Author: frieslandfarm

Sadly, despite our best efforts, Frank died yesterday, he had picked up a little in the week and we thought he was going to make it but he took a turn for the worst on Sunday morning and by the evening he was gone. Having reared bottle lambs for a few years in a row and never losing any, this year has seen three lambs not making it, it’s quite a blow, both emotionally and financially, in terms of profit that’s nearly £500 lost. Emotionally, the loss is also there, I had got quite fond of Frank as he was a proper battler and greeted me every morning demanding his bottle, I feel sad that we couldn’t save him. Onwards and upwards as they say and touch wood the others are all fine and enjoying the grass with a morning feed thrown in for good measure.

We have had a gentler pace of life this week compared to the last few which were at times, manic! The only job we had pencilled in for this weekend was to move all the laying hens to the front paddocks in one big house and run. This meant moving the coop out from the orchard, taking the fence down in order to do so, and putting the fence back up with a gate in it for easy access. First we had to move the hens that were occupying it out into one of the runs, it was something that we had to do over the two days and on the Saturday we moved the coop etc and on the Sunday we put up the electric fencing and moved all the hens to their new abode. It is quite nice because now anyone coming to buy eggs can see the hens that lay them, see how much room they have to roam and see what conditions they live in, giving them confidence in our product hopefully. I love to stand a watch the hens when they are moved to pastures new, there is always great excitement from them with a lot of running around and squawking. The idea around moving them is to give the back paddock a rest from chickens, and the front paddocks a rest from the horses, parasites and worms build if you keep the same species on the same ground for too long and this is an ideal way to break the cycle.

I am loathe to keep banging on about the weather but we are back to awful again, that Jet Stream has a lot to answer for, wet and windy and quite cold for June. Each year I hope to be able to sell excess fruit and veg and each year we seem to be hampered by something, the growth of veg is very slow and I wonder if we will get much at all. The poly tunnel is most productive, with the broad beans beginning to pod up, the garlic is doing well and we have had a good couple of pickings of Strawberries, I am going to see if there are any potatoes under the abundance of greenery later, it will be good to have some for tea if there is. The fruit blossom this year was great but if we don’t get any sun to ripen the haul, it will be small and not produce much sugar thus tasting a little sharp. The farmers are already talking about shortages due to the cold and together with the struggle to harvest last year we could be in for a knock on effect with prices rising quite a bit.

On a lighter note, I am about to set some quail eggs in the incubator, my neighbours daughter wants to keep some and I said I would hatch some out for her. I was going to put duck eggs in but they will have to wait, supply and demand takes over 🙂 The splash Orpingtons are still sat on their clutch of eggs and I did try shutting the other hens out but they just got confused about where to lay their eggs so it was a bit chaotic, I reopened the hut and just hope they actually manage to produce a few chicks otherwise that would have been another waste of 21 days sitting. I keep telling Hubby he needs to build a broody coop but even that has its drawbacks, half the time if you move the hens and their eggs they just abandon them anyway that’s why we incubate, it’s more successful usually!

Life should settle down to a quiet routine now with all our other distractions out of the way, the tractor needs a service and then we can set about using it for all the jobs that have been needing heavy machinery, such as digging ditches out and creating gullies for the rain water to run away more quickly, hopefully that will stop the flooding that we had last Winter in the stables, that’s the plan anyway! Maybe now with more time I will be able to have a go at a few new challenges, such as making cheese, I bought a kit a couple of years ago and never managed to get around to doing it, of course it would be lovely to do that with our own milk supply, but I think I would just be setting myself up for a lot of work if I went down that road, maybe when Hubby retires 😉

I hear we are going to have a least one hot day this week! The tomatoes could certainly do with a bit of heat, they are flowering but a little bit of heat would push them on to produce some fruit a little bit quicker. I often think it is weird that toms, cues and peppers are ready at the end of the season when your thoughts are turning to winter food rather than salads, and runner beans are usually ready mid summer seems a bit topsy turvey to me.

Have a great week and enjoy ‘the’ sunny day :p

It is now two years since I began blogging, mostly for my own sanity and partly to share the ups and downs of farm life with anyone who cares to read it, we have had new life, and deaths, good times and bad times, busy times and relaxing times, good harvests and rubbish ones, cold Winters, wet Winters and one dry Winter, the one thing I cant write is that we have had a glorious Summer, it just has not happened and so far this year is proving no exception to the rule! 

We had a great weekend here on the farm as Hubby had his 50th Birthday Bash, we set up party tents and bbq gazebo’s, used hay bales for sitting on, plenty of drink, plenty of food and a great band, luckily the weather held and it did not rain, however  it was not the hot sunny day that had been forecast either. It was sunny enough although a tad windy and the temperature soon dropped at night, we lit the fire pits to keep us warm so all in all a great day. 

This morning I was hoping it would be warmer but still the air temperature is lacking and it is showing in the veg garden, everything is struggling to put on any growth, there are some signs but the veg that needs a longer growing period may not have a harvest this year if it does not warm up a little bit more. The poly tunnel is producing though so that is a bonus, this morning I have picked a big bowl of strawberries and the broad bean pods are beginning to form, the potatoes are flowering and the carrots have some good top growth though the roots have yet to reach any decent size. Last week we planted some cucumbers and peppers in there, they have established now and will put on some growth quite quickly.

We have plenty of grass growth in the paddocks and the sheep are munching away merrily, unfortunately, Frank has the scours from the rich grass and so his back end is very mucky, I don’t want him to end up the same way as Betty and so have been washing him down every other day and spraying his back end to prevent fly strike. the other lambs are doing well and are all clean thank goodness otherwise it would take me ages! 

The new hens have settled in well although not producing any eggs yet, they should not be far away though, egg sales are manic at the moment and we are selling as fast as they can all lay! The next project is to move the laying flock from the back paddocks into the front and collate all the layers in one area rather than spread round in various pens. This will be much easier for me as it will only mean one lot of feeding, watering and cleaning out, at the moment they are in eight different areas and it takes up a good amount of time to sort them all out. The surplus cockerels will end up in the freezer to either feed us or the dogs depending on their weights, they have had a good run but we have too many of them now. The White Orpington, in with the Black and Splash orps, is sitting on eggs and I hope her hatch is more successful than the Gold Laced. I cant decide whether to keep my little flock of pure breeds just to keep breeding or to give them up, they are not very productive as far as eggs are concerned as they are always going broody, but I like the look of them and it is nice to have a pretty little hobby flock though it increases the work load. 

I have decided to hatch some ducklings, the group I have at the moment are coming up for three years old and although still laying well, by next year the egg numbers will have dwindled. I have one drake left after selling the other two on, and so now seems like a good time to refresh the stock. As soon as I can find a space to put the incubator I will set around sixteen eggs and see what we get. I was hoping that the ducks would hatch some out themselves but over the years they have never even tried, either the conditions are not right for them or they are having way to good a time to bother with offspring! I have not had a batch of duckling for around four years so it will be a lovely change and they are so very cute 🙂

The wild birds are busy with nests and hatchings all over the farm, if I can manage to get any photos of the fledglings I will certainly put them on here. We are watching the nest box on the front closely, we can hear the Great Tit chicks making a racket all day waiting for their parents to bring them food, the poor parents never stop flying in and out with grubs etc, I have no idea how many are in there but they are definitely high maintenance. We need to keep an eye out for when they start fledging as we intend to keep the dogs away, the poor little things do not last long when they can barely fly and the dog thinks it is a great game, the dog is the winner every time 😦

Have a great week and I hope the Sun shines for you wherever you are 🙂

We have had a mixed bag of weather over the last week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, rain, rain, rain, got a good soaking every time I went out! . I cleaned out two of the chicken runs in preparation for new arrivals that have not arrived yet, so got wet for nothing, on one of the rainy days I baked Chocolate brownies and a pasta bake for one of my lovely cousins, who is recovering from surgery and is on the road to kicking cancers arse into touch, I also kindly lent her my tractor mags, I hope she is enjoying them lol.

Today, however, the rain seems like a very distant memory as we have had the most glorious few days with more predicted, finally. We have had a most productive weekend and I feel like things are back under control, I spent three days hoeing the veg garden and now it’s just veg growing, well mostly, no doubt the weeds are planning a comeback at any minute. Thanks to a lot of hard work from our eldest daughters boyfriend, the dog kennel has got some new felt on the roof, the winds over the past grew years had ripped the old stuff to shreds and the boards were getting wet and rotting, they should last another few years now. He also came over and spent Sunday afternoon spraying the paddocks for broadleaf weeds, our dandelion harvest was out of control, each year it has been getting worse and although we don’t spray as a matter of course, we had to take them in hand this year, as the grass barely had room to grow. It is something we will have to do over a two year period, as the sheep are grazing one of the paddocks and we have no where else for them to go, so those paddock will be done next Spring.

The wild birds have been serenading us ever since the Sun came out, we have the swallows back and they are searching for suitable nesting sites as I write, their chatter is loud and excitable, I have great tits nesting in one of the boxes on the front of the house and take great pleasure watching them diving in and out with food for the youngsters. The crows are the only birds that are not welcome here, thieving tykes they are, they take any opportunity to steal the chicken food or even the sheep food for that matter.

Sadly this morning I discovered the one little chick that the gold laced Orps managed to hatch, dead in the hut, I have no idea why except that it was in there with five large birds so possibly they have sat on it and it has met it’s demise 😦 I have the other mixed Orps sitting on eggs at the moment so lets hope they fair a little better. One of the hybrid hens is winding me up a fair bit, she keeps getting out, no matter what I do to secure the pen she finds another way out, I have even clipped her wing so that she can’t fly but she still gets out, there is always one!

All is well with the sheep at the moment, they have enjoyed the sun, happily grazing in the paddock, I love to watch them looking so content. Most of the animals, like us, enjoy laying around in the heat, the horses lay down and doze in the fields, the chickens dust bath and stretch out their wings to warm up, ah life is good, when the weather is good!

I have had my first sneaky treat of the season, the strawberries in the poly tunnel are coming along nicely and I found a ripe one yesterday, perks of the job I reckon to be the first person to have a taste of what is to come, slurp, trust me when I tell you it was delicious 🙂

I have saved the most exciting news, for us anyway, well alright then for me, until last, we are now the proud owners of a tractor! We picked it up on Saturday after a mention out of the blue that there was one for sale up the road. As everything has to have a name around here I have decided to call him Troy, a good strong masculine name that will suit his job description. Needless to say Hubby has already had a go at turning the muck heaps with him and I have had a little drive round, he needs a service before we put him fully into work but he will be invaluable once he is ready.

I took some photos as its such a lovely day, the first is of the new poly tunnel with offending chicken in the foreground, inside the tunnel all the tomatoes and melons are growing, the other tunnel which is full of crops including those strawberries, a general view of the veg garden, the paddock with the sheep in although as soon as they see me they come running so can’t stay too long to photograph them, and Troy!

After working hard all week to get the rest of the stuff and rubbish out of the other house we finally closed the door on Thursday evening for the last time and the sale went through on Friday. Woop, woop that means we now own our little piece of England, lock, stock and barrel, no more mortgage and no more commercial loan. Boy that feels good, as you would have realised if you had seen the Cheshire Cat grin on Hubby’s face for two whole days! On the Saturday we went straight down to the travel agents and booked our long overdue holiday, it is not until October but we will look forward to that every day from here on in 🙂

The general duties around the farm took a bit of a back seat and we more than made up for it over the holiday weekend, more about that a bit later. The animals of course still had to take priority and Betty gave us great cause for concern, she has not had a good run at all, apart from her traumatic first few hours she has had secondary infection from the Orf and then she did not wean well at all, she had scours and then fly strike. Each time something was wrong with her we treated the ailment, but sadly she took a turn for the worst and died on Saturday. It has been a huge learning curve and there are definitely things that I would do differently if there was ever a next time, as always when we have lambs, I say never again, but as always my heart overrules my head and so I am sure we will.

The escaping dog was indeed grounded for the whole week until we had time to secure the compound. We had discussions about where he was probably escaping and ordered some wood to put around the bottom of the fence, the wood arrived and Hubby nailed it all in place, so far so good. We let the offending dog out and within minutes discovered that he was not going under the fence at all but climbing on a pile of ballast and going over it! We did have to laugh that we had done all that and he still got out, the area has now been secured and rearranged and so far touch wood he has not got out again.

Bank holiday weekend, in the name somewhere suggests a rest, ha! We worked harder this weekend than ever before I think. There were a number of jobs high up on the list, the first was to finish the poly tunnel, luckily the weather was clam and dry on Sunday and we were able to get the polythene on and secured that just left the sliding door to finish and hang which we planned to do on the Monday after shearing the sheep which would only take an hour or so wouldn’t it????
The sheep had to be done when we had a few dry sunny days as it make the wool easier to handle, we started off well, gathering all the equipment together and making up a pen to hold them in while we did it. First task, catch the sheep, they were obviously not in the mood to be shorn and gave us the run around, we finally caught the first about as far away from the pen as possible and proceeded to push the ewe in the right direction, she, did not want to go that way, and we were exhausted before we even started buy the time we got her in. No problem, start up the shears and get on with it, the shears also decided they did not want to shear that day, so with a half shorn sheep we resorted to scissors, yes you read that correctly! Four and a half hours later and a quick trip to get some new scissors after the first pair blunted, we finally had sheep that were shorn, I use that term very very loosely. I have blisters, swollen hands and every joint from my waist down is seized this morning! It was funny while we were doing it but when the aches and pains kicked in, not so funny anymore. With the majority of the wool off, the sheep were all sprayed with a product designed to stop fly strike and it had better work or I want my money back, I often thought I would like a large flock of sheep but I am cured after this last week.

We finally seem to have got the rat problem eradicated, we found a couple of dead or dying bodies, one of which I hit over the head to make sure it was dead and broke the spade handle, new spade on the shopping list now! The weather has been mixed this week and we did managed to get some more veg plants in, I wrapped up the beans in fleece only for that to be blown away in the gale force winds we experienced, the rain today will be welcomed by veg plants and weeds alike, sadly it is only the weeds that seem to be exploding all over the garden, the veg plants are only limping along at the present time, I would really like to reach a place where I am not wondering, what is the point, it seems like a battle for the whole of this last year. I know however that when its good, it’s really good, and so hang on to that thought for the time being.

Hubby has had fantasies of semi retirement now that the weight of the mortgage is gone, I say had, because after this weekend I think he has had second thoughts, you know how it is, the two days at the weekend you can just about get along together but that last bank holiday is the straw that breaks the camels back and you are glad to get back to normal, it has been a mentally and physically tiring week and I for one would like to see some more settled weather to see us into the Summer months, it makes life easier all round.

The jobs are stacking up again already and today I need to get the tomatoes in the poly tunnel and planted up, I also need to shuffle a few chooks around and clean out some pens ready for a delivery this week! The egg demand has gone through the roof, which is fab, but we need to have enough layers in the first place, we have the return of a lurking fox so we need to be aware of his presence, having had a good run without any and can’t get too complacent. Even though its raining, I have a pile of work to do, and I still have aches and pains from the weekend, I feel surprisingly upbeat today, must be the fact that we now have 100% ownership of this place and all the trials and tribulations that come with it!

Well those of you nearer to home don’t need me to tell you that the weather has taken a turn for the worst, glorious Sunshine and high temperatures last week and then plunge to around 8 degrees, wet and windy this week! How is one supposed to work on a weather seesaw? We did need a bit of rain but seriously you can stop now and give us a bit of hope for a Summer please.

The very afternoon after last weeks blog we had to make one of the most distressing decisions, our old dog Max temporarily lost the use of his back legs in the afternoon, not once but twice, he had got old without us noticing really, he had stopped looking after himself and he could not stand for very long to be groomed so was looking a bit of a state. After tears and discussion we decided the time to let him go had come and made the call to the vet, Hubby and our eldest daughter took him on his final journey and he passed quickly, peacefully and painlessly. There is a very noticeable space where he used to lie and lots of little things seem strange without him around, for instance whenever I went to the fridge he would be behind me hoping for a titbit, the first time I did that afterwards I still expected to feel his presence lurking. He had a long and happy life with us, he was a rescue dog and we got him at 14 weeks and pretty soon discovered why the last owners gave him up, he was totally manic, over the years he gave us trouble and worries but all in all he was a great and comical member of the family, we will miss him x

The lambs have been up to naughtiness this week, well one in particular, Sweetpea! I went up to feed them one afternoon and could hear bleating coming from over the wall in the next farm, one of the liveries climbed over and got her back, but that evening when we went out to shut the chickens up we could hear bleating from further away, she had got out again and gone on a trek to the big field to the side of us and couldn’t find her way back. The sheep were due to be wormed again so we took the opportunity to move them to a bigger paddock with more grass and hope she does not get out of there. While rounding up the lambs to worm them, which is quite a task in a big paddock, Hubby demonstrated how good he would be at Rugby, after chasing April for a while she suddenly leapt into the air to try and get past, quick as a flash Hubby caught her mid air, it was impressive and I don’t say that about his talents very often!
Frankie has given us cause for concern this week too, he developed a lump under his nostril, on closer examination it was obvious that it was infection probably caused by a piece of hay or thistle. I am not squeamish but the stuff that came out was disgusting and so much of it, we have continued to clean it up everyday and he is getting back to his old self taking his whole bottle again now it doesn’t hurt so much.

Gardening had got well under way with the better weather and we planted the runner beans and some more onion sets, and the rain has done them good but the weeds are now overtaking everything with not a big enough gap to get out there and sort them out, the next break in the weather will see us working like maniacs to get it done. We have also been trying to get this second poly tunnel up and made a good start but again the weather stopped any work outside and so the progress is slow, as I had hoped it would be ready this weekend 😦 I have harvested the first of our produce this week despite the downpours, we had asparagus, which was lovely and some rocket and spinach, from the poly tunnel, in a salad one lunchtime, just about as fresh as you can possibly get it.

The broody hens have started hatching their eggs, the four of them are sat on piles totalling around 50 eggs, at the moment only two have hatched and I don’t expect to get very many more as they spend their time shuffling eggs around and consequently some that are half incubated end up going cold and the chick dying. I just leave them to get on with it and whatever we get is a bonus as it has not cost us anything except chick crumb once they are born.

We had the lovely sight of a deer in the driveway early one morning, it must have been crossing and as a car came past shot up the drive, we have not seen them all Winter so it’s good to know they are still around. The wildlife around here is in its spring abundance, the crows are attacking the buzzards high up in the sky trying to keep them away from their nests, and we have Bluetits nesting in the wall of the building again. They were supposed to choose the boxes we put up for them but instead found the smallest of gaps in the woodwork, no pleasing some folk. The rabbits are not so many in number this year as I think a lot must have drowned in the burrows after the flooding we suffered. They tend to live in the corner of the paddock that is the first to go under water with a heavy downpour, still at least there won’t be too many of them to fend off of the veg patch.

We have been busy getting the last of the things from our other house as well this week, the sale completes at the end of the month but we have a family wedding next weekend which will take out the day of the wedding and the day of the hangover! Once that has been handed over we will have much more time, and money, to spend at the farm, hopefully the weather will have improved by then. We will also have the exciting task of looking for that elusive tractor and we will probably book a very well deserved holiday, can’t wait to sail to sunnier climbs, even if I can’t sit out in it, I will enjoy the warmth from the shade lol.

What a glorious holiday weekend we have had, I hope you all enjoyed it 🙂

I am on a coffee break now having already fed and watered the animals, put the washing on and weeded the poly tunnel, I am playing catch up today after the holiday weekend. Not that we took the weekend off, we worked so hard on Sunday digging the holes for the new poly tunnel, we had aches where we are not sure there are even muscles! Yesterday though we spent the day at the local May Day fair doing a car boot sale to get rid of the loft junk, it was a beautiful day and I don’t think I have ever seen so many people attending, hopefully a good amount was raised for Save The Children. We decided to take Mia with us and believe it or not it was her first trip away from the farm, we thought she would enjoy it but she basically sulked all day and came to life when we got back home, she is very definitely a farm dog and we won’t make that mistake again lol.

The good weather and the growing size of the lambs prompted me to turn them out into the paddock permanently, this meant total withdrawal of milk and only solids from now on, that was the plan, but they made such a racket that I decided to ease them off gently! They had their milk poured into a container instead of having the bottle rack, after a few days they have quieted down and started to graze and eat the hard feed so it has not taken as long as I expected. I had Mia out with me when i tried to move them from the stable to the field but she did not so much round them up as scatter them everywhere just when i had got them near the gate. after trying three or four times I decided to put her away and finally got them out there. Frankie is also out permanently now although I still have to bottle feed him in the field three times a day, but he has more of an idea about being a sheep as he is in with the ewes and they are teaching him well.

We had a delivery of hens in at the end of the week and the weekend was busy with chicken sales, we sold a quarter of them in two days with other phone orders due to pick up today, the Sun must have prompted people to think of long lazy summers, lets hope that rings true.

The veg beds will be the main focus for a while now, as the weeds are coming through faster than the plants and I aim to keep on top of them this year. As I said earlier we worked hard getting the toughest part of the poly tunnel work done, which was digging eight holes for the anchor plates to go in, anyone who digs the soil round here will know that after the first ten inches it is solid brash! We had to get the kango out to dig the rest of the way down, the frame is now up and we will hopefully have it ready by next weekend which will be just in time for the tomato plants to go in.
All the other seedlings are coming along nicely in the greenhouse, keeping them watered in this weather is a priority and you wouldn’t believe the amount of time I have forgotten that the hose is on, so I have devised a visual reminder, by hanging a watering can on the tree outside the door I can see if the water is on or off, that’s only if I remember to take the watering can down when I have finished mind you 😉

On Saturday we decided to tidy up the front area, there were some tree cuttings to burn off as well as the rest of the Christmas trees, so we lit the bonfire and then the wind got up, typical, the Christmas trees burn fiercely for a couple of minutes and die down but the the flames were huge driven by the wind and we were well enough away from anything the catch fire but only just! I also cut the grass that runs down the front drive so we are looking spick and span at the minute.

I have a plethora of jobs to do today and so will keep this week short, having been busy the house needs a hoovering too, but I want to make the most of the dry times as we are expecting rain midweek, I hate to say it but we could do with a bit just to perk things up a bit, especially the grass seed we planted in the paddocks, it’s growing slowly but could do with a good watering.

Enjoy the good weather while it lasts, have a great week 🙂

I confess to being totally knackerd this weekend, it’s been a busy week altogether.

The lambs are still taking up lots of my time, I ordered in some wormer, who knew what a minefield that would be, mainly to worm stumpy who is still not progressing too well. In the week I decided to tube him, which meant pushing a tube down his throat and into his stomach to try and release the air that is causing him to bloat. It was much easier than I had anticipated thank goodness and although it did let out some air it was soon followed by the contents of his stomach! So the next step was to worm him in case it was a huge worm burden he was carrying, I can’t worm one without doing all the others and so they all had a dose even the two ewes and their lambs. The lambs were easy to do, the ewes not so much, resistance was futile however and we managed to get a dose down them as well as a bit of it over us. Next weekend the lambs are due to be weaned, that means total, sudden withdrawal of milk, should be a noisy few days. To prepare for this they have been on small amounts of hard feed and water alongside the milk but from now I will increase the hard feed available to ad lib, hopefully once the milk bar is empty after each feed they will move over to the feed, I hope they get the idea otherwise they will be going hungry. This will be make or break for Stumpy, he will either improve on hard feed and grass or continue to lag behind in which case there is nothing more we can do for him sadly. I have continued to spray, purple spray on their sores and it looks like the worst of it has passed, all except for Betty who has a large sore on her bottom lip that is pulling the lip down, it’s not infected though so that is a bonus. Frankie is doing well, although we gave up trying to catch his Mum to feed him, he has gone on to a bottle instead, the pasture they are on at the minute is poor and so Mabel’s milk should dry up gradually without problems, he still goes out into the field with them during the day and we bring him in at night because Mum is not very maternal and if there was a threat I doubt very much she would protect him, so until he is big enough not to look like a tasty snack for a fox he will come in to bed each night and go out again in the morning.

On the veg side of the farm, the weather still is not giving us very much to work with, the wind is still cold although the weeds have begun to appear and so the ground must be getting warmer. The seedlings in the poly tunnel are doing well and some potato shoots are beginning to show through, there are loads of flowers on the strawberry plants in there, mmmm can’t wait for those to develop. Outside, the asparagus is also starting to appear and the rhubarb is growing strongly, I have not checked the root veg seeds we planted yet as they are under fleece and I don’t want to let the cold in unless absolutely necessary. The greenhouses went on Thursday and the new poly tunnel arrived the same day so that was good timing. We have not started on the poly yet though as we have been busy doing other things plus it has been too windy, but that is a project I can get started on this week hopefully. We planted up a new bed in the week, well I say new bed, it is a bed that was already there but difficult to grow anything in as it is mostly clay. We decided to make it a permanent bed with a difference, we have planted patio fruit trees, cherry, dual pear and an apple that has red flesh, we also planted some black currant bushes and alpine strawberry plants. Two golden hops are at the back in pots and we will be putting in a Japanese honeysuckle, elderberry and a grape, the ground underneath will be left with beneficial weeds for the the bees, so we are calling it the birds, bees and beer bed. It will need some maintenance to keep the thistles out but not too much, at least, that’s the plan.

The completion of sale on our other house is set for 24 of May and we still have furniture there that will need to be stored so we have been taking out the walls of the caravan that used to be my Dads workshop. This weekend we have filled a skip full of junk that he hoarded over the years, I don’t think he ever threw anything away and it was interesting guessing what half the contraptions were. I spoke to him on Sunday and had to ask why he kept bucketfuls of bent rusty nails, for the scrapman, was his reply although he couldn’t have ever got round to taking them because there were at least 4 buckets of them all mixed in with perfectly useable new nails and bolts! We also went over to the other house to start tidying up the garden, that garden was mostly borders with a small veg patch and for a number of years we opened it up for charity, I used to spend hours and hours keeping it immaculate. Over the time it has been rented out the garden has become a little overgrown, I could never expect anyone to keep it the way I did, and now needs a little TLC before the new owners arrive, so we began to collect and tidy up and make use if the skip back at the farm.

We still have rats lurking around, one evening when I bought Frankie down for his last feed before bed, I spotted one out of the corner of my eye, since then I have filled and refilled the bait trap three times and each morning it has been empty. They are probably breeding at this time of year and so I need to get rid of them as soon as possible, the one in the roof is no longer there so that’s one victory at least. Over the last four years we have never seen any evidence if rats but this year they are living too close for comfort, I can only think that the wet has driven them closer to food sources which is why we are seeing them. The recycle bins seem to be an attractive area for them and so now I have started to wash everything before it leaves the kitchen, it’s great that the country recycles but does cause other problems.

The chooks, quail, cats, dogs and horses are all ambling along doing whatever it is they do best, plenty of eggs from the hens and the quail, the cats lazing around for most of the day, the dogs barking to let me know someone is around and the horses eating plenty of grass and making lots of poo! No sign of any foxes at the minute so everything is harmonious for the time being, just need the air temp to warm up and it would be a perfect farming life, lol.

We did let Rosie out the other week when it looked like Spring was here to stay but we have had to relight her, it was too cold and just a little bit damp in the evenings, I hope the weather warms up before we run out of wood, I don’t really want to buy a load in. She could run all year on a different set up but the kitchen gets much too warm when the sun is shinning in as well, I will just need to make the most of her while she is lit.

I thought I would take a photo or two of the veg garden before it gets growing and then one later in the year as a comparison, also one of the area where the greenhouses were and then one of the poly tunnel when it eventually goes up. Have a good week, the sun is supposed to shine although it will be accompanied buy some fresh winds, better make the most of what we get because we can’t change it 😉

I forgot to mention the willow cage we made that you can see in the photo, we cut down the willows and used the whips to make a cage to go over the dahlia bed to support the taller flowers as they usually flop all over the path, we were quite pleased with our efforts 🙂

Sorry this is a bit late but I have had my hats of many jobs on this morning, after feeding time which was farmeress hat, came cleaning out the dogs and so the kennel maid hat, after that my groundsman hat, not really a gardening hat as it was watering seedlings etc, then my housemaids hat, in between that my foremans hat as the skip lorry arrived and had to fit into the ridiculously small area that Hubby insisted on it being positioned, then my shepherdess hat to go and feed Frankie, more about that later, and my stock mans hat to talk to the vet, also more about that later and after my blogging hat out will come the cooker repair man hat when I fit a new element to my oven! So whizzing around like speedy Gonzales this morning trying to get all that a a few more little things done and crossed off the list.

Well Mabel finally gave birth to her lamb, a little boy, early on Saturday morning, she managed all by herself which was great but the lamb managed to get into the other pen with Lily and her lamb, this is when the problems began. Because, Frankie, which is what we named him, had got the scent from the other ewe on him, his Mum would not feed him, she did not reject him as such, she still tolerates him being near her, sheep tend to headbutt lambs that they do not recognise as their own, but she will not let him suckle. So we started off by smearing him in the afterbirth, then penning her up tight so she could not move away, she will let him eventually we thought! Two days later and we are still having to go and pin her against the wall every four hours to let him feed from her, the easy option would be to put him on the bottle, but Mabel is so full of milk that a) it would be a waste and b) Mabel could suffer with mastitis which would be most uncomfortable for her. So the plan is to keep helping him on for the time being and hope when he is strong he will become more persistent and manage by himself. We did put them all out at the weekend in the sunshine, Lily, after frolicking about with her lamb is now lame! I assume she has pulled a muscle running around, I can’t find anything wrong with her foot or leg so she is now on bed rest until it is better. It never rains but it pours doesn’t it and also at the weekend I discovered that the orphan lambs we bought in have Orf! This is a viral infection a little bit like cold sores, they have scabs on and around their mouths and of course as they all use the feeder it has spread quickly. I spoke to the vet this morning and the general routine is to let it run its course which will take about a month, poor little lambs they look quite sore. A talk to the vet is always a good opportunity to ask everything you need to know in one go, especially over the phone as it is free, so we talked about worming and vaccination programmes and also any treatment for the Orf, the problem with smallholding is that most medicines come in 50 dose packs and with vaccines because they are live they don’t last in the bottle for more than a week, so basically we have to practice intelligent farming and not routine medicating. This method suits me fine as I am not a great believer in taking something if it is not completely necessary and it keeps you on your toes a bit more.

During the week we had some lovely weather along with some awful winds but we did get some gardening done in the veg patch, all of the roots crop seeds have been planted and at the weekend a row of garlic went in as well as the potatoes. The seeds we planted in the poly tunnel at the beginning of the month are coming up now, broad beans, peas, carrots and spinach. No sign of the potatoes yet though they can’t be far off shooting now and the strawberry plants have developed flowers so, all in all, heading in the right direction. The ongoing battle with the greenhouses and the wind has come to an end, after replacing the glass which fell out of the roof with polycarbonate panels, which then blew off, were then wired on and promptly blew in, I have decided to do away with them and ordered another poly tunnel. Smaller this time and of a specific design to fit in with requirements, this one will house the tomatoes and melons and have a side vent for letting the air in. The prevailing winds here are quite strong because we are so exposed and it was becoming a constant battle, so I thought give up and change the whole situation which will lower my stress levels but empty my pocket at the same time 😉

The grass seed in the paddocks has yet to show any significant growth, although you can just about see it sprouting in a few patches, the trees are finally beginning to burst their leaves open and just this morning I have spotted a bee and ejected a cabbage white butterfly from the poly tunnel so Spring is slowly creeping in. The Blue Tits that usually nest in the holes in our wall are a bit confused this year, we replaced the old wood with new and there are no holes, however we did put up two shiny new des res boxes which they have been checking out and with luck they will move in to rear a brood or two.

Time to get a different hat on, probably fix the cooker first then go and feed the lambs and check out their sores, gross, humans can catch it too and so we will have to be extremely careful with hygiene, I find at the moment that I constantly feel the need to wash my hands even when I have not been near them, I hope they recover soon as it does look horrible, but as another smallholder said, it could be worse, lol lets hope there is nothing else round the corner lurking in wait, if there is, you will hear all about it next week!

The second ewe who I have now named Mabel is still in waiting, she is showing all the signs except producing lambs! Every time I go and check on her she is just stood chewing on her hay, probably wondering why I have appeared again. Betty continues to go from strength to strength totally holding her own in with the others even though she is a week younger she is not about to let anyone push her off a teat at feed time. Stumpy is still hunching over after feeding and we have now got him on a bit of bran to see if that helps, he is fine when he is playing with the rest of them so I think it is a touch of belly ache from colic or bloat. April is in with her Mum, Lily Blackfoot, and doing well, I feel a bit sorry for her as she is all on her own while the other lambs get to play together. I did put Betty in with her for a play but it frightened her so I abandoned that idea. Once they are all outside it will be so much fun for them all, running and leaping around, it’s one of the best sights of Spring.

Talking of Spring, it is finally springing, the leaves on the trees are just beginning to burst out and the daffodils have finally shown their beautiful flowers, the primroses are also slowly unfolding to reveal little pink flowers. The rain was much needed and has freshened up the grass, although it has bought back the mud, the trashed areas had not quite recovered and it didn’t take much to make a mess again, the difference now is that it dries out a lot quicker than during the Winter months. I have been busy in the garden this week, finishing off the tidying up on the veg plot and cutting back old foliage on the flowers and shrubs. I decided to put some chicken wire over the top of my box beds, if the chickens get out they take great pleasure in hopping up onto them and digging, this should foil them and protect the flowers as well as providing a little bit of support for the taller ones.

We have finally got rid of Roland the rat in the roof space, it took quite a bit if bait to finish him off but we couldn’t risk him chewing through the electrical cables. We do have something living in the ground in the chicken pen in the orchard though, I filled in the hole a couple of days in a row but each morning it had been excavated again, also something is stealing the duck eggs from inside their house and depositing the empty shells in the ménage, I have never caught it so have no idea what it is. We are gradually reducing the number of chickens, we sold a dozen this week which is great because we were getting so many eggs, I actually scrambled some up for the dogs breakfast this morning! A fox has been on the prowl again, we have lost two this week towards the later end of the day, foxes will have cubs now and needing to feed hungry mouths but I don’t want them feeding on my chooks.

The quail, who never really get much of a mention, have started laying in earnest again and so quail eggs are back on the shelves, if you fancy trying some they are £1.50 for a dozen. The chicks that I hatched out are doing well in the brooder, and two of my gold laced Orps have gone broody on a clutch of eggs. They don’t take much to go, just have to leave a eggs in with them for a couple of days and they go all maternal and once one goes they all go so eventually there will be three or four of them sitting on eggs while the cockerel is wandering outside by himself all day.

We are only a couple of weeks away from exchanging contracts on our house now providing nothing goes wrong, then we can start looking in earnest for a compact tractor which will make all the difference to the heavy work that needs to be done. The first job will be to turn the muck heap, the more it is turned the quicker it will be ready, at the moment it takes at least a year to rot down but turning it would make it ready in a few months and much easier to bag up to sell. At the minute we give a way for free and will still be doing that if anybody wants to come and bag up their own you are welcome to do so. Our middle daughter is living in our old place at the moment and is nearly ready the exchange on the place they are buying but if there is a lap over they will be staying with us here until they can move in. With that in mind and the fact that will still have quite a bit if furniture at the other place, Hubby has been taking down walls in the caravan that is usually a workshop, so that we can use it to store everything. We have a huge pile of stuff already here that has been sorted out for car booting, goodness knows why we collect all these things and then store them in the loft, never to be seen again until you move! We have filled one skip and are about to order another, eventually we might get straight.

Today’s jobs including cleaning and tidying the house after the weekend, putting some washing on the line for the first time this year, planting up some seeds now it is finally warm enough in the greenhouse and checking on the ewe every couple of hours, only to see her stood eating I expect. Happy Birthday today to our youngest in Aus, and to two of my sisters who also celebrate theirs today and tomorrow, have a great week to the rest of you and enjoy any sunshine that may miraculously appear when we are not expecting it!