Whats going on ‘ere then? ANOTHER Ginger Tom?
Yesterday I walked into the little feed store. Do you want a cat, she said. Well actually I want some Oats and rolled Barley, but you can throw in the cat if you like, I said. The cat was found on one of those terribly hot days worn out and with blistered feet lying exhausted in a field close to her shop. Another summer abandonment I suppose.
So the barn has a new member. He is a bigger cat. Orange and white. Super friendly. We shall see if he decides to stay. He loves dogs and already has a fast friend in Boo. Once we know he will stay I think we will be needing another name. Soon.
A rare sighting of Chickpea and his Mum.
I decided not to make relish yesterday and instead to experiment with making pickled zuchinni. Though the cucumbers are growing it seems to me I should be able to pickle zuchinni as well. We will try these in a few days and see what they are like. I have made them as little discs as well. Every morning I put some kind of food in jars or in the freezer. But I only do small amounts at a time. All our plantings are staggered to fit this kind of routine. And this way the preserves themselves are a little different from day to day and we get winter surprises. But most of all I want to enjoy my preserving. It should not be a terrible chore that takes all day and leaves me in a sticky bad tempered mess.
Yesterday was zuchinni and beetroot. Today will be beetroot, beans and peach jam. The corn is only a day or two away so I will be doing corn every which way for a while.
I was preparing our dinner of roast home-grown beef and new potatoes, cleaning piles of greens from the garden when I looked out the kitchen window to see this!
Yes, you are right. There should not be piglets running in and out of the legs of the cows. Naughties! They had gone under a fence and were playing hide and seek with Daisy and Queenie. As I climbed through the gate, they squealed with delight and ran back under the fence to their un-bothered mother. Maybe she had told them to go outside and play in the traffic. I have blocked the hole with a concrete block. That will last about 5 minutes!
Good morning. On the last rounds last night I saw Pania roosting. Initially this gave me a fright. But she had called the chickpea up to this wide roost (they can fly quite high those little peachicks) and was actually keeping him warm while balancing on the long 4″x 2″. Clever bird.
Have a lovely day.
your friend on the farm, celi.
The Kitchen's Garden 
66 responses to “‘ullo ‘ullo ‘ullo?”
How good that you take in all these creatures. They don’t know how lucky they are…at first…then they certainly must know how lucky they are. By the way ‘ullo, ‘ullo, ‘ullo sounds very Northern, I’d be expecting to hear ‘allo, ‘allo, ‘allo…..
Excellent! I have only heard it and never seen it written! interesting how we interpret sounds into letters.. have a great day out of the kitchen and in the pool, Roger! c
It’s how the coppers (policemen) in London would great a suspicious scene back in the day!!
Ullo ullo was the name of that spoof sitcom of occupied France. I suppose you could spell it either way.
Used me to make me laugh every time.. delightfully ordinary humour!
Now that was ‘Allo, ‘Allo. A different kettle of fish, but clearly froggy.
froggy!! c
Good morning, Miss C.! I’ve missed you while I’ve been away and my things are trundling along along at the farmy! I love the little peahen…Have a wonderful day with your beautiful work!
How was the beach? I shall pop over and see later today! c
Ohh getting nervous for that little Chickpea with all the cats! Its raining ginger cats – how about Reign, or Marmaduke but perhaps Kupa wouldn’t approve 🙂 Laura
I hope The chickpea will be fine, His mother is terrifying! and he is getting quite big now.. c
I have never seen anything grow as fast as those little piglets. Good Morning, C.
They are growing lie weeds, probably because they eat so many of them.. c
Oh how lovely another kitty! I am thrilled! Being so friendly, I am positive he will stay and it seems our little Chickpea is growing very quickly.
Have a super day C.
🙂 Mandy xo
I thought, Mandy, if he does stick around maybe you could name this one and then we can continue with our South African theme.. but he was not here for breakfast this morning so he may have already decamped to the neighbours.. c
Oh what a pity he wasn’t there – I will think of a name all the same, you know, just in case. xo
He spent most of yesterday exploring the gardens so i am fairly sure that he will roll yawning out from under a bush sometime soon. The others all spend days in the barn to start but he is a much more confident cat. c
I found him, well actually Ton found him once we had locked the savage inside, he was in the corn and has had a lovely feed of roast beef as a welcome home!.. c
Woohoo!
Right, now just to finalise a name.
I know it has nothing to do with his colour like with Egoli but being from the Eastern Cape and with our dear icon Nelson Mandela who is ailing also being from the Eastern Cape, what about what we affectionately call him – “Madiba” which is a title of respect derived from his Xhosa clan.
What do you think? xo
That is a big name for a cat to live up to.. it sounds lovely. And he does have a grandfatherly look to him. As long as you think it is OK to call a CAT Madiba. We will let him hang about for a few days just to be sure he will stay for a while and then we will watch him grow into his name. Thank you Mandy. I know you love the moggies. have a lovely day.. c
My sister called her cat Roli as a tribute to Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (Xhosi pronunciation is Xoli Lila, I believe). He looks like a nice cat. I hope he stays. If only all the world was as cat friendly as the Farmy. I know it’s a practical solution but you have such a kind heart, and it’s made my morning 🙂
Pickling is great fun! When you do your beetroot do you put them in a hot water bath or just let the vinegar do the preserving? Also what vinegar do you use? I try to use Malt, but it is so expensive over here!
Tomatoes are finally going red, so should be making salsa and pasta sauce soon, using up a bumper crop of garlic I have this year. And I have cucs coming out of my ears.
Love the new kittie. Keep seeing messages on FB from local shelter that they are full to overflowing with cats and kittens. Tempted to go get another couple of kittens now I am down to two. Still missing Keisha like crazy, maybe a couple more babies will ease the pain?
I use real apple cider vinegar (healthier). I do them in hot water first, with their tops on, then into the jars with the vinegar mix. After that I hot water bath them again for 15 minutes just to be sure of the seal.. a couple of kittens will certainly keep you busy, and entertained! c
“Play in the traffic.” My favorite quote of the day from your post. I love how you always “see” everything in the context of creative writing.
I am always half asleep when I write the posts in the morning, I wonder if this has anything to do with it!! morning audrey.. c
Good morning Celi ; how about Mr. bojango? would the chickpea be learning to fly from following pia around avoiding obstacles? just a thought 🙂 mike
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It is true that as they move through the barn there are many obstacles.. but my research tells me that they can fly quite high from birth.. unlike a chicken.. c
cor ..if Daisy or Queenie had kicked up a leg..it would of been a case of …Pigs DO fly!!! loved it
aha!! very good! The cows were studiously ignoring the little rascals!
Oh I do love the farmy.. and although I don’t comment every time due to work commitments I never miss your post… the farmy makes me want to go back to my farm… I miss mine because of yours…
its those piglets isn’t it!?.. have a good days work honey.. c
Pickled beet root. Can’t get enough of that stuff. I froze handfuls of parsley this morning. I doubt that the plant can survive my being away for 3weeks so chop, chop, chop, freeze. xx
I dry parsley too. just pick it, do not wash it, pop it into a brown paper bag, and tape the opening closed. Then pop it in the back of your fridge for a couple of months. It will dry beautifully green and then you can put it in a jar. I love it too! c
Oh my gosh. I can’t wait to try this. Hmm… I wonder if I have any paper bags in my recycling bin!! Thanks, c!
I use the bags they pop a bottle of wine in at the store.. you have reminded me to do some parsley today too, I hate it when I forget! c
Don’t have anything like that at the moment. I have a bag from the bakery that’s half paper-half cel’o. Don’t think that will work though. I’ll buy some mushrooms on my return, as those always come in brown paper bags. 🙂
Perfect! c
Snorts – I’m still laughing at the little Houdinis that got in with the cows. That is so funny. They have grown like little weeds in the garden – so very fast!! I love seeing pictures of them.
Pickling takes my mom back to childhood. She goes down memory lane at times and tells me about her dad pickling pickles and cauliflower. It sounds delicious! XOXO – Bacon
I love pickled cauli too but i cannot grow it, the temps fluctuate too much for the head to grow.. such a shame!
as a kid, we had a cat like that
his name was eggie, because he looked like fried eggs
Eggie, i love it when kids name animals, our old ginger cat was called Ginge! So sweet.. c
My first cat (during WWII) looked a bit like your new one. His name was Frisky. I love those naughty piglets, and Pania’s baby.
A cat that friendly isn’t normally abandoned. If it likes dogs it must have lived with them beforehand. Maybe the family moved and it ran away from its new home… Anyway, it’s in a good place at the moment.
I used to have a ginger tom called Teddy, but my flatmate Lucy always insisted on calling him Orange Cat 😉
he is very thin, full of burrs and with those sore feet so I do tend to agree with you Mad. He must have tried to follow his family. Or went with them and tried to get back home. As with Egoli, the word is out to see if we can find their families.. otherwise they are both sleeping in the sun!! c
He won’t stay thin for long on the farmy 😉
Are cats micro chipped in the States? Perhaps a trip to the vet for a wave of the chip reader would find their old homes?
They will both have their turn at the vets, but these are just moggies, micro chipping cats is not big in the country.. c