Summer's On It's Way

Well with Uni work put to one side, it's time to use this sunshine as inspiration for another blog post! 

Beautiful weather over the last bank holiday weekend could really only mean one thing, an impromptu trip to the sea side. It was a lovely day. I don't know what it was, the weather maybe,  but people seemed to be enjoying the simply things; long walks along the beach, puppet shows and each other's company. Some people were even in the sea... At Easter... Is it wrong to say I was tempted myself? But after careful consideration I only dipped my toes in (and ran out screaming due to the onset of frostbite).

After our sea side escapade, Monday was spent soaking up the sun with a cider in Buxton, a beautiful peak district town with local culture oozing from every corner. Brass bands playing, food and craft fairs... Safe to say I purchased and ate a traditional Buxton pudding within two days! They're just so yummy! We came home to find that we've had our first few lambs, just in time for Easter, who were up and playing within hours. Milo wasn't quite sure what to make of the mini sheep...    

Lamb's First Peak Of The World

It's definitely safe to say that summer is on it's way, finally! Milo's enjoying saying good bye to his New Zealand and hello to green shoots and sunbathing, one of the many past times we enjoy together! However us equestrian's know what summer really means... flies, swarms of the buggers. I managed to get through a whole bottle of fly spray within three weeks and at £13 a bottle, it soon adds up. So here is...

A Kiss From The Country's Homemade Fly Spray

You will need:

1/2 Garlic Clove

300ml Tea

100ml Cold Water

1 tsp Tea Tree Oil

A Few Drops of Lavender

1 tsp Citronella Oil

Millie Bee's Tea Tree Oil

Firstly, in a plastic jug, brew the tea allowing it to stew for a minute or two, then remove the tea bag and add the cold water. Finely chop and crush the garlic adding it to the tea (this bit doesn't smell to great but stick with me). Then add in all your oils, giving the mixture a good stir.

Home-made Fly Spray

Now, a good tip so you don't waste anything, place the hot mixture in your horse's stable while he's turned out, as the scented steam that is given off helps rid the flies from your horse's bedroom as well. Once the mixture has cooled completely, remove it from your horse's stable, mix once more and then place in a spray bottle. Once you've added the citronella your horsey will smell beautiful so stick through the garlic stage, trust me this is an effective and cheap method of keeping those flies away. 

I also tend to feed my horse a tiny bit of garlic through the hot weather as well, this also helps rid those flies as the horse sweats. Since Milo eats anything, I don't have a problem feeding this to him, but you can always hid the garlic in feed or hay should it prove more challenging. 

We Do Love Sunbathing Together!

Well, I hope everyone had a lovely Easter and enjoyed hearing about my countryfied time. Equally I hope the above recipe will prove useful for those horsey folk out there.

Bye for now, blog soon, with 

Talk To The Animals

I think it's safe to say that I've always been a horse crazy girl, since I first set my eyes on my Grandparent's Shetland Pony nearly nineteen years ago! I'd sit on a bucket and sing to her, groom her and sneak her a cheeky carrot so Tipsy was clearly to blame for the fact that 'A HORSE' was at the top of my christmas list every year. I started riding when I was about eleven and progressed pretty quickly to riding strong scopey hunters. 

Thanks to my mum, this was the year dreams came true, sorry about the cliche, but as I sit here typing, Milo my 16hh, four year old, Irish Draught x Welsh Cob is grazing away (and probably doing something he shouldn't be...) in the field. 

He's quite a looker and he knows it, posing at passers by with his ears pricked. He's only been here a week but it's clear he's quite cheeky... I've just looked out of the window to see his head over the fence with half of my grandmother's plants in his mouth... 'Oh No Milo' is a phrase we hear quite often! His character shall we call it makes him him and it's safe to say I love him already! 

'Oh No Milo! Not The Leeks!'

Anyway, enough about the big boy, now for you to meet the terrible twosome, my 'pet' sheep even though they act more like dogs! My partner and I rescued them as lambs from awful conditions under the care of a so called shepherd, cold stale milk, unclean bedding and highly infectious diseases floating around the air meant we just had to get them out and when four out of the six hand reared lambs died it was the final straw. Well enough of the morbid stuff, Little G and Dot are having the best life they could imagine. I understand they're only sheep but when you see the bond they have created due to the experiences that they have had it truly is incredible. They never stray more than five feet away from each other and run to their mummy whenever their scared. I spent about an hour just stroking them on bonfire night as they legged it up the field to me at the gate! Just call me Little Bo Peep! 

The dogs need a whole post to themselves! Keep checking out my blog for some country kitchen classic next time as I got busy making... there was flour everywhere but we'll keep that quiet! 

Anyway, bye for now, with