Beetroot and Sauerkraut

I don’t think I’ve ever come across a hen quite as dumb as our hen Punky!! I mean, honestly, she must’ve been right at the very back of the queue when they were handing out brains!! For example when I come home at night, the hens all recognise me and come running up to me and I give them some treats. It’s our wee daily routine. All the hens except Punky who just stays behind, looking around her with a glaikit look on her face. It takes a while for the penny to drop that the rest of the flock isn’t there any longer and she starts to panic a little, calling for her friends, who are already tucking into their treats. By the time Punky has joined them all the treats have gone. Naturally, I feel a little sorry for her, so I eventually slip her some wheat and corn when the others aren’t looking. Thankfully, all is well again with our flock of 4 hens (who we named: Caramello, Punky, Tufty and Mrs. Feathers, the latter named by Stuart’s youngest).

I wasn’t joking last month when I predicted I’d be making sauerkraut in August; it’s already in the big crock fermenting away! Because of the very warm May and June and wetter, but mild, July and August, the vegetables are just growing into monsters! We harvested an incredible 12 kg of white cabbages to make sauerkraut and kimchi with. But we still have 4 large cabbages on the plot. The carrots are also doing really well and this year is the first year I’ve managed to grow good sized beetroot! It must be down to our exposed location, but beetroot has never done well with us - but not this year! I’ve even managed to grow a fancy variety of beetroot with stripes this year, called Chioggia. I’m all chuffed with myself. The onions are massive too, I had to start harvesting in order to prevent them from rotting, but now I need some sunny days for them to dry them before storing them for the winter. I don’t think I’ve ever grown vegetables as big as these before, it’s astonishing what a slight rise in temperature can do, isn’t it?!

As for the TV extra work, not much is being filmed right now, All the other extras (including myself) are just twiddling our thumbs at the moment, which means when an opportunity does arise, hundreds of extras apply for the same job!

But the trailer for ‘Outlaw King’ is out now, a film about Robert the Bruce due for release in November. My husband features in it as one of the many soldiers (playing both an English and a Scottish soldier, but not at the same time!). The movie I was an extra in this time last year, ‘Tell it to the Bees’, is to feature at the Toronto International Film Festival too. No trailer yet for that one! By the way, I’m not sure what I’m more proud of: that I was an extra and had a scene with Scottish actress Kate Dickie, or that the director, the cameraman and one of the (super famous) actresses all paid a visit to the store to do a bit of shopping! Not all at the same time, mind.