Just as we were ready to get some hatching eggs both girls decided that actually they no longer fancied brooding! Thankfully we hadn’t bough the eggs yet or it would have been an emergency incubator purchase, or a very expensive quiche….
Free Range Eggs
Even though they are no longer broody they have both stopped laying and so we are back to buying eggs. Luckily our neighbour is getting plenty from his flock of chickens and from his ducks, but a recent look in the supermarkets has shown the price of free range eggs coming down quite considerably with Aldi seeming to have the best price of £1.95 for a dozen large free range. Although I do have hesitations about the free range commercial system and the lack of true free ranging, it is by far the better choice than caged or barn reared. I always suggest when messaged that people buy locally if possible and if that isn’t an option then the best they can afford with organic supermarket followed by free range being the better choices to make in terms of both welfare and taste.
Beach Life
Gabriel Paddling
We’re very lucky with where we are living with so many places for free days out. Today is a family day out to the beach with Grandma & Grandad joining us for a picnic. Gabriel has been a bit off colour the past two evenings, yet in the day full of beans and his usual chirpy self. I suspect with random temperature spikes, a stuffy nose and rosy red cheeks that we may soon have some new teeth popping through. Last time at the beach Gabe had a lovely paddle in just his vest and nappy, but this time we’re a bit more prepared with swim nappies and a costume – but I think I’ll make daddy brave the Welsh waters to go in with him!
Food Issues
One benefit of keeping any livestock when you have a young family is helping to overcome food disassociation. I find it very worrying that many children don’t know where there food comes from – not associating the pig with the bacon or the chicken and the egg. This is something parents and schools need to tackle along with more cookery lessons to deal with an increasing reliance on ready meals and takeaways. Often people buy the meals thinking they are cheaper, but this is rarely the case, and they are so full of added salt and sugar it can cause problems for developing taste buds and bodies. Here’s a great list of family friendly food blogs that I use and that will help get children cooking on the Channel4 Site. We’re just starting letting Gabe help out, although so far banging the spoon in the bowl is far more fun that the cooking part!
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