucumbers, aubergine, cape gooseberries, melons, and luffas. Not to mention all the salad that we had early season. I will plan better next year, but I can see the greenhouse working well into the autumn and possibly early winter for more salad crops.

My pride and joy is always the tomato and pepper patch, about 100 plants of each, sadly struck down by blight not long after this picture, but with some aggressive pruning to cut out the disease we are still able to harvest a basket or two every day.

Running down the side of these are a few rows of celeriac, basil, spring onions, more peppers and some lavender from seed.

Past the permanent and ever expanding raspberry patch we have an area for gherkins, then courgettes, carrots, turnip, root parsley, parsnips, beetroot and to the left calendula which Gosia uses as decoration for her soaps.

It is at this point that I realise that I never took a picture of the thousand plus onions that I planted, or the leeks, or the butternut squash. all in the third patch that we work. I should also mention that we have twenty rows (80 meter) of maincrop potatoes, an acre of peas (as a cover crop) but still harvestable, 5 rows of Styrian pumpkins and a mixture of Hokkaido and other pumpkins scattered about the place.

Sometimes I wonder why we do it Smile

Looking back only this last month we have pickled gherkins, made jars of ratatouille and started on our planned hundred plus jars of passata. And the second freezer is now in service full of peas and beans. So if we go back into lockdown we have plenty to keep us going Smile

Future dream

I don’t do fiction, but this has run around in my head for a few days now so I had to write it down.

I woke up at 6AM; it seemed to be getting a little earlier everyday as the spring sunshine came through the widow, just another day.

My routine was still much the same, have a cup of tea, followed by another and another, greeting members of the family as they ventured downstairs.

Check emails, read blogs and the news, and most importantly the local web portal to see what was going on in our community.

The big news for the end of the quarter was that we had generated a good amount of electricity in recent months thanks to the good weather, and the community council was already considering increasing the number of PV panels that we have, there was also a suggestion that we should make the move to hydrogen production with the excess power that we generated and run our own fuel cell for the lean times. I added my thoughts to the monthly discussion document that was available to all within our mini society and moved onto more immediate things; after all it would be the end of the year before any big decision would be made.

There were no new supply opportunities, but then most of these were negotiated the year before, but there were two new applications for new business. Cheese making (another one!) and a cobbler. I whole heartedly supported the latter as it was still hard to get a decent pair of functional boots rather than some imported, stylised, flimsy junk that lasted a few months before they had to be broken down for recycling. Better to have something that could be repaired and someone who could repair them. I added my approval to the community loan that would be granted if the application was given the green light.

I wondered if my arteries could support another cheese maker.

The usual notices; births, deaths and marriages, and register of visitors. The latter, now somehow redundant, was one of the reminders of harder times when local borders were created to stop the mutating virus from spreading. Movement of people was tracked much like the movement of animals, which kind of made sense if you remember the foot and mouth crisis that hit the UK early on in the century.

I had laughed at the UK slogan “lockdown locally, live longer” I have no idea who came up with these slogans, but they were crap!

It was during these localised lockdowns that community devolution was created. Initially it was by town or city, and then expanded to rural communities, especially as there had been a mass migration back to the countryside as people fled to apparent safety. This turned out to be the turning point as the city folk spread the disease far and wide, and as the borders went up, although only virtual, you now had to register your movements. If they put you in a different location for more than a week (increased from a day), or if you planned to move somewhere on a permanent basis then you now had to seek permission from the community you wanted to live in. I think some people were quite happy with this as it meant that money was no longer a passport, although it had to be said it created a new set of problems, but then what system doesn’t?

I think we all expected the government to keep hold of some of the temporary powers that were granted during the pandemic, just so long as they had a soft approach to enforcement then only a minority seemed to care. We all seemed happy enough for Google, Apple and Facebook to track our movements so passing that power to the government wasn’t that much of s stretch, knowing that you could ditch your mobile if you wanted to appeased the naysayers and conspiracy junkies. We may well have taken a step closer to the Chinese model, but it seemed to be one that worked so why not?

Perhaps surprisingly this changed the demographics of the cities, towns and villages as the young migrated to the higher risk, higher paying, metropolises and the old(er) folks headed for the less populated areas. A sweeping generalisation of course, but it was certainly a trend.

With the demise of many of multinational service industries such as MacDonald’s, Costa and the like, small independent enterprise was rife and the only competition they faced was from their neighbour, which I have to admit seemed fair to me. The little guy was no longer forced out by the giant who could run at a loss to kill the completion. At least on the few occasions that I did travel to a city I was guaranteed a different experience in each of them, not the same photocopy high streets of old. A multitude of independent shops now crammed the huge vacant spaces that used to be Next or HMV. The big guys still existed of course, but many had shifted entirely online to cut costs when fearful customers changed their shopping habits, and only a few had gone back to the old model.

Maybe this played a part in the collapse of the financial system as investment groups (landlords) lost a big part of their income stream?

But I think it was introduction of a universal basic income was the real game changer. After the collapse of the financial system, which everybody feared as in meant that everyone’s pension was up the spout, something had to be done to stop a civil war similar to the one that had happened in the USA.

A revolt that was only quelled when the president of the time was killed by a stray golf ball, by all accounts struck by Chinese guest staying at the Mar a Lago estate.

The UBI was quite simple, or so they said, I never quite got my head around it, but it worked so happy days. It certainly changed peoples approach to work as they invariably followed their own path rather than having the system force a low paid, stimulus free, career upon them. Jobs began to mean something to people again and although you could probably survive off the handout, if you wanted to buy something beyond the basics then you had to find some way of generating money, so work still played a big part in everyone’s lives. More importantly it pretty much eradicated poverty and deprivation overnight, as well as making a big dent in the crime statistics.

I could go on of course, but goats don’t milk themselves, maybe I’ll dream more in the future.

Just a quickie

I was interested to read this first article on the BBC, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52490023 with the headline People are having less sex in lockdown, says Durex boss

A few days later I came across this chart:

I wonder if Durex are simply out of fashion Smile

Kids, not goats

I have already fallen at the first hurdle as I missed my first target of posting every Sunday, still if this goes out this week than I will be happy given the long gap between post prior to this.

Conscious that whenever someone visits that we haven’t seen for a while comments on how the kids have grown then I thought it might be a good idea to let then be the stars of this post. More picture, less writing Smile

Then it turns out that looking through recent pictures turned out to be more time consuming than writing, still here’s a selection from recent weeks.

Of course everything that happens is a lesson, but occasionally we manage to get them to sit at the table and do some scholastic tasks 🙂

As you may imagine this moment of cooperation and coordination only lasted a short time 🙂

The barn remains the favourite spot for play, a bath that collects water and a sand and gravel pit that I use for mixing concrete hold a magnetic charm 🙂

With such good weather we have spent a lot of time outside, making fires to bake potatoes and cook the occasional sausage 🙂

Ok, thats two post is two weeks, maybe more ahead as I think it might rain later in the week 🙂 Take care and stay safe all.

Life goes on

If I didn’t have the internet then I doubt I would know what was going on in the world, true I may question why I have to wear a mask and gloves to go and do the shopping, I might even wonder why the roads are so quiet and the skies above clear of vapour trails, for all I know the kids are just on holiday and Gosia has found a way to make soaps super fast and has more free time on her hands. So far I can only see positives in the current situation and thats when I realise how fortunate we are to live the life we do. The memories of living in a flat and working the nine to five are best left in the past as I try and imagine what it must be like for so many people now. I hope for their sakes that a solution is found sooner rather than later, although I secretly hope that it changes people and ‘the system’ for the better on the other side. This could be a real opportunity for humanity to improve.

Phew, that was close, I nearly got caught up in the brave new world ramble, instead I thought it was about time for an update, fill in a few gaps from the last year or two.

I’ll start with the goats who seem to be multiplying at the moment, if only because it’s a great photo opportunity. Eleven and twelve (names to be confirmed) were born yesterday, joining Sunday Monday, Minka, Meggy, Rougeka, Baba, Chocolada, Dushek, Daisy and Socks, both destined to join the herd as long term members. There are more still to come, possibly another six, so I’m reminded that I must extend the stable to make room for more and\or get an advert on the local web gazette.

All these extra mouths to feed mean that we now collect hay from a neighbours field as well as our own, and I’m becoming a dab hand at setting up an electric fence as I try and find new grazing land to keep the herd interested enough to leave other farmers crops alone. A bored and hungry goat can jump close to 6 foot and is quite happy to reason that an electric shock is a small price to pay for a lush crop of wheat or oats, so I try and keep the fence moving and occasionally dress up as Heidi and take them for walks 🙂

And its not just the goats that seem to want feeding a wide variety of food, the wife and kids are quite demanding too 🙂 Luckily I built a green house out of old windows and some wood left over from the house build (yes I still have some left) which has helped me get off to a flying start with the veg this year. Radish, lettuce, rocket, cucumber, gherkins, melons, strawberries, pumpkins, peas, onions, broccoli …..you get the idea, all starting off well and slowly planted out as the weather improves and the last frost nears. My biggest problem at the moment is water as we had such a mild winter with hardly any snow, coupled with only one notable rainfall so far this month, my IBC’s (1000 litre tanks) are empty and I’m having to transport water from the house in cans. Dont get me wrong, I’m not complaining, this climate suites me fine as It keeps me outdoors getting on with the multitude of jobs that have waited multiple years to get done 🙂

Talking of kids, I guess they should get a mention, at six and two they are the life and soul of the house and everything revolves around them, which is a good thing as they keep us on our toes and stop me from taking it too easy. I just wish we could get more sleep 🙂

Mind you if things gets too much I can always escape on a walk with the dogs, I love to see all the blossoming trees at this time of the year, making a mental note of where to go foraging for wild cherries, damsons, sloes and a wide variety of other plunder from abandoned small holdings. I wonder if this pandemic will bring people back to the country?

One final note, as I know Pete will be eager to know how the composting toilets are coming along, I actually replaced the wooden sides on one on my many piles after liberating the sweet smelling compost (vintage 2018) The original wood finally rotted after six years, but as it was free of any preservatives and went straight into he compost. Just what I like to see, no waste 🙂

How to make dishwasher tablets and a web page update

I sent out a few samples about a month ago and it was pointed out to me that I should probably update the website www.winkos.co.uk with all the new products we have. Today I can announce that I have pretty much updated everything, bar the formatting, adding pictures, checking for spelling mistakes not to mention grammar and punctuation, and all the other things that I am meant to get round to. If you happen to visit and would like to make suggestions or corrections then please do, I’m always open to new ideas and red crosses next to my work Smile Better still go to www.zielonakoza.pl

So why am I posting about how to make dishwasher tablets? Because I foolishly mentioned on one of the pages on the website that I intend to add links to tips, tricks and other products out there that may help the planet out a bit, and for whats its worth I’m kicking off with how to make dishwasher tablets.

I wont get into the debate about which is best, washing up by hand or using a dishwasher as we do both in our house, but if you do have a dishwasher then making your own tablets will cut down on the number of harmful chemicals that you are adding to an already toxic world, and that alone can’t be a bad thing.

I just checked eBay and all the ingredients are freely available in the UK so I’m assuming that you can pick them up pretty much anywhere in the world. I would suggest at least a kilo of each, or 5kg if you are thinking about the economics of the process.

So here we go, on with the lesson.

You will need:

A big bowl

A spoon

1 x Salt

1 x Borax or Borax substitute (the latter is better)

1 x Bicarbonate of soda

1/2 x Citric acid

Silicone moulds or plastic tray at least 1cm deep

Choose your measurement, I just use a cup, any old cup. Of course you could get all organised and measure the total capacity of your moulds and then divide it by 4.5 to define your own unit of measurement, but like I said, a cup works for me.

Method

Mix it all together in the bowl with the spoon, once mixed well tip the mixture into your mould(s).

Thats it, well other than waiting for a day or so for the mixture to pull a bit of moisture out of the atmosphere which will turn the powder mix into a solid. It can also be used in powder form if you dont want to wait.

Next time you put the dishwasher on just chuck in a chunk (dont worry about the little draw thing, all that does is release the tablet about 30 seconds after you start the wash) and add you rinsing aide. And here’s the real secret of the whole process, get rid of your fancy coloured chemical laden rinse aids and use white vinigar, yes thats what I said white vinigar. YES VINIGAR! Any will do but white spirit vinigar works best from experience.

Be amazed by the results!

Product review: Dansha Farms Goat Milking Machine

I promised this review more than a year ago which means that I have used this machine for around 18 months.

In saying that as I have replaced the jar, the lid, the pipes, the reducing couplers and the motor, so it has to be questioned if I am still using the original. Triggers brush from ‘Only Fools ad Horses’ springs to mind.

Before I go into too much detail I will share you the review that I submitted on the Dansha Farms website:

I would first like to make it clear that the product, Brute milker, is a great idea and has made the daily milking of three goats a lot easier. I would happily recommend it to anyone living in the USA.

Unfortunately as we live in Europe we have had a number of issues with the customer service when we first purchased the goods and now with the warranty after six months of use. I won’t go into details, but if you intend buying a milker and live outside of the USA then I recommend you use Ebay for the purchase as you will be provided with buyer protection and if you have problems in the future your voice is more likely to be heard.

I submitted the review after 6 months of use following the failure of the motor. I was unsuccessful in resolving this problem with the manufacturer who suggested that I send the unit back (to America) and he would fix the problem for me for a fee. So much for the warranty! I also had problems with customs clearance when I first purchased the item which I could have avoided if I had purchased via Ebay. Dansha Farms did not publish my review nor did they contact me further.

Undeterred I stripped down the unit and discovered that the motor was commonly available as an aquarium pump motor on Ebay or Amazon for less than £10 with free shipping from China, so problem solved.

The machine itself may first appear to be quite complicated, but once you have set it up, mounting the motor to your milking stand, it becomes far easier to operate. It does require a power source, although some units can be purchased with a portable battery pack. Our unit plugs into a standard 240v supply.

After initial connection of the cups to teats, which is a skill learned after a few attempts, it’s very straight forward and I soon learned that I could get on with other jobs as the milk flowed into the gallon (4.5 litre) jar. It’s probably best to stay nearby so that you can keep an eye on things, but I spend the time getting food ready for the next goat and collecting hay ready to refill the stable.

It should also be noted that the process itself is no quicker than milking by hand, if anything it is slower when you take into account the cleaning of the equipment once finished. However if you have more than three goats to milk it can save the finger cramps that I often experience, or if you suffer from any kind of rheumatism in the hands this machine would be a godsend.

As I mentioned cleaning takes an extra 5 minutes at the end of milking and I spend 15 minutes every weekend giving the pipes and fittings a thorough clean. For this reason I have reverted to hand milking as I only have two goats to milk at the moment.

So in summery, buy one if your hands ache at all when milking but shop around the internet as Dansha are by no means the only people who sell them. And if you are feeling adventurous then build your own, which I have all but done now since I have replaced almost all the parts. Drop me a message and I will point you toward various parts required and how to assemble should you need a bit of guidance.

I have never been a milkman

Whilst milking the goats, as I do every morning, I started to think about my unwritten book and how it is likely to stay that way. And so I decided it was time to reveal its title ‘ I have never been a milkman’

It all stems from the fact that of the of the 30 odd, close to 40 jobs, I have had in my life I was never a milkman. More specifically whilst in my teens I was never able to get onto the lucrative milk round as the milk runner, backwards and forwards between moving float and doorstep, delivering the daily pints of milk to the population of Skipton.

Paperboy, mornings, evenings and Sundays. Holiday barge cleaner on a Saturday. Occasional waiter and washer upper at a local restaurant. A summer season on the fair in Morecombe running the Ghost Train after graduating from Hook a Duck, not to mention spending my free time standing outside a pub on the promenade selling Rubik Cubes In fact by the time I was sixteen I had even stared to work behind the bar at the local Working Mans Club such was the law that allowed 16 years olds to work in private clubs, but I was never a milkman.

Then it dawned on me as I shivered in –7c (19f), eagerly grasping the bulbus warm teats of Monday, the goat, to stop my fingers from freezing, that I have finally made it. My dream come true, my ambition fulfilled. I am a Milkman!

Another update, well not really

I was thinking about an update on the animals, but what can I say, they are goats. Sunday, Monday, Minka, Meggi and Rozka are all doing fine and with luck Monday and Minka will be mothers in late spring.

But then it started to snow, and snow, and snow. And whilst we haven’t had it as bad as some in Europe, we have had our fair share. Luckily for us we have a Lada Niva; built for Siberia, not suburbia!

The last picture is the main road, about a mile away from the house and as of yesterday we have to travel about 5 miles to see tarmac again. That could be further away now as we have had another 5cm (2 inches) so far today and it’s still snowing.

If I’m honest I have loved the challenge it has presented, but don’t tell Gosia. Transporting children around in this weather is challenge enough in itself!

Jackie is having fun as well

A series of updates, part one of?

I’m leaving the title open as this may well be the only update, we will see. And whilst you may be fooled into thinking that this was brought about by a New Years resolution, the real reason I am typing today is snow! About 10cm (4 inches), not to mention the drifts, so movement is restricted to tramping or tractor.

I keep reading blogs, commenting and discovering new, so time is clearly available to me, so my excuse for not writing anything for over a year is a little poor. However I will try my best to blame my tardiness on having two young children, if I can’t blame them then who can I blame, its hardly my fault, and they can’t read this yet to defend themselves Smile

As this post is going to be short and sweet I thought it should be about the afore mentioned short and sweet things in my life, Michalina and Zofia, often shortened even more to Malina and Zosia or even Michelle and Sophia if they ever make it to an English speaking country. With Malina heading towards five and Zosia having already passed the milestone of her first birthday I often find myself wondering where the time has gone, but the thought is soon replaced by a mad dash to stop Zosia from climbing up the steps, or assessing Malinas latest picture that has kept her busy for all of 5 minutes. and I have a sudden realisation that that is where the time goes. If you have children you will never be bored.

Anyhow, enough of me rambling, I know its all about pictures, so here are a few:

Happy New Year!

Part 2

I have set a target to post this before December arrives, its now the morning of the 28th and we have just had a power cut, which has motivated me to start typing this. The motivational power of having no internet. Continue reading “Part 2”

Well, it’s about time

So here we are again, snow scattered on the ground this morning, the nights well and truly drawing in and my duties on the farm reduced to the milking of the goats now that the pigs have enjoyed their final meal. In theory I now have time to blog, although in truth it’s more about making time than having time and I’m the master of procrastination. Continue reading “Well, it’s about time”

Poland April 2017~ part 2

We are loving this free exposure, continue to follow Fraggles trip to Poland here. More great photos 🙂

fraggle ~ rocking a camera across the Universe

Part 1 HERE

Eddy’s home is set in a fair acreage of land, and the views from his balcony are stunning, so today I’ll show you the outside and around.

The house in the landscape

Phil and Dennis the dog (she’s a lady 🙂 ) on the balcony.

view to the west

Eddy (and Dennis) scything feed for the goats

Eddy has a basement workshop where he saws wood and does manly DIY stuff, and Gosia makes soaps,

After we had a look around the workshop, Eddy took us off to his shed to feed the goats and rabbits.

The shed is huge!

Eddy has two shed cats, we didn’t see Boris but Silvex was in-house

There are 6 lady goats whose names I can’t remember but here they all are and we got to feed them.

and not forgetting the rabbit

Our favourite view was to the west, and…

View original post 35 more words

Fraggle Report ~ Poland April 2017~part 1

We were very happy to have guests stay over the last weekend and I think you will agree that Frags has done a fantastic job of capturing the house and with more parts to come I wont have to write a blog post for a while as I will be re-blogging all of them here 🙂 Thank you again to Frags and Phil who arrived as guest but left as friends, we look forward to their return, and the next post 🙂

fraggle ~ rocking a camera across the Universe

Here it is then 🙂

My trip to Poland came about when Eddy on his blog (which can be found HERE) offered a free weekend B&B if someone would take photo’s of the house for his website advertising the B&B, and then Pete (who’s blog can be found HERE) suggested Eddy asked me. To cut a long story short, 4 weeks later Phil and I set off for Krakow from Newcastle and arrived on a dark and stormy Friday night. I recognised Eddy straight way as we came out of the airport though I’d never seen a picture of him before,and even though he wasn’t wearing Lederhosen :). It was a 2 hour journey back to where Eddy lives and as it was dark and raining we didn’t see much of the countryside, but it didn’t matter as we chatted on so much and got to know each other, and planned out…

View original post 192 more words

A morning walk

More pictures than words for a change, you will be pleased to know!

The pictures are from a couple of weeks ago when we experienced a spell of exceptionally good weather for the time of year. A change in schedule and tasks for the morning sent me on a route down to the stable, barn and beyond the orchard. There are no real paths, I make it up as I go along, often guided by the dogs and where they want to go next and this is where they took me.

Click on the pics if you want a better view.

After dropping a fresh bucket of water off to the goats we walk through the orchard and look back at the barn. The patch on the left was cleared by the pigs last year and I have just planted 120 raspberry plants. Recently chopped branches sit on the blue tarpaulin to dry out a bit and also to stop them becoming overgrown and entangled with grass.

Jackie leads the way down the small wooded valley about a 1/4 mile away, we drop down and back up the other side. Dennis takes a breather!

Looking back its quite a climb and turning around we have quite a bit ahead, towards the rising sun.

Reaching a farmers track we have the option to head back towards the house, but instead we carry on away to the right and look down into the village below.

We walk on for a mile or so, over barren fields, when the sky is this clear you just know its going to be a good day.

As we reach the old council road the dogs decide it’s time to head home, or at least look to me for guidance. Zara decides to join us after looking for pheasants, or chasing deer.

We reach the ridge line and look back the way we have just walked and then turn towards to house, not long now before i get my brew 🙂

Arty Soap

I mentioned that a friend of ours, Iza, has started to felt Gosias soaps, well here are some pictures of the batch that went off the market this morning.

A mixture of designs that I think you will agree add a new dimension to the soaps. My pictures do not do them justice, they are so much about texture once you get beyond the art work and the wool is mildly exfoliating…..sorry I’m starting to sound like a soap commercial!

So if you are after a truly unique gift for someone then please let me me know. Iza has said that she should be able to come up with a design based on your theme and as with all our soaps we can send them anywhere in the world.

Ok, enough already, I promise my next post will not mention soap 🙂