Tigh Na Allt

I’ve seen this come round on a few pages recently and thought it was interesting enough to share here with you.

Final jobs of the day: top up the bee food and put the chicks up on the roosting bars (they roosted perfectly fine in their own shed, I think the older girls are making it difficult now that they’re all in together 🙈). It’s a pretty evening and I didn’t even need my head torch with the moonlight ☺️

We had some glorious blue skies over the weekend that I forgot to share with you, mainly as a reminder that a golden ball in the sky does actually exist! Especially now that it’s gone again……🙈
Sheep sorting, checking the bees and topping up the feed now that forage is greatly reduced, visiting friends (and buying their fabulous products Middleton Croft Elphin Larder), moving the chicks in with the older hens - and the joy of cleaning out their shed 🥴 harvesting some of the tomatoes, praying that others will continue to ripen where they are 🙏🏼 and generally enjoying autumn in the Northwest Highlands.

As you can see I’m useless at selfies - far too old - but just sharing some sheep love…

There is something very satisfying about sitting down to a dinner where everything on the plate has been produced by you. From our wonderful Shetland hogget to the mint sauce. Start the day with your own eggs and home made bread and finish with a fully home grown roast. Yum! Best bit? I can’t cook so Anthony gets that to do, luckily he is VERY good in the kitchen (I’m a very spoilt wifey) 😏

It’s been a dreich weekend but that did mean a beautiful rainbow yesterday 🌈 The sheep are still investigating the chicks, the chicks remain unimpressed at having their bums sniffed……. The sheep do make comfy places to perch though!
Some of the tomatoes are finally starting to turn red, seemingly only the cherry’s though. The Alicante’s are remaining stubbornly green so I’ve stripped two of the plants and made green tomato soup, it’s actually really quite nice. A lot sweeter than I was expecting.
Anthony has cleared some branches from the trees by the house and the sheep have done a grand job of stripping the leaves. There’s a lot more tree work needed but we’ll need the experts to help, they’re really high and a bit scary in the storms as they’re so close to the house. Cortis Land & Tree Management have completed some great work for us before so hopefully they’ll have capacity to come back over again.
The small amount of honey we had available for sale has been organised - good reviews so far which is always a relief! We love it however it’s so much better when everyone else loves it as well.
And last night’s entertainment? Gathering up 17 sleeping chicks from various points by their shed and putting them to bed where they should be. Someone may have forgotten to open up their door in time…….🙈🫣🤣

We have jarred honey! Not much though, we kept it simple for our first attempt and only put one super on. Any excess is going back to the bees for through the start of autumn into winter as there will be far less forage for them.
Lesson learnt? We need to invest in a decent extractor for next season, also be brave and put the 2nd super on! 🙈🤣
It is b****y lovely 😏😋