Thursday, March 11, 2010

He Passed!

Dave passed his drivers test! I am so pleased. We can now both drive if we have to, which is a huge load off my mind!

So we went shopping to celebrate. Free milk, past its sell by date but the ferry has not come in so there is no fresh, and pears to cook in red wine. The red wine was a bit of a challenge. We have no bottle shop, we get alcohol from the pub even if we want to drink it at home, and the lady there does not drink wine. So which would be good for pears? We bought the cheapest, and we will see how it does on the pears, they should become red, if not, we will not try drinking it!

Wind, weather and tide should all be right for squid tonight, so off to the jetty we will go, for another beautiful sunset, and hopefully some food.

9 comments:

  1. Good Luck with the squid, and hurray for the officially approved driving!

    What is the ferry situation now? Any better than when you arrived?

    Seems like somebody on that island should keep a few Jerseys ...

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  2. Ummm, the ferry does run, but not as regularly as I thought it would. Like not every week! And I don't know enough to even guess why.

    There was a dairy on the island, long ago. I have great plans to get a cow, once we have our own land. I would love a Jersey, but at this stage I am not at all fussy, as long as it produced milk, and was keen to share! Knowing nothing about milking I am going to need a patient cow to start on.

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  3. I think B has the right of it - the ferry has gone from unreliable which a lot of the islanders seemed to hate and couldn't wait to see the back of... to more erratic. Heh. The way it goes, sometimes. I was going to say I have a cardigan, but you don't get much milk out of them.

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  4. That sounds great! (I wonder if one can learn milking out of a book ... with a really good-natured cow?)

    I have dreams of getting a couple of goats, if I can ever afford to properly fix up the antique fences on my property. Meanwhile, I am taking a beekeeping class. I just nailed together my hive body today, and I get my bees in two months!

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  5. The goats are supposed to be easier - but I don't like goats milk much, to be honest. But the bees - I am so interested. I must get there too sometime.

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  6. Ok, so for bees you need a body, but no bonnet! Please keep us posted, I love honey, but not getting stung, so I want to hear how simple it is first.

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  7. If you can milk goats already, then milking a cow is technically similar -- get a nice cow, who won't kick you or knock over the bucket, and don't forget your pasteurization thermometer! Freshly pasteurized milk is the best thing ever. I'll never forget the farm in Canada where I had lunch after making our veterinary visit.

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  8. My friend who took the same bee course last year said she has been stung just once, and that it was her fault for moving too quickly.

    I think in the future I might pay more for a pre-assembled hive, but it's part of the class to build your first. All the pieces are pre-cut; glue, nailing, linseed oil, paint, are the "some assembly" that is required ;-)

    I'm excited and also worried - will my bees get sick, or "abscond" (fly off and live elsewhere)? Will I be able to tell what to do when? But I attended the monthly meeting of the Collin County Hobbyist Beekeepers Association this week, and there were about 200 successful beekeepers there, so it can't be THAT hard.

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  9. Make a friend! Surely one of the Beekeepers Association could give you pointers. Like when to do what? I am good at saying that, but we are doing a lot of things our way, rather than the local way, and some even work!

    But good luck with them, I hope the honey is really delicious. What have you got for the bees to eat, collect off, or whatever you call it??

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