I love making jam and jelly and chutney!! Some tips that you might like.. The cores and skins of the apples can be put in a muslin bag so that when bobbing around the pot can be easily removed. Also, at this stage of first boiling (second boiling to get the jelly stage) if you add a few long sprigs of mint (I suppose about 4 lengths, each of 6 inches) to this and at the time of removing your muslin bag, you remove this too, then, when you are almost ready to jar your jelly, add about 4 tablespoons of chopped (finely) fresh mint, voila you have apple and mint jelly, to serve with lamb. Really delicious! Oh, and when you have sterilised your jars, you are potting your jam/jelly/chutney, screw on the lid tightly, and tip upside down, the heat of the contents will sterilise the lid, therefore eliminating your fear of botulism.. Hopefully. Hope that helps (you probably knew all that stuff already!) xx

My dad kills our chickens/cockerels for our use, and I pluck and draw them. The process doesn't really bother me to be honest, and whenever I do it, I always involve one or more of the kids and we have a little 'post mortem' so they can see what is actually inside what we are going to eat. They are really quite blaze about it and that's exactly what I like - that they know where it's come from and that it doesn't come from a polystyrene tray from the supermarket (well, at least not all the time!). Glad you are enjoying your adventure. xx

How many are you taking? Whenever we need to dispatch for table purposes we do it ourselves. Dad will do 'the deed' and then I will draw them. Unfortunately ours are not big enough to eat for Christmas dinner, but we have previously had one of our own for Christmas - and it was delicious! Hope your early morning proves fruitful! x

Our chicks hatched (from our own eggs, from our own hens and cockerel) on 3rd July. They are now about 16 weeks which by all accounts is about 2 weeks off point of lay. They are nowhere near ready to be laying, as well as it now being winter here so they won't start until the spring, but they are quite cute! They went from cute chick, to ugly, gangly teenager and now are back up to cute - in the 'young adult' type way! I think out of 6 chicks that hatched we probably have 3 hens and 3 cockerels, and the kids have always known (with this batch and with previous batches) that we eat the cockerels. We do kill them ourselves (well, my dad does, and then plucks them) but I draw them and the kids are fully involved every step of the way (yes, really, the kids watch the killing bit too - their choice not mine!) and they are so accepting of it all. I too think that we are too disconnected from the food chain and want to impress upon my boys that meat does not exclusively come from the supermarket on a disgusting polystyrene tray. Love your chicks and pigs and all other assorted 'Good Life' things - Tom and Barbara would be very proud!

Love, Adam, really do - so funny!!! Unless you are referring to Gammy, Joyce didn't roast potatoes in lard. Not ever! She used dripping (the difference being that lard is from pigs and dripping from cows!) and yes, her roast potatoes were great! And yes, the sound of arteries creaking can be heard here too! Personally, I favour goose fat and after par-boiling the potatoes, I toss them in flour before adding them individually to the sizzling hot fat. Gas 9 (as hot as the oven will go) for about 45 mins and they are delicious! Controversial that I should disagree with Joyce over a cooking matter, but hey, that's life! xxx

Strange as you may find this, I used cloth nappies for all three of mine, but not exclusively and definitely never at night! I started with each one about 6 weeks and went until about 14/15 months. Loved them. I go the Motherease ones which are shaped and have the wraps that go over the top. Love, love them! Shame you don't live a tad closer and I'd give them to you - I'm desperate to find someone to sell/give the lot to! Enjoy your week of Youtube tutorials! xx

I was looking through your recipe index and came across this! I am a bit of a jam and chutney making freak and spend many winter weekends making things! I just thought I'd add that when I'm making strawberry jam (and yes, I'm afraid I do add the loads of sugar, as I like it to be preserved for longer!) but I always add a couple of tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Brings out the flavour of the strawberries. Not that I can educate you in any way in cooking, just thought I would share my 'secret' ingredient! xx

Will you post to England? ;-) Looks like a great day xx

I may very well have missed something significant, but what is a banneton? What did you make it from (you did make it, right?), and what is it used for? Why does it need to be floured? Looks like a bowl to me - is that not right? Please spell it out for the slightly harassed, very over-tired English woman!

Happy Birthday !! Must confess to, once again, being utterly hopeless with a present for him.. Will promise to send great Christmas presents ;-) Much English love all round xxxx

What exciting news! Sending lots of love and happy thoughts from England :-) xx

I have quite a few friends that I went to school with - from when we were all about 4. What is just the loveliest thing is that we now (quite by accident) all live in the same village so our children are going to school together too. I just think it's marvellous! Have to say, the wonders of facebook do make keeping in touch with old friends so much easier and accessible! Glad you had a wonderful weekend (and glad you are back in blog-land now too ;-)....!)

I must confess, I always wear pretty knickers ;-) Have done for ages - and to be perfectly honest, only ever matching sets - I wear matching bra and knickers every day and it makes me feel amazing. It is all about me, I hasten to add ;-) The last year has seen me lose a lot of weight (am now a size 8 - eeek!) and the budget didn't really involve new wardrobe for losing weight, however, I would never be without gorgeous underwear - and I echo Estelle - throw out the not-nice pants when you buy new ones, as there will always be an excuse to wear them if they are in the drawer! Happy shopping!! xx

Oooh, soooooooo envious! And I have been trying to get hold of some of that gorgeous grey/blue/burnt orange Amy Butler fabric (penultimate pic) for ages, but they have sold out in the UK! But there is other Amy Butler fabric that I love so planning several of my own crafty projects! Enjoy! x

Gorgeous! And I love the photo of the wellies! And no, no self-cutting story, but I did once ask Rick to trim my hair, which he diligently did, and when I'd seen that it wasn't too bad at all, I thought I'd ask him to cut the layers in it too. This wouldn't have been too bad, but by the time he'd finished, it did look just like I had two differnt haircuts - one on top of the other! Very funny and needless to say, didn't ask him again! And I probably haven't thought about that in some time! x

I want to sympathise. I want to say how horribly worrying that must have been for you. I want to support your gentle, but stern, words with Tilly. But what I am actually doing is laughing outrageously at the slight mention of Adam not being around because he was at a 'beekeeping seminar'! Too funny - how our lives, do, indeed change! Happy Sunday lovely Fi - and just as an aside, I have been more than happy for James to walk to and from the shop by himself for some time now, but the other day, James walked to fetch Edward (his 4 year old brother) from a playdate! Accross a road, across a field, down a path and FIND the friend's house! Just delightful that they want to do it, and that the village we live in is safe enough to learn independence (all of us!). Speak again very soon xxx

Yum! This is my job for today with James. He's doing the mixing - although ours will be with a hand mixer not a processor - same effect, less washing up! x

Help! Need the recipe for sour cream asap as making butter today with James! Although, do I just keep the buttermilk in the fridge until required for sour cream? How long will it keep? Edward out at playdate today and I'm going to get James making butter. Wills will just have to keep himself amused while we potter in the kitchen! Have a top weekend xx

You are right, foxes don't like dogs. Get a dog and your chickens should be safe as houses. On the topic of chicks, we bought our chickens as battery rescue hens. Ours have never gone broody but Maggie, our next door neighbour, has bantams which go broody at the drop of a hat! Our hens are with a cockerel and so all our eggs are fertile and we have had a good success rate of breeding them. We stick our fertile eggs under next door's broody hens and ba-boom, 21 days later we have chicks! You go for it - the only thing about point-of-lay hens is that they are ready and you don't need to feed and look after chicks that aren't actually giving you anything back. That said, I love the whole egg/broody hen/chick process, as do the boys, so I'd do it that way round any day! Enjoy xx

What beautiful photos :-) Would have liked to see some of my brother - being the doting Cousin! Was he with you at this point?! xxx

Sending lots of English love for Ivy's speedy recovery and hoping that my brother's visit was not too untimely! You, darling Fi, are a true Pollyanna. You inspire me greatly and I can only say that my life is so much more fulfilled knowing you. I hope you and the rest of your beautiful family are relaxing *after* your holiday xxx

In my experience with chickens, I'd be checking under every bush they have access to! Just because you have provided lovely warm, covered nest boxes, does NOT mean that is where they lay! I came across about 18 eggs one day after thinking that they had stopped laying! Gorgeous photos of Tilly and Ad xxx

Well, I have to agree with the last post. Having recently separated from my husband, I have to say that is one of the bravest things I have ever done. That said, 6 months in and we are both far better parents for not being together than we ever were together. That's the most important thing...

You know, I was unbelieveably frustrated yesterday at not having got anything achieved, and when a friend texted me and asked how I was, suggested that maybe Mondays are non-achieving days and if we accept it, embrace it and roll with it, we don't get so frustrated any more. That said, an hour on hold only to be disconnected would have me swearing, not just staring in disbelief....! Lovely post, and be cheered that there are many, many people the world over that achieved nothing today! PS. LOVELY to chat to you, and that did go down as the one thing I achieved xxx

Funny, isn't it, that the thing commented on most is the $250 hair cut! That sounds a lot to me, but about the time when you were doing that, the exchange rate was about $2.50 to £1 so that would have meant £100 hair cut, which I have done! Crazy thoughts, but loving the new and improved Fi! By the way, did you get the presents?! xxx