A year in the life of.....

Lamb

2012-01-19T15:23:00.004Z

Today we picked up the lamb from the butchers. They were Annie's triplets - Zwartbles X Suffolk. As always the meat looks good, the Zwartbles breed adds a sweetness and a tenderness to the meat and being a larger breed it also adds size to the chops and joints.

There was a greater variation to the weights than we expected. The largest lamb had started to grow away from the rest or the smallest lag behind, I not sure which, maybe a little of both, but the smallest carcass came back at just under 17kg, the largest 29kg !! The one in between was 23+kg which is about average.

This time we had the meat vacuum packed and labelled in the view of selling a few half lambs. ( Available to buy locally (as I am unable to post) @ £5 kg, please email me for details )

Being vacuum packed makes it hard to photograph but an example of 1/2 a leg joint from last year's lamb can be seen here .

We still have Freda's twins, for a couple more weeks at least. They are a mix of breeds. Freda (the mother) is from a Shropshire ewe and a Jacob ram. She was put to a Suffolk ram. The twins are smaller and stockier than Annie's' triplets and the meat has a slightly stronger taste.
As a breed they are definitely less friendly and less trusting than the Zwartbles.

This year we have chosen not to put the ewes to the ram but as 'lambing time' draws closer I miss the anticipation and the preparations...maybe next year.

Just in time...

2011-12-21T20:12:00.009Z

..... for Christmas and for Dad's visit, the down stair shower room is finished. The awful antiquated yellow bathroom suite is no more. The peeling paint gone, along with the damp walls. Everything is new and sparkly and the heated towel rail means no more damp towels.

The lambs are happy

2011-11-21T14:30:00.004Z

Having decided to overwinter the lambs, at the weekend we bought in several bales of hay and straw.

The lambs are alternating between the paddock and orchard by day and in the 'fowl's run' at night once the turkeys have been closed in.

With the temperature so mild the grass is still growing so the lambs have plenty to eat, although the nutritional value is low. The orchard is scattered with the last few windfall apples adding interest to their diet and the hedges are still in leaf, (the hedges always being preferrred to grass at the best of times)

The land is free draining so mud is rarely an issue. All in all I think the lambs will be fine and with the ewes not returning to the land for most, if not all, of 2012 the ground will also have a chance to recover.

Buying time

2011-11-12T12:20:00.003Z

We have come to a decision, to help relieve of the pressure of the work which needs to be achieved in the next few weeks.

We still have the lambs, but rather than fret about when will be able to get them to the abattoir we have decided to keep them until January. Logistically it will be so much easier then. The stable will be empty, once the turkeys have gone, which means we will have somewhere dry to keep the lambs before slaughter. It is also easier to load them into the trailer from the stable yard and lights in the stable enables us to dag them anytime of the day; with the darker mornings and evenings extra jobs such as this are normally saved for the weekends.

We will also have a few more weeks to sort out the freezers.

Keeping the lambs over winter will mean having to buy in hay and hard feed, but this year it is a small price to pay for extra 'breathing space'.

Racing away

2011-09-23T16:20:00.002+01:00

The year is racing ahead, leaving us standing in it's trail. Days quickly become months and little appears to have been achieved. The 'to do list' gets longer and longer.

Nature however has the habit of 'carrying on' as normal with or without our input.

The lambs have grown very well despite our worries of the inadequate amount of grass. They are now ready to be sent off as soon as I can organise dates.

A few weeks ago we took the ewes to a friends. A yearly event, firstly to wean the lambs and secondly for the ewes to run with the ram later in the year. It also gives our land a chance to rest.

We had decided not to lamb the ewes next year, however my friend has asked if she could 'use' Annie, the Zwartbles. So we may have a complete year sheep free as she will keep both ewes on her small holding until Annie is weaned in 2012.
It will be strange, but good as we have limited land and a year completely free of livestock will help to break any parasitic burden.

The fruit garden has been very productive, the Autumn raspberries have been outstanding and the strawberries are producing a second, smaller crop.

The potatoes survived the blight as we were quick to cut back all the foliage, thankfully it never reached the tomatoes.

The shallots and onions have done far better than we deserve, as they were completely neglected and hard to find amongst the weeds.

On the 'must do' list for the following months are the hedges and the compost/muck heap. Also we must replace the fence between Fred's ground and the Fowls run. It has been on the 'to do' list for a while but this morning one of the lambs broke through making it a priority.

The poultry have done extremely well this year, possibly where most of my time has been spent, but worth it as the flocks are beginning to become established.

I have further plans for next year, but as the year comes to an end it becomes apparent that despite all our plans, achievements and the lack of, nature continues pretty much on course.

Plums

2011-08-04T15:56:00.010+01:00

Last year we decided that in 2011 we would cut back drastically on vegetable growing and the inevitable harvesting and preserving and concentrate on renovating the houses. Of course nothing goes as planned and 'other things' cropped up which demanded our attention, so little progress has been made on the houses and other than potatoes, onion, shallots, courgettes, cucumbers, beetroot and tomatoes we have little veg.

The fruit has done remarkably well however, with very little help from us.. The plums especially.

We have three very old Dittisham plum trees, which if we had the time last year would more than likely have been taken down. More than half of one tree is dead, the others not very different. To be honest earlier in the year I didn't really take much notice of the amount of blossom or whether it suffered from the late frosts and so it came as quite a surprise when we started to harvest the plums and began filling bucket after bucket.

We have made jam, chutney, sorbet, plum brandy and many crumbles. Pickled plums and plum cake are new recipes we are going to try. We have given them away to anyone willing to take them, fed them to the poultry and sheep ( who appear to have become as tried of them as we have.) and still we keep picking and perserving.

Photos: In the making

Plum jam:

Plum chutney:

Plum and apple chutney:

It is no more !

2011-06-20T15:42:00.006+01:00

To anyone other than family the two photos above probably rate amongst the most boring of all time but to me they represent the beginning and the end. A farewell to the bathroom of doom and the welcome promise of a lovely, shiny, easy to clean shower room.

My hate for the old bathroom grew out of all proportion, after all it was only a bathroom. It wasn't so much the awful pale yellow suite of the 70's (we did replace the glittery toilet seat when we moved in) just I could never get it looking clean. The glaze on the bath had become worn and pitted and the walls would get damp and black due to the lack of ventilation.

I don't mind too much how the new shower room looks as long as it is easy to clean and isn't yellow.

When we moved into this house everything from the garden gate and garage door to the paintwork and bathroom suite and tiles were either yellow or blue.

Other than the inside of the under stair door that has remained yellow as a reminder, the bathroom is the last and most hated to go.

Rain and Sheep

2011-06-12T17:00:00.004+01:00

Finally, just as the lack of rain this year has been officially recognised, it is raining. Starting about midnight on the 11th it is still raining now- 5pm the 12th June. Very much appreciated it is too, the accompanying cold and wind not so.

The pond and water butts are full and everywhere is looking so much fresher. However I feel we will need more rain and warmer temperatures in the days to come to ease the terrifying lack of grazing we are facing at present.

We knew we would be tight on grazing this year due to last year's challenging weather conditions, to the point we had considered not putting the ewes to the ram. Yet we did and instead of each ewe having a single lamb we wished for, fate presented us with a pair of twins and a set of triplets.

The lambs are thriving and with extra hard feed are growing at an alarming rate. We can't however continue to supplement the lack of grazing and must consider selling at least three of the lambs.

Once I have re checked the regulations on ear tagging and decide on a fair price both for myself and the buyer they will be advertised for sale and maybe next year we will give lambing a miss, giving the land and ourselves time to recover.

Almost there

2011-05-31T14:58:00.006+01:00

Despite so many other 'things' happening/demanding attention over the past few months, the new bathroom is very close to completion, it just needs a few finishing touches, mirror, cabinet, blind etc.

It will be lovely to have a shower again but best of all, will be the great pleasure we will all take in demolishing the bathroom of doom.

The photos make it look a little dark but natural light floods in, something the old bathroom lacked.

Homemade Creep Feeder

2011-05-01T12:42:00.004+01:00

The lambs are now two weeks old, the initial hurdle passed. All five appear to be thriving. Annie is doing remarkably well in feeding and mothering her triplets. Both ewes are getting extra hard feed and ad lib hay but as the grass grows they are beginning to show little interest in either.

As an extra precaution we have started to feed the lambs creep. Not something we have done before but then we have never had triplets before and realistically we don't have enough land to support 7 sheep alongside the other livestock.

Yesterday we made a prototype creep feeder. A little rough and ready as we expected to have to make alterations but as it was, this morning when we tried it for the first time, the lambs went straight in and started to nibble at the feed, returning on several occasions.

We need no greater approval than that.

Catching a swarm

2011-04-30T13:39:00.007+01:00

Exactly a month to the day, earlier than last year one of the hives swarmed. Yet again a capped queen cell was missed during the previous inspection.

The bees initially settled in the churchyard hedge close to the apiary. Not the easiest of places to gather them from, as the queen had positioned herself in the fork of a hollow tree with her bees surrounding her, but with a little careful pruning we were able to place the skep above the swarm hoping the bees would crawl up towards the dark into it.

After a while when most of the bees were hanging from the roof of the skep we carefully lifted it down, only to knock it against one of the branches. In an instant the majority of the bees poured out of the skep and flew on mass over the church to the fields beyond.

Carefully placing the skep with the few remaining bees on the ground, with a queen excluder beneath, we just hoped the queen was still in residence and was not one of the many last seen as a dark cloud in the distance. She was..still in the skep that is.... ten minutes or so later, although it felt so much longer the bees started to return and make their way back into the skep.

Once confident we had caught most of the flying bees we wrapped the skep in a sheet and placed it in the shade of the apiary. Later that evening we walked the swarm into a new hive, a queen excluder firmly in place to stop them from taking off and finding a place of their own the next day.

Splitting the hive

2011-04-29T17:23:00.013+01:00

For now just a few photos of the new location for two of the nuc. boxes split from one of the main hives.

Details of the spilt etc. to follow

Click on images to enlarge.

Annie has lambed

2011-04-18T16:05:00.003+01:00

Well Annie didn't lamb before midnight on Saturday as we had hoped, in fact when we went to check she was very settled and appeared to have no inclination whatsoever to proceed with the process.

So she was left for the night and it was with much trepidation that we arrived to the yard on Sunday morning, hoping we had made the right decision not to do an extra night check.

Looking into the pen I was pleased to see Annie standing by the gate and in the straw two lovely black lambs....then I noticed a third !! Annie had had triplets , 3 all black ram lambs. I think we missed the last lamb being born by minutes.

She has proved to be an attentive mother to all three and all three are feeding well.

There isn't a great difference in their size and I'm sure all three were born very close together, factors which can only have helped in the first precarious hours of their lives.

Today, despite me looking for all problems imaginable, they are fine, drinking, sleeping and bouncing about, as are Freda's twins.

Tomorrow they will be introduced to the outside world and I should be able to take photos and maybe even relax a little in the belief that they have as much chance of survival as any other lamb, albeit with a little extra attention and feed for both them and Annie.

Twin ewe lambs

2011-04-16T13:23:00.003+01:00

Freda gave birth to twin ewe lambs at 11.45 am and 12.05 pm respectively. Both lambs were on their feet within 5 minutes of being born and both I'm sure have had their first drink, I'll check again shortly.

They were born outside, a first for us. Unfortunately right against the compost heap, not the cleanest of places, but they are now safely inside the stable on fresh straw and their cords have had an extra thorough spray.

Hopefully Annie will also lamb sometime today, she does look very close.

This year the lambs are black with white flecks.

Photos will follow.

8.15 pm: Annie stil hasn't lambed but has refused her last feed...unheard of for her and is pawing the ground. Can't be long now. Before midnight would be nice

Waiting game

2011-04-15T21:28:00.004+01:00

The ewes are due to lamb on Monday 18th April, tonight Annie looks 'bog eyed' and unsettled, her udder full and teats distended I think we may be in for a long night...she is huge! This will be her 4th lambing.

Updates will follow.....

Freda started lambing i.e waters broke, licking ground, bleating etc at 9.20 am this morning( Saturday 16th April) just off to check how she is doing.

Making progress..

2011-02-28T09:22:00.003Z

Despite endless distractions, work on the attic made good progress over the weekend.

I'm not sure on the details, but the levels between the floor and ceiling of the two rooms was sorted. The frame for the stud wall almost completed, the floor was insulated and the floor covering cut to size. Pipes also played a part at some stage as I know the water had to be turned off for a while.

Most work we share but as my husband is a builder by trade, on this occasion I am demoted to labourer and coffee maker. So am oblivious to the finer details of the work.

Photo: The room looks tiny but I have been assured it is more than big enough

Work continues

2011-02-21T09:02:00.005Z

Work on the attic conversion continues. The pipes have been laid , the floor replaced and the roof/ceiling partially insulated and boarded. More would have been achieved( stud walls etc.) if I hadn't decided to have a mass move around of the poultry and therefore needed help moving houses, fencing etc.

Oh well one day we will have a new bathroom, until then I only have myself to blame for the dealy.

Photo: A boring photo of pipes.....just because.

A freezer full of lamb

2011-02-19T14:57:00.005Z

Yesterday we collected the lamb from the abattoir. We had asked for it to be butchered and packed, unfortunately it wasn't. Well it was butchered but not packed, so the three lambs returned home in four plastic bags. Strange and somewhat discomforting to think that three well grown lambs fit easily onto a kitchen worktop.

It didn't take long to pack and we were able to do so in quantities useful for us, so we now have a freezer full of lamb - approximately 64+ kgs.

Photo: Sunday's roast 1/2 leg of lamb from the smallest of the sheep.

Getting back on track

2011-02-15T10:09:00.004Z

For many and varied reasons all work and plans involving house renovation and livestock came to an almost complete standstill towards the end of last year and the beginning of this year.

We now however feel as if we are getting back on track, albeit very slowly.

Work on the house to be rented has restarted. This is a mixed blessing; as pleasing as it is to see progress being made, time is only spent on the house when no paid work is available. However once completed the rent from the house will cover the quiet times when no work is coming in.

Work at home on the extension is also progressing slowly, very slowly, but slow is better than a standstill.

This morning the lambs finally made it to the slaughterhouse, several months later than usual. Keeping them longer has cost us dearly both in hard feed and wear to the land. A friend has kindly suggested she keeps my ewes until as close to lambing as possible to give the grass a chance to grow. An offer I am very grateful for. At the weekend we stocked up with straw and hay, so I at least feel we can provide for them.
I am considering this year selling the lambs rather than taking them through to a good carcass age and weight, especially if each of the ewes produces twins.

The poultry have been easier to manage. Although hatching has been delayed after I left a gate between pens open and the breeding groups spent a lovely afternoon socialising!

The garden is still too wet to get much done. I did however on one of the few sunny days of late, manage to trim back last years growth on the herb garden and bank along the path to the house, revealing masses of snowdrops and daffodils. A welcome sight.

We have.....

2011-01-16T18:00:00.003Z

...... recycled, freecycled, ebayed, charity shopped, given to friends, found new uses for and tipped almost all the contents of the 'attic'. The few boxes to keep have been sorted and repacked. We now have space for phase 1 of the bathroom, shower room and bedroom project to begin.

The first step is to board and insulate the floor and roof under the eves so the boxes we have kept can be stored.

The garage will then need to be sorted so all the building materials can be housed. This involves moving the furniture that was temporarily placed there when sorting out MILs house. As we would like the furniture in our bedroom we need first to sort out the furniture that we no longer require in that room and so it goes on !

New Year - New Challenges

2011-01-07T15:06:00.005Z

Today has been thoroughly wet and miserable and I have had to wait in for several deliveries, so have spent more time than is healthy on the internet.

This has resulted in me accepting the following challenge on Facebook.

Pay It Forward 2011: I promise to send something hand-made to the first five people who leave a comment here. They must, in turn, post this and send something they make to the first five people who comment on their status. (The rules are that it must be handmade by you; and it must be sent to your five people sometime in 2011).

I'm not quite sure what I or the poor five people who comment on my status have let ourselves in for. It has been a while since I did anything crafty. I do have a full year to complete the challenge, which makes it slightly less daunting.

Any ideas on items I could make that others would appreciate ? I wonder if chicks or hatching eggs count.

Major sort out. - building work

2011-01-05T12:52:00.004Z

We are going to have a major sort out of our clutter this year.... starting today ( or maybe tomorrow).

Several years ago we built an extension to the house. Ever since the shell of the upstairs rooms, designed as an en suite bedroom and shower room have been used as a walk in attic - ideal for storing all the many 'we may need it one day' items, including empty boxes - why??

Although convenient for storage, filling the space has meant progress on the rooms has stopped completely!! There were other factors too. Now however we have reached the stage where it just has to be done.

The downstairs bathroom is a disgrace. I am ashamed and embarrassed by it's appearance. No amount of cleaning makes it acceptable. The broken tiles allow water to seep into the walls, blowing the plaster not only in the bathroom but the adjoining walls of the toilet and hallway.

By clearing the clutter, pipes and wires can be laid and serious work can begin.

Maybe just maybe this time next year I will have a lovely new, sparkling bathroom, shower room and bedroom. I would be happy with just a shower room to begin with.

The start of 2011

2011-01-02T10:25:00.004Z

We start 2011 with the legacy of the last few months of 2010. After weeks of frozen ground, taps and drinkers, snow and ice covering the ground, making everything a struggle, the place is looking a mess.
The grass is dull and thin on the ground, any remaining foliage is soggy and black. It is wet underfoot. Everywhere is crying out for a little warmth and sunshine, sadly still a couple of months away.

Due to a misjudgement of timing we still have last years lambs, a costly mistake. We are feeding both hard feed and haylage, a feed new to us, of which the animals are very fond. They are also on land that in previous years was kept livestock free for most of the year, to provide fresh grazing for the new lambs.

On a positive note, however, Florence, the ewe lamb of the set of twins born to Freda, may be spared. A friend is interesting in buying her so her future is looking more promising than before.

Photo: Florence and Frank, 2010 lambs. Florence in the foreground.

2010 lambs

Message of Hope

2011-01-01T23:07:00.010Z

Message of Hope

A whispered wish of remembrance
Silent words of loss
A song of good bye
An unspoken prayer for lasting peace

A message of hope
Rejoice for the spirit that has passed.
Release the sorrow and the sadness.
Rebuild a life again.

Emerging from your cocoon so gently placed
Sensing the freedom in the waiting sky
Wings open and quickly a flight
A drift in the air
dancing with the wind
Aglow in the sunlight.

The message of hope
Touching the spirit
Teaching to begin anew
Transforming the wish into hope
on the radiant wing of a butterfly.

A year almost gone

2010-11-05T11:39:00.003Z

Today is grey and misty with driving rain, although not at all cold. We are fast approaching the end of another year and I am finding it hard to focus on all we have achieved rather than everything that has still be be done.

The flower and herb gardens have suddenly changed from being full of Autumn colour to an over grown soggy mess that desperately needs attention. The vegetable patch is tidier and amazingly despite a couple of sharp frosts we are still picking autumn raspberries.

The ewes have been at a friends for a few weeks now. First they were put onto rough grazing to ensure they were completely dry after being weaned from their lambs. They were then put to graze on lush pasture to 'flush' them. This weekend the ram arrives.
We still have the lambs at home, the latest we have ever kept them. We really must organise a date with the abattoir.

Tonight sees the start of reducing cockerel numbers. Firstly the Partridge Welsummers, who will be light but still provide a meal or two and then the purpose bred table birds. It will be interesting to compare the two.

The rest of the birds need reorganising into breeding groups. The turkeys are growing at a steadier pace and will hopefully be good for Christmas. The remaining pair of, now very elderly geese, are left to do their own thing. They have enjoyed an Autumn of fallen apples, the grass is still growing and they are being fed daily on a scoop of mixed corn with added cod liver oil. With fresh water to drink and bathe in and plenty of space to roam they will live out their remaining years in peace.

Next year we must concentrate on renovating the house to rent and also our own, possibly at the cost of cutting back on vegetable growing and rearing weaners. We'll see.

Birthday flowers

2010-10-20T11:30:00.003+01:00

After many days of not posting, just a quick post to say thank you to everyone for a lovely day and for the beautiful flowers as well as all my other presents.

Plodding along

2010-10-06T12:28:00.003+01:00

It is a while since I last wrote. All is fine, we are just plodding along.
Apples are still featuring greatly in our lives, it really has been a good year for them. Unfortunately due to lack of time we have missed the best of the blackberries, although the turkeys have appreciated their daily treat, picked for them each time I pass through their run on the way to the geese.
We are now onto sloes and gin making, a nice change from chutneys.
The tomatoes are as good as finished, the peppers are still going strong. The veg garden is still producing but at a much slower more manageable rate.
As satisfying as it is to open the freezers and realise that most of produce other than milk and bread is home grown or, in the case of the fish, caught locally, we are considering giving the vegetable garden a miss next year. Maybe it is just the impending gloom of the darker mornings and evenings but we just seem to have so much to do in so little time. We have barely touched either of the houses recently, ours not at all and the one to rent has come to a frightening standstill. Something has to give.

We still have the lambs, a very long and embarrassing story involving a mix up on dates. They are now to go in a couple of weeks time. The ewes will remain with me for a couple more weeks to ensure they have completely dried up and will then go to a friends to feed on lush pasture before running with the ram. Hopefully resulting in Easter lambs.

The plan is to buy in a few weaners again next year as our pork supply is running low. It was strange without them this year but worked well, giving us more time and space for the other livestock.

All the poultry, turkeys, geese and hens are thriving. This year's hatch has produced a few very promising birds to add to the breeding flocks. Egg sales have been far more successful than I could have imagined. The aim was to just sell my surplus, as and when, I didn't realise there was such a market for them. I now need to consider how I intend to continue with the selling. I am tempted to increase my laying flock so increasing supplies.

We'll see, it is all very well thinking and planning ahead but the year never pans out as we expect.

A week without rain

2010-09-27T21:26:00.003+01:00

... that is all we wanted. The sheep are due to go to the abattoir on Friday, a dry week would be ideal but no, the forecast is for it to be very wet throughout the week with a severe weather warning of rain and gales on Friday.
So this evening was spent clearing out one of the work sheds in the yard. The power barrow, saw bench, scaffold tower and various 'bits and bobs' were relocated and a temporary mesh door was made. Tomorrow straw will be scattered on the earth floor and hay nets and water buckets provided ready for the sheep. Hopefully they will be happy in their new temporary home.

Due to the forecast I have also returned the broody hen and her chicks to the pen in the poultry shed. Cold is fine, to a degree, but cold and wet can be a lethal combination for little ones.

Weekend jobs

2010-09-26T12:27:00.004+01:00

It has been a mixed weekend for jobs so far. The usual weekend routine chores of cleaning all the houses, stocking up on feed etc. the jobs that must be done, namely sheep this weekend and a few picking up jobs that tend to be left for another day.

So all the chicken houses are clean, the feed store full, the lambs tagged, dagged and ready to go, the yard strimmed of nettles, chimneys swept and yet more fruit and veg. picked, cooked and frozen. This afternoon I am hoping to fill in the trenches dug by the hens and reseed any bare patches. How can such small birds create such large craters ?

Photo: Lambs tagged, dagged and ready to go.

As always there are still a thousand and one jobs that need to be done. Little work has been done to the 'soon to be rented house' for a while and it is only since the evenings have started to get darker and we are spending more time in the house have we realised how much needs doing to our own home.Time is running out to seed the runs this year. I was hoping to renew a fence this summer. We have left it too late to prune the plum trees, they need to be done in the warmer months with the sap rising.
We are now into autumn and winter chores, the leaves are beginning to fall so it will soon be time to start the annual hedge trim, firewood needs to be cut, the ewes taken to a friends to run with the ram and so it continues..

Varroa treatment

2010-09-23T21:06:00.004+01:00

At the week end we checked the bees and started to prepare them for the winter. Whilst the weather is still warm and the bees are still flying, in fact they are very busy working the ivy, we began treating them with Apiguard, a thymol treatment for the varroa mite.

Starting with the main hive we removed the super, the frames were full of honey, but uncapped. As honey can't be used for human consumption after Apiguard treatment and as the honey wasn't ready for extraction the frames have been stored and will be fed back to the bees in a few weeks time.

The tray of apiguard was placed on top of the frames, an eke was then added, giving the bees space to work, before the crown board and roof were replaced. A solid floor, repalced the mesh flooring, so increasing the affect of the treatment. The entrance had already been reduced to help keep the wasps at bay.

In two weeks time the tray of Apiguard will be replaced with a new one, again for two weeks.

The nuc.box is doing far better than expected. We were afraid that the supercedure of the queen so late in the season would mean the colony would be very small and need nursing through the winter. However the new queen is laying at an amazing rate, so much so that we will probably need to transfer the frames across to a brood box, after the varroa treatment. It may be necessary, to add insulated dummy boards on both the outside walls and provide extra feeding, but it does look as if the new colony will be going through the winter much stronger than we could have hoped for.

Ear tags and movement licences

2010-09-22T10:45:00.003+01:00

Yesterday the ear tags and Animal Movement Licences (AMLs) arrived in the post. The slaughterhouse is booked and soon the lambs will be gone.

As the lambs are only 6 months old they only require one plastic ear tag for slaughter, despite a recent change in the law that brought about electronic tagging for older sheep. I do have plenty of the plastic tags but, typically, they are yellow, the colour of the new electronic tags and so now can no longer be used. My new colour - green.

The AMLs are changing at the end of the year to included individual identification and Food Chain Information. As the slaughter house requires the FCI already it was easier to use the new AMLs than fill out a separate sheet. The start of this year also brought in a new holding register that has to be filled in within 36 hours of an animal being moved.

With all the legal side covered I now need to address the practical side. A new tyre has been ordered for the trailer. At the weekend I will need to tag the lambs and also crutch and belly clip them. We need to consider where we might house them, should the weather turn wet, as the stable is in use and the slaughterhouse won't take wet sheep.

All that is left to do then is to write up a cutting list and make the final journey.

The smell of Autumn

2010-09-21T10:16:00.010+01:00

My kitchen smells of Autumn, a pleasing mixture of autumnal flowers and apples. A pleasant change from spice and vinegar, which has filled the house over the past few weeks, from making chutney and the sweetness of the sugar and fruit from jam making.

The garden has also taken on a very autumnal feel and look.The muted colour of the autumn flowers replacing the brightness of summer.

Apples

2010-09-19T10:20:00.004+01:00

The harvest from the vegetable garden is becoming more manageable with the majority of vegetables past the 'glut' stage.

We are now onto apples, mostly windfalls. Thankfully the fruit still on the trees is a week or so away from being ready to pick, buying us more time.

We have bags of sliced apple in the freezer, ideal for taking out a handful or so at a time for pies, sauces and crumbles. There are also ready made crumbles frozen.

Varying recipes of Apple and Marrow chutney line the shelves, along with Apple and Elderberry jelly.

I am trying a new non cook Apple and Date pickle. Having never made it before I am not too sure how it should look. I shredded the apples with the food processor rather than grate by hand and wonder if it lacks the bulk to absorb the fluid. The flavour is certainly promising.

Next I am going to give mincemeat a go.

At least apples are extremely versatile and hopefully the ones we pick will be suitable for storing, so requiring less time in the kitchen.

Fruit and veg.

2010-09-13T10:55:00.009+01:00

The harvesting of fruit and veg feels relentless. I shouldn't complain, the garden has done exceptionally well and the freezer and store shelves are rapidly filling. My days are spent harvesting, cooking, pickling and freezing.

The garden is beginning to slow a little. If the weather stays fine we should have a second crop of runner beans. The courgettes have taken on a new lease of life after a short rest and there are still several rows of late sown beetroot to come for pickling. The squash are filling out nicely. We still have leeks, sprouts, carrots and parsnips to look forward to and the space left by the onions and beans will be filled with overwintering caulis.

Most of the outdoor tomatoes have finished but there are still plenty in the greenhouse and the peppers are beginning to ripen.

The Autumn raspberries have been amazing in their first year, enough for eating fresh and for freezing.

Next in line ...apples.

Ivy, nettles and old mans beard

2010-09-06T10:03:00.005+01:00

Another weekend spent clearing the churchyard bank of the mass of overgrown brambles, nettles, ivy and old mans beard. We also removed a couple of sycamore trees whose roots were causing the bank to collapse. There is still more to do. It does look a little severe but needed to be done. The bank will soon green up again and if managed better in the future will provide plenty of wildlife habitat without getting out of control.

We also cleared an area of land that belongs to the' house to rent'. For years it had been used as a vegetable garden, but over the past couple of years has had minimal attention. Full of weeds, old sinks and window frames it took a while to clear. The bordering hedge was also cut and yet more ivy removed. In the next few weeks we will grass the area. A shame as the soil is beautiful from years of improving but we are following the advice of the Estate agent.

The hedge surrounding the house was also cut back and yes...more ivy pulled out. Overgrown and neglected bushes were cleared and the grass cut. With more building work still to be done to the house it will be a while before we can reinstate the garden but at least now we can see 'whats what'.

This morning I ache, I have prickles in my hands and legs, my arms are scratched, I tingle from nettle stings and there is an enormous amount of cuttings to clear away but we are one more step closer to finishing the house.

Busy Bank holiday

2010-08-30T17:27:00.005+01:00

As usual the Bank holiday was spent desperately trying to reduce the long list of work 'to do', as well as the regular weekend livestock and gardening chores.

The poultry have been sorted into groups in new enclosures to go through the Autumn, giving the old enclosures a chance to rest and regrow.

Five of the poorer layers have been culled, two more have their 'cards marked'.

The young Exchequer Leghorns are now free to roam the enclosure at home.

In the orchard the bank/ hedge bordering the churchyard has been severely cut back, the odd elder sapling removed along with an unbelievable amount of 'Old Mans Beard'. It isn't quite yet finished.

The bees have been inspected.

Yet more veg and fruit has been picked, frozen, pickled etc. A late sowing of beetroot has filled the space made by harvesting the remaining potatoes and onions.

More work has been done to the hung slating on the 'house to rent'. .....but at home the windows still haven't been cleaned or housework done.

Rain !!

2010-08-25T11:44:00.003+01:00

Don't let me ever complain about the lack of rain again. It is absolutely pouring down, the wind is blowing and it is dark enough to need lights on. All the hens are sheltering under their houses, the turkeys have been kept in for the day (they aren't bright enough to shelter from the rain of their own accord) and the sheep are lurking in the pig ark, the broody is safely snuggled up in the shed. Only the geese are out and about and they aren't that fond of the wind.

Blight and Veg. update.

2010-08-22T16:44:00.004+01:00

The outdoor tomatoes are showing the first signs of blight. Hardly surprising considering the warm, damp weather of late. So today I stripped all the bush tomatoes of their leaves. They have cropped very well, with still plenty of fruit left to ripen if they don't succumb too soon. After a slow start the indoor tomatoes are also cropping well, so the slow roasting has begun. Slow roasted tomatoes, courgettes, peppers and onions 'whizzed' makes a very useful addition to the freezer. Ideal for pasta sauce, pizza topping, soup or to add to mince recipes.

As we only grew early potatoes this year, they have avoided the risk of blight and although they are still a few in the ground, with their tops removed weeks ago they should be fine.

The vegetable garden is continuing to provide us with plenty of fresh veg. with surplus to freeze, chutney and pickle, also to swap. Today we swapped cucumber and peppers for fresh figs. Last week eggs for lemon curd and apples.

The plums have started to ripen, but the trees are old and are only producing enough fruit to eat or cook, so possibly no plum jam. Hopefully the abundance of blackberries this year will compensate - bramble jelly, gorgeous on toast.

Harvest time

2010-08-13T14:52:00.003+01:00

Our days, at present, revolve around harvesting the veg and preparing it either for cooking, freezing, pickling or making into chutney. Enjoyable but at times it can seem never ending. The empty jars on the shelves in the utility room are rapidly being replaced by newly filled ones.
The freezer is filling up at an alarming rate, considering we will need space for three lambs in a months time.

Garden and hedgerow fruit will shortly be ready. The plums are changing colour, the apples ripening and the elderberries and blackberries are turning black. Time for jam making and yet more chutney.

Capped Queen cell

2010-08-10T10:54:00.002+01:00

Finally the weather was good enough on Sunday to check the hives. It had been two weeks since we last checked and we were apprehensive at what we might find in the nuc. box.
Thankfully it was much better than we had expected. Bee numbers were high due to the frame of brood we had transferred from the prime hive. Predictably all the brood laid by the existing queen proved to be drones but on the transferred frame we discovered a capped queen cell. The bees are superseding the queen, who for whatever reason had failed to mate. It is a little late in the season for a small hive to start over with a new queen, but if the weather is good when she is ready for her mating flight and she lays well with a little nursing we should be able to carry the colony through the winter.

The prime hive is doing extremely well, five frames of capped brood. There were few newly laid eggs when we checked but the weather had been poor and stores were low, so the queen had more than likely slowed down a little. If the weather improves and with the ivy due to flower soon, stores will soon build up again.

We decided to set the prime hive for a varroa count, replacing the floor with a different mesh floor, below which we had placed a sheet of white card covered in olive oil. We then dusted the bees in the hive with a sprinkling of icing sugar. The icing sugar encourages the bees to groom, any mites will fall through the mesh floor, sticking to the card, giving us an idea of the number of mites infesting the bees. Hopefully not many.

Happiness is ...

2010-08-03T12:02:00.007+01:00

.... a new bed.

Sorry am I disturbing you ?

Change of plan

2010-07-31T20:55:00.005+01:00

The day started grey, misty and damp and remained overcast with the threat of rain throughout the day. Not the ideal weather for inspecting hives. So instead we spent the day catching up on jobs at the yard.

We started with the usual weekend thorough clean of all the poultry houses. The turkeys are growing at a good rate and are tall enough now to drink from the self fill water bowl, they are also are able to feed from a hanging container, so much easier to keep clean than one on the floor. As we needed more turkey feed we bought the next stage - 'rearer 1' and have mixed it with the remaining chick crumbs. A couple more weeks and the poults will be able to go out by day.

The sheep spent a very happy day topping the grass and compacting the soil in the new poultry pen (photo above ) . While they were out of the paddock I took the opportunity to strim the nettles and thistles. I also strimmed the orchard as the edges especially had become overgrown, not ideal for the geese, who appreciate new grass shoots.

We cleaned out and tidied the feed shed which is now full of fresh hay bales for the sheep. I always feel more relaxed when we have plenty of feed.

There was even time to add a couple more lines of slate tiles to the pigeon loft roof before coming home to water and harvest the veg. Freezing the surplus can wait until tomorrow.

Looking for the queen

2010-07-30T12:16:00.004+01:00

Tomorrow we need to find the queen bee in hive two. A quick check yesterday evening revealed only a couple more eggs laid since last weekend's inspection and my son has a 'feeling' that the small patch of eggs present last weekend could well be drone eggs, once capped we will know for sure. Although as the queen is laying so poorly she will still need to be replaced.

We are almost certain she is still alive in the hive as no attempt has been made to build queen cells from the eggs or larvae in the frame we transferred across from the prime hive. Bees are now beginning to emerge from this frame helping to boost the number of bees in the hive.

Once we have found the queen, she will be killed and a newly mated queen will be introduced to the hive.

All we have to do is find her !

Butterflies - photos

2010-07-28T16:24:00.015+01:00

Today is warm and sunny, if a bit breezy. The marjoram and buddliea are in full bloom attracting many butterflies and more bumble bee species than I knew existed.

I tried photographing them with little success and just when I managed to get close enough without causing a small cloud of coloured wings my batteries went flat.

I identified at least 10 different species, most I knew, a few I didn't or wasn't quite sure but I found this site to be a useful guide.

Below a few of the species I did manage to capture with the camera, in my garden today. The Peacock and Meadow Brown alluded me. The Speckled Wood which can often be found on the bramble flowers in the hazel hedge was no where to be seen.

Photos: Holly Blue :

Small Copper :

Gate Keeper : ( distinguished from the Meadow Brown by two rather than a single white spot on the wings )

Small White :

Ringlet :

Comma :

Small Tortoiseshell:

Red Admiral :

Bee update

2010-07-26T12:13:00.002+01:00

At the weekend we checked the bees, so a quick update ( to be corrected this evening, if I have misunderstood all that was happening.... I'm still learning ! )

The hive housing the prime swarm is progressing well. The queen is busy laying and the young bees have started emerging over the past week or so, increasing the numbers dramatically. Their stores are building up nicely, although it appears they have been feeding from them during the recent wet spell. Stores which had been laid down in the brood box are being moved to the super, giving the queen more space to lay.

The original hive from which the swarm left hasn't fared so well. The first queen to emerge from the queen cells, left on her mating flight and returned to the hive to lay a few eggs but for some reason, maybe she was injured or died, supercedure cells were built.
Towards the end of last week there were no sign of eggs and the number of original bees was dwindling. So we decided this weekend to move the remaining bees into a nuc. box, for warmth, add a frame of emerging bees and larvae from the prime hive and order a new queen.
On inspecting the hive at the weekend, however we discovered a small patch of newly laid eggs. We are fairly sure they haven't been laid by worker bees, as they have been laid singularly at the bottom of the cells - workers have a tendency to lay at the side of the cells and often more than one to each cell. The other possibility, although we won't know until they are capped, is that they are drone eggs laid by an unmated bee.
So for now we have moved all the bees from the hive, the frame with the eggs in, another frame with emerging brood from the other hive and three frames of stores into a nuc. box, placed on the original site of the hive. We have also reserved a newly mated queen, from another beekeeper, available at the weekend just in case.

Shallots

2010-07-23T15:32:00.011+01:00

The shallots have been lifted... a good crop. They now need to be sorted and dried. Many will be used for pickling, the rest for cooking- whole in casseroles etc. The ground they were growing in will be worked over and sown with beetroot and early carrots.

The veg patch

2010-07-19T17:34:00.007+01:00

Each meal now consists mostly of our own vegetables. The broad beans have finished, not a great success, but the french and runner beans will be ready to pick very soon. Courgettes are coming thick and fast, although they aren't growing as quickly as previous years when you only had to turn your back on a courgette for it to become marrow size. Talking of which we have picked our first marrow and have another of a similar size to pick tonight. I think we will use these for stuffed marrow and keep the later ones until the apples are ripe and make chutney.

Photo: The first of the marrows and a few courgettes

The gherkins, a first for this year, have been very successful, the recipe for pickling them- not so. We only grew a few early potatoes this year and now wish we had grown more. They have cropped well, are of a good size and have a nice waxy texture ideal for salads. At the weekend we cut back the hulmes. We are still pulling carrots, turnips and beetroot and have more to follow. Leeks and sprouts have been transplanted. The parsnips seem to be doing OK. Lettuce as always keeps growing, the first cucumber is almost ready, the tomatoes have still to ripen.

Top left to right.. . Runners, with new plants following on the empty canes, next to them sprout plants, french beans, turnips, carrot, parsnips and beetroot. A small patch of newly planted leeks nearest to the path. Below the leeks the potatoes with hulmes removed Below the empty canes are the salad and herb crops hidden by the massive courgette leaves.To the right of the courgettes the gherkins, above them the squash, marrow and cucumber plants.Next to the gherkins are the red onions, the shallots, which are ready to harvest and then more onions. In the bottom corner just out of the photo, the rhubarb.

The outdoor toms 'Red Alert' have plenty of fruit, the ones in the greenhouse 'Sweet million and Gardeners Delight' I am disappointed in. Maybe they will still come good.

Considering the difficult weather conditions of late the garden is doing alright. As always some successes and some failures but overall worthwhile.

Rain and Gales

2010-07-15T14:41:00.004+01:00

It feels so much longer than 4 days since I last posted.... a funny old week so far.

The rain did arrive...eventually. We have had several days now of wet weather. The vegetable garden is flourishing and the water in the pond is gradually rising to an acceptable level. The failed bog garden could almost be described as 'boggy'. The grass I would like to say is growing, but slowly turning green again would be the best description I could give. It suffered so badly beforehand that it will take more than a few showers for it to show any improvement.

Unfortunately the rain has been accompanied by strong winds..up to gale force predicted for this afternoon. Several plants have taken a battering, the runner beans now in full flower in particular.

The wet weather has encouraged the hens to lay in the house again, so egg numbers are on the increase.

The only thing I need to remember is to water the greenhouse. A roof similar to the one at Wimbledon would be useful but in reverse, so when it rained all I would need to do would be to roll back the roof.

The promise of rain

2010-07-11T07:21:00.004+01:00

Yesterday afternoon we caught the weather forecast.....a band of rain passing through late evening, early hours of the morning, with the possibility of more to come during the start of the week.

Fantastic ..we are so desperate for rain, everyone and everything is beginning to be affected. Grass is at an all time low. We had already moved the sheep onto fresh ground in the morning, but with the promise of rain there were a few more jobs we needed to get done first.

We stopped work on reslating the pigeon loft, covered it for protection and concentrated on the garden.

We pulled up the broad bean plants, worked more compost into the ground and transplanted the sprout plants. Moved a few plants in the garden, and worked and reseeded the area of ground around the layers house that had become bare and compacted.

During the night I woke a few times and listened...nothing. This morning it is hard to tell if we even had a shower. The band of rain appears to have 'missed ' us.

The Sweet Chestnut Tree

2010-07-08T10:05:00.005+01:00

Yesterday evening my husband said " have you heard the tree? "

It was buzzing, really buzzing just as if you were standing in front of one of the hives. At first we thought maybe we had a swarm but the sound was being created entirely by the hundreds of flying insects feeding from the flowers, mostly bumble bees.

It is still buzzing this morning and it is quite a strange sensation to stand beneath it and be engulfed by the sound.

Weekend round up

2010-07-05T11:32:00.003+01:00

I think we had a busy weekend, at least it feels as if we did this morning, I am shattered and the house is in it's usual Monday morning mess after a weekend of us just popping in long enough to refuel.

Saturday morning started with the usual feeding and thorough cleaning of poultry houses. Also the introduction of the Welsummer pullets and older Exchequer Leghorn pullet to the Welsummer flock. The introduction went unbelievably well with no interest shown by either party to the other.

The sheep were let onto the new poultry pen grass for the morning to top it, whilst we put the finishing touches to the restored house in readiness for the table bird growers and the Welsummer cockerels.
Ever since being returned to the paddock the sheep have been shouting, convinced we are preventing them from hidden fields of lush grazing ... if only.

We also raked the paddock. I don't know if it is the lack of rain, the chickens eating all the bugs or the fact the sheep are being kept on one area longer than usual, but the dung isn't breaking down in the usual manner and as the grass is in such short supply we decided to clean the area.

Spending time in the paddock gave us a chance to watch the Indian Game flock and we discovered three more hidden nests in the bordering hedges. All gaps now hopefully blocked.

The stable was made ready for the turkey poults. They were moved in without a hitch on Sunday. Although I spent an anxious night last night convinced I would find them all dead this morning, either from stress or cold. I'm pleased to say they are all alive and well and enjoying the extra space and having fun flying onto the bale of straw and old apple branch.

On Sunday we also moved the remaining growers, the table birds, into their new house and pen at the yard. The Indian Game hen has also finally been returned to her flock, leaving her chicks at home, still in their pen for a few more weeks after their close encounter with the sparrow hawk.

The main poultry pen at home and the poultry shed have both been thoroughly cleaned, scrubbed and disinfected. The breeding season is now over. In the next few weeks the layers pen at home will be made good, all holes filled in and the area around the house reseeded. Yesterday I topped the grass, more to tidy it than anything else as it had gone to seed despite being short.

I also tidied the feed shed at the yard. Making, I hope, the hay and straw inaccessible to the hens and sweeping up any loose hay from the floor to discourage them laying their eggs there. Also to convince my one remaining broody that the shed really isn't that comfy.

We checked the bees and added a super to the hive containing the prime swarm as the brood box was full of eggs, larvae and capped brood. I was also shown how to put together new frames. Quite straight forward once you know how. Although if I do get a top bar hive I won't need frames.

We also spent time in the garden. We have harvested and frozen veg. The first of the strawberry plants were cut back as they have now finished, the ground where the first of the potatoes were has been dug over, compost added and is ready for a few late leeks.

We have pickled the first jar of gherkins, with many more to come after the recent rain.

We have also put a leg of pork to soak in brine, our first attempt at making our own gammon.

All in all quite a productive weekend. It is very quiet at home now though with only the 7 week old chicks and the Australorp and her chicks in the garden.

Rain

2010-07-02T09:12:00.002+01:00

At last we have had rain. Not as much as forecast but we are so desperate any is good. Rather than arriving at 2pm and continuing through the night until mid morning today, it started at 6pm and by the early hours of the morning had turned to a very light drizzle. Even so we are hopeful that the scorched grass will soon start to grow and the fields will turn green again.

Everywhere was beginning to suffer, despite nightly watering the veg patch was starting to look a little sorry, the pond had all but dried up in the shallows and the sheep were beginning to look longingly at the one area that still had green grass - the new poultry pen, which tomorrow they will be let onto.

The forecast is for hot dry weather again. Good for the tourist trade but a little nightly rain occasionally would also be very welcome.

Despite the heat...

2010-06-28T11:22:00.009+01:00

.....and lack of rain the vegetable garden seems to be surviving. The water butts have long since been empty, the grass all but stopped growing, parts of the 'lawn' have even died off but yesterday we managed to harvest enough vegetables to encourage us to continue with the nightly watering and not to be too despondent with the crops that have failed to do as well as we had hoped.

Photo: A sample of yesterdays harvest.

Everything seems to be a little late in the greenhouse this year, tomatoes are only just beginning to form and the peppers are yet to flower. The Chinese gooseberries are doing well, I think. It is the first year I have grown them ( a dwarf variety- Little lantern) but fruit are forming so it will be interesting to see what happens.

The strawberries are providing us with enough fruit to enjoy but it will be next year before we will have surplus for jam etc. We should get a good crop of autumn rasberries but again it will be next year before we get any other soft fruit or apples and pears.

For now I think we would be happy to settle for just rain !!

Hogget

2010-06-22T20:08:00.005+01:00

Today we collected the meat from the butchers. As Fred was over a year old I guess it is hogget rather than lamb. Apparently (I don't eat lamb) the meat is lovely, it was leg steaks for tea tonight, but no stronger than the lamb of previous years, which is bit surprising as Fred was an entire ram.

The weight was 25.3 kg. the lambs usually return between 19 - 20kg. so not a great deal more.

We had the meat butchered at the abattoir rather than by a local butcher, this time. It was a good enough job but obviously not cut by hand as there was bone dust on the various joints and chops, we also had to pack it ourselves even though we asked for it to be vacuum packed. Despite this we would probably use them again.

So the freezer is now full and the paddock less so.

Elderflower champagne and cordial

2010-06-21T11:51:00.010+01:00

I have relented and decided to give elderflower a second chance. There has been much talk on various forums of the delights of elderflower. Now while I am in no way doubting them I just can't get over my mental blockage of the taste and smell. Many years ago we made elderflower wine, of all the different recipes we experimented with, elderflower was the only one to be poured down the sink and the smell remains with me until this day.

However looking forward and trying to think positive we now have a bowl of elderflower mixture soaking/infusing ready to be turned into cordial tonight and another bowl that tomorrow will become our champagne.

The recipe for the cordial mixture was found on the Internet.

Photo: Cordial in the making:

The champagne recipe is one of Colour it Greens. Both will go towards my 52 recipes.

The ingredients and mix for the champagne:

Extracting Honey - Photos

2010-06-20T13:43:00.016+01:00

Our first honey...

Capped frames:

De capping:

Frames in extractor and spun to release the honey:

Empty frames:

Finally filtered:

Every last drop:

Honey !

Feedtime

2010-06-20T12:26:00.004+01:00

Click on images to enlarge:

Farewell to Fred

2010-06-15T15:08:00.004+01:00

Today started an hour earlier than usual, at 5. am all the young poultry at home were let out, fed and water, much to their surprise. By 5.45 am Fred had been loaded into the trailer ready for his last journey and the other sheep moved onto fresh pasture.

Fred went into the trailer easily, he was so trusting. The journey to the abattoir was quiet and just after 6.30 am we had arrived at his destination. All appropriate paperwork was dealt with and just after 7 am we were back in the yard to start the usual morning routine as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. There was just a very noticeable silence.

Catch up

2010-06-14T09:25:00.005+01:00

It seems a while since my last up date, most of my postings have been on my chicken blog. It is a busy time of the year for the poultry. Everything else is just ticking along, fairly uneventful.

The sheep have lambed, been vaccinated and sheared so now other than worry about flystrike and if they have enough grazing ( which they don't ) there is very little else happening with them.
Fred is off tomorrow. He has been belly clipped, crutched and ear tagged in readiness. Now I am just hoping the rain holds off until 6 am. tomorrow. They won't take him if he is wet. The only other thing I need to do is draw up a cutting list for the butcher.

Not having pigs this year is strange but with the lack of grass and so much other work to do, quite a relief.

The garden - although still a little behind on last year is coming good. We are harvesting rhubarb, strawberries, parsley, radish, salad leaves, lettuce and spring onions. Next weekend we should be able to have our first full home grown meal of the year with broad beans, potatoes, carrots and turnips, as well as our own lamb or pork.
The mole is still with us, just occasionally making an appearance so we don't get too complacent.

The bees - the mating hives weren't very successful. One hive, all the bees cleared off, the other, a little quiet. The two main hives not sure, if the wind drops we will check on them today.

Tabatha our elderly cat never came home so we must assume she is dead. The other one is really beginning to suffer with her age, she is very thin and stiff in her joints. It won't be too long before a decision will need to be made on her future. Our dog is also getting on in years, he is becoming greyer by the day, slow to walk and stiff after too much activity.

The pond - is becoming more established, the plants are finally spreading. The newts are still with us and yesterday we saw the first newt tadpole.

The renovation work on the house, ours nothing at all. The one to rent, slow as we are still waiting for the conditions to the plans to be approved.

That's it really,

Sheared

2010-06-06T13:24:00.004+01:00

Finally the ewes have been sheared. It is the latest we have ever been, yet the sheep haven't seemed too uncomfortable. I think I'm more relieved than they are, as the flies are beginning to get about and the forecast for the next week is showery.

Sadly this is the last year with our shearer, he is retiring. Although he will pass on our name to the person he is handing his list over to, it won't be the same. My husband has known the present shearer all his life, he lives minutes from where we keep the sheep. He is good and very tolerant !

Neither sheep were as I feared they maybe, I was sure Annie was too fat and that Freda was going to look dreadfully thin under all her wool but both are fine.

Annie's lamb failed to recognise her newly shorn mother despite standing very close to her and cried for her. A quick suckle and all bonds were restored.

Fred was crutched and belly clipped ready for his appointment on the 15th June.

Mating nucs

2010-06-03T11:32:00.007+01:00

As with most of our livestock, the bees are kept on an acre of land in a village 2 miles from our home, however for the next 2 to 3 weeks I have 2 hives in the garden. They are small mating nucs, each containing, for now, an unmated queen and a mugful of bees.

On Sunday on examining the original hives my son noticed two queen cells, as he was about to destroy the first, the queen emerged so he quickly placed her in a matchbox. Rather than destroy the second cell he carefully cut it away from the frame.

The newly emerged queen was placed in a butlers cage along with some fondant, the tab of the cage was left intact. The unhatched cell was placed into a cell cage. Each was then put separately into a small mating nuc box, containing a few frames of undrawn foundation and a slab of fondant to feed the mugful of bees which were also added.

Photo: Small mating box.
Queen cages, left the Butler cage for the newly emerged queen bee, right the cell cage for the unhatched queen cell.
Queen cell, the cell hangs downwards and the queen hatches from the bottom. There is room inside the cage for the queen to hatch and to be fed by the bees without the danger of her being killed by them.

The two hives were then placed in the garage for a couple of days for the bees to settle and to hopefully accept the queen.

On Tuesday evening the hives were moved to the garden and once dark the openings unsealed, so in the morning the bees could fly. They did and they returned..thankfully. The orientation flight as they first leave the hive is great see.Yesterday evening the hives were opened and the queens released from their cages into their hives, with our fingers crossed in the hope they would be accepted and not killed.

This morning both hives are fairly busy and the bees are bringing in pollen, always a good sign. In the next week or so the queen should go on her mating flight and then all being well we should have two young newly mated queens to make up two small nucs.

The swarm bees who were re hived a couple of weeks ago are doing well. Within a couple of days of being re hived the queen had started to lay, she is now being superseeded as the bees have built a single new queen cell in the center of a frame.Common practice for a swarm colony.

The original hive the swarm left from ..not quite sure what is happening in there, it will be checked this weekend.

Dragonflies and damselflies

2010-06-02T16:40:00.007+01:00

I love my pond. This is our first year and it still has a long way to go to become established and to stop looking 'new' but it seems each day something different arrives.

Today we were visited by a Broad bodied chaser ( top photo) and several, I think- Common blue damselflies both beautiful, their blue bodies flashing in the sun as they darted over the pond.

With so much to photograph I think I need to invest in a camera a little better than my point and shoot or learn how to take better photos!

At the weekend we also noticed our first frog, not huge possibly last years young and our newt count is now up to 6 seen at one time.

Away from the pond, a not so welcome sight was the lily beetle, it is amazing how quickly one small insect can strip a plant to ground level.

Long Weekend

2010-06-01T11:28:00.005+01:00

Another bank holiday, so an extra day to the weekend and we managed to get a good amount done. We even managed a day away visiting my parents on Portland. It was lovely to see them and gave us a break from the usual livestock, garden, house renovation routine. Although the livestock needed tending to before and after our visit.

The rain forecast for overnight Friday and Saturday and again for Monday amounted to nothing more than a shower, barely dampening the ground. Unfortunate as we do desperately need the rain, but it did mean we were able to do more to the garden and greenhouse and also yet again have a major reorganisation of the poultry.

From first light this morning until about 10.30 we had a good steady downpour. It meant I got soaked feeding all the livestock, none of whom are very impressed with the weather and also the shearing will have to be delayed, but the pond level is rising, the water butts are becoming full again and I swear the grass is getting greener by the minute.

This has been our worst year for shortage of grass, especially at this time of year. We have less stock on the land than previous years, less lambs, less geese and no pigs but still we are struggling. The grass just isn't growing quick enough, normally when we move the sheep from one area to the next, the old area quickly greens up ready for them to go back onto as soon as they need to, not this year, we are still offering the sheep hay.

The Fruit Garden

2010-05-25T14:54:00.011+01:00

New this year, the fruit garden will produce little fruit but it holds promise for the future.

The fruit garden in photos...

An overall view..
Against the wall closest to the front of the photo a kiwi...

in the bed strawberries and raspberries - autumn and summer varieties....

and the far end a fig (in a large pot)

There are three apples trees closest to the fence and two pear and an apricot nearest to the wall....(photo apricot)

...in the centre a gooseberry bush, a red currant, a jostaberry and a blackcurrant bush.

(photo 1. redcurrant 2. gooseberry)

Vegetable patch

2010-05-25T09:35:00.011+01:00

Last year I posted a weekly update on our first year of growing vegetables, living here. This year everything is so far behind, due to the weather there has been little to write about. Now, although late things are looking more promising...very dry though, we desperately need rain.

Photos taken this morning,( when will I learn that early morning light is not a good light for taking photos.)

The veg patch taken from the 'house end'

The veg patch taken from the chicken run.

The rhubarb now in it's second year is doing well, we have cooked and frozen a fair amount, jam and chutney next.

Having only a very small patch, which feels as if it is getting smaller, the more we would like to plant, we chose only to plant a few potatoes this year.

The marrows, courgettes and gherkins have just been planted out, cucumbers and squash will go in this week.

At the weekend we tied the broads beans, they are just coming into flower. We also sowed the french beans. The runner beans are just coming through in the greenhouse.

The shallots and onions are doing well, although the second row of onion seeds were slow to come through. We also have leeks, turnips, beetroot, carrots and parsnips at different stages of germination. The salad crops and parsley are ready for picking. I think that's all we have for now. Sprouts will go in at a later date.

Oh and despite my scepticism the solar mole repeller appears to have worked !

A doing day

2010-05-22T20:23:00.002+01:00

Today we have managed to pick up quite a few jobs that were on the' must do soon' list.

The ewes and lambs were vaccinated this morning for Blue tongue, they were then along with Fred sprayed with Blowfly repel, an organic treatment against fly strike.

All the hens and houses have been treated for red mite, an ongoing programme which so far has kept the mite away. The beak of a Welsummer hen was trimmed, as it is slightly hooked. I am afraid the hen is on the 'soon to go' list. Apart from her deformed beak, she isn't a great layer, her eggs for a Welsummer are pale and when she does lay more often than not it is outside.

All the nettles and thistles in the grazing areas have been strimmed and the yard grass cut.

The livestock trailer has been fixed and the gate post between the Fowls Run and Orchard repaired.

More compost has been brought back from the yard and the gherkins, marrows and courgettes planted.

Further work has also been done on the 'to rent' house.

All in all a good days work and we still have one more day of the weekend left.

Iris

2010-05-19T11:09:00.002+01:00

I am getting so much pleasure from our newly dug wildlife pond. Below the latest delight. The pond is a long way off from becoming established but it is getting there. Each day there seems to be more wildlife appearing, the plants are somewhat slower. I bought mostly native plants with just a few exceptions.

Bees swarming and re hiving - photos

2010-05-19T09:13:00.012+01:00

We have had an interesting few days with the bees, on Monday they decided to swarm. We weren't too surprise as during the weekly inspection on the Sunday we discovered 6 capped Queen cells, ones that were obviously missed the week before.

The cells were in the center of a frame, one possibility; the bees were looking to supersede the queen, the other they were about to or already had swarmed. There were eggs in some of the frames, so we knew the queen bee was still there 3 days ago. She was a young queen so unless she had been injured there was no reason for her to be superseded, so a swarm was likely.

We went through the frames one by one looking to see if we could see the queen, we never have before, so not finding her really didn't help. As Sunday was cold and overcast with the odd shower we took the chance that if they hadn't swarmed already they wouldn't do so until the following day.

The plan first thing Monday was to divide the hive into a couple of nucs. There were 3 frames, each with 2 capped cells on. One for each nuc and one to be left in the original hive to artificially swarm. The frames with brood and stores was also to be divided between the nucs.

As it was they swarmed before we had a chance to put the plan into action. Luckily my son who owns the bees, was there to see it and to capture them before they disappeared.

(unfortunately he only had his mobile phone camera)

Photo: Bees swarming

Once they had gathered together they soon settled very close by and we were able to put the skep above the swarm for them to crawl into.

Photos: 1. Swarm 2. Moving into the skep

Twice the bees left, once in the skep. As we felt maybe it was too small, the third time they were collected in a cardboard box, which was then tied in a sheet and left in the apiary until the evening when we would walk the bees into the hive.

Photo: 1:Finally caught in a cardboard box 2 & 3: Walking the bees into the hive.
Once inside the queen excluder and door guard were put into place and the bees left to settle for the night

The following morning there was an ominous black cloud in the sky, the bees were on the move again! At first we thought it may have been a cast swarm from the old hive, despite having squashed all but two of the capped Queen cells, the previous day. However after a few minutes circling the sky the cloud turned around and headed back to the hive. It was almost as if they had just remembered they had left the queen behind. The hive was completely covered with the bees as they slowly walked themselves back in.

Photo: Bees slowly working their way back into the hive

Fingers crossed they are now settled.

Mole

2010-05-15T19:53:00.004+01:00

We have a mole in the vegetable patch. Although going by the destruction it causes it is hard to believe there isn't a whole gang of them.

For a week now we have played a 'battle of wills' game. Every night the mole uproots the broads bean plants, every morning we firm them into the ground again. I think the mole may be winning, the once healthy looking plants are beginning to look decidedly unhealthy. We have already lost a complete row of newly germinated carrot seedlings and now a row of beetroot seedlings appear to have been targeted.

Probably a complete waste of money but we have just bought a solar mole repeller. I will reserve judgement on it's effectiveness for now.

Missing - presumed dead

2010-05-13T10:50:00.009+01:00

Monday night Tabatha was curled up by the wood burner along with Lucy. A sight that had become quite familiar recently. Although the two cats were brought up together from kittens, more than 15 years ago, they were never really friends, but old age and the cold winter brought about an uneasy alliance.

Tabatha hasn't been seen since and the possibility of her never returning is a reality.

We re homed her from a cat rescue centre when she was 12 weeks old. She had been brought in after being involved in a road accident, her leg had been broken and needed pinning. She recovered well but her leg was always a little stiff especially in the cold weather and she would sit with it at an angle.

Never a lap cat she only accepted attention and affection on her terms. Much to my embarrassment she was well known in the neighbourhood for jumping in the windows of neighbouring houses. Not that it was ever discouraged by any of them I hasten to add, in fact she was actively encouraged by a few !

She was a great hunter and at this time of year would often return home with half grown rabbits. Her downfall and most likely the cause of her disappearance was her taste for poison. She was quite young, when one day she arrived home very poorly. The vet diagnosed poisoning most likely anti freeze or slug pellets. She was giving an antidote and we played the waiting game, she recovered but it became a regular occurrence, at the start of winter and at this time of year when gardeners are planting out young plants she regularly came home 'spaced out'. Other than keeping her indoors as a house cat there was nothing we could do other than accept that one day she may not come home.

So cold

2010-05-12T15:39:00.003+01:00

This morning we woke to yet another hard frost, hard enough to turn the grass white and crunchy. I know the occasional snowfall isn't unheard of in this part of the country in May, an extreme example was in 1996 when the annual Ten Tors challenge was prematurely ended on the Sunday and many teams were airlifted off the moors.
However this year the low temperatures have covered such a long period of time. Everything in the vegetable garden is behind. The potatoes, onions and shallots are fairing the best.
My main concern is the lack of grass. It is growing but so slowly. Usually at this time of year the grass grows faster or at least as quick as the sheep can eat it. When I move them onto a fresh area, the area that they leave is usually ready for their return sooner than they have finished the new field.. not so this year.

To help elevate the situation I was hoping to book Fred into the abattoir as soon as possible, unfortunately it won't be until 15th June, a month away and every day the lambs grow and so does the demand on the grass.

Perfect sense

2010-05-10T09:04:00.003+01:00

On a beautiful morning, like today. When the sun is shining, the breeze lacks the cold nip of the past few days, everywhere is clean and tidy from the weekends work, the animals are well, the trees are in blossom and the birds are busy nesting - everything makes perfect sense.

Emerging damselfly

2010-05-09T15:33:00.006+01:00

It has been approximately 7 months since we filled the newly dug wildlife pond with water and added a few oxygenating and marginal plants. Most of the winter it was covered in a thick layer of ice. However soon it became inhabited with life, either arriving of its own accord or brought in on the plants. For me each new discovery evokes a childlike delight.
Today there is evidence of several damselflies emerging. The leaves of some of the marginal plants have the empty larvae cases ( exuvia) of the nymph, left behind after it climbs out of the water where it has spent the last year and emerges as a damselfly. As the nymph spends at least a year developing underwater before emerging, we must assume that the eggs arrived on the vegetation brought in.

Photo: Empty case of Damselfly nymph

Newly emerged, Common blue damselfly

Ten Tors

2010-05-06T11:59:00.003+01:00

The annual Ten Tors Challenge takes place this weekend.

The very best of luck to all the teams taking part. Especially Kingsbridge Community College.

Take care and have fun.

Extra grazing

2010-05-06T11:08:00.004+01:00

Work on making the orchard sheep proof has begun, albeit in an indirect way. The orchard, rather a grand term for an area of rough grazing that can only boast an old Bramley apple tree and a couple of ancient Dittisham plum trees, is adjacent to the garden of the house we are renovating. All that separates the two at present is an old stone wall with a few tired fuchsia bushes and a length of rusty chicken wire on top, with a good 4ft drop on the garden side.

As the house will be rented once finished, a more secure fence is needed.

Once completed it will take us one step further to having extra grazing for the sheep, who can only now graze the area if supervised.

More fencing needs to be put in place between the orchard and the neighbours garden, the churchyard bank needs protecting and a couple of piles of rubble that have been waiting to be moved for far too long now all needs doing before it is as sheep proof as anywhere can be.

To enable today's work to be carried out without too much hindrance from the livestock, this morning we had to move all the animals, their shelters, feeders, drinkers etc.

Fred was moved from the paddock to the strip of land between the poultry pens and the Fowl's run, which meant the Welsummer breeding flock had to remain in their area rather than free range. The ewes and lambs were moved from the Fowl's run into the paddock and the geese were moved from the orchard to the Fowl's run. The Indian Game flock have a mind of their own and go where they choose !
Rather than go through the whole procedure again tomorrow morning, tonight I think they can stay where they are.

Swift arrival

2010-05-04T18:34:00.005+01:00

I thought I saw one yesterday but today I definitely did. The swifts have arrived.

The swallows have been here for several weeks now. It is always lovely to watch their aerial acrobatics and to hear their chattering but the mess they make when roosting and nesting in the feed shed is something I always seem to forget from one summer to the next.

Bank holiday weekend

2010-05-03T17:36:00.013+01:00

At this time of year all evenings and weekends are given up to livestock and gardening, this weekend has been no different.

The sheep have been moved onto fresh pasture.

Photos: Freda with Frank and Florence, Amy behind. Lambs now 5 weeks old

Compost has been brought back from the yard, the grass has been cut and more vegetable seeds sown. The extra strawberry plants, we ordered a while ago have finally arrived and have been planted out, making the fruit garden now complete. We will have very little fruit this year but the promise of plenty in years to come. The flower garden has had a little more attention, mostly pruning of shrubs.

The most rewarding job this weekend, however is the new poultry pen has finally been finished. Well - the ground has been dug over, rotovated and raked and the grass seed sown. We still need to finish a little of the fencing and renovate the poultry house but the hardest part has now been completed.

Photos: Almost completed poultry pen

Next we need to decide if to replace the rusty, broken old fence between the new poultry pens and the Fowl's run. It certainly needs removing and we need to decide if to leave it down, so making the Fowl's run larger or repalce it. The small parcel of land between the two areas at the moment is so useful, but we can't really justify the expense of new fencing for such a small area.

Maybe a decision best left for a later date.

Exploding eggs

2010-04-30T15:52:00.003+01:00

I'm not safe to be left alone, my memory is going and I get too easily distracted. A little while ago I put half a dozen eggs on to hard boil for tea. Waiting for the water to boil I thought I would just pop onto the computer for a few minutes. Thirty minutes later I could hear an unfamiliar noise, today it's windy and the blind is rattling against the window and the stable door banging , I ignored it but then a definite 'bang' got my attention.

All the eggs had exploded, bits of shell and yolk all over the cooker and kitchen floor, the pan black. Oooops.

It's not as if we have plenty of eggs just now. They are selling as quick as they are laid and our own supply consists of the small eggs and those with poor shells. Cheese salad for tea, I think !

So far behind

2010-04-28T12:09:00.004+01:00

This year I am so far behind with the vegetable sowing/planting I wonder if I will ever catch up. The weather over winter and spring was dreadful, the ground either too wet or frozen to prepare for this year. With overnight frosts prevalent until just a week or so ago there seemed little point in even sowing in the greenhouse.

The tomato seedlings are just coming through, this time last year they were being transplanted into grow bags, their first flowers just showing..The peppers are through but still too small to pot on, salad leaves are up but not ready to pick yet.Radishes are ready but the spring onions aren't and I have only today sown the courgettes, cucumbers, marrows, gherkins and squash.

In the garden the broad beans are growing well, but again this time last year were so much further ahead. All the seeds sown outdoors other than the parsnips are through, the potatoes are showing above ground and the onions and shallots are looking good. The rhubarb is growing by the day and the parsley is ready for picking and freezing. So maybe it will all turn out well in the end.

Fred

2010-04-27T12:13:00.004+01:00

Poor Fred .... his days are now numbered. I have just ordered his second ear tag, as soon as it arrives I can book him a place at the abattoir.

As Fred was born in 2009 and we had every intention of sending him to slaughter within the year he only required the one tag. As it never happened and he is now over 12 months old he requires a second tag.

Keeping Fred was an experience not to be repeated.

April Flowers - in a Devon garden

2010-04-26T15:11:00.009+01:00

Photos: playing with my new camera....definitely need more practise

1: Primrose bank (outside the back door)

2: Bluebells just starting to flower on the same bank

3: Steps leading to the back garden..all self seeded (or not weeded, whichever way you look at it )

4: Blackthorn finally in bloom in the hedgerow

Shopping

2010-04-25T20:28:00.005+01:00

My least favourite pastime .... shopping, unless for chickens of course. Today we had to buy radiators and towel rails for the 'to be rented' house. We also took time to choose but not buy, the bathroom suites and decided on the style of kitchen we thought was best. I guess the fact that we are at the choosing/buying stage means progress is being made on the renovations. Although it has been put on hold for the past few weeks as 'proper' jobs came in.

We are still waiting on planning, middle of March was our given target date. The reason for the delay? the council computers were down for a week and they were unable to process any plans !

All windows apart from the ones to be made for the front (planning delay) have been fitted as have the French doors. More walls have been plastered, the stairs are in the process of being made and can be fitted once the floor is down.

Still a tremendous amount to do but each stage is one step closer to finishing.

Livestock and gardening

2010-04-24T20:30:00.003+01:00

Yet another Saturday was spent moving poultry, doing the usual weekend livestock chores and gardening. Having decided to let the Indian game broody sit we had to do some unexpected poultry reorganisation. Hopefully now all are where they will remain, for a few weeks at least. On top of the usual weekend clean up for the livestock we also dagged Freda, as the forecast is for warmer weather and even the promise of a little rain. Ideal fly strike conditions, although maybe still a little cold. Freda is a Shropshire Jacob cross and compared to Annie- a Zwartbles, is quite woolly. Zwartbles really are my favourite sheep, they lack wool in the most sensible of places ! Their tails are almost free of wool, as are the legs and under belly, especially around the udder.

Once all the usual chores were done we spent the afternoon gardening. All the fruit trees were given a thorough soaking and the pond was topped up with water from the butt. I was quite surprised how much the water level had dropped in the pond since we last had rain. Removing a little more of the blanket weed from the pond I noticed at least 4 newts and the frogbit I thought I had lost appears to have survived the winter.
The back flower border I weeded last weekend was watered and then topped with a good layer of compost, which should see it through until the autumn.

All that is left to do tonight is to check that the Leghorn chick has gone to roost in the house and hope that the rain forecast for tonight materialises.

Bee keeping - breaking with tradition

2010-04-20T18:26:00.006+01:00

Traditional or.......

.....fun ?

Poultry sorting and gardening

2010-04-19T09:40:00.006+01:00

The weekend weather was glorious despite the frosty start and most of our time was spent sorting out the poultry, working on the new poultry pen and tending the gardens.

In the vegetable garden we now have potatoes, onions and shallots. The broad beans plants have been transplanted. Sown are leeks, carrots, turnips, beetroot, lettuce, spring onions and radish. The rhubarb and parsley survived the winter and are growing well, although we will sow more parsley soon.

In the greenhouse are four varieties of tomato, chilli and peppers, cape gooseberry, spring onions, radish and mixed salad leaves. Also sunflowers and sweet peas.

This year we are trying mushrooms for the first time. A box has been made, filled with compost from the dung heap and the spores added, wet newspaper placed over the top and the box put under the work bench in the shed. In two weeks time we should start to see some growth, the paper will then be replaced with soil from mole hills and several weeks/months following we may have mushrooms. We have also sown a packet of 'Christmas tree' seeds we found in the the seed tin, courtesy of the National Trust.

The 'not so boggy' bog garden has been weeded, the back flower border sorted and the grass cut. Seeds and fruit trees were watered. I hate to say it but we could really do with a little rain!

Ne'er cast a clout till May be out

2010-04-18T07:40:00.006+01:00

Ne'er cast a clout till May be out

So the saying goes and one to be heeded. For the past week or so the weather has been glorious, dry, sunny and even quite warm at times. Admittedly the winds have been biting and once the sun has gone down the temperature has dropped dramatically, but the sunshine is encouraging, a promise of things to come. The grass has started to grow, the flower beds have colour, trees are blossoming and seeds sown are beginning to germinate. There are young rabbits emerging from underground and birds are nesting........this morning white fields and ice on the livestock drinkers !

.......and the rest of the day ? the hottest of the year so far !!!!

Pond life

2010-04-16T15:02:00.007+01:00

Considering last year the pond was finally completed towards the end of the 'ideal' time to plant up and that for most of the winter it has been covered with a fairly thick layer of ice, I am amazed at both the quantity and variety of life it is now supporting. It is fascinating to think that most of the creatures arrived of their own accord. We did buy several plants last year for the pond and I guess some may have arrived that way, yet I thoroughly rinsed all the plants before placing them into the pond, for fear of introducing duckweed.

Yesterday we removed some of the blanket weed that has grown since the ice has melted. As the plants in the pond grow I am hoping the weed will lessen as more of the pond becomes shaded. Probably a mistake but I did leave a little to provide the newts with cover. Again as soon as the other plants have become established I will remove the rest, although I believe pulling it out releases spores only encouraging it to increase. If it does become a problem I will try the 'barley straw' treatment.

Life identified so far? ...... 2 newts, a large diving beetle and several beetle larvae, many water boatman, water louse, loads of snails, last year midge larvae and I'm sure much more I have missed.

Turning the corner

2010-04-14T11:41:00.005+01:00

It feels like we can finally leave, what has been a very long, cold, depressing winter behind us and look forward to better days. The recent dry, even sometimes warm weather, along with the lighter evenings have made all the difference.

The vegetable garden is beginning to take shape for the year's crop and jobs at the yard can now be done after work rather than just weekends.

Our major project for the next few weeks is sorting out the area used for the pigs last year and turn it into another poultry pen. We had hope to complete it over the winter months so it could now be used but the weather put pay to that.

So far a soak away and trench have been dug so the old, very large, rusty water butt can be emptied and dismantled, before it bursts and floods the pen we are working on and the adjoining poultry pen. The whole area needs digging and levelling before it can be re seeded.
I would like to add a couple of trees to the area and maybe a few plants. These will have time to get established before the new grass is tough enough for the hens to go on.

We also need to make good a second hand chicken house, we bought 18 months ago. It needs a new roof and nest box, the door needs rehanging and it needs a good couple of coats of creosote.

Once all that is done we can turn our attention to the orchard, as this year we really are going to need to make good use of all the grass we have available to support the two ewes and three lambs.

Bait Box

2010-04-12T11:32:00.008+01:00

Ever hopeful that we may one day get a passing swarm of bees, eldest son has been building and placing bait boxes.

Technical details to follow.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on the image.

Caught in the act

2010-04-11T14:59:00.006+01:00

The table flock frequently sneak under the gate of the apiary to explore forbidden territory. Yesterday the Ixworth was caught in the act, normally when they hear us coming they make their escape...this time she was a little too slow.

Slowly catching up

2010-04-11T13:29:00.004+01:00

Finally we have lovely weather, although still we are getting a few light frosts overnight. At least a good month behind on planting up the garden we have now made a start. Yesterday the potatoes, shallots and onions went in, today hopefully we will start on a few seeds and after a couple of days hardening off the broad beans will be able to be planted out.

It's not just us, everything is late this year. The fruit blossom, especially the plum is usually out by now. Few trees are in leaf yet and the grass, although thankfully now growing is slow.

Yesterday without the cold breeze of today it was warm enough to open up the hive. We were hoping to find the Queen bee and mark her in a more noticeable colour than dark green but were unable to see her. She has however been busy laying, everything from eggs, all stages of larvae and capped brood filled 7 frames, there were also 2 frames of stores.

With chicks hatching yesterday, more expected Wednesday and another hen going broody summer is on it's way at last.

Entropion update - more photos.

2010-04-08T09:20:00.005+01:00

It has been six days since the lambs eye was injected in the hope of correcting the in turned eyelid, also six days of applying ointment. Although the eye is much better and there is no sign of tearing it still doesn't look quite right. In fact this morning I thought it looked slightly worse than yesterday, so I am going to call the vet out again. In herself the lamb is fine, frequently racing from one end of the field to the other and then collapsing in a tired heap with the rest of the lambs, but if left untreated she could loose the sight in her eye.

Photos: 1 & 2 - 6 days after treatment
Photos: 3 & 4 - 7 days after treatment

(Photos can be enlarged by clicking on the image.)

We have a newt !

2010-04-05T17:23:00.003+01:00

I have been watching the new wildlife pond closely over the past few weeks, in the hope of discovering frogspawn. Sadly none so far, however the snail population is increasing rapidly - can you have too many snails ? There are now also several water boatmen scurrying around just below the surface of the water and today I saw a newt, sunning itself in the shallows !

A quick google has identified it as a smooth or common newt and it seems this is the time of year you are most likely to spot them in garden ponds as they emerge from hibernation on land and seek out suitable breeding habitat i.e ponds.

The only drawback - they feed on frog tadpoles and it was only today I decided as none had arrived naturally I would import some from a friend's pond.

Entropion and treatment in lambs - photos

2010-04-03T18:18:00.009+01:00

After a couple of days of trying to correct the in turned eyelids of Annie's lamb, manually, we had to resort to more direct intervention. The vet came on Friday morning and injected a slow releasing antibiotic in two places under the lamb's right eyelid. The fluid caused the area underneath the eye to swell forcing the lashes outwards. Although it looked as if the poor creature had walked into a door, the affect was immediate. The eye looked less painful and stopped weeping.
By the evening some of the swelling had gone down and her eye was partially open. This morning it looked better still and the lamb has spent the day happily racing around the field with the other two. The eye will remain slightly swollen for the next couple of days, giving the lower lid a chance to stay in the correct position. In the unlikely event it doesn't a second injection will be required. As an added precaution we are treating the eye daily with an eye ointment.

Photo1: Before treatment - lower eyelid in turned, causing pain and tearing

(Photos can be enlarged by clicking on the image.)

Photo 2 & 3: A couple of hours after being injected, swollen with lower eyelid forced outwards

More photos of improvement to follow.

The Big Wide World

2010-04-01T09:45:00.003+01:00

After days of bitterly cold winds, rain, hail and even snow this morning we woke to the promise of a beautiful, sunny dry day. There was the usual frost at first with frozen drinkers etc. but the warmth of the sun is slowly causing everything to melt and at last the lambs and ewes have been able to venture outside.

Frank, Freda's ram lamb ran out without a second thought, also without his mother and sister. Although his mother soon followed, Florence was very reluctant and needed to be carried to join them. Annie couldn't wait to get onto the grass she has been looking longingly at through the gate for the past few weeks. So much so that it was several minutes before she remembered she had a lamb and ran back to her calling.
All three lambs have received gentle and often not so gentle head butts from the ewes to remind them who belongs to who.

I shall stable them again over night, mostly for my own reassurance that they are safe and the lambs don't wander off. From tomorrow they will be able to come and go as they please.

The eye of Annie's lamb I think , although it may just be me hoping, is looking slightly better but still weeping. I am going to give her just another day and if it hasn't visibly improved we will have to inject it.

Entropion in lambs

2010-03-30T16:37:00.005+01:00

Today my friend/vet came back to check on Freda and to see Annie's little one, or maybe not so little. On, said friend, entering the stable all I heard was " Sandra she is HUGE ! " So maybe I was justified in giving Annie at little helping hand to bring her lamb into the world.

Unfortunately it seems Annie's lamb has entropion (turned in lower eye lids ) in both eyes, causing them to continuously weep. I have been rolling the lower eyelid out hoping this will help the condition to correct itself. Sometimes it works, sometimes in a few days as the lamb develops a pad of fat under the lid it does corrects itself. If by Thursday I see no improvement in the condition the lamb will be injected with 1ml of penicillin under each eyelid. I just hope it sorts itself before then.

Entropion is thought to be genetic and so breeding from sheep with this condition is not recommended. As this lamb is destined for the freezer, as long as it rights itself for welfare issues, it isn't a problem. Also as Annie has had three previous lambs without the condition I am confident that I can still breed from her. Interestingly we used a different ram this year.

As for Freda she is fine now, no sign of a limp. If it was her feet or nerve weakness from having the lambs, I don't know, what matters is that she looks a lot more comfortable than she did a couple of days ago.

Now if only the rain would stop both ewes and lambs could go outside..I think they may tomorrow regardless.

Lamb talk

2010-03-29T11:43:00.003+01:00

Annie has finally lambed!! After a weekend of moaning, groaning and heavy breathing she eventually produced a large ewe lamb, with a little help, at 12.15 am this morning. Both are doing well.

Yesterday a friend/vet came to see the new arrivals and to check out Freda. Since lambing Freda has been lame on one of her hind legs and I was worried if it got worse she wouldn't stand to feed her lambs. We trimmed her feet and sprayed them just in case there was any infection, but the most likely cause is a result of the lambs pressing on a nerve, before or during birth. She will be watched for the next 48 hours to see if there is any improvement, if not we may consider an antibiotic injection. For now it is just a case of watch and wait.

We also castrated the ram lamb and docked both of their tails. Two procedures I am still not entirely comfortable with. The Zwartbles have very thin, wool less tails so docking isn't necessary, however crossing with a Suffolk ram often produces lambs with very thick, woolly tails, prone to fly strike. I also question how necessary castration is. It's done now, but I need to give it more thought before next year.

Freda's lambs are doing so well. Every year it amazes me how quickly they start to jump around and play. I have a feeling Frank is going to be a bundle of trouble.

Tomorrow afternoon I shall put both the ewes and lambs together, for now they are in separate pens. If it isn't raining too hard they will be able to go outside. I always feel they do so much better once out in the fresh air and on grass.

Florence and Frank

2010-03-27T14:50:00.007Z

Better photos to follow but for now.....

Florence and Frank twin lambs born to Freda 26. 3. 2010.

Florence: 1st born

Frank:

Freda is the product of a Shropshire ewe put to a Jacob ram. Her twins are the result of her being mated to a Suffolk ram.

Freda has lambed !

2010-03-27T09:38:00.004Z

Freda lambed between 6.45 pm and 9.15 pm last night. Twins, a boy and a girl. On the 6.45 pm checked she just looked 'not herself, a little uncomfortable' but no classic lambing signs and eager for her feed.
As we entered the feed shed to turn the lights on at 9.15pm we heard the familiar, very reassuring deep rumble only heard from a newly lambed ewe and then a weak high pitched bleat of a lamb. We knew she had lambed and had at least one live one. She had actually given birth to two. The second a small ram lamb was just struggling to his feet. The larger ewe lamb looked as if she had been born a while before, she was dry , had a full belly and was quite steady even managing a little hop and skip before we left - an hour later.
We stood for awhile, quietly watching. Freda was very attentive to both. Before we left we made sure the second lamb had a good feed, sprayed the cords and left them in peace.

This morning both were still alive....always a relief ! Both were up on their feet. The ewe lamb is big and confident, I think we may have to watch the little ram, just to make sure he gets a fair share of Freda's milk.

Freda looks well, I think a little lame on one of her hind legs. She ate well, is drinking plenty and was pleased with the offering of ivy.

We are still waiting on Annie.

Photos to follow!!

First sighting

2010-03-25T15:45:00.002Z

They say 'one swallow doesn't make a summer' ; it wasn't even a swallow I saw, at least I am fairly sure it wasn't but a house martin. The first of the year ( for me ) Many more will be needed to 'make a summer' today it is cold and yet again pouring with rain.

Lambs??? no not yet. Today is supposed to be the day. Although there are still several hours of the day to go I am fairly sure we won't be seeing any lambs by the end of it. There's always tomorrow.