Has anyone heard the Cuckoo yet?

I was shoeing a good friends horse the other day and we were talking about the lack of Cuckoo’s around these days. My friend is a writer for The Times and had just had a meeting with a guy from the British Trust for Ornithology. They are conducting a study of the numbers of Cuckoo’s [...]

What’s in my kitchen?

My long bread board is one of my favourite  things in my kitchen. It is great for chopping on and for serving up cheese and biscuits. I find it easy to clean as the handle means dry hands plus hanging it up means it is always just there.    

Preparing the ground for the trees

It always seems that any sort of preparation before a task takes so long. The early heat wave on Sunday made for a perfect day preparing the ground for our young trees. We took Mr Castleden’s advice and put down a membrane so that the little trees don’t have to compete with the weeds for moisture. [...]

Trees delivered

Mr Castelden from Castelden Trees here in Suffolk has delivered the young trees this week. We aim to start planting them this weekend as the weather looks fair and good. After counting up our sales we decided to add a few other varieties to make for a great hedge row. We are planting a variety [...]

Why put lining inside curtains?

Due to the cold snap I have really noticed a cold draft coming through and around a particular pair of curtains in one of our bedrooms. I really like the curtains and was advised to interline them. The thickest lining is called bump which is a natural material not dissimilar to a thick cotton blanket. [...]

Remember the birds in bad weather

Here in Suffolk and other parts of the country our world is covered in snow. Our thoughts have been with the birds who can always do with our help in bad weather. This is what the RSPB say about feeding. ‘During cold spells your supply of food can save the lives of birds. Make sure [...]

Refreshing Curtains

Last week we had a visit from Janet Williams a crafts lady  from Suffolk who gave us a few hints on refreshing and revitalising curtains. Janet makes home made accessories for the home but has extensive knowledge of materials and in particular curtains. She suggested that instead of attempting to wash curtains a really good [...]

Harvesting Walnuts

What a fantastic year we have had for walnuts! I have never seen so many hanging off the trees. Here is some information on how to get the best from your harvest: Check for ripeness. The nuts are falling fast now here in Suffolk and the nuts have split hulls. Break open a few sample [...]

Cider making

We have already made one batch of cider this year and tomorrow (after the rugby) we will head to the orchards again to gather and press some more apples. We have a large Vigo cider press which is the real deal. The taste of the fresh juice takes some beating and it’s a great day [...]

New products coming soon…

We have spent the summer developing a new range of Kitchen Iron products for your home. We will soon add these to our website. They include wooden chopping boards, kitchen door knobs and handles plus a lovely notice board to keep all of your ‘To do’s’ in one place. Here is a sneek preview of [...]