A Thought

As happy as a cat with a fly...

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (ok plastic)

Roisín is learning how to wind me up very fast ! Every time she ran around - she knocked the cold condesation down onto me argghh

No sliding here - claws are great for mountain climbers ! Imagine what they do to my tunnel :(

Dex watched and said nothing....

And then - Oh such sweet revenge - She couldn't get down ! I had to lift up a bucket for her to climb into and bring her down...

Breaking News - Clever Folk Prefer Felines to Canines

The following short article appeared in the Irish Independent yesterday...

Clever folk prefer felines to canines

Clever people are more likely to own cats than dogs, a study has revealed.

People with degrees were found to favour cats - possibly because longer working hours left less time to devote to a dog, according to the findings published in the 'Veterinary Record'. Cats were more likely to be owned by households with gardens, semi-urban and rural households, households with someone qualified to degree level, and respondents who were female and those less than 65 years old.

I have my own theory on this exciting discovery...

The more intelligent you are, the more able you will be to appreciate and see the incredible intelligence cats themselves have. And of course be able to relate to them.

At least I like to think so.............

Not that I'm biased in any way you understand......

Kittens Oisín and Meabh at 4 Months Old

I took these kitten photos today - Oisín and Meabh - 4 months old now and so gorgeous

Oisín on the left and Meabh on the right

The one below is Oisín

Kittens, Wild Birds and a Sunset

Sunset over Chez Sophii

What can I try and kill now...

Oisín having a snooze after a hard day playing...

Tibbles

Tibbles again

Oisín and Meabh playing in the turf basket

Tibbles again

My fire in my office - warm n cosy

A fluffed up thrush eating the seeds and the fat balls on this birdtable.

A robin eating various seeds I put out.

Note the frozen sprouts in the background !!!

Another wee robin eating a slice of bread

Bathtime for Oisin

Oh damn, do I have to really have a bath RIGHT now ?


OK well, if I must...

But I won't make it easy...

Wow big brother sure can lick fast...

Now, if I stare him out really really hard...

I might be able to make him slow down and and not clean my ears...

OK it's not working...

I'll just scare him into submission...

Oisin: OMG she's taking pics of me naked in the bath !

Sweep: Oh damn she caught me

OK cute kitty faces on... We are innocent Mom... and if we look sweet she will feed us...

Chocolate Haberenos, Chillis, Roses and Kittens Killing Caterpillar Boots !

These will blow your head off !!! I grew these fairly conventional chillies this year as they are so much fun...

I don't use them in cooking an awful lot, as I'm personally not a lover of extremely hot food. But they are useful now and then.

Once they are fully ripe on the plant, I pick them and dry them thoroughly. I then grind them up and store them in glass jars until needed.

Today I moved them from the polytunnel, and into my office, as it really is starting to get colder here now at night.

This is another pic of the same plant, once in my office. You can see part of the garden through the office window.

Now this is one very special plant. Like I said above, I don't really eat chillies as such, but I really adore growing them, and all sorts of other things. This is a Chocolate Habereno plant. I bought 10 seeds from a supplier I use, and only 1 germinated...

And this is it.

The chillies haven't formed yet, quite... I am waiting with baited breath ! I moved this plant today also, from the tunnel up to my office.

I can't wait.

This is my favourite rose.

It's a Zepherine Drouhin, a very old French rose, which is totally thornless, and has a perfume which is the most beautiful smell in the world. It's a rambling rose, not really a climber, and incredibly beautiful, in the sense of true beauty...

And last but not least...

Meabh and Oisin decided to kill my very expensive Caterpillar boots !

They get hours of endless fun chewing these...

Hmmmmmm

Photos of my Garden Today

This is my tarragon hung in bunches to dry beside the fire just a few days ago. The stove is in my office and the turf gives a nice gentle heat for drying.

Turf dried tarragon....

It will take a few weeks to dry totally.

















Now I went out to feed and water the donkeys, came back in to my office and these 2 were on the chair....

How on earth did they get up there ? !!!!!

The runner beans are always prolific and long lasting. They are still flowering and producing beans, and will do so long into November around here.

These are my Autumn fruiting raspberries... the bushes were new in last year so are still baby bushes as raspberries go...

However, during one of Thomas and Aoife's escape adventures, they munched all the top leaves from at least half the raspberry bushes - See the very sad bush on the left ! They ate the leaves off and left the growing fruits !

The bush on the right they didn't touch...

These Alpine Strawberries are incredibly prolific fruiters, well worth growing in anyones garden. They are perennial for a few years, and fruit all summer and autumn.

The berries are Oh So Sweet - exactly like the ones we used to pick in the hedgerows when we were children...


I am busy planning a full website to host this blog in, complete with a recipe database, conversion charts, tips and answers to all those questions you always wanted to ask.

I am also planning a series of foolproof instructions for basic meals for the human being who us allergic to kitchens and cooking !

Bath Time for Kittens

Most of these photos were taken 3 days ago while the babies were still sick.

The larger kitten cat in the photos is Sweepy (brother of Sooty) who is just 6 months old and from the previous litter of the kittens momma. He, for some very strange reason, has taken to mothering them a bit now and then...

He's about half grown now.

Poor guy doesn't realise, but he is for the 'snip' in a few weeks... Maybe that will help his mothering skills... (When I can catch the Mother she is also having her 'fun' curtailed!)


Dinner Time Today...


Bath time for babies





You WILL let me bath you...

Look at the size of that tongue...

Bread and Butter Pudding My Mum Used to Make

I will admit to this being an absolute favourite of mine and I personally put neither cream or custard on it.. I like it as is MMMMMMM.

Bread & Butter Pudding

12 slices thinly cut White Bread
3 ozs Butter (quite soft)
8 Eggs
3 ozs Caster Sugar (fine sugar but not icing sugar)
3 ozs Sultanas
1.75 litres (3.75 US pints) full fat Milk
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
Freshly ground Nutmeg to taste

1. Cut the crusts off of the slices of bread and butter them all on both sides (if you need more butter use it).

2. Cut each slice into 4 triangles.

3. Arrange one single layer of the triangles in a large shallow (capacity about 2 litres) ovenproof dish, overlapping them slightly. Use about half the slices.

4. Sprinkle half the sultanas evenly across the slices.

5. Layer the rest of the slices of bread on top, evenly and slightly overlapping again.

6. Beat together the sugar, eggs, milk and vanilla extract in a bowl.

7. Pour half the egg mixture over the bread and leave to stand and soak in for 10 minutes.

8. After 10 minutes beat the remaining egg mixture again, add in the sultanas then pour it all into the dish evenly across the bread pieces.

9. Sprinkle with the nutmeg. Some people seem to prefer cinnamon rather than the nutmeg.

10. Cook for about 50 minutes at 160C, or 140C if its a fan assisted oven. That's 320F, or 285F for fan assisted ovens. For gas ovens its mark 2 for maybe 55 - 60 minutes, but keep an eye on it. Basically cook it until the custard is set and the top is nice and crispy and browning (not burnt).

This is great hot or cold... and is positively addictive.

Kittens & Donkeys