Blogfromthebarn

Damn that girl can sing ...

So, my little lass, 
now has a boyfriend, He's called Jordan,
so, not such a little lass any more I guess, 
he seems to be a nice lad, a musician, 
he wrote a song, for the missus and I, 
and she, my little girl, sang it... 


and it's here

feeling fine (coffee and wine)

Labels: ChaCha, coffee and wine, Jordan England, Mrs Stuffy, music, oakwood barn, song, Stuffy

posted by Stuffy @ 12:20 pm 0 comments

Driving me to distraction

I should mention the previously unplumbed depths of  depression, the peaks of angst, the highs and lows of emotion occasioned by ones daughter, a mere lass of seventeen summers passing her driving test. 

Labels: angst, blog from the barn, blogfromthebarn, ChaCha, driving, driving test, frickin idiots, oakwood barn, Stuffy

posted by Stuffy @ 8:00 pm 0 comments

Things we've learnt this week

Things we've learnt this week

1. Skyline, the movie.  We, ChaCha and I, watched the film Skyline on Sky last night, don't ever do that, it's 90 minutes wasted and there's no way of getting it back, if you want to spend the time more profitably, almost any activity would be better, spend the time practising holding your breath, or trying to push string, or counting your toes, really!  more fun.
2. Seaweed salt, I've got a grinder that produces a mixture of sea salt and dried seaweed, which is fine and adds a pleasant twist to many dishes, (lightly steamed shredded cabbage for example), but don't ever use it to help make pork crackling crunchy and crispy, 'cos pork that tastes of the sea is not a great thing.
3. Sangrita, thanks to a delightful afternoon at Wahaca in Covent Garden I'm now an evangelist for quality sipping Tequila, with a slug of Sangrita. What's sangrita ? Glad you asked, it's a bit like a mexican virgin mary and is alternated in sips with good quality blanco and reposado Tequilas. The recipe? there are many but after three attempts my preferred version, tried, tested and tasted goes like this...

• 500ml of tomato juice
• 100ml of orange juice
• juice of a lime
• 1 tbsp of Lea and Perrins
• 2 tsp of grenadine
• tablespoonful of soy sauce
• dessertspoonful of tabasco,
• optional - a big pinch of Fajta seasoning, (mix of 1 tsp each, all ground - dried chillis, garlic salt, paprika,cumin, smoked paprika,  coriander and cinnamon).(dont put a teaspoonful of each in the Sangrita, make up the fajita mix, then put a generous pinch of the mixture in the Sangrita, use the rest of the Fajita seasoning for, oh I don't know, seasoning Fajitas ?
• salt and black pepper to taste

Labels: blogfromthebarn, ChaCha, cooking, Movies, Oakwood, Stuffy, tequila. recipe

posted by Stuffy @ 5:55 pm 1 comments

It's a hive of activity


I'm very aware that it's been a while since I mentioned my apiary efforts and since I know the lovely Mark is looking for beekeeping tips to help him decide whether to become a honey producer in the Trullo Azzuro, it's probably time for an update.



The story so far, I've a lovely polycarbonate hive which currently has no bees in it, I also have a traditional wooden hive, with a queen, a number of useless drones (male) and around 50,000 hard-at-it workers. I've been migrating the colony onto a new set of frames, (wooden structures that the bees can build honeycomb on) that will fit into the new hive. So far they've done a great job and I was thinking of splitting the bees between the old and new hives but beekeeping chum Ian has suggested that (since it's looking like a great summer for bees) we postpone the split for a while, harvest some honey "on the comb" and enjoy the fruits of our (their) labours.

I check the hive weekly, looking for signs that the current queen is of a mood to bugger off with half of the workforce, which apparently happens quite often, fortunately they seem happy in situ at the moment and I've made and installed a super, a rectangular box containing frames of very thin beeswax, this sits on top of the hive, and the bees have spent a hectic few weeks turning it into honeycomb and harvesting nectar and these frames are now pretty much full of honey.

We've gone for the simplest possible way of producing honey, simply cutting the whole thing, the honeycomb and all the honey straight out of the frame and into jars. last weekend saw Charlie and I, togged up in full protective gear, adding another twelve frames of challenge for the bees and then lumbering away giggling like white-clad thieving grizzly bears with the first full frame of honey. It looks right, it tastes like honey and it was very delicious on some greek yoghurt with fresh raspberries.

So, the beekeeping thing seems to be working, It's looking good so far but if there's one thing I've learnt about beekeeping it's that there are a heck of a lot of things to learn about beekeeping,

watch this space...

Labels: beekeeping, ChaCha, honey, Oakwood, Stuffy

posted by Stuffy @ 12:29 pm 0 comments

The long and winding road to pop stardom .

Young Tatty was recently the lucky recipient (thanks, allegedly, to a drunken bid at a charity auction) of a recording session at a professional sound studio. Since every pop diva needs an entourage, or posse (as the kids would possibly say) ChaCha was dragooned to provide moral and vocal support.

Possibly due to my long association with the world of Rock'n'Roll ( I have, after all, discussed barre chords with the bassist of Wishbone Ash) I was offered the role of Roadie. I accepted with enthusiasm and alacrity not realising that the road in question was about 110 miles long and the studio was in a place called Essex, which appears to be somewhere near Croatia.

Anyway, it was an amusing Saturday, the girls each took away a cd of their efforts and I put together a brief promotional video for your delight and delectation. Click on Amy to see the vid.

PS: If you're an A&R man for EMI, don't forget my 10% once the kids make it big.

Labels: amy winehouse, ChaCha, Oakwood, studio, Stuffy, Tatty, valerie, Witham

posted by Stuffy @ 2:00 pm 0 comments