There are certain tasks that can be viewed as tedious if one lets them. Three such tasks immediately come to mind here at Struan Farm: ironing, cleaning out fridges, and--last but not least-- shelling walnuts.
I've been scrupulously avoiding the two bulging hessian sacks sittings out in the garage that are stuffed with the remains of our walnut harvest. Some of this season's bumper crop has gone off to good causes, but what's left patiently waits to be shelled and put into ziplock bags for the freezer. We go through quite a lot of nuts in our homemade muesli for the farmstay, also use walnuts in baking and on winter breakfast porridge. And stale walnuts from the supermarket simply don't compare to fresh from the farm, the taste is markedly different.
Today I've decided to approach the walnuts and the worst of the fridges with a positive attitude rather than dread. This must be best for all of us. It's a rainy day, and I hate blobbing around. First I tackled the garage fridge, which we use for farmstay breakfast provisions in season, and in autumn/winter to store, hatch ziplock bags of heritage seedling fruit stones in compost and sometimes scion wood for grafting fruit trees. The stones have now pretty much hatched and been planted out into pots in the glasshouse, so it's well past time to clean the fridge. And surprise, it didn't take that long to do.
With that job done it's onto the walnuts. Bag #1 has been relocated onto the kitchen island, bowls and tools have been assembled and the cracking has commenced. This job will take many days, but at least the train has now left the station for nutville. There is even a quantity of beautiful shelled walnuts in the bowl.
But here's the good news--the sun is coming out, a reprieve from the universe. I've made a start and apparently that's good enough for the powers that be. I can go outside and play!
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