Sunday

Lots got done today. Dear Hubby has been working on a retaining wall so he can start building his shed. I get a load of topsoil for my garden out of this project so the faster he works, the better for me. Plus once the shed and our verandah are finished, the next building project is walling and flooring our last unenclosed shed bay for my sewing room or 'studio' if you want to sound posh!

It was such a beautiful day today that it remineded me that summer is coming. Chickens can suffer heat stress and stop laying so I rummaged around and found an old piece of shade cloth. A few cable ties later and Chickenritz has a little more shelter in the noonday heat. And yes, that gorse is on the to-do list.

All the chickens had been let out for a scratch around, the only one left keeping a beady eye on things was one of the fluffybutt twins. She's a blue orpington and has a twin sister. I can only tell them apart because one has a bare pink spot on her butt where our neighbour's dog took a hunk of feathers out of her (our neighbour keeps him a little more under control now as I 'politely' told him I would shoot it if I saw it again, not that I know how to work the gun!).

And then a little baking. Mmmmmm, chocolate brownies. My little boy turns five at the end of the week. So begins a busy week of school visits, a couple of night shifts, birthday party planning and cake baking. I thought I'd get in what baking I could while I could!

Chocolate Brownies

125 g melted butter

2 cups brown sugar

4-6 tbsps cocoa powder

1 cup white flour

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

Melt the butter and let it cool a bit. Add the brown sugar, then sift in the cocoa and flour. Add the eggs and vanilla essence then mix well. Place in a lined tin about the size of a sponge roll tin (I make a triple batch and it fills my oven tray size roasting dish). Bake at 180 degrees celcius for 20-25 minutes. If you overcook it, it will be chewy rather than gooey. Hide from children and use it to bribe them to clean their rooms.