Apples and pears

I spent a while today putting apple and pear slices into the freezer. We had a storm overnight so there were some windfall cooking apples and |I want to get some of the pears done too before they are also blown off  the tree. I slice them all into slightly salted water, which stops them discolouring, drain and then pop them in freezer bags  and get them into the freezer quickly.
The plums have almost finished, the last few have been picked today and lots of squishy ones picked up off the ground and thrown into the chickens who get really excited, all rushing round with a plum in their beaks trying to avoid another chicken pinching it.

Him Outside had to trek back to Ipswich again to take the 24 hour heart monitor back, he came home via the feed merchants to pick up Octobers chicken feed and the agricultural engineers for some tractor bits. We always try to do two or more errands when using the jeep.
Earlier this week he had just started moving some soil to fill in gaps by the new path at the back of the house, when the water pump on the tractor packed up. Our tractor is an old Fiat and a few years ago he found a parts supplier over in Cardigan in Wales. After emailing and then phoning to pay, the new pump arrived less than 24 hours later - excellent service! So he has been up to his elbows in grease getting the pump fitted.( and then taking it all to bits again to cure another leak!)

Today I did my bike ride down to Friston for the library van. I went down with 3 bags full so it's a good job it was downhill. I came home with not quite so many, mostly crime fiction this month. So for all crime fans here is the regular book picture.

Most of these are ones I've ordered and are new books by favourite authors but one or two  are new-to-me authors who I'm testing out. I spotted the book about Stowmarket on the van shelves and thought I would borrow, as that was our old home town over in Mid Suffolk.
The other day I mentioned how disappointed I was with the book by Susie Hodge - The Home Front in WWII, as it just seemed to skim over things. These two books also about WWII are the complete opposite, well written, lots of details.

I seem to be stuck on WWII and modern or historical crime at the moment. Not sure why, perhaps there is some strange psychological reason!

Thanks to careful spending over the last few months we had a bit of spare money in the "everything else" section of the budget so while he was getting chicken feed he also got a sack of peanuts for bird feeding. We had to stop feeding peanuts when the price shot through the roof last winter but it has dropped back again. Buying a 25kg sack is by far the cheapest way to buy and watching the woodpeckers and all the smaller birds on the feeder while working in the kitchen gives great enjoyment. Now the peanut restaurant is open  I hope it doesn't take too long for them to find it again.