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We are in our new homestead! 

We are finally here - we are finally up in Orkney.  After a very long drive and a weeks educational holiday on our island, we are here in our Homestead.  We have been in our homestead for a week or so, and already it feels like home.  The packing boxes are being emptied at an amazing rate, thanks to Dee who has been a real trooper at unpacking and finding homes for our possessions.  The few boxes that remain on the bedroom floor are labelled as “Stuff” - the type of stuff that every home has but has no particular home for!

We love our new place, we love the thickness of the walls and the narrowness and lowness of the doors. Every door you pass through has a quirk, either it is a head walloper or you need to pass sideways on!
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Dee is so happy in our new home!

We have a few little jobs to before Christmas, I need to get up on the roof of the front porch and leadline it as there is a bit of a leek.  Nothing major and does not affect the main house, but it would be good to start using the porch as a real room of the house.  As we are currently sleeping on the floor, the other thing I need to do, is to make a four poster bed for us out of agricultural fence posts and scrap wood, I am sure it will be fab.
​

The land here is bigger and better than our initial viewings led us to believe, we have great plans for the homestead. The 2.5 acres of land is more like 3.5, and most of the boundary fencing is in place, just need to fence off one side of field 4 (the biggest chunk).
Long term aim is to produce the majority of our own food, we are thinking of chickens and ducks for eggs and meat, a couple of pigs for pork, a small colony of rabbits mostly for dog food and their pelts for crafts, and a couple of sheep.  The sheep will be more pets than livestock, we want them for their wool, and Dee has already named them Izzy and Beth! And we may also be breeding mice for Dipus the cornsnake.

Fruit and veg wise, we are not so lucky, the climate here on the island is dominated by Njord, the god of wind.  Even on a calm day where the gales are not 40 - 60 mph, the wind constantly blows at 20 mph, these winds play havoc on anything growing a foot off of the ground.  If we can’t grow up, then maybe we should grow down with root veg being the way to go - but then the islands rabbit population are likely to enjoy most!  A wind proof polytunnel may be the way forward!
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A view from the back field

From Clay to Cup

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Simple homemade cheese recipe

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Our chicken hatching plan

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Fishing in Orkney

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  • Home
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
  • Wine List & Recipes
    • Banana Wine Made Simple
    • Blaand
    • Blackberry Mead
    • Christmas Pudding Wine!
    • Easy Rhubarb Wine
    • Gorse Flower Wine
    • Gutsy Ginger Wine
    • Liquorice Wine
    • Mead Making Made Simple
    • Mint Wine Recipe
    • Mushroom Wine
    • Nasturtium Leaf Wine
    • No Boil Rhubarb Wine
    • Pine Needle Wine
    • Pumpkin Wine
    • Rose Hip Leaf Wine
    • Red Kidney Bean Wine!
    • Rose Petal Wine
    • Seaweed Wine
    • Spiced banana wine
    • Turnip and Red Cabbage Wine
    • Wine Making 101
    • What is a country wine?
    • ​Can I use bread yeast to make wine?
  • Homestead
    • Dee's Corner >
      • Military wife blog
      • First Time Pregnant
    • Projects >
      • SmallholdersUK
      • Beard Award
      • #Eday on Twitter
    • Recipes >
      • Homemade Cheese
      • Pickled Quail Eggs
      • Simple Bread Loaf
      • Banana Ice-Cream
      • Rhubarb Chutney (Old)
      • Making Sea Salt on the Log Fire
      • Shepherds pie for the dogs
    • Our Island >
      • Homestead or Smallholding
      • 18 days until we move!
      • 10 days until we move
      • 2 Days to go!
      • We are here!
      • Waterworks!
      • Location is not the answer
      • Remote Living Challenges
      • The Caves
      • Reason to waggle (caves)
      • Sea Fishing in Eday
    • Duck >
      • Duck shed
      • Duck 1: Incubation
      • Duck 2: Imprinting
      • Duck 3: Outdoors
      • Duck 4: Attached
    • Quail >
      • Quail 1: Reasons
      • Quail 2: Incubation
      • Quail 3: Brooding
      • Quail 4: Raising
      • Quail 5: Suicidal
      • Quail 6: Permaculture
      • Quail 7: Environment
      • Quail 8: Setup
    • Chickens >
      • Chickens Fancy vs Warren
      • Ebay Eggs
      • Our Egg Hatching Plan
      • Nursing Chickens 1 - 2018
      • Brooding Chickens 1 - 2018
      • Hatching Chickens 1 - 2018
    • Home & Garden >
      • Baby Starling
      • Spider Plants
      • Aloe Vera
      • Fuel for winter
      • Peat, Coal, Wood
      • Hoarding Supplies
      • Coffee grounds
      • Brewers Hops
      • Brewers grain
      • Teabag compost
      • Essential oils
      • Eco Toothbrush
      • No Fridge?
    • Other articles >
      • The best and the worst of dog food!
      • Random acts of kindness
      • Bristol No Foraging
      • Philosophy on Raising Children
      • Close encounter with Bulls
      • Blog
  • Adventures