Apiary / Barn / Wood store / Gwenna's ear / Bug lame
Posted: Monday 25 September, 2017
Monday 11th September
Not as nice as forecast – and we need to cut the front lawn so that the pup can negotiate it safely – and visibly. The vegetable garden needs cut too. Hopefully, tomorrow.
Spent an oddly satisfying couple of hours cleaning the ponies’ field and digging ragwort.
Gwenna is proving to be a bin raker and scatterer of paper!
Processed more apples and roasted more tomatoes.
Roasted tomatoes for freezing.
Had Portland mutton for dinner – delicious!
Tuesday 12th September
Out and about today on various errands. Went along to the local SWI meeting tonight to give a talk – turned out it’s not until the 17th October. Hey ho, ended up joining the SWI.
This puppy is wild.
Wild puppy post-wild-ness.
Wednesday 13th September
Raining, so no grass cutting.
Managed to get hold of the lad that trims the cows’ feet so he’s coming next Wednesday to make Blizz a bit more comfortable.
Thursday 14th September
Lovely morning, somewhat spoiled by Bug being lame.
Got the last cattle A2 test results – Ace is A1/A1, Missie likewise, but Panda is A1/A2. It would be great to have the data on the Shetland bulls in the semen banks.
Friday 15th September
Lots of Festival printing and guillotining and enveloping then off to the Post Office.
Bug still lame so got the vet out; he’s a bit laminitic, which is really annoying as we’ve done really well this year and he’s very slim. Vet is going to X-ray his feet next week and blood test for Cushing’s and EMS.
Meanwhile, it’s Bute and no grass.
Saturday 16th September
Busy here today – Caroline and Andrew came over to give us some muscle in return for a fry-up and we were happy to oblige.
Andy was here, so he and Andrew split and stacked firewood.
Caroline and Dan cleared more of the barn and I cleaned out the three hen houses.
Barn floor dug out in preparation for concrete.
The wood store is looking quite comforting – the first bay is almost full of seasoning wood for next winter. This year’s is stacked in the barn.
Gemma and Paul are doing a fantastic job on the apiary – the bees are coming back on Monday.
Apiary progress.
The apiary fence was revised and the new plan is much improved over the previous one – the apiary is now a wee bit smaller but the new paddock beside the barn will be bigger – and will have all new fencing.
New apiary fence.
Paul worked on the fence until bad light stopped play.
It was a lovely autumn day – marred only by a torrential rain shower just as I was going to get out the lawnmower.
Sunday 17th September
Another lovely day.
I was up at 4am with Gwenna so started making flapjack and cherry almond biscuits, which I baked when Dan got up at 7am; Dan baked bread in mini bread loaves (which are fab and a practice for our ”supper club” venture, poached pears and cooked apples, while I roasted tomatoes for the freezer.
Mini wholemeal loaves.
Andy came over mid-morning, so he and Dan started to sort through and stack all our cut timber on the new racks at the back of the wood store.
Wood store racking and a small corgi.
Dan put the trailer in the pig pen, ready for tomorrow – pigs were straight on. I think they’ll sleep there tonight. I did the movement licence.
And Gwenna’s second ear went up!!! Yay!
Two ears up!
