5/14/2011

Saturday's Goings On


I've never shown you Big Brother's dog before. Meet Ben. He's a Border Collie - the traditional breed of dog here on the island, because they're good with the sheep. 

Apparently.

Big Brother calls our Jackson, 'Nice but dim'. He reckons the Border Collie is the Einstein of the doggy world, whereas the Labrador relies on blonde good looks rather than on brains.



The sheep were being moved today....again.

 
 Here are the lambs in the back of the pick-up, while their mums rode in the trailer.

They were not happy bunnies, I can tell you.  What a noise!

(And a bit of a whiff too, but don't tell BB I said that. He reckons their aroma is sweet. Mmmm, I think we'll leave this conversation right now.)

But talking of sweet....

 Catherine made a load of mini whoopie pies today, and filled them with....

 this. 

 Marshmallow fluff.... Lovely.

(Yes, I bought just a few jars. Why do you ask?)

When Big Brother tasted them, he reckoned that wars had been fought over less. Yep, we like it. A lot.


 Today was another day in the plot. It was productive, but, oh boy, it was cold.... and windy.


Our winchill was about 1C (34F), but the sun did peek through the clouds now and again.

 Here are our two 'cages' and another shelter in front of the one on the right.

Both are now planted with a variety of brasiccas.

Inside the windbreak outwith the cage are four rows of leeks.
 See the doors? The Builder made these today, so I can wander in and out of my cages at my leisure. Aren't they fabulous. I knew there was a good reason I married that man.

  
Here are the potatoes that we planted a few weeks ago in the tubs. 

 Peas plants under glass. As always, the wind is our greatest battle here. Hence the cages, the windbreaks and the glass coverings. 

These peas are Duchy Originals. That's Prince Charles' label, and so I'd like you to show a little respect. A small curtsy, or salute if you're a guy, will suffice, but I will not have any disrespect shown to my Prince Charles Peas.

(Having said that, if they don't grow for me, and if they don't give me a harvest of lovely tasty peas, I'll take all this back, and you can then say what you want about them.)

Here's a close-up of coriander (cilantro) about to bolt.

  

 I plant coriander every couple of weeks, but if I leave a plant - even a week after the leaves are ready for use - the plant develops these stems which grow in between the main stems. The leaves that grow on these new stems are not large and flat like the 'proper' coriander leaves. They are smaller and 'lacy'. I'm not sure there's much I can do to stop this. I've read so much information on growing coriander, and bolting comes naturally to them. The only answer is to plant new seed every couple of weeks.

And so to tonight, to feet up, to aching backs and to tired eyes. 

How kind and how wise our Heavenly Father was to give us the Lord's Day. He made us, knowing we would need physical rest from our labours one day in seven; and He knew that we would need a day on which to recharge our spiritual batteries. 

Hope you all have a blessed Lord's Day.



15 comments:

  1. very nice . It is good to see how well your garden is doing. I have a Border Collie, and I too believe they are the smartest dog in the whole world. We have started spelling words we don't want her to know because she understands so well.I love dogs.

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  2. That Marshmallow Fluff is lovely when you mix it with equal portions of cream cheese(beaten well first).You need to refrigerate it to get a good texture. It's kind of like filling things with cheesecake. This works great as a dip for strawberries too.

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  3. Okay, so this post has my emotions all over the place.... don't know where to begin ... mostly sound effects come out... awwww, mmmmmm, ahhhhh...

    Ben is beautiful, but Jackson is adorable... who could resist either; love those sheep dogs, but blond good looks definitely have their place in life... for sure... they say the love of a dog is good for the heart.... literally,so see, Jackson will save you money on medical bills. You might have to remind Big Brother of that.

    Love those black faced lambs... what breed of sheep are they by the way?... Did I ask you that before?

    The Whoopi Pie is making me hungry.

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  4. WE have a border collie too. He's a sweetie - we adopted him from a rescue.

    Mini whoopies - how cute!

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  5. what? is cilantro and coriender {sp?} really the same thing??? i love cilantro!!! our dies every year...could be that i forget to water the poor plants.

    love all your pics!

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  6. We have a Border Collie and I swear I think she understands everything I say. She is a dear. Love those whoopie pies :)

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  7. A border collie also lives here. Her name is Faith and she is best friends with the cat called Charity. She's good with cows but now that my daughter has her own dog (a kelpie/collie cross) who also goes with her to the dairy farm she has learned the art of delegation i.e she lets Keira do all the work and sits back and supervises. Is that intelligence or laziness? - I'm not too sure!

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  8. Mountain Mama - cilantro and coriander are the same thing, although I think some use cilantro for the leaf and coriander for the seed - you would use them crushed. The plants don't last long - even when you *do* water them! You really do need to plant seed every couple of weeks, use them, and then move onto the next lot. I love cilantro, but I am wondering whether it's really more worthwhile doing this, or just buying a pot evvery week in the supermarket! We'll see...

    Ann....that is intelligence par excellence!

    I do think the Border Collies are masters of intelligence - when you see those that are trained here as sheepdogs...it's amazing to watch. The shepherd normally says nothing, but has different whistles for his dog to go left, right, go further away, come nearer, gather the sheep..etc etc. Fantastic!

    Patrice - love the idea of it mixed with the cream cheese. We made a vanilla butter icing, and went half and half with that and the mallow. Delicious!, but we'll definitely have to try the cream cheese one.

    Pam - they're Blackface sheep (yes, they have black faces, but their actual breed is Blackface)

    Farmgirl - what a smartie! Good looks *and* brains....what more could a woman ask for??!

    Thank you all for commenting - I'll be happy to report all your comments to Big Brother, who will be chuffed to bits that you're all Border Collie lovers (as I am too, I have to admit ;)

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  9. All I can say is my border collie is smarter than I am. I should have worked with him more when he was younger, so he could have me better trained. When I was younger I had Aussies, and they had me better trained.
    The wind is a challenge here as well. I spent enough time before we bought the place checking out traffic patterns and distance to town and necessities, quality of water, etc. Not once did I notice the wind was a major player in life on my mini farm. We bought in fall and the next spring my eyes were opened. I am going to show my builder your ideas.

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  10. I am absolutely fascinated. First of all, I had no idea about the cilantro/coriander thing. Why did I not know that?

    Second, I don't know why, but I just love the picture of the sheep all crowded into the trailer. Just feels right.

    Lastly, I haven't yet gotten on the whoopi pie bandwagon. But the marshmallow cream mixed with cream cheese idea now has me drooling all over my computer. I'm going to have to try it.

    Thanks, Lisa~

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  11. I love seeing your garden. I have a bit of a green thumb myself, but I'm not able to put it to any use(work, school, etc.)so I have to live vicariously though other people's gardening endeavors. So thank you for indulging me:)

    Also,

    Have you tried Amish peanut butter? Peanut butter, marshmallow fluff, corn syrup. I could pretty much make myself sick on the stuff. Which is why it's been years since I've had any...it's a thing best not kept readily available.

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  12. Anyone who IS Anyone just has to have some Marshmallow Fluff in the cupboard, right?!? I've got some so that makes me a Somebody. Somebody who's gonna have to try making some of those Whoopie Pies sometime too. Yum!

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  13. Everything looks great! The garden is coming along, the sheep are adorable...all looks like it's going well!

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  14. I've been away from blogland, and just stopped in to see what you've been up to. You've been very busy I see, Spring time is a busy season isn't it.

    I love how you ended this post, reminding us of how our God thought of all of our needs. Rest is just as important as work. And having the time to be refreshed in His word, for a day. The most needed of all refreshments!

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  15. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE whoopie pies! I made them for the first time recently. They were supposed to go to a family who just had a baby... Only a few made it out my front door. And I don't feel bad about that!!!

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