So a new week begins and all my intentions for a regular blog have stayed that way…..but today I am in a quandry, so hear goes….It’s about doorstep milk (okay those of you yawning already can leave the room, but I know there are others out there who will be riveted to this subject, and others like it!) I don’t like to think of the dairy farmers having a hard time with the pitiful amount they get paid for supplying milk to the supermarkets, I think it is an injustice, however how can I buy milk in a way that is convenient to my lifestyle, yet know the farmer is getting a fair price? Is doorstep milk the answer? Is that fairer to the farmer, how can I find out? The concept behind doorstep milk ticks many boxes for me; I like the idea of glass bottles over having to take my plastic ones to the tip every week. I know it is more expensive but I wouldn’t mind if I knew the farmer was getting his due and not the dairy pocketing it all. If that was the case, the idea of doorstep milk probably isn’t as attractive. We buy at least 16 pints a week and freeze them (it works, don’t knock it) but that means taking up freezer space as well as remembering to thaw them overnight. I think that having someone in the community who is regularly noting if milk is not leaving the doorstep is a positive thought in today’s culture where some people live alone and live solitary lives. Perhaps I live in a little sentimental bubble and I belong back in the 1950s! But I digress, I can’t go toddling off to a farm shop to buy my milk all the time because a) it means using the car more, something I prefer to avoid b) it is probably in plastic containers which means I haven’t eliminated the tip element and c) it means a special trip out somewhere regularly. So that’s my thinking on that one…..
All is well with the Hog hens as we call them! Hattie (of Tattie Hattie fame) is the only remaining exbatt of the four we rescued last November. Funnily enough, she was the one who was henpecked and we thought she would be the first to go as she took longer to grow her feathers and look healthy. So she has outlived the others and is demonstrating her personality in an enchanting way. If chickens could purr, that is what she does when given grass corn apples, whatever…She makes this contented little “buk buk buk” noise and talks to you if you “buk buk” back at her! If she sees me trundle off down the garden and I feed the other hens, who are kept separately from her, first, she creates such an indignant racket; it is quite comical to hear! When Mr Fox paid a visit last week at 06:45, she saw him off in no uncertain terms! I will try and get a recent photo of her. Every morning I wonder if she will come out when I open her door, every day is a bonus, I shall be so sad when she dies. Having said that plans are afoot for more exbatts following her demise, we can’t bring ourselves to get any yet in case it spoils her peaceful life and she doesn’t seem lonely. Squirrels and various birds pop by and pass the time of day with her…now I am losing it and turning into Beatrix Potter……
The weekend found us spending most of Saturday in the garden which, believe me needs so much attention. Ramzi is convinced all I do is “destroy things” as all he ever sees me do is hack stuff down at the moment. I look as if I have spent the weekend self-harming as I having bramble slashes up my inner forearms. I am already planning next weekend’s jobs….greenhouse clearance for starters!
This enough for now, perhaps bite sized pieces of my “I’m trying to live more simply and embrace greener living” lifestyle is enough! I do have other things that occupy my thoughts believe it or not, so perhaps another day it will be a different topic in the life of me muttering to myself…..
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