It's a good life...

Forget Felicity Kendall, the good life bug has bitten me bad and I am hooked on selling up and living in the country.... Jamie makes it look so easy ;)

I spent my summer hols hiking up cliffs, and meandering on beaches. I also visited some friends who left the city (and rat race) for darkest Devon (see DRAGON ARCHERY for a wee taster...) Seeing their lush and spacious land, chickens, cows peering over the fences, and their total isolation (they don't even have a phone line - it would have cost £600,000!! - how is that for a BT connection charge ;) I am really hankering after my own 20 acres *cough* and space to start all sorts of Jamie type gardening projects, with the aim to cook home grown produce.

So the BIG dream started with the grandiose gesture of planting *read "thrown callously into a small filled-in pond space" potatoes in the Spring.

GRANTED they were rank tentacle-ridden ones which I had discovered loitering at the back of a cupboard (oops must have forgotten about them ;) I figured those sprawling tentacles were ideal for taking root, and spawning me some des-res tatties to make the perfect mash.

As I am the ultimate attentive gardener *blink* I only just noticed this morning that my pond looks like the Amazon Jungle, and I obviously needed to reap the rewards of my frugal foresight. I didn't have high hopes, which made the haul of robust reds a real eye opener. One of the suckers was a heifer - as per my pic - and I am all set to have a roast tomorrow and get these beauties transformed into fluffy mash and crusty roasts... lip smacking for Sunday!

Katy G has chickens, and I am toying with the idea of investing in a brood (need a new house first!) I spend a small fortune on Free Range & Organic eggs... so I see this as my bit for the household budget... although the poo is all for Paul ;)

Enjoy the weekend, because BasicGrey hits the headlines Monday ;)

Becks xx