Eating In

We like eating in and generally its simple stuff based on food from the croft. But the other day we did the 'Eat In' thing and had a rather grim experience - think of this as a cautionary tale.

The long version of the story would start with plans for an early start ruined by a burst pipe in the boiler house, move on to involve a bizarre game where you have to work out how to get two king size and eight single mattresses in the back of a rented standard SWB Transit (thanks for the help Frances) and then detail all the drama of a wintry drive to Lydd in Kent - 600 miles from home.

The short version would start with us turning off the M74 at Gretna services in need of sustenance. Like the thirsty antelope at a waterhole we were wary, not of crocodiles or big cats of course, just dubious food. But just like the antelope's thirst can cause it to make unwise and fatal decisions, we were hungry and getting desperate. We cast cautious eyes around, refusing to be tempted by the bright lights and promises of Burger King and Costa Coffee and then we spotted what seemed a safe haven.

'Eat In' cleverly gave the impression it did what it was called, home comforts and good homely food. Even though I wanted a coffee I was a sucker for the dangling sign that simply said  'Have a nice cup of tea'. It cunningly suggested you were being invited into someone's home and whats more the simple menu was accompanied  by the request that  you would have to wait ten minutes while your food was cooked - how good was that. The final nail in our coffins was the staff - they were great!

In fact until our food arrived everything was great - what a shame the food was so truly awful, so grim, such rubbish. Shame for them and a shame for us. 

So there we are, based upon our experience, when eating out don't 'Eat In'.

We currently buy our electricity from Good  Energy, not the cheapest but all renewably sourced and very nice people. Any day soon we hope to be selling lots and buying less as our wind tubine is up and wired but not quite running - it has to be commissioned. Anyhow they asked us to produce a Christmas wish list to go on their Good Energy Christmas wish list blog. So I thought I might share it with you.

 

My Christmas wish list is a bit long but isn't that what Christmas is all about.

 

So please Santa;

 

May our newly erected Evance wind turbine, yet to be commissioned, deliver the goods.

May the proposed heat incentives become a reality.

May a low energy light bulb be produced that lasts as long as promised.

and finally

May climate change deniers at least accept that it is a worrying possibilty.

 

Oh and may the frost get out of the ground so we can have parsnips for Christmas

 

Bill and Sukie Barber

www.bluebellcroft.co.uk

Poaching eggs

To poach perfect eggs ignore talk of cracking eggs into induced mini whirlpools or adding vinigar or using moulds just use a small frying pan or largish shallow saucepan ( you need to be able to get bothhands close to the water). Heat the water till it is as hot as your finger tips can bare for a few seconds and  lower the cracked egg into the water and gently open it up letting the egg slide out. The only other requirement is that the egg must be freshly laid i.e. that day or the previous one. To shell hard boiled eggs easily do it under a running tap and use eggs that are at least 4 days old

Dabbling with ducks

I'm not sure if it has been the strange season, prolonged winter, dry spring (bad year for wind turbines) cool, wet August (maybe not so strange) but most local chicken keepers have seem to have suffered a bigger slump in egg production than usual this autumn. They should consider dabbling with ducks.

We have a little flock of  khaki Campbells, though keen observers will spot a black duck in the pond. One drake and five ducks are in their third year four ducks and one drake hatched and reared this year. They are currently laying 5-8 eggs a day and are outperforming the chickens by c.5 to 1. Until the young ducks started laying they did slump to 1 or 2 for a month or so but in the previous 6-7 months layed 4 or 5 eggs each day and on one occaision surprisingly 6 (only 5 ducks). The eggs are great to eat and fantastic for baking.

 

Bill and Sukie's Good Life. Making a living on a Highland Croft.

In 2004 we gave up the remorsless grind of running a small hotel and bought a 3 hectare croft in the loch side villiage of Strontian.

A house was needed for the family and a further property required for self catering to provide an income.

We also planed to produce much of our own food so establishing a veg garden, a large poly tunnel and housing for livestock was another priority.

Six years on we are running low on children, with six gone and just two left, but other livestock has flourished with our house cow Daisy and three followers, a pair of pigs fattening, and flocks of geese, chickens and ducks.

With plenty of muck and compost veg and fruit gardens have done well and so Billandsukieatbluebellcroft has become Bill and Suki eat Bluebell croft helped, of course, by family, friends and guests.