Never Again Pear Chutney!

I made pear chutney today. M had brought a recipe home from a woman that he is building a veranda for. He loves pears and we have two pear trees in the orchard. One of those trees is under threat as in two years there's only been six pears and they have dropped off before I could get them to ripen.

The other pear tree has two types, a green as shown in the picture and a brown pear. They have all got green spots which are brown and hard once peeled. It took me over one hour to peel, cut out the hard bits, core and chop just over 1 kilo of pears today. I was sticky, in a hurry and becoming more and more frustrated. Anyway, I added all the other ingredients and put the pot on to simmer. I rushed it so I hope that it's not too runny.

Meanwhile, in the garden the girls had been late producing eggs so I hadn't let them out for a run until just before 2pm. I had an appointment with a local business at 3pm to see if I wanted to do a few hours "paid" work for them per fortnight. So, at 2.55pm I tried to get the girls back into the chook shed. The two layers went in, I wouldn't say happily - there was a bit of a bribe in the pear leftovers. The youngest, Lulu, wasn't going anywhere near the shed. I made a quick phone call and apologised about being late and kept on trying. No dice. So then I opened the door to try and entice her in with some wheat - and the other two nipped out! So now all three are running off to the loose long grass for the bugs. I left them there and went to my appointment. I was only away for about forty minutes and on my return yes they were still there, strolling around. They hadn't even missed me!

I've just been out again and the same thing happened, Eddie and Thelma follow me but Lulu - no.

Then M came home from Hobart, looking tired, and the pair of us are chasing her around the yard, and it's a big yard. Eddie and Thelma are happily inside, eating and drinking, not a care in the world and Lulu is hiding behind the oak tree. I have come inside in disgust, muttering about feral hens and M is watering outside. I don't know whether she'll wander over to the shed as it gets dark or run away to London! Poor old Terry is stuck inside as I don't want him to think it's okay to get another chook to play with.

The saga continues......

J