March 2005 - The Accidental Smallholder

Poorly Cassius

Thursday 24 March, 2005

by Rosemary at 6:39pm in Cats Comments closed

We've had a bit of a scare with Cassius this week.

On Saturday, we noticed that he was straining to pee and couldn't. We called our vet's emergency service and were told to bring him in right away. It turns out he had crystals in his urine that had irritated his bladder, causing it to block completely. Without treatment, he would have been dead in 48 hours. The build up of waste in his body woudl have caused heart failure (given he has a dicky ticker anyway).

However, after four nights in hospital, an X-ray and ultrasound and some other less pleasant treatments, King Cass is now home again. He's lost a bit of weight, has a special diet and some medication to take but he looks fine. He couldn't wait to get outside - we think he was a bit stir crazy!

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Spring is sprung

Sunday 27 March, 2005

by Rosemary at 9:45am in Growing Comments closed

We've had a busy couple of weekends in the garden.

Dan's finished constructing the new raised beds. The paths between have to be tidied up but the beds themselves are now ready for planting. Actually, some of them have been planted.

Shallots (Longor) are in, as are 800 (yes, eight hundred) onion sets (Jetset). We used Sturon last year, but they didn't keep well. Jetset is quite a new variety, so we'll see how it does.

Beetroot is in, too. We're using two varieties this year; Libero RZ and Carillon. We've grown Libero RZ before and it's very good, but we're trying Carillon for the first time. It's a cylindrical, long beet so it should be good for slicing for pickling, which is what we use our beetroot for, in the main.

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New tree

Sunday 27 March, 2005

by Rosemary at 9:50am in Growing Comments closed

We have an addition to the orchard. One of of the original 14 trees died over the winter. It's been replaced by a plum tree, Oullins Golden Gage. This variety was carefully selected by virtue of being reduced to £10 in the graden centre. Actually it's a really well shaped tree and looks really healthy.

So, it's in. It should crop about August - a large, yellow dessert plum, sweet and juicy. Delicious eaten fresh, it also cooks well. So says the label. I can't wait.

The Courtyard Garden

Sunday 27 March, 2005

by Rosemary at 10:13am in Gardening 1 comment Comments closed

This is my new(ish) project. We have a small slabbed area on the west end of the house. It faces South and gets a reasonable amount os sun, particularly in the afternoon. It is enclosed on three sides, by a hedge (west), a high fence (North) and the house (East). It was pretty grotty, although it was slabbed with quite nice Yorkstone.

Last year, we decided to turn it into a courtyard garden. The idea is that this will be a quiet area for relaxing in with a G&T, after the rigours of the day.

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Litter Louts

Sunday 27 March, 2005

by Rosemary at 8:30pm in Anything goes 2 comments Comments closed

I am absolutely sickof litter. Tonight when I went to feed Smokey, I took the dogs for a run across the fields at the livery yard. I started puling plastic carrier bags out of the hedgerows and putting them in my pocket. After a wee while, I had to start using one of the carrier bags as my pockets were full.

The amount of litter is an absolute disgrace. Our local Council seems unable or unwilling to do anything about it. Dan and I periodically pick litter from the road along to our house. Last time we did it, we spent about three hours and took thirteen bags of litter off quite a small stretch of road. You wouldn't know we'd done it now and we really should do it again soon.

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