Herbs and Hens

Posted on September 25, 2025 by patti

I do not grow as many vegetables as I used to, but I still grow herbs. Lots of herbs! I have a couple of herb beds, but I also tuck them into flower beds wherever I can. Not only are they beautiful but they repel insects I don’t want and attract pollinators. They smell heavenly and my girls love them.

Whenever I am in the garden they wait hoping I will pick some herbs for them. Oregano, thyme, parsley, dill and tarragon are their favorites.

I also love to put fresh herbs like lemon balm and lavender in the nesting boxes….and rose petals when I have them. It is pretty and freshens up the straw.

But since fresh herbs are not available in the garden all year, I dry herbs and flowers to use all winter.

This is what I have so far this year. A good start, but herbs are bountiful and there are lots to harvest.

I cut what is ready and hang them in the coop to dry.

Here is some cat mint drying over the nesting boxes. They sometimes nibble them as they are settling down to lay an egg.

More on the door.

I hang them everywhere. They do get dusty drying in the coop, but my girls don’t mind and it is so festive.

They dry in a week or so and then I put them in the jar and get more.

I still have a whole jar to fill!

As summer fades I will start gathering marigolds and nasturtiums and other flowers that will not survive a frost. They add color to the herb mixture and are a welcome sight in January!

Herbs are also good for creating coop cleaners, coop fresheners and even a fly spray. I got recipes for these from Lisa Steele’s book Fresh Eggs Daily and have been making them for years.

All you need to start is herbs, vinegar or vodka, some citrus and mason jars.

I made a lemon thyme coop cleaner, a basil mint fly spray and my favorite , lavender mint air freshener.

The fly spray uses handfuls of basil and mint and a few slices of lime.

Once herbs are in the jar, fill it up with vinegar…leaving an inch or so at the top.

The lemon thyme coop cleaner is just that. Handfuls of thyme and slices of lemon. Then fill with the white vinegar.

The lavender mint uses lavender..leaves and flowers and mint. But because it is an air freshener I use vodka instead of vinegar. I think it smells nicer.

Add covers with labels and put them in a dark place for a few weeks.

I put them in the pantry. Every couple of days turn them upside down….and turn them back a few days later and keep doing that every few days. That way it all mingles.

Once the liquid is a bit brownish they are ready to strain into bottles.

I strain them through a wire mesh into a measuring jug. And then I use a funnel to pour that into the spray bottles.

Add labels and you are good to go. They are perfect for the coop as they are non toxic. But I also use them in the house.

There are so many things you can do with herbs….and they are so easy to grow.

Posted in Gardens, Hens, herbs | Tagged , | 4 Comments

My Cottage Kitchen

Posted on July 31, 2025 by patti

For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to live in a storybook cottage. As a child and then as a kindergarten teacher, I immersed myself in old stories with thatched cottages, homey kitchens, linens, lace, homemade bread, a steaming kettle…cozy and welcoming. That is where I have always wanted to live. I think of a kitchen as a place where “animals dressed in clothes” would be comfortable having tea.

Think Brambly Hedge.

I always assumed that when we retired in Ireland, I would find it. In fact, I did find it.

We almost bought this cottage in Ireland….but it was not meant to be. In the end, we left Ireland and came home to the Shire,

But I didn’t give up on my storybook cottage. I would just have to create it here.

Brookwood Shire already had gardens and hens and of course, Cluckingham Palace. And while our house began life as a mid century ranch, I have been slowly turning into a cottage over the years. But there was so much more to do! I had more ideas than time or money so I knew it would be an ongoing process.

The first thing we did, in the summer of 2017, was to take the doors off the upper cabinets. I wanted open shelves with teapots and dishes and bowls….

Not exactly what I was imaging, but a start.

I hated the verticals and the boxes around things. And I wasn’t quite sure what to put where. But I knew it would evolve.

So I moved on to the next thing I knew I wanted. We got rid of our huge, modern, boxy refrigerator and replaced it with something smaller, simpler and rounded.

This SMEG was like the fridge that had been in the cottage in Ireland that we almost bought. And I love it,

Soon it was part of the kitchen.

Fiona’s torn ACL and her surgery delayed things and then the pandemic happened so we just let the kitchen evolve with small things. A vintage breadbox, a new kettle, new light fixtures…..

And I worked on the pantry.

A few years later we got back to the kitchen. Bill had been developing some woodworking skills and agreed to make me a farmhouse table.

It was perfect!

I wanted to keep things neutral and we had a very blue kitchen.

So I painted some things white. The shelves above the cabinet were already white and now it looked more like an Irish dresser. We don’t have room for a proper Irish dresser so shelves and a little cabinet underneath would have to do.

Bill also made a little table to put next to the stove.

Always nice to have a place to put a spoon or whatever when you are cooking.

It has been wonderful to have.

We were busy with other projects for a few years but this year we got back to the kitchen.

We have an electric stove and the one thing they are terrible at is boiling water. They take forever. And as someone who drinks a lot of tea, this has been difficult.

So at long last, we got an electric kettle.

I made a little coffee/tea station. And making tea with this kettle is amazing! It boils water so fast!

And that inspired me to move on to my open shelves.

It was time.

So we had someone come and remove the upper cabinets. Even though we would have to repair the walls, it was already so much more open…and the hated boxes were gone!

After many days of spackling and sanding I was able to paint the wall and we could start on the shelves.

Designing the shelves took awhile and there were some false starts and do overs. We are not professionals so we had to learn as we went.

But eventually they took shape. I couldn’t wait to have our things accessible again!

Not quite Brambly Hedge but a huge improvement!

We added a small shelf over the fridge…and I am wondering about adding lace to the shelves.

But we left the space over the stove open. We also added a new light over the sink.

Now we need to get a cabinet for the farmhouse sink that I ordered and for the other lower cabinets. I have finally found a place that has cabinets I like! And they also have wooden countertops!

It will take months to choose cabinets and have them arrive. But we have at least started down that path.

For the moment I can just enjoy all that we have accomplished.

Perhaps I should call Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail and invite them to tea!

Posted in cottage kitchen, house projects, Nature | Tagged | 5 Comments

Hello Again!

Posted on July 27, 2025 by patti

It has been 5 years since I have posted anything on this blog. We were in the middle of the pandemic then and life was uncertain. But the pandemic has now ended and life goes on. I have continued gardening, raising hens and slowly making a few improvements to our little cottage. It has been a busy few years but I have not managed to share any of it with you.

So where do I begin? Well everyone at the Shire has gotten older and sadly some are no longer here. So who is still here?

Mighty Merlin is still with us. He will be 18 in October. He has slowed down a lot, spending most of his time sleeping in some cozy spot. Think Bilbo in Rivendell.

The lovely Fiona is still very much here and still her mischievous self.

Lucinda and Marigold are the only hens left from the chicks that arrived in 2017.

We lost Beatrix, our Matriarch, last summer. She was 12. She was here from the beginning and is sorely missed.

But life goes on and 3 new chicks arrived last summer.

They grew quickly…

…and were soon up in Cluckingham Palace….though not with the others right away. Scarlett is on the floor and Cordelia and Phoebe are on the roost.

Soon they were one flock. And all was well.

But tragically, we lost Scarlett on Tuesday. I don’t know what happened. I went up to feed them and she didn’t come with the others. I found her in the tunnel. Sadly, she had died. This does happen with hens…sometimes they just pass and you have no idea why. She was only a year old…but she is gone. Phoebe especially, misses her as they were best friends. But she will adjust. We all will.

And I will get more chicks in the Spring!

I will update you on the house and gardens soon.

Posted in Nature | 4 Comments

The Spa at Cluckingham Palace

Posted on July 19, 2020 by patti

This has been the strangest summer. First of course there is the whole Covid 19 lockdown which has created a lot of uncertainty. Happily everyone at Brookwood Shire remains healthy.

I have been doing all my usual gardening despite heat, drought, then torrential rains, and now more heat. It has been challenging in many ways.

I have also been busy up in Cluckingham Palace. The girls are all fine and surviving the changing weather. But to make it more interesting for them, I have been improving the big run.

I noticed that the girls had chosen a new spot for dust baths. They used to use the tunnel and still do occasionally.

But they also like a corner of the big run. It is a bigger space and they can have communal baths. So I decided to make them an actual dust bath there.

I raked up the dirt to make it nice and soft and added bricks and logs to enclose it.

The girls were curious and watched hoping for the addition of worms….they are always hoping for that.

I got some ashes left over from winter fires….

…some sand…

..and some diatomaceous earth…DE.

I poured them into the dust bath area and mixed it up.

I added some straw around it and some dried herbs (but sadly no worms) and….voila! A lovely soft area for dust bathing.

It took a few days for the girls to stop being suspicious of their new place.

But now they love it!

That inspired me to add a few things I have been meaning to get to for a few years now.

They have a roost in the little run but I have never gotten around to adding one to the big run.

And I noticed that all the plants around the run have gotten tall and they can no longer see out. Beatrix especially likes to watch the world go by.

We had a closet pole left over from the coop that fit one corner. Now they can see outside again!

I had been trimming back branches so I found a branch for the other corner.

And just for fun I stood up a pine branch between the roosts.

They love nibbling on it. I checked quickly to make sure pine isn’t toxic for them…it is not. Usually they won’t eat anything that is toxic. But I always check.

And after YEARS of thinking they would like a swing, I made them one. They are terrified of it and won’t have anything to do with it. Oh well, maybe one of them will be adventurous at some point. Win some, lose some. I like it.

I hung some water for them near the bath area. It has been hot so I like to have water everywhere.

We don’t have a pool at Cluckingham Palace but I do fill a tub with water on hot days. I have read that standing in water willcool chickens off but my girls haven’t discovered that yet. The y do like drinking from their “pool” though.

My mother used to say that if you change so much as a push pin you will need to redo the whole house. A saying perhaps unique to her but it is true that if you improve one area, everything else seems to need improving as well.

So I decided it was time for feeding stations in the little run. I have had food and water hanging there forever and the food goes everywhere and the plastic water holder gets slimy in the summer. Lisa Steele from Fresh Eggs Daily uses a feeding station and prefers it. So I thought I would try it.

Bill said he could build it. I decided to keep the food and water separate as that is what they are used to so we ended up with two feeding stations.

Food on one side, water on the other. I need to get deeper dishes as they are still spilling some food. Blossom especially is always standing on the edge of the dish and food scatters every where! I am thinking heavy enamel ware dishes…I will have to keep an eye out.

I had some old plastic placemats so I put them under the dishes to make it easier to clean. Still a work in progress I think.

As always I am drying herbs in the coop. I use them in the nesting boxes and dust bath area.

The herbs so far. I mix them all together and just sprinkle them where I want them. I add edible flowers to the mix as well.

But I don’t dry them all. In the summer I use fresh herbs and flowers in the nesting boxes.

Herbs are also nice for cleaning and repelling insects. Lisa Steele from Fresh Eggs Daily has a lot of recipes and I love them all. You can find them on her website: fresh eggs daily.com

I just finished these. Lemon Thyme Coop Cleaner, Basil Mint Lime Fly Spray and my favorite, Lavender Mint Coop Refresher. I actually make an extra of this for the house. It smells so nice!

So life goes on for my lucky girls. And as you can see, Cluckingham Palace is becoming quite a spa!

Posted in Nature | 3 Comments

Adventures with Blossom

Posted on January 29, 2020 by patti

It has been an interesting month with Miss Blossom. In early January, I noticed she was not with the other hens. She was in nesting boxes or off in a corner. At first I thought she might be about to lay again. But I wasn’t finding any eggs. So it wasn’t that. And then I noticed that she was very lethargic and not eating as enthusiastically as she usually does. Her crop was fine and she wasn’t egg bound, but something was up. So I brought her in the house and set up a crate for her.

All she wanted to do was sleep. She refused all food. Blossom has always been a very good eater so this was not good. Perhaps a few days inside would help.

I expected her to improve but she didn’t. She just went into a corner and slept. Even grapes did not tempt her.

She refused all food for days. She was getting dehydrated and very thin. But I was not going to give up on her. I gave her water in a syringe. And made up a smoothie with oats, yogurt, blueberries, parsley and some herbs. I fed her this as well. In a few days she was feeling much better and started to eat on her own. Yay!!! But she had now been in the house for over a week. It was cold outside and I knew the others would be mean to her (the worst thing about hens is the “mean girl” thing they do). She would not be able to go back to Cluckingham Palace for awhile. She would need to be stronger for that.

But on a sunny day she could visit.

She was thrilled to be “home” but surprised that the other girls rejected her.

I stayed with her with my trusty water spray so no one attacked her, but they pointedly ignored her and would have nothing to do with her.

Everyone was in the big run so Blossom and I went up to the coop. She was happy to be there and explored a bit. But after awhile she got cold and bored so we went back in the house.

We visited a few more times but if I wasn’t there with my water bottle the mean girls tried to attack poor Blossom. This was going to take awhile.

And then poor Blossom developed a respiratory problem. Oh no!! No more visits to Cluckingham Palace until that was sorted.

On sunny days we did go out to the greenhouse so Blossom could scratch and peck and be a chicken. But her breathing was still bad.

So off to the Vet we went.

Poor Blossom, this has been a very hard month for her. The Vet agreed her breathing was bad. It was possible that when I was feeding her with a syringe she aspirated a bit of food. Or she just could have picked up some bug. She gave me a prescription for some antibiotics and said keep her warm and cozy for a few days.

So she stayed in her sunny room with her radio for lovely music, her friend in the mirror and lots of treats.

And she improved. She is eating well, talking constantly and very perky. But Her breathing, while improving is not perfect yet.

We go out to the greenhouse on sunny days.

There she can scratch and peck, look for worms ( she actually found one) and snack on the mint that winters there. It is not home, but it at least gives her something to do.

She still has a few days of antibiotic. Hopefully she will be better soon. And then we can begin again to bring her home. And her sisters will hopefully accept her and everything can get back to normal!

Posted in Cluckingham Palace, Hens, Nature | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Adventures with Blossom

A New Year…

Posted on January 2, 2020 by patti

It has been such a long time since I have written and suddenly it is a new year. So I thought I would catch you up a bit on what we have been doing at Brookwood Shire.

First and foremost it has been just wonderful having a healthy and happy dog!Fiona is back to walking and running every day. She seems “as good as new” since her surgery and all is well again.

As you can see, Fiona is loving the snow. This is the first winter she has actually been able to play in the snow. Her ACL injury kept her restricted the last two winters. This is MUCH better!

But Fall was pretty nice as well.

The woods were glorious this year and Fiona loved being off leash at long last and free to explore a bit.

While she is not the swimmer that Fergus was, she does like the river.

We took her to the beach in October.

She was wary of the ocean waves but LOVED chasing the seagulls! So much fun!

Aside from Fiona adventures, things are pretty much the same at Brookwood Shire.

A truce has been declared and Merlin has realized that Fiona is almost as cozy to curl up with as Fergus was.

Though he still spends lots of time with his beloved Coco.

The girls are doing well.

As you can see, there is plenty of straw in the big run so they don’t have to deal with the scary white stuff.

The little run has straw as well and we have put plastic up to keep the wind out. On a sunny day it is very cozy there as well.

And of course Cluckingham Palace has been winterized.

“Bed canopies” have been added above where they sleep. With additional curtains for added warmth. And of course if it gets REALLY cold, the coop under the stairs remains an option.

I did my usual Fall decorating…

I love bringing nature in as part of the cycle of the seasons.

So as the darker, colder days arrived, I put away the orange and browns of autumn and added the reds and greens of winter.

And so it goes. One season follows another and life goes on.

There were cookies for Christmas.

I love baking cookies and making little gifts for neighbors and friends….

And of course someone got presents…

Fiona’s toys don’t last long, but she does love getting them.

Even I got a present this year.

My talented friend, Donald, made this needlepoint pillow for me. Isn’t it gorgeous?

I just love it!

The holidays are over but there is still plenty of winter to get through in New England. We got a foot of snow in early December…that melted and then we got more..that melted in time for the most resent snow event. As I write this, that is melting but I am sure there will be more as winter goes on. But the light is slowly returning….and the promise of Spring. Soon the grocery stores will have cheery primroses and I will fill the house with them.

And that will have to be enough to get me through until the gardens return.

Winter is a time to rest and work on inside projects. I have a few I hope to get to. I will try to be better about keeping this blog up to date!

Who knows what the new year will bring…..

Happy New Year!!!!

Posted in Nature | 3 Comments

It is Always Something

Posted on September 2, 2019 by patti

Those of you have been following along on Fiona’s blog: http://tplosurgeryandrecovery.wordpress.com , already know that Fiona has completed her recovery period after her knee surgery and is fine. She is back to her daily walks along the river.

Playing in her back yard.

And running like the wind every chance she gets. Life is good again for Miss Fiona!

When not outside enjoying herself, she likes to relax on one of her couches.

Mighty Merlin is often close by.

But Fiona also likes to nap in her crate.

Mighty Merlin agrees it is a nice place to nap.

But a few days ago, I discovered that Blossom had a very large crop. She would have to come inside for a few days.

I set up a crate for her in the only available space..Fiona’s crate room!

The good news is that she is doing well. Her crop is reducing and I am hoping she will be able to rejoin her sisters in Cluckingham Palace in a few days. Fingers crossed!

The sad news is that Fiona makes Blossom very nervous so she can not go in her room or sleep in her crate.

Her crate is too close to Blossom.

She does have another crate in the kitchen though.

Merlin likes it as well.

In fact Merlin likes it so much he decided it was his.

And he has no intentions of sharing it with Fiona.

Even if she asks to come in.

When Fiona was recovering from her surgery and unable to chase him, Merlin took back his house. He is the boss again and that is that.

Poor Fiona!

She will have to settle for the couch in the sunroom for now.

It is always something….

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The Pampered Princesses of Cluckingham Palace

Posted on June 7, 2019 by patti

Two years ago today, the new girls arrived.

A box of cuteness.

Now they are all grown up. And as the weather warms, and the days grow longer, egg production is in full swing. So I thought it was was time to again introduce you to the girls and give them a little credit for the delicious eggs that so many enjoy.

Sadly, we lost Rowena and Jasmine last Fall.

Rowena
Jasmine

They are buried here, next to the big run. I planted flowers and we now have The Rowena/Jasmine Garden.

It is a shady corner..close to everyone.

But everyone else is happy, healthy and laying. Even Beatrix, who turned seven in May, is laying. We get 4-5 eggs a day.

If everyone lays we get two blue and four brown eggs.

So whose is whose? Well, each egg, like each hen, is different. It is easy to tell whose egg you are eating.

Beatrix, our matriarch, is an Americana. She lays blue eggs. I can tell her eggs, because, as the queen, she only lays in the perfect nesting box. So a blue egg, there is hers.

Her eggs have a slight green hue as well.

Blossom is an Easter Egger and also lays blue eggs, She will lay anywhere but prefers the nesting boxes with curtains.

Her eggs are a bluer blue than Beatrix’s.

Everyone else lays brown eggs but they are all different.

Keara is an Australorp. She lays the darkest eggs.

She also announces to the world that she has laid an egg. She is very proud!

Hermine is a Golden Wyandotte. Her eggs are the smallest and distinctly pointed.

It is always easy to tell which eggs are hers.

Lucinda is a Barred Plymouth Rock.

Her eggs often have freckles…but not always.

Marigold is a Buff Orpington. She loves sitting on eggs in the nesting box. She likes to gather up any eggs that are there and sit on them all. She takes her time laying an egg and is not in a hurry to leave the eggs behind.

Her eggs are the palest with a bit of a pink hue to them at times.

And what do the girls do when they are not laying eggs?

One thing they all love is their morning oatmeal.

In the hot weather I just soak the oats, but if it is a chilly morning I will make them oatmeal.

I add a little cinnamon and sometimes cayenne pepper. It sound awful, but apparently they can’t taste the heat of the pepper and it is good for their respiratory health.

I add all sorts of goodies to their oatmeal. Sunflower and flax seeds, dried or fresh herbs, blueberries (or strawberries or raspberries when they are in season) coop kelp and brewers yeast with garlic (supplements from Lisa Steele of Fresh Eggs Daily) and of course, their favorite, yogurt. The oats, like everything else they eat, are organic.

When not eating they are busy in their run.

Roosting is always nice, especially on rainy days. Lucinda has always liked to roost as high as possible.

There are stumps to stand on.

Worms to find.

And on a sunny day, dust baths to take.

Or you can just watch the world go by.

The straw is very comfy if you just want to take a rest.

Just hanging out in the tunnel that connects the big and small runs is a favorite thing to do. It is a good place to watch to see if I am bringing any treats.

Which, of course, I do…the pampered princesses of Cluckingham Palace get many treats….

…They are happy hens!

Cluckingham Palace and the little run.

The connecting tunnel.

The big run.

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Spring Has Sprung!

Posted on April 26, 2019 by patti

At long last, Spring has arrived. The daffodils are up and the hyacinth I planted last Fall have survived!

It has been one of the wettest Aprils that I can remember and that follows the wettest March.

Everything is a bit soggy. I have managed to get out in the gardens some this week and have added straw to the very wet areas. But there is more to do.

There are seedlings in the greenhouse waiting for the ground to dry out a bit. They will need potting on soon.

There is also quite a bit of mint in the greenhouse which managed to migrate in from outside. It has had a lovely winter there.

It will need to be moved back outside at some point.

But Fiona is still recovering from her surgery so I do not have as much time as I usually do.

She has come out with me a few times but sadly, is still in her crate.

So things are very busy at Brookwoodshire. I will do a proper blog about the gardens soon, but I also wanted to update you on Fiona. She is doing well and in fact has her own blog about her recovery….which explains why I have not written much here lately.

Here is a link to her blog. I started it awhile ago and mentioned it on Facebook but if you didn’t see it, here is a link: https://tplosurgeryandrecovery.wordpress.com/

In addition to Fiona and gardens , there also have been a few chicken adventures to deal with. Things do seem to come in threes.

Happily everyone is fine now but it really has been a busy month.

And May will be busier still! So if you haven’t seen it yet, catch up on Miss Fiona’s story.

And I will catch you up on the gardens and the girls SOON.

Happy Spring everyone!

Posted in Brookwood Shire, Fiona, Gardens, Hens, Nature, Spring | Tagged | 1 Comment

Day Two

Posted on March 28, 2019 by patti

So Fiona had her surgery on Tuesday. It went well and she came home yesterday. She was of course very happy to see us and to be home…

Things started well. We gave her a frozen pumpkin/yogurt “frosty paws.” Yum. We hoped she would just lick away and relax. But “relax” isn’t really part of Fiona’s repertoire. She just licked that and was ready for the next thing.

Sadly, for her, there isn’t a lot of “next thing.” She needs to be in her crate most of the time for the next few weeks. She is allowed to go out to poop and pee and then it is right back in. And she can’t wander all over the yard looking for the perfect spot…she needs to just go outside the door and go.

Worse, still is that she has to wear this donut thing so she won’t lick her incision. I had hoped she would just use it as a pillow and she may learn to, but right now it is NOT her favorite thing!

It IS possible to sleep with the donut on…

…. but it MUCH nicer without it!

We are supposed to ice her leg a few times a day and do passive range of motion exercises on it, but she is having none of that. The incision looks good and there isn’t much swelling so I am letting that go for now.

She is eating well and taking her meds (they go right in her food and she never notices) and she remains very interested in treats. So it is not all bad.

She is pretty much hopping and keeps her injured leg up most of the time. She will toe touch to stabilize but no weight bearing. I think that is pretty normal and expect her to start using the leg a bit in a week or so.

It is going to be a long two weeks I think until she gets her stitches out…after that she at least won’t need the donut. But it will be another four weeks until she can have short walks and start her rehab.

Though she should improve day by day and when she is feeling a bit better I have a few games we can play while she is in the crate..so that will help pass the time.

But we have to get there.

For now things are a bit boring for poor Fiona….and she is not her usual happy self. 😢

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