Diary

December 2006RSS feed

Famous Five

Sunday 3 December, 2006

by Rosemary at 7:31pm in Cats 2 comments Comments closed

It's not very often that we see both dogs and all three cats together, but the open fire is a terrific draw. Dan caught them all together a few nights ago.

From left to right, Tess, Felix, Copper, Meg, with Cassius in front, in the prime position. If we had smellivision, you would be able to detect the scent of singed cat!

061203famousfive.jpg

My Bennington

Sunday 3 December, 2006

by Rosemary at 7:39pm in Equines Comments closed

Despite the horrible weather. our carriage driving has taken a significant step forward. Today, Dan's Dad and I braved the storm and headed off to Gleneagles Hotel to pick up our carriage!

It's a Bennington two wheeled gig (I think - I need to get to grips with the types of carriages). It's not new, but it will do us through the winter and next summer. Next winter, we'll put it off the road for six weeks or so for a full strip down and renovation. Dan's Dad is really good at these kind of projects and was working his way round it today, muttering things like "hmm, we'll need stainless steel bolts here" and "definitely brass buckles there" and " a nice bit of coachlining will make all the difference".

My Bennington

Saturday 9 December, 2006

by Rosemary at 9:49pm in Equines 2 comments Comments closed

Here's the first photo of my Bennington. I suppose, strictly speaking, it's Smokey's Bennington.

Bennington1.jpg

He saw it for the first time today and was interested but not hugely impressed. He followed it round the arena - my chum, Fiona, was pulling it - and didn't seem too concerned. We also dragged a tyre up the road - Smokey wasn't bothered by the tyre but the other horses spooking in the fields, spooked him.

Smokey is "put to"

Monday 18 December, 2006

by Rosemary at 8:54pm in Equines 4 comments Comments closed

Yesterday was big day for us. Smokey took a big step forward in his driving career and was "put to" the gig for the first time. Last weekend, he saw the gig for the first time, sniffed it, touched it and followed it around. Yesterday, we built on that, again letting him sniff and touch it, then leading and longreining him around it.

He was quite calm about all this, so he was asked to stand while Claire brought the gig behind him and lowered the shafts down. He had a wee look behind but never moved a foot. So we hitched him up to the gig and led him around the arena, in walk, with lots of stops (and a few polo mints) to let him think about what was happening. The only time he lifted his head was when I asked him to turn a wee bit tight and obviously he couldn't bend his body because of the shafts, but he just thought about it and stepped over beautifully to make the turn.

Vegetable Expert

Thursday 21 December, 2006

by Dan at 6:08pm in Growing 4 comments Comments closed

Just came across this advice site which I hadn't seen before: Vegetable Expert. It's got the sort of comprehensive growing advice we always intended to have here (but never got around to!) plus tips on storing and cooking veg.

Old seeds, new seeds

Saturday 30 December, 2006

by Rosemary at 12:12pm in Growing 1 comment Comments closed

Because Dan's busy with work things, I've been delegated doing the seed order. As ususal, we ordered mainly from The Organic Catalogue. I've tried to pick varieties recommended by Sarah Raven in her book "the great vegetable plot". I couldn't get all of them but was pretty close. I've also ordered "Sungold" tomato seeds from Thomson and Morgan - the OC didn't have them and Sarah highly recommends them.

Having placed the orders, I then found a box of old seeds in the shed, not in the "seed box", where I had looked BEFORE placing the order. So I had a very satisfying clear out of them.

Spring clean

Saturday 30 December, 2006

by Rosemary at 12:18pm in Gardening Comments closed

Spring is maybe a bit optimistic, but I tidied up the shed a bit today and Dan and I started cleaning the greenhouse. We've never done it before but it was looking distinctly green at the end of the summer, so this has been on the "To Do" list for some time.

It was wet and windy first thing but about 10am, the wind dropped and the sun came out. I swept up the courtyard garden and pulled a few weeds, then we started on the greenhouse. To be honest, it wasn't as bad a job as I imagined and it's always easier with two. We've done just over half and might have done more, but as we finished the door, the wind got up again and the rain came on so that seemed like a good time to stop. Also, one of the glazed panels shattered - just like that! So Dan's gone off to try to get a new one.

Copper

Saturday 30 December, 2006

by Rosemary at 12:50pm in Cats Comments closed

Regular visitors will know that our old tortie cat, Copper, was diagnosed with kidney failure a few months ago. She's now on medication and a special diet and has taken on a new lease of life.

She is such a character. She and Felix get along fine except today he patted her bottom from behind, with his paw. That's like "goosing" your granny. Boy, did he get a telling off!

She's a very vocal cat and calls to you from her room to come and play. To let you understand, when we got Homer, we needed to keep him in an enclosed space so he lived in the guest bedroom. When we got Copper, she kind of moved in with him and it's now Copper's room. I expect it will always be Copper's room, even after she's long gone.

Say "hello" to Hobbes

Sunday 31 December, 2006

by Rosemary at 12:28pm in Poultry 4 comments Comments closed

Say "hello" to Hobbes, our new cockerel, who arrived last night. As you can see he's a Light Sussex and he was bred by friends of ours, Mhairi and Tim. He's still a youngster, but he's a big boy already.

This was taken last night before he was put in with the girls for the night. The hope is that, by morning, they will think he's part of the flock...

061231hobbes.jpg

© The Accidental Smallholder Ltd 2003-2024. All rights reserved.

Design by Furness Internet

Site developed by Champion IS