Tuesday 31 May 2011

During

During by A John Walters
During, a photo by A John Walters on Flickr.
Hobo hard at work

Saturday 28 May 2011

Rhubarb Wine

Rained today for the 1st time in weeks but only in the morning and fairly lightly. I did some weeding and the ground was bone-dry underneath.

Picked some more rhubarb with the intention of making rhubarb wine. From the recipes it seems I don't have enough to make a 1 gallon batch so I scaled back to about a third. Next year when I have 2 plants to harvest, I should be able to make up a proper batch.

I looked at my Quince trees on the way up. A couple of weeks ago the one tree was in bloom and I could see tiny fruit develop. Now, nothing. Like they all fell off or something.

On the other hand all the apple trees are bearing fruit and so is my pear tree. It didn't blossom last year so looking forward to fresh pears. The walnut tree is fruiting too so I have to remember when to harvest them for pickled walnuts. Best thing I made last years so I'll have the lot pickled this year!

Friday 27 May 2011

Before

Before by A John Walters
Before, a photo by A John Walters on Flickr.
test

Sunday 22 May 2011

Körmend

Met up with Hobo in the pub about 8am. Its a bit early for beer, even for me, so I had a coffee. Two reasons to go to Körmend this week.

  1. Need some money for the week
  2. To get the paint for the fence. 
I mentioned to Hobo that I wanted the fence done and he worked out the quantities we needed. The bridge is still out so the 1st stop in town is just outside the local school whereas normally this is the second stop (which I've never used). I went to the nearest ATM which surprisingly, wasn't where hobo thought it was. I went to get the cash while Hobo went off to get the beers in!

Met Hobo in a bar I'd never been in. i was quite pleased to have understood enough Hungarian to follow his instructions! He said that about 9am the people from the shop come in for a beer and we'd go over when they went back.

It was a different story from the last time I was in the shop looking for tile grout. This time no looking up stuff in the dictionary.

We got all the paint and Hobo said he'd arrange to have it picked up. i was relieved at that as the one can was bigger that the one we got in Budapest.

Went off to do some shopping while Hobo said he'd meet up in the bar in an hour.

Two hours later and its getting time to get the bus so I left the bar and went to the bus stop. Met a load of locals from the village who asked what I was doing. 'Waiting for Hobo' I said, at which point they all laughed so him not turning up would be the norm rather than the exception! (Reminds me of someone back home who swears blind he'll meet you somewhere and not turn up)

Monday 2 May 2011

Rhubarb

I gave Steve the first harvest of Rhubarb so the 2nd was for me. I made some rhubarb crumble and cooked it using the wood stove. Quite successful, apart from the recipe, far too much sugar for my taste. The next one will have the amount halved.

The wood stove is, quite frankly, the best bit of kit I've bought in some time. A lot of problems I had are now resources. For example, the large pile of rotten wood in the barn is no longer a disposal problem but a valuable resource. (ie it saves me the money it costs to buy firewood.). Similarly, the cardboard boxes are now kindling rather than rubbish to be thrown away.

As a side effect, the wood ash produced is a useful produc all in itself. I can use it on the garden as a fertiliser (well I use it as a substitute for lime where limes recommended in the gardening books) or I can use it to make lye. A project I want to do some time this year is to make soap which needs lye and fat.