Slow Living in October

Join me as I share the days of October with you, as we lived them in our house on the hill.

This post is inspired by Slow Living Essentials

NOURISH

What better way to nourish the body and soul is there than sharing breakfast with visiting loved ones on the mountain above the farm with views over the Caledon River and into Lesotho.

Extra thick flapjacks served with farm yoghurt, walnuts, honey and last summer's fruit preserves are best eaten out of doors.

Spring treasures: jewels of luscious strawberries and tangy rhubarb wands combine with Rosie's cream into a delectable ice cream. October saw us flavouring and freezing her thick yellow cream into all sorts of spring flavoured ice creams.

Other spring garden delights have graced our table... from broad beans and asparagus to spinach, rocket, coriander, and a few cherries too. The leeks are flowering faster than we can eat them, and the last of winter's potatoes have been turned into many meals this month.

PREPARE
My niece's helping hands have prepared butter for our market croissants.

She learned the dairy dance during her two week visit here. We use a lot of butter in our sweet pastries, so whenever there is surplus cream around, it is churned into golden blocks which I then freeze.

Rocket took over in our vegetable tunnel until I cut most of it down and turned it into rocket pesto with toasted almonds, garlic, rocket leaves, olive oil, salt and mature cheddar cheese.

I am excited to announce the tasting of my first camembert. It was a bit underripe, but amazingly, tasted like camembert. Most of the stockpiling around here is in the form of cheese in many of its guises.

We also have some scary looking blue cheeses on their way.

Grant is experimenting with our first twenty liter batch of beer. Home brewing can be very rewarding. A friend of ours makes beer that is absolutely delicious. I am keen to try a bit of wine making in the near future too.

REDUCE / RE-USE / RECYCLE
Leftover soap scraps and the off cuts from soap making are too precious to lose, so I gather them up into an organza bag and tie it closed. This makes an excellent shower scrubby.

GREEN
I keep buying beer with the intention of making snail traps in the veggie tunnel, but, alas, it hasn't made it out of the house yet.
Soap making has been on my to-do list for the whole month, but the cheese monster has stolen my time.

GROW
This is what happens when you feed surplus whey to your roses.

Our vegetable tunnel is flourishing in the warmth of Spring. In my enthusiasm I have filled seed trays with so many seeds, that the emerging seedlings have nowhere to go. Grant is making a plan to extend our vegetable garden.

CREATE
I spent one precious afternoon sewing this month, and then paid the price with pain in my neck for the following few days. I managed to make a whirlwind block, this patchwork cushion and a quilted gift which cannot be revealed in case the recipient sees it here.

I forgot to show you September's cow cushion. I love the fabric and hope to make another one.

Each patchwork cushion was made from four blocks of the basic double-four patch, just arranged differently. I have treated myself to a quilting course subscription where I receive the template and instructions for a new quilting block each week. 

DISCOVER

Look what I discovered in the field.

My mind has been out in the garden with all the sap rising, so my turn-to books for October have been The New Self Sufficient Gardener by John Seymour and Jane's Delicious Garden by Jane Griffiths. Both of these books are wonderful practical resources for vegetable gardening at its best. The latter is written specifically for South Africa which saves a lot of mental month skipping when planning perfect sowing and harvesting times.

ENHANCE
We shared a delightful poetry tea with some special friends. Each person read some of their favourite poems while enjoying a cup of tea and some delicious bakes.

We also hosted a home schoolers picnic. A few home schooling families came and the picnic ended up on our verandah followed by a stroll in the nearby poplar forest.

ENJOY
October was definitely family month. My mum came to visit. While she was here, my brother and his little family came, then the following week my niece flew up from Cape Town. What a spoiling to have  time with our loved ones. The gorgeous weather called us outdoors for hikes, swims in the dam and picnics.

Heart to heart time while enjoying the view.

Our first swim in the dam was enhanced by sharing it with our family.

The girls found this farm oven - anthill hollowed out by an aardvark.

 Holly, the sweet Rhodesian Ridgeback stayed with us for a week. She fitted in perfectly with our three dogs, joining us on our walks.

My farm friend and I are hoping to start exercising together again. I so enjoyed our first long walk.

Elastic Mom gets a Puppy

There are some things that I will scrimp on, and others that are non-negotiable, no matter what. One of them is my pets. Our animals are all pure bred and chosen for the characteristics of their specific breed. A pet becomes part of the family for many years and in choosing a dog or cat, I like to make as informed a choice as possible. Even if that means waiting for years in order to find an affordable Burmese cat at an animal shelter, as we did a while ago. 

Rhodesian Ridgebacks are my dog of choice. They are wonderful family dogs and excellent guard dogs, fantastic running partners, intelligent and generally easy to train. when Sabi, our Ridgeback bitch died six months ago, I knew we wouldn't have the luxury of waiting too long before we needed to find another puppy as we live in an isolated house on a border farm and our other Ridgeback, Copper is aging too. So, when I heard of a good litter of Ridgeback pups, we had to bite the bullet to pay for our expensive puppy. 

So what did I do?

I advertised our unused piano in the local bulletin and used the proceeds of the sale to finance our precious new canine baby. I am sad to see the piano go, but neither of my children have shown much interest in the instrument for all the years that we have had it. 

So last Monday, little Hunter, 8 weeks old, became a part of our lives. He is a sweet, affectionate, eager-to-please puppy.... a beautiful bouncy boy dog that has fitted into our family so well.

A lot of people rush out to shop for a new puppy, but I carefully thought about what Hunter really needed before I threw any money in his direction. 

COLLAR

He is growing so fast, so for now, he is wearing our fat Jack Russell's collar that no longer fits. I have another medium sized collar that he will wear next, and I am thinking of persuading my clever husband to make a large one for when Hunter is fully grown.

TOYS

Pups need toys and things to chew. Every time Hunter is caught chewing on something forbidden, I try to swap it for something appropriate. Hunter was spoiled by Extravagant Dad with one small rawhide bone and a hoof from the vet shop, but they were rather a waste of money as he prefers my homemade or home found toys. He sleeps with Buddy, a soft toy dog that we earned from coupons. Buddy is looking a tad worse for wear since this pic was taken. Hunter loves chasing the cardboard tubes from the inside of toilet paper rolls, I put dog pellets in empty plastic bottles and he scurries around  with this exciting toy. He also plays with pine cones, an old scrubbing brush, which he loves (I think it massages his gums), pieces of rope, sticks, large bones, the other dogs and of course, with us.

FOOD

For a large breed dog, a good diet is important during their development to prevent later health problems, so I am willing to spend  what it takes to provide him with a suitable brand of food, another non-negotiable particularly during the first two years.

BED

Every pup needs a bed. Considering that our Jack Russell terrier thinks that he is a large dog, I donated his old bed to Hunter, not that he will fit into it for very long. It needed a little patching, denim offcuts did the trick. Puppies are notorious for shredding their beds, so I just couldn't justify buying a new one. 

WARMTH

We had plenty of cheap grey blankets, leftover from our move, in storage some of which have now been donated to Hunter. I also made sure that the breeder sent a piece of cloth that smelled like his original home to help settle him at first. Hunter has attached himself to Copper, and is happiest with the warmth of friendship that the old man dog provides. It is really freezing here, so Hunter sleeps indoors next to a heater near my bed by night, and has the freedom of sleeping in front of the wood fire inside, or in the heated kennel outside by day. 

DISEASE PREVENTION

This area is rife with dog-killing diseases like biliary and rabies, so disease prevention is not an option. I  would have saved on our veterinary bill by buying the shots and injecting him myself, if he hadn't decided to swallow a piece of soft plastic. All's well though, and I hope to inject him myself for his booster shots. As far as tick and flea prevention goes, I have chosen to use a wipe on dip for now. I already had it in my medicine stockpile.

 TRAINING

Every dog should be trained. Once the owner has been trained how to train their dog, I do not believe it necessary to attend formal classes with every new pup. As long as the dog is well socialized with other animals, people of all types and new experiences, and carefully taught the basics of obedience, the pup will usually grow up to be a pleasure.

 Hunter is already well on his way with house training, learning to come when called, sitting on command, and is starting to learn the down command. Rather than spending heaps of money on training, we spend plenty of time and patience on our pups.

Most of all, our pup needs lots of LOVE and AFFECTION and to learn to trust us, his new family.