Christmas at Hen Corner

| 16th December 2010

What a year!

Well, at this busy time of year, I thought I give a quick update before getting on with writing our Christmas cards and packing up the little gift hampers that we’ve been planning for months. This time last year we were painting the guest room literally minutes before family arrived for the holidays, Uncle Rich had designed us our fab new logo and we were thrilled to host the first ever Christmas here at Hen Corner. This year we are looking forward to cracking open the Sloe Schnapps, right, and looking back to the highs and lows of 2010; counting our blessings for a fantastic year.

So let’s remind ourselves of some of the highlights of 2010….

And here we are in December

Christmas is coming – it’s practically here!

If you haven’t made your Christmas cake yet, we are fans of Mulled Wine Christmas Cake, you can find a similar recipe here and we are going to cover it with a Zesty Orange Marzipan followed by a white fondant icing.

If you are looking for last-minute presents, do take a quick look at the goodies that our friends have at ILikeChickens.co.uk I just love this Chicken House Hot Water Bottle Cover!

How are the Chickens?

Well the good news is that, after the moulting, the girls are ready with their Party Clothes – new feathers for the Christmas Season!

The downside of this cold weather is frozen water (this needs to be checked a couple of times a day so they don’t dehydrate) and soggy nests… the straw needs to be kept clean and dry to keep the girls happy and the eggs clean…

Holiday Homes for Hens!

It’s not just us that have guests over Christmas, we are very pleased to be welcoming three local girls for a few weeks… hopefully they’ll be paying for their bed & board with some nice fresh eggs!

In the Kitchen Garden

We’ve still got carrots, leeks, potatoes, herbs, purple sprouting broccoli (under fleece) in the raised beds and cauliflower seedlings in the cold frame. You’ve heard of frozen peas, well we’ve got frozen beans! We heard that planting broad beans in October gives them a head start in the spring so that they flower before the black flies are out and about. On a dry day, they look quite happy, but when it’s frosty – they look a bit vulnerable. I think we’ll have to see what happens come springtime…

The fruit trees have been sprayed with Winter Tree Wash and the Asparagus bed has been made for the winter sleep…

In the Kitchen

We’re starting to pack up all the jams, pickles & chutneys, cakes, puddings & pies, either to give away or prepare for our celebrations here. We are definitely looking forward to our Courgette and Cumin Chutney on Boxing Day.

In the Community

We don’t talk much about the other wonderful things that go on in the wider community here in Brentford. But if you’re in West London on Monday 20th December, do pop down to see us at Carols in the Park it’s a great way to usher in those final days before Christmas.

In the New Year

Do look out for a magazine called Lost In London, it’s a fab new publication for ‘country-loving city dwellers’ that helps us to find and appreciate all of the best bits of country life here on our doorsteps in London.

So, whilst the late night re-runs of previous Christmas specials are tempting me to stay up, I must pace myself to enjoy this very special time of year. Thanks for following us throughout 2010 and do subscribed to make sure that you don’t miss a post.

So I leave you with this greeting:

We pray for a very peaceful Christmas for your and those you love and a blessed New Year that brings life to the full…

See you in 2011!

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