Getting rid of the wall by the stairs

We were suffering from covid when the window guy announced he was coming a month earlier than expected. This wall needed to go before we could clear stuff out of his way to install all the windows. It was a bit of a trial tbh! But so glad to have it gone. There is another one the same the other side of the stairs still to go. Boo hoo hoo.

It looks fantastic now it is gone. But we are sticking with the plan of having a new wall here eventually to keep kitchen smells in the kitchen, plus a large part of the kitchen units need to be against that wall!

Spring gardening

Rhubarb growing - I thought it was dead!

Blossom on an apple tree

Broad beans starting to bean

Mowed and strimmed ready for weeding!

Planted cabbage, spinach, peas and mangetout

Strawberries planted. Cigaline (non remontant) in the front 2 rows, mariguette (remontant) in the middle 2 rows and some that we had in pots in the back 2 rows.

 

Week in Samoens

 Lovely week to Samoens to check on the apartment. It’s a pretty town

The biggest part of the ski area is Flaine, but with Samoens and some other villages it makes up the Grand Massif are. Amazing views of Mong Blanc

Flain has some very retro features. This is  lift you stand in, you have to run after the cars and jump in, and step out back wards. Love it!

Poppy’s 11th birthday was while we were away, here she is buying some cheese to celebrate

Tines canyon

Wood anemone seen on a walk

Mont Blanc

Better view of the retro lift

Enjoying the cheese Poppy bought in the market at the apartment, the view is ok!

I love this shop. Grangers, so much cool stuff

Amazing walks by the apartment

The Alps are really big!

Nathalie prolapse

Not everything about keeping animals is cute and fluffy! A surprising amount of time spent staring at animal vaginas and various consistencies of poo…

I noticed red on Nathalie’s back end, closer inspection showed it to be a prolapse from the vagina. 

Quick call to the vet who arrived a few hours later, but which time it had disappeared.

The vet wanted to have a feel around to see if there was an ongoing problem to worry about, so I ties Nathalie to a tree, she wasn’t best pleased about having someone she hadn’t even been introduced to groping around up there, but overall was very well behaved.

The vet said that she was in heat and sometimes this happened with so much blood in the area and it was nothing to worry about. So Nathalie was freed to run around the field with her friends. Today, a day later she is mooing for the bull, so a long lasting heat (normally it is only about 12 hours)

Not good

Back to normal

Choc chip cookie recipe

165g self raising flour (or plain and 1/2 tsp baking powder)

 75g sugar

70g butter (room temperature)

1 egg

110g chocolate chips

Mix everything except the choc chips together, don’t over mix.

Add choc chips and stir until combined (it is a stiff mixture)

Take balls of dough and flatten on to a baking tray (with baking paper if you want). Should make approx 15 cookies

Cook at 200°C until lightly browned, approx 10 mins.

Funky joists

 Many of them have gnarly funky bits on them, and a lot are too short for their space. Doing our best to use them rather than new teplacements as they are super solid despite a few funky bits…

Unleavened Flatbreads

250g plain flour

50g butter

180g milk

Melt the butter by warming the milk slightly and mixing the two together.

Put the flour in a bowl and add the butter/milk mixture

Mix until it comes together in to a ball and knead gently until evenly combined

Wrap and rest for 30 mins

Divide into 6 pieces and form each one in to a bll.

Roll out the balls on a floured surface until they are 3mm thick

Fry each side in a dry pan for 1 to 2 mins each size until it is cooked with brown spots on it

Stack them on a plate on a warm, but not hot, oven as they are done to keep them warm and moist