Chicken-little.

 

We are pleased to announce the arrival of our new additions.....our 6 week old chickens collected tonight. 3 of araucana descent, 1 australorp and 1 of *ahem* disputed origin! Hopefully all ladies......

 

 

 

 

 

Below- It didn't take them long to locate the bar...they were all thrilled when they were not asked for ID.

 

 

 

The buffet proved popular.....

 

 

 

 

Sir Bebe Le Pew is most impressed by our new family members-just quietly, he had been whispering that a couple of our "girls" were using the term loosely and just didn't have the *ahem* drive that they used to! Bebe-be a gentleman please!

 

He's hoping that they are all ladies too....

Just jammin'.......

I cannot believe that a full month has gone by since I last posted! What can I say-it has been an incredibly busy time with us hosting more than 40 different people over the Christmas season!

I hope that you and yours have enjoyed exactly the kind of Holiday Season that has made you happy- I know that we have.

Now- to resume normal transmission!

Yesterday saw a top temperature of 45c here and after surviving that we were relieved to wake up to a much cooler day today. It had also been incredibly windy and when I was watering and pottering in the garden this morning I decided to use some of the winddamaged edibles and make jam.

During my neverending infrequent bloghopping I remembered seeing a recipe for Vanilla Rhubarb Jam and wondered if I could come up with something similiar with what I had on hand.

I painstakingly chopped up in the food processor some rhubarb stalks and 4 small apples-which gave me 8 cups of fruit.

To that I added 3 cups white sugar, a few vanilla pods ( leftover from my homemade vanilla essence), 1 lemon-juice squeezed and added together with the skins and 3/4cup black chai tea.

I let that come to a boil stirring over a medium high heat-then let it bubble for 10 mins or so-until the fruit was soft.

I fished out the lemon peel, vanilla pods and apple cores then tossed in another 3/4 cup sugar mixed with 1/3 packet Jamsetta, stirred until it dissolved and let it slow bubble until I was happy with the consistency.

Into hot jars and voila! Vanilla Chai & Rhubarb Jam. :) This jam has a nice tang to balance out the sweetness and just a hint of the Chai spice...mmmmm.

His Lordship heartily approved-partaking of the fresh jam on homemade sourdough English Muffins.

I do have photos BUT blogger isn't playing nice at the moment!