It is dry now. Not unusual for September. So I am watering. 
The first thing I do every morning is load the dehydrator and start the sauce. Oh and here is the link to the tomato sauce I am making today. It is from Tanya in Spain. This is the one that Chg John makes too. It comes highly recommended.
The sheep head for the shade very early in the day, but the cows graze on and off all day. Daisy my big Ayrshire is not bothered by the heat. Oh, Look again at the shot of fat Queenie (the Hereford heifer) – in the background you will see the big car in the yards. Wel,l last night I got John to open the boot up .. I have decided to use it as a hay feeder this winter. I will clean it out very carefully and give it a try today. Saves buying one.
Minty has decided that her favourite shade is in with the broiler chickens. The rest of the flock is under the trees but she sticks her head in under the tarp. Sheep TV. 
The tarp flaps about in the breeze, and it is quite cool in there. Meadow has joined her. Which has led me to begin to design a Chicken Ark that doubles as a shelter for the sheep. I love the idea of multi-purpose structures. And next year my layers will be out in an Ark for the summer as well.
The September Home Grown Challenge has taken another interesting turn. Without the convenience of bought butter, (once again when we make something by hand we are very frugal with it’s use and this summer I have to BUY the raw milk that gives me the cream that makes the butter – I can only buy local farm milk , flour and olive oil)- I have begun to make pastry and roast the vegetables with the strained lard left over from the lamb roasts. This is what my mother used to do. We ate roast mutton once a week when I was young, we were never short of lard. And last night eating our crunchiest of crunchy roast potatoes I have decided I am never going back to roasting with butter.
Dinner for bees. With the dry weather and the time of year, the clover has come to the end of its flowering so I have begun to feed the bees. Last year I did not do this , and the result was hives of bees who had run out of honey before the winter had run out of deep freeze and they died. So yesterday evening I put out dishes of sugar water, with marbles and sticks so they do not drown. These are placed in their flight path to begin and gradually I will move them in under the trees and out of the way, but still close enough to me so I can conveniently feed the bees as part of my general chores in the morning. Now that I have started I need to keep this a regular feed right until the first killing frost. By then they will have huddled into hibernation and can begin to rely on their own stores.
Good morning. By late today I hope to have some photos of the bees collecting their dinner. I never harvest honey when I am feeding sugar water. This is just for the bees. Clever wee fellas.
I hope you all have a lovely day.
your friend on the farm, celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
90 responses to “In chronological order, some days are just like that”
Anothe busy day – hope you enjoy the ketchup! Love the shots of the sheep, especially under the tarp. And I so agree about roasting with the meat lard/fat – so tasty and gorgeous crunchy potatoes 🙂 Have a lovely day miss c….
Morning Tanya, so far the day has begin just as it should! Lots of work ahead but it will be a good day, i have popped in for my coffee before starting the next round.. c
Lovely photos today. Smart sheep. And who would have thought to feed the bees in such an artistic way.
It’s like a really posh restaurant!
Christine
It is mostly for convenience, there are feeders that i can fill at the hive, but the hive is in an oout of the way spot for obvious reasons and I try to streamline my movements .. Time and Motion! c
If only I could be as organised as you!
Oh I am sure you are julie, you have so much more to organise than I do and so much of it has an emotional organisation to carry as well.. I bet you are revelling in that spring air!. c
Clever Minty! Leave it to the animals to find the coolest spot. That’s where Max is sure to be. Today may very well be Summer’s swan song. I’ll be wearing a jacket to the market this Saturday and I bet you will, too, for your morning rounds. I look forward to your photos of the bees. In the past, they’ve been among your best. You’re going to love that ketchup. If I didn’t have jam to make on Saturday, I’d be making a batch of ketchup. Maybe Sunday. Have a great day, Celi!
OH NO!! I am not ready for the jacket, but I guess i should get it down off its hook and give it a wash! c
I dunno, Celi. Here they’re saying it will be about 45˚ Saturday morning before rising back to 70˚. I put my jacket into the laundry bin when I heard that.
sigh.. c
Great pictures. I love your re-use idea for the car boot! The tomato sauce shall be tried – but not this year, as we didn’t plant any toms because of the move. Next year I’ll have a few in pots if I am able. Pastry with butter: have you tried making pastry and/or roast potatoes with duck fat? it is absolutely gorgeous. First cook your duck……………
love,
ViV
I love duck fat, but alas as you say.. no duck! You never know though, maybe some time in the future! c
Mom roasted a goose one Christmas. She clairified the fat and made cookies with it. They were so short! Just lovely.
wow
very smart sheep! i roast my potatoes in duck fat. much better than butter!
I used to buy small and VERY expensive tins of duck fat when I lived in london, just for the potatoes! c
Good morning, Celi. We were in the low 90’s here yesterday and in a few days it’s supposed to hit 40’s for lows! That pie looks so good. I agree about using the lard for cooking. Although there are still some things I love to use butter for. Do you brown your meat before putting it in the pie? Have a great day, Celi!
I am a butter freak, i cannot keep away from the stuff, so the challenge is good for weaning me off it! How is Mikes knee? c
Wean off butter!!! SACRILEGE! 😀 The knee is improving but he’s still hobbling around. It’s hard to keep him grounded but he needs to let it heal! You know what it’s like. Always so much to do and winter will be here before we know it.
He must be deeply frustrated but you tell him from me if he does not give it a GOOD feet up rest every day, (at least two hours morning and two hours afternoon) then it will take twice as long to heal. Elevated!! I know – I popped a knee cap years ago, refused to rest and it took almost five years. i am not kidding. i had to wear a knee brace. You can scare him with arthritis as well. Maybe he can work on the books or something.. he can drive the tractor as long as the leg is straight and ELEVATED! (send me pictures!! ) I love butter.. I will never really give it up! c
Okay – tell me about the pie….I see onions and bell peppers, but the bowls have apples and green tomatoes…what all is in there.
The bowls were just on the table, I seldom dress a shot! too lazy! In the pie is beef, browned and cooked in beer, balsamic, soy and worcestershire sauces. I cook it for a LONG time. Then i cook the onions and capsicum and pile it on top so the flavours don’t get muddled. Served with fried apples. The green tomatoes are tomatillos, I made a salsa verde as well yesterday.. Lots of good food here! c
YUM!!!!!!!!
Growing up there was always a white enamel pot sitting in the fridge with the strained, solidified lard, ready for the next time it was needed. Sounds like I might need to find an enamel pot of my own! 🙂 Gorgeous writing and photos as usual Celi!
Good morning. I was saying exactly the same thing to John yesterday, we need to find one, probably an antique shop acquisition!! c
If not enamel then use glass. As a kid we had ‘Roast’ every Sunday (pork, Lamb or Beef, for some reason Chicken was expensive when I was growing up and only for special occasions). The fat was drained from the roast for the potatoes next week, and the ‘jelly’ on the bottom was used for the gravy. The pork fat made the best roast potatoes, but the beef jelly made the bast gravy. There was always lard in the fridge, and my granddad even liked it spread on bread!
so did my Father! and then fried bread they all loved fried bread, and we were all so TRIM!! Pork was very expensive in NZ, still is i think, we definitely had roast chickens but mutton every sunday.. never lamb, morning Lyn.. c
Your photos are always interesting! I feel like I’m taking a walk around your place. Another hot day in the forecast for SW Oklahoma too. There are wee chances for rain in the coming days… we laugh but these late summer rains always hit just in time for the state fair!
We have those tiny rainy forecasts too, I would not mind a few drops! But I hope the storms hold off until I get the chickens and the steer into the freezer, it is so lazy when everyone can be out in the fields! c
Good morning! Busy busy busy!!! LOL Love the photos! Today I am working on some corn for the freezer. Got the water set to boil for blanching. Today it is in the low 60s here in North Dakota. Sun is shining and the hummingbird wars continue outside our bedroom window! They were humming above my head when I was out shucking the corn! They love the sweet smell! And the yellow jackets! LOL I also have a pot of sauce simmering on the back burner this morning. Takes all day to simmer to get it just right for canning later! Have a great day! Love this neighborhood here!
The pot pies sound delicious!!! By the way…we all love the garlic tomato sauce!!! Canned some!!! Thank you for a great recipe!!! 🙂
You are busy! But it is such a good feeling as you see the jars stacking into the cellar! I wish i had humming birds.. c
Glad every one likes the Garlic Sauce!! Must look out some other recipes for you guys.
Lyn you are a star!! c
Those sheep are funny!
I like the idea of using the car trunk as a feeder. My next door neighbour in Georgia had two old Cadillacs in her drive way, which she used as cupboards – she must have had the entire neighbourhood’s old furniture (from the last 100 years) stacked up in her back yard 😉
Cadillac’s as cupboards! fantastic, I use Johns old convertible to store all my honey gear, away from the mice.. morning Mad!! c
Lovely good morning photos.
Good morning.. coffee time! c
I’ve been wondering how to make a bowl of water safe for the wild bees – the bird bath is just too deep for them. If you don’t mind, I’ll be pinching your idea of a marble-filled bowl to use here – thank you!
You are most welcome, also under my dripping tap is an old roasting dish filled with bricks, they all sit along the bricks and dip in for a drink, i will try and get a shot for you today..I was mortified when I first discovered that bees drown getting water. this is why they prefer muddy puddles.. c
Those sweet ewes are so cute. Did you see them duck under the tarp? They are clearly a lot smarter than they are given credit for. And such a clever idea and beautiful shot of that royal blue bowl of marbles. Where in the world did you find marbles, Celi? And perfect sticks. That is a work of art.
The marbles are from Johns childhood marble collection, i use them every year and every year he moans about me doing it, but you are right.. where would one buy coloured marbles anymore, though I have not looked.. we used to play marbles every summer at school!
We have an ancient hardware store (est. early 1800s) here in Huntsville , AL that always carries them in every color, size and description. 😉
Lots of fun, Celi!
I would LOVE that hardware store!
Thought you might. 😉 And here is a peak inside courtesy of the Little Sundog when she visited me in spring! http://pixilatedtoo.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/harrison-brothers-hardware.jpg
I am coming to visit too!!! What a fantastic store.. !
OMGoodness! I just discovered they have a basement… architectural salvage… first and third Saturdays… drooling!
CRUEL!! c