Wednesday 16 October 2013

A Crafty Visitor gets seen off.

Yesterday afternoon about 4pm when the farmer took his sheep dog, Tip and Tess for their afternoon walk, Tess as usual lagged behind at a rabbit hole.   They were just passing our little plantain at the time, the wood where many of our wild pheasants roost for the night.   Unbeknown to the farmer, his friend and neighbouring farmer was just getting his cows in for milking from the other side of the plantain.

The farmer called out for Tess to hurry up and disturbed a crafty visitor to the little wood!   A vixen was lurking in there, waiting for the pheasants to stroll home and fly up into the trees for their nightly roost.   She streaked out in front of the cows plodding home and our friend rang on his mobile to say 'watch out for the vixen' and there she was, streaking across the field in full flight.

She got away this time but sadly I fear thay if she keeps trying the same trick her life may be a short one.   Secretly I hope she learns her lesson.   If only she would stick to rabbits for her food then everyone would think of her as a friend.   But pheasants - and even worse, our hens - are I am afraid beyond the pale.

More apples dealt with today.   Two apple pies made for the freezer for a start, and then for sheer indulgence I made a steamed apple pudding (with suet and brown sugar) for our tea.   Forgetting about the calories I steamed it all afternoon on the Aga and we ate it in front of the wood burner on the most wet and miserable afternoon imaginable.

Tomorrow I intend to add two apple crumbles to the collection in the freezer.  I have hardly made an impression on the apple crop and sadly I really don't think I shall ever get through them all before they begin to deteriorate.   They are none of them

keepers and a box full at the gate for people to help themselves to would be useless as everyone has the same bumper crop.  

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would dearly love to share your apple crop. Apples did not do well in Arizona this year. My grandmother would make the BEST fried apple hand pies and I would beg for them! Enjoy! Sandy @ My Yellow Swing

angryparsnip said...

Before my citrus trees were hurt/destroyed in the freeze 4 years ago I would have bumper crops of Tangelos, lemon, sweet orange and two kind of grapefruits, like your apples.
The tress that are left barley produce at all.
The steamed apple pudding looks wonderful. Must look up how you made it.

cheers, parsnip

John Going Gently said...

Very bake off!

My review was written yesterday evening.....lots of debate too!

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

Oh, your apple delicacies make my mouth water! I can only imagine how delicious your house smells with that apple fragrance wafting through. Such a wonderful time of year.

And I agree about the vixen. Sure hope she learns her lesson early. xo

Thickethouse.wordpress said...

How delectable your pudding looks! I am sure it can turn the gloomiest day to deep contentment.

Can chickens eat apples? I think that would not be much of a solution, unless you have thousands of chicken and I think you do not...Can;t you just chop them up and freeze them? Or make enormous amounts of applesauce?

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

I remember loading a trailer with bales one day when a flash of red-brown suddenly leapt into a hole high up the stack. Horses and hounds soon appeared. "Have you seen the fox?" "No, can't say I have." The confused hounds sniffed around for a while before I could allow myself a broad smile.

Gwil W said...

Mmmm . . . I can almost smell that pie!

Bovey Belle said...

You've been busy : ) As you have an Aga, perhaps you could dry the apples in rings to use through the winter months?

I guess the Vixen put stomach before sense, when it came to waiting for pheasants to come and roost. She has expensive tastes though . . .

Heather said...

Your steamed pudding and apple pie both look so appetising - real comfort food for miserable days. How about getting in a few pigs to eat the left over apples, then you'd have homegrown pork to go with them!!

Linda Metcalf said...

If I were closer I'd take some off your hands :)....Applesauce and apple butter would be wonderful! Your steamed pudding looks wonderful!

shadypinesqltr said...

My 30+ yr old untended Apple tree sprang to life this year thanks to the horrendous freeze last year. My grandchildren helped me fill buckets with windfalls and take them out to the woods for the deer. My neighbours have bagged up their surplus and are selling them for deer feed. Today I'm going to try to make applesauce. My apples are small and would be time-consuming to prepare for pies,etc.

shadypinesqltr said...

My 30+ yr old untended Apple tree sprang to life this year thanks to the horrendous freeze last year. My grandchildren helped me fill buckets with windfalls and take them out to the woods for the deer. My neighbours have bagged up their surplus and are selling them for deer feed. Today I'm going to try to make applesauce. My apples are small and would be time-consuming to prepare for pies,etc.

Jenny Woolf said...

Wish I could share your apples. I always like to make chutney but I know americans make apple juice, I think sometimes that is the best use when you really have a lot.
Your header is beautiful....

Jenny Woolf said...

Wish I could share your apples. I always like to make chutney but I know americans make apple juice, I think sometimes that is the best use when you really have a lot.
Your header is beautiful....

Elizabeth said...

Wet afternoons automatically cancel out all calories....

Just remembering Fullers tea shops:
toasted tea cake followed by a slice of walnut cake.
Bliss.
This would make a good blog post.
Best memories of an autumn dusk...