We said goodbye today to one of our first chickens, Radar.
Those who have seen Radar will know that this day had been coming for a while. Her eyes had clouded over and she barely left the chook run. This week she deteriorated more and just sat in a corner, barely moving and refusing food and drink. This morning her pain ended.
Ive got really mixed emotions about it. She was in pain so in that respect i am pleased we could help end her sufferring. On the other hand it is still hard to end a life, even if it was euthanasia. It feels extra sad because today it happens to be pouring with rain and very grey. Sadly approriate.
We have decided that since she was sick that we wont be putting her on the table, and have buried her under a new olive tree in the garden. Farmer Gawn, who was her main guardian, did not wish to be there at the end but did ask that i bury a small bundle of straw with her, to be ‘her final nest’. I’ve got a lump in my throat now thinking about it.
don’t buy into those expensive pizza from the supermarket or those oily ones from domiroes / hutt of pizza
Make your own bases - its easy like a Sunday morning!!!
this will make roughly 4 bases depends how big or small you make them
ok all you do is mix these ingredients in a bowl:
1 kg flour, 1 tsp yeast, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar 600ml water
leave in a warm place like a window sill for 30 mins then SHABANG !!! pizza base
add a little more flour if necessary. eg you should be able to roll it without it sticking to the rolling pin (or wine bottle if you dont have a rolling pin)
MMMMMMMmmmmm fresh basil……
Step 1 - Plug in food processor
Step 2 - Add basil (leaves and stalks), pine nuts, parmesan cheese and olive oil. Our measurements were very approximate but try for about a cup of each.
Step 3 - BLEND. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add splashes of olive oil as needed.
Step 4 - Ready to go!
A house round the corner has a big xmas light display on their property and a big sign up outside saying “Please come in and enjoy our garden”. It was about an acre of private garden with loads of christmas lights! Such a nice thing for the owners to open up to the community at christmas time.
MAGICAL.
On our way to the Gladstone Inn for what turned out to be a fabulously yummy lunch, we stopped at Parkvale Mushrooms.
We went in planning to buy a bag of mushrooms ($10 for 2kg) but ended up coming away with a bucket of compost full of mushroom spores so we can grown our own!
The bucket load can provide 3 months worth of mushrooms and only costs $15! The buckets can be ordered and delivered anywhere in NZ, and include growing instructions. Check out the Parkvale website for info http://parkvale.co.nz/.
Today we got approved for our insulation grant so full steam ahead for operation ‘make our house snuggly’!
Hard to even comprehend how cold it was in the winter though as it is soooooooooo hot right now! Summer has definitely arrived in the Wairarapa.
