I hate my Aga, and this is why it has to go

November 11, 2017.Reading time 3 minutes.

There are so many things that come to mind when one pictures stereotypical country living in England. Traditional old houses, be they stately piles or thatched cottages. Boot rooms. Gravel driveways. Wellies everywhere. Open fires welcoming home cold but exhilarated walkers. And Agas. For those of you outside of the UK, an Aga is a […]

Flying the coop: creating a free range chicken enclosure

November 5, 2017.Reading time 3 minutes.

Since our chickens joined us here on the smallholding a week ago we’ve developed a lovely routine whereby we go and check for eggs every day. Nothing can make our little boy beam like finding an egg that he can pluck out of the nest box and pop into his little egg basket to bear […]

Week two: Hello dog, goodbye alpacas

October 26, 2017.Reading time 7 minutes.

This week marked what I think is our first big lesson about smallholding, to whit, that we had some very strong preconceived notions of what this would be like. I wanted to like the alpacas, I really did. They were so dainty, with their pretty eyelashes and their long graceful necks. I had visions of […]

Adios alpacas

October 19, 2017.Reading time less than 1 minute.

I think that the alpacas have to go.