It's been amazing weather today and I've been out all day which is fantastic. I've dug over a bed and planted onions and Garlic (a little late but not too bad), finished planting in the polytunnel and then been cutting back bushes in the garden. You do have to be careful cutting them back that you don't get too carried away with how much of a trim you give the plants, a few are looking quite stumpy. We planted most seeds at the weekend ,with all of the family enjoying the polytunnel in the sunshine and planting (well Imogen was napping some of the time).
We also had to sort the sheep at the weekend. One of them had gained a huge spiky branch (from my garden trimmings) in her wool. She was separating herself from the flock and clearly needed help. Unfortunately this meant she wouldn't come to a food bucket as the others did. This then lead to the usual fun and games of trying to catch a sheep who doesn't want to come near you. It's not an easy thing to do. We got them all into the small hardstanding area we have and tried. We first tried a sort of corridor of pallets leading them into a small pen. This didn't work. We had sheep jumping into the veg plot. Sheep jumping into pallets and running attached to pallets! Once they pick a direction to run in they just go in a blind panic with very little regard for what might be in the way. We then tried to set up a coral that caught them as they went out of the gate and into the main field. We failed here too. I went to get Ted and just as I returned Harriett managed to by herself guide all the sheep just where we wanted them. It was brilliant. Unfortunately she hadn't told anyone what she was doing and so no one was there to shut the gate and trap them in. This meant they all happily wandered out again. I can't quite remember in the end how we did get them. I managed to grab the sheep we wanted by the horns and then dragged it into the pen. How I got that close I really can't remember. The others wanted to be with her so much they took themselves into the pen. We just had to open the door for them. It took quite a lot of work to remove the large spiky branch from all of the wool. It had scratched and grazed her so we had to raid the first aid kit and clean her up with a few anti-septic wipes. The sheep certainly keep us on our toes.
I am busy this week preparing for South Cave Market where we are going to have a stall. It's on Saturday and I still have quite a few things to make to ensure we have a full stall of things to sell. So far we have Marmalade (5 types) and Mango Chutney (2 types). I am going to make a load of Lemon and apple curd, croissants and Pain au Chocolat. I had an inspection from the council this week and I've been awarded 5* for hygene. I am also going to take some of the felt phone cases I have been making to see if anyone is interested in those. So quite a big day for us on Saturday. I have nearly fulfilled all of the endless paperwork tasks required to sell food at a market, so I am now looking forward to it.
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