Unfortunately we lost another bunny last night. This one was the runt of the litter, but also happened to be the prettiest. So we rapidly went from having six female bunnies, to only three (excluding the mother, of course). It’s a shame, but this is one of the things which happens when you have livestock. The three remaining bunnies are Not Happy. At the moment we’re just giving them dried hay to eat. So they’re looking at it mournfully, as if to say “Yes, this is all very well, but where’s the nice green stuff?”
Speaking of livestock, we really enjoy keeping hens. Not just because they provide us with eggs, but they are very amusing to watch. Whenever we visit their pen to collect eggs or feed them, they all run towards us at great speed, and their gathering around our feet makes it exceedingly difficult to walk anywhere. And no matter what food we’re giving them – whether it’s the usual bread soaked in water, wheat, kitchen scraps or unwanted bits of rabbit, their reaction is always the same. “This is The. Best. Thing. Ever!” One inevitably grabs a large piece of food, and attempts to run away to eat it in peace. The others then think that this particular piece of food is The Only Thing Worth Eating, and try and steal it. Cries of “MINE! MINE! MINE! MINEMINEMINEMINE!” result.
We had a visit from T&M just before lunch. We haven’t seen them for a couple of weeks, as T had been working in the medical recuperation centre in a nearby town (actually the very place that the aged FIL will be attending after his operation) as a sort of handyman, on a temporary basis. This job has now come to an end, so he’ll be going back to brewing beer. He has an idea that he wants to start a micro-brewery, but we’re not holding our breath.
Hi Rob
I have been thinking of brewing mead. We have a bee-hive on our property-so the next step should be brewing,i don’t think i can wait 8 months for it to be ready though! Do you have a tried recipe?
jc
How strange you should ask; I’m about to make some more mead in the next couple of weeks (to use up some of the remaining pots of the late MIL’s honey. It must be around 10 years old…)
Not necessarily 8 months wait, but the last batch I did took 4 months. The trick is to have other stuff to drink while you’re waiting!
Here’s how I do it:
Ingredients
1.5kg honey
4.5 litres water
1 teaspoon citric acid
1 teaspoon yeast nutrient
1 teaspoon yeast
Method
Boil some water and pour 200ml into a shallow dish, stirring-in 2 tbsp of honey.
Cover with aluminium foil and allow to cool naturally to just below 37°C.
Sprinkle the yeast evenly over the surface of the water and allow to rehydrate for ten minutes.
At the end of this time gently stir the yeast and set aside in a warm place for at least 2 hours.
Fill demijohn 2/3 full of water (to gauge quantity), then pour this into a large saucepan and bring to the boil.
Stir in the honey.
Add citric acid and yeast nutrient.
Let cool to about 37 degrees C, measure Specific Gravity, then add yeast mixture.
Pour back into demijohn, top up with water to below neck and fit airlock.
When sediment is 2-3cm deep, rack into clean demijohn and top up with water again to minimize oxygen exposure.
If sediment again reaches 2-3cm, re-rack.
Leave for a few months to clear, then check final gravity and bottle.
Ha! thankyou,knew i could count on you!