http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog A blog about rural life in the UK, our countryside and my country life. It's all here, farming, gardening, wildlife, animals and rural dating. Thu, 20 Jan 2011 14:41:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/%e2%80%98fighting-like-cats-and-dogs%e2%80%99-is-it-really-true/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/%e2%80%98fighting-like-cats-and-dogs%e2%80%99-is-it-really-true/#comments Thu, 20 Jan 2011 14:41:54 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=772 Researchers, studying the relationship between cats and dogs, have concluded that cats and dogs are more than adept at reading each other’s signals. Dogs actually adapt their own greeting behaviour to accommodate the cats in the house. Although cats and dogs have very distinctive personalities, depending on how you go about setting the relationship up, [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/%e2%80%98fighting-like-cats-and-dogs%e2%80%99-is-it-really-true/feed/ 14 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/burt-the-bat-and-the-blackcurrant-jelly-saga/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/burt-the-bat-and-the-blackcurrant-jelly-saga/#comments Wed, 06 Oct 2010 00:19:09 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=767 This is the story of little Burt the Bat and a story I am ashamed to tell .. but here goes anyway. Let’s start at the beginning. At our farm we are lucky enough to have a colony of Pipistrelle bats and we are extremely fond of our bats. Unfortunately sickness in the colony drastically [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/burt-the-bat-and-the-blackcurrant-jelly-saga/feed/ 11 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/what-to-do-with-excess-tomatoes-easy-tomato-sauce-recipe/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/what-to-do-with-excess-tomatoes-easy-tomato-sauce-recipe/#comments Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:26:29 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=755 Simon has sent me a message asking what to do with excess tomatoes … Easy Tomato Sauce recipe is called for I think. Growing your own can be a frustrating experience, you seem to wait forever for them to ripen and then suddenly you have so many you don’t know what to do with them. [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/what-to-do-with-excess-tomatoes-easy-tomato-sauce-recipe/feed/ 12 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/country-kids-online-secure-website-for-kids/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/country-kids-online-secure-website-for-kids/#comments Sun, 15 Aug 2010 08:17:02 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=751 Do you know we have a website for country kids? A friend said that her sons were looking for a grown-up type of site for kids but all they could find were either pre-school age or sites about celebrities/fashion, or that concentrated one one subject. So we made a website for country loving kids! You [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/country-kids-online-secure-website-for-kids/feed/ 5 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/growing-green-how-to-become-a-farmer-in-the-uk-2/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/growing-green-how-to-become-a-farmer-in-the-uk-2/#comments Wed, 04 Aug 2010 16:02:50 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=747 Breaking into the UK agricultural industry has traditionally been a family affair. Children are inspired to take up their parents’ profession, and the family farm is passed down to the next generation. Today, more children of farming families are permanently leaving the farming profession in favor of other career paths. This turn of events has [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/growing-green-how-to-become-a-farmer-in-the-uk-2/feed/ 13 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/support-our-winter-wildlife/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/support-our-winter-wildlife/#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:31:27 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=740 Between the dreadful floods and the UK’s deepest winter freeze in decades North Cumbria would be forgiven for feeling a little bedraggled of late. Of course with the luck I have I started a market trading business in October, just in time to be flooded out in November and then frozen out in from late [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/support-our-winter-wildlife/feed/ 5 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/how-to-make-a-hedgehog-house-wildlife/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/how-to-make-a-hedgehog-house-wildlife/#comments Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:33:42 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=705 In the last post we looked at attracting hedgehogs to your garden so now we need to know how to make a hedgehog house. Hedgehogs will only stay around your garden if they find a warm secure place to hibernate over the winter months and a good supply of food and water on warm days. [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/how-to-make-a-hedgehog-house-wildlife/feed/ 14 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/attracting-hedgehogs-to-your-garden-caring-for-hedgehogs/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/attracting-hedgehogs-to-your-garden-caring-for-hedgehogs/#comments Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:08:40 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=724 Should you be lucky enough to have a hedgehog visit your garden or wish to attract one and see it safely through the winter months there are lots of excellent books in libraries and experts at wildlife centres for advice. Failing being able to visit one of these then you can read the excellent information [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/attracting-hedgehogs-to-your-garden-caring-for-hedgehogs/feed/ 11 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/pets-and-fireworks-protect-your-animals-on-bonfire-night/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/pets-and-fireworks-protect-your-animals-on-bonfire-night/#comments Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:58:14 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=723 Pets and fireworks simply do not mix. Bonfire night is a fun time for us roasting marshmallows and going “ooooh” as fireworks paint the sky can actually be a pet’s idea of hell. Every year many pets are lost or injure themselves through the fear of fireworks. Whether you have a dog, cat, horse or [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/pets-and-fireworks-protect-your-animals-on-bonfire-night/feed/ 2 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/grow-your-own-potatoes-in-containers/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/grow-your-own-potatoes-in-containers/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:38:01 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=711 You don’t need 50 acres to be able to grow your own potatoes, you can grow potatoes in pots or containers on your patio, along the side of your drive or even on a balcony and growing potatoes is not nearly as complicated as most people think. We use large buckets or tubs placed around [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/grow-your-own-potatoes-in-containers/feed/ 22