Can't believe how close to Christmas it is! With all the yard jobs done by 4pm, I'm in the house and plan to catch up on the huge pile of ironing whilst we've got dark nights so early. But here I am, finding another job (distraction) to do instead - writing my blog!
Most of the Christmas shopping done online this year, so just waiting for some extra presents to arrive and wrap. Christmas cake made and iced (we do love rich fruit cake - I always make ours but have to hold everyone back from eating it before the big day), two dozen mincepies in the cake tin as well as a chocolate log (homemade of course, I bet that doesn't last the week!). All this baking is because we're still getting four fresh eggs per day from my White Leghorn hens - think we'll call them after the Telly Tubbies - Tinky Winky, Dipsey, LaLa and Po. You can't tell them apart but every morning I let them out of the hen hut, three have already layed their eggs, and one (Dipsey - I think) runs as fast as she can to the straw barn, as if in desperate need to lay her egg! Sure enough ten or so minutes later, she announces she's laid her egg in a feed bucket of hay!
Back to Christmas preparations. I always worry we'll run out of heating oil, tractor diesel, cow cake, horse feed etc as everyone will close down on Christmas Eve for the holidays! It seems that most of the world is having a few days off work and we're the only ones still working on Christmas Day. I've been brought up with it of course. All the cows need milking, feeding, scraping out and bedding down before we can open a present! Usually breakfast comes before that too so its well into the morning when we can think about sitting down as a family to open our presents together. This has turned into a family tradition. I've done this all my life and it's funny to see my teenage children still want us all to sit together and see each present opened.
Christmas lunch is always at 1pm in our house. That's because we're outside again just after the Queens Speech to do the milking and feeding round. We have my parents coming round this year - who are semi retired farmers now - and my in-laws will join us for lunch too. So cooking for 8 this year. I don't mind as it seems easier to have everyone here than rush off to another house for lunch which might not happen until 4pm! I usually cook the "bird" overnight so its cooked by breakfast anyway. Just leave it to rest in the bottom oven of the Aga whilst preparing the rest of the meal.
It's sad we just don't have time to go to Church on Christmas morning which would be nice as we would see some of our neighbours and we live on Church Lane. Some years ago we went to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, which was lovely but again, we're up early next morning with so much to do before breakfast, it just doesn't fit in.
This cold snap we've had these past few weeks has been a blessing in disguise. We love the dry, solid ground and only once has the parlour frozen up during the night. Some of our yearling heifers are still outside and we're taking hay to them daily. Some have turned alittle wild and nomadic as they've got so many acres to graze and shelter from. Sadly the forecast is for more wet weather and warmer temperatures this weekend, which is bad news. Sometimes, baby calves hate the change in temperatures which can lead to them getting pneumonia. If left untreated they can die from it. So listening out for any slight cough or runny nose in the youngstock.
Well, this is not getting the ironing done. I wonder if I can pay Charlotte with cakes to clear the ironing pile.
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