Weigh them and add half the weight of sugar (eg we did 300g plums, 150g sugar)
Fill the jar up with strong rum (50% or greater)
Shake to help the sugar dissolve
Strain the liquid off the plums and bottle.
Tuesday, 7 August 2012
Plum Rum Recipe
Half fill a jar with plums (prepare the plums by cutting a line right round them to let the flavour out)
Weigh them and add half the weight of sugar (eg we did 300g plums, 150g sugar)
Fill the jar up with strong rum (50% or greater)
Shake to help the sugar dissolve
Leave for a few months shaking occasionally.
Strain the liquid off the plums and bottle.
Weigh them and add half the weight of sugar (eg we did 300g plums, 150g sugar)
Fill the jar up with strong rum (50% or greater)
Shake to help the sugar dissolve
Strain the liquid off the plums and bottle.
I'm a highly skilled IT professional...
...but now I spend my time standing in the dark and rain saying 'poo, poo, poo' to a puppy who is ignoring me...
sometimes it is not dark and not raining but she still ignores me... and still won't poo in the right place or on command - even though we KNOW she needs to and will do it 20 seconds later in the wrong place. Aaargh.
But I forgive her because she is so cute
Monday, 6 August 2012
How to win friends...
We were invited to dinner with some (English) neighbours, partially so that Poppy could meet their two (sisters just coming up for a year old). Poppy behaved well in many ways in that she made friends with their dogs (who are a bit shy) and didn't bite anyone or jump up too much, however she commited a few crimes
- Pulled over a pot plant which was a poor unfortunate plant that had only just survived being eaten by their goats and had been on its way to recovery until Poppy had a go at it. This rilled up their dogs to dig up another plant and eat it's roots
- Had a drink from their fish pond - which would have been ok except one of the fish was discovered to have died a bit later in the evening. They assure us they don't think it was Poppy's fault, but we are not sure.
- Dug up the geraniums around the fish pond in a really manic way, they plants could be replanted but there had been a nice arrangements of pebbles over the soil which is now ruined.
- Ate the reeds round the fish pond
- Dug/ate a hole in their door mat
- Stole their dogs toys off them
- Ate their brush
- Got in to the dog food and ate some of it
- Battered on the guinea pig cage (fortunately none of them died)
- Stalked the budgies
Friday, 3 August 2012
Coconut and Lime Sorbet/Icecream
Huw suggested making this while they were here so we got the ingredients but never got round to it. Not sure if it is sorbet or icecream. Dairy free but has creamy texture.
Don't know what Huw's recipe would have been, but we did the following
1 tin coconut cream
2 limes juiced
3 oz sugar
Mix together and put in to icecream maker until done
We had with chocolate sauce made by melting plain chocolate and adding some hot chocolate powder and milk.
Was very yummy so thanks to Huw for suggesting it!
Don't know what Huw's recipe would have been, but we did the following
1 tin coconut cream
2 limes juiced
3 oz sugar
Mix together and put in to icecream maker until done
We had with chocolate sauce made by melting plain chocolate and adding some hot chocolate powder and milk.
Was very yummy so thanks to Huw for suggesting it!
Still doing the sheep fencing
We have been working hard repairing the fence round a small plot below the house that we call The Orchard (it has a few apple trees but the name orchard might be over selling it at the moment) so that we can put the sheep there.
Their job (no slackers on the farm) will be to keep the grass down so we can turn in into a more convincing Orchard along with the similar size plot next door to it (as yet with no fence apart from electric tape which won't work on sheep).
This corner is now finished. Yes I know it still looks 'a bit wonky' but it is better than it was and we think it should be secure now. It was EVEN more effort than we thought as we had hoped that the pieces of fencing would all fit together and just need joining but even when we had removed all the trees that had grown through the wires pulling them apart there were bigger gaps than we could manage to strain the wire across (by approx 30cm in each case) so we ended up kind of weaving a new bit of fence from some green plastic coated garden wire.
We then had to do something similar in one of the other corners, easier in some ways because it wasn't in the middle of a thicket, but more difficult in others as there was a longer length of fence out of the ground. Sheep are well known for escaping under fences and most the way round the field the wire mesh is quite securely fixed to the ground, partially because it is buried and partially because things like ivy have grown up round the bottom of it but in a few places like the corners it was either already out of the ground for some reason or we had to pull it out to straighten and mend it.
The third and final corner wasn't in quite such a bad way and we just hammered the post in a bit (still quite shonky, but we hope sheep proof for a while anyway).
We now have to do something about a section where there is a 'gate' as some of the bottom of the fence is trailing across the ground in a dangerous way (sheep might put their feet through it) and the so called gate is not going to be at all sheep proof at the moment. It is a length of mesh with a post on the end which can be folded back to open the gate and the post can be attached with a wire loop to a fence post to close the gate.
This is the gate in the open position (spare fence post in foreground)
 |
| The 'Orchard'/Jungle |
This corner is now finished. Yes I know it still looks 'a bit wonky' but it is better than it was and we think it should be secure now. It was EVEN more effort than we thought as we had hoped that the pieces of fencing would all fit together and just need joining but even when we had removed all the trees that had grown through the wires pulling them apart there were bigger gaps than we could manage to strain the wire across (by approx 30cm in each case) so we ended up kind of weaving a new bit of fence from some green plastic coated garden wire.
 |
| Repaired fence |
We then had to do something similar in one of the other corners, easier in some ways because it wasn't in the middle of a thicket, but more difficult in others as there was a longer length of fence out of the ground. Sheep are well known for escaping under fences and most the way round the field the wire mesh is quite securely fixed to the ground, partially because it is buried and partially because things like ivy have grown up round the bottom of it but in a few places like the corners it was either already out of the ground for some reason or we had to pull it out to straighten and mend it.
 |
| Nice post! |
The third and final corner wasn't in quite such a bad way and we just hammered the post in a bit (still quite shonky, but we hope sheep proof for a while anyway).
We now have to do something about a section where there is a 'gate' as some of the bottom of the fence is trailing across the ground in a dangerous way (sheep might put their feet through it) and the so called gate is not going to be at all sheep proof at the moment. It is a length of mesh with a post on the end which can be folded back to open the gate and the post can be attached with a wire loop to a fence post to close the gate.
This is the gate in the open position (spare fence post in foreground)
 |
| The 'gate' in to the sheep field |
Animal tales
The cats looking very cute.
You would never guess what a nuisance they can be:
Pernod and Poppy - great carnivors and hunters
When Pernod broke in to the kitchen (and broke the butter dish) the thing he tried to steal was a packet of cherry tomatoes... not the pork chops...
Poppy goes to the vet
We took Poppy to the vet for her final vaccination and for the rabies jab (so she can get a pet passport in case we ever need it). She made such a fuss at being jabbed that the vet said she (our normal vet Nicolas is on holiday) had never seen such a wimpy pathetic dog in all her life (or something to that effect in French). She also showed me up by trying to wiggle out of my arms and doing her crocodile impression, I was occupied trying to stop her crashing to the floor and the vet gave me a row for not telling her off for snapping (the crocodile champs don't ususally make contact, she is just showing her annoyance). Then she wouldn't sit and rushed around the place. They think we are raising a savage (a wimpy pathetic savage!)
Poppy goes in the car
Since the great car crapping incident we have been working on two things to get to Poppy travelling in the crate in the back of the car. The first is getting her used to the car and it's motion, for this she has been travelling at Doug's feet and we have been making an effort to take her places - although the peacefulness of the drive is generally somewhat marred by her trying to dig up the floor to make it more comfortable and trying to climb on to Doug's lap so she can see out. The second is getting her used to being in her crate in the back of the car with the car stationary. For this we have been putting her in there for her naps and feeding her lunch in there.
We went for a drive yesterday to go for a walk in Pouzac woods (about 5 mins or less drive) so that on the way back we could put the two things together with her travelling in crate in the back. She wasn't 100% relaxed but it was much much MUCH better than last time (no howling, no barking, no crapping). We now just need to build up the time a bit and get her used to rougher roads - we didn't push it and leave her in the back for the drive which she isn't keen on as it is very bumpy. The vet was right - she is wimpy and pathetic!! Perhaps we are pampering her too much :)
Sambuca the trigger happy killer (or not)
The baby lizards have come out, they are very small and cute and you would think very chasable by a killer like Sambuca and even by a dollop like Pernod. However Doug saw one run over Sambuca's paws and she failed to make chase. I believe she did kill it a little later though, so she is just a bit slow off the mark
You would never guess what a nuisance they can be:
- meow, meow let me in the house meow I am staying here until you do meow if you open any windows I will sneak in meow I will try to bust through the bedroom shutters while you are sleeping giving you the fright of your life meow MEOW MEOW
- meow, meow let me walk on the table (in the outside kitchen) and steal your food while you eat
- meow, meow I am going to bust in to a visitors car and eat as much of the boudin noir they have brought for you as I can (luckly not that much before Sambuca was caught at it)
- meow, meow when I have busted in to the house one time I am going to try to eat the butter and SMASH the butter dish on the floor
Pernod and Poppy - great carnivors and hunters
 |
| Poppy eating watermelon |
 |
| Pernod eating watermelon |
Poppy goes to the vet
We took Poppy to the vet for her final vaccination and for the rabies jab (so she can get a pet passport in case we ever need it). She made such a fuss at being jabbed that the vet said she (our normal vet Nicolas is on holiday) had never seen such a wimpy pathetic dog in all her life (or something to that effect in French). She also showed me up by trying to wiggle out of my arms and doing her crocodile impression, I was occupied trying to stop her crashing to the floor and the vet gave me a row for not telling her off for snapping (the crocodile champs don't ususally make contact, she is just showing her annoyance). Then she wouldn't sit and rushed around the place. They think we are raising a savage (a wimpy pathetic savage!)
Poppy goes in the car
Since the great car crapping incident we have been working on two things to get to Poppy travelling in the crate in the back of the car. The first is getting her used to the car and it's motion, for this she has been travelling at Doug's feet and we have been making an effort to take her places - although the peacefulness of the drive is generally somewhat marred by her trying to dig up the floor to make it more comfortable and trying to climb on to Doug's lap so she can see out. The second is getting her used to being in her crate in the back of the car with the car stationary. For this we have been putting her in there for her naps and feeding her lunch in there.
 |
| Let me out you cruel people, I am NOT a wimp, cars ARE scary |
We went for a drive yesterday to go for a walk in Pouzac woods (about 5 mins or less drive) so that on the way back we could put the two things together with her travelling in crate in the back. She wasn't 100% relaxed but it was much much MUCH better than last time (no howling, no barking, no crapping). We now just need to build up the time a bit and get her used to rougher roads - we didn't push it and leave her in the back for the drive which she isn't keen on as it is very bumpy. The vet was right - she is wimpy and pathetic!! Perhaps we are pampering her too much :)
Sambuca the trigger happy killer (or not)
The baby lizards have come out, they are very small and cute and you would think very chasable by a killer like Sambuca and even by a dollop like Pernod. However Doug saw one run over Sambuca's paws and she failed to make chase. I believe she did kill it a little later though, so she is just a bit slow off the mark
Mmmm foooood (and beer)
Someone who raises pigs nearby and has lived here over 8 years (from England) popped over to see us the other day. He is also interested in brewing. He brought some of his own boudin noir (which is kind of like black pudding but a bit squishyer in texture). We had them with some of our own potatoes (Sirtema) and some broad beans (from the supermarket). Not quite self sufficent yet, but very tasty. Served with our own beer.
He invited us round to his sometime soon to talk beer and to be nosy how they are getting on with their rennovation (I hope we are DONE rennovation-wise in 8 and a half years!!)
On a different day we had globe artichoke, I LOVE them and we have been getting really nice ones recently. We have them with a dip made from butter, olive oil and french mustard. Not healthy but yummy. However much dip I make we manage to eat it all before we finish the artichokes and I have to make more - soon we will be up to a whole bottle of oil and a pat of butter with a jar of mustard for each artichoke.
He invited us round to his sometime soon to talk beer and to be nosy how they are getting on with their rennovation (I hope we are DONE rennovation-wise in 8 and a half years!!)
On a different day we had globe artichoke, I LOVE them and we have been getting really nice ones recently. We have them with a dip made from butter, olive oil and french mustard. Not healthy but yummy. However much dip I make we manage to eat it all before we finish the artichokes and I have to make more - soon we will be up to a whole bottle of oil and a pat of butter with a jar of mustard for each artichoke.
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