December 2012
Upgrading the field shelter
Sunday 16 December, 2012
When we moved to Dalmore, there was a good field shelter built in the middle of the west boundary of the five-acre field, facing east. Constructed with telegraph poles and substantial boarding, with a packed earth floor, it was well worth keeping.
When we decided to split the five-acre field into two, we wanted to be able to make best use of the shelter so the dividing fence starts at the field shelter. To allow the shelter to be used from both paddocks and to give a bit of shelter from the east, we constructed a pen around the shelter, with a gate on each side.
Revisiting the feed store
Sunday 16 December, 2012
Converting part of the West range into a feed store and tack room was one of the first jobs we did after we moved to Dalmore in May 2010.
The former cart shed had a new door and window installed to replace the old sliding door; the connecting door into the byre was replaced and locked off and the store was cleaned and repainted. The good old IKEA shelves were rebuilt and augmented with some new, additional ones and lots of hooks put up – you can never have too many hooks :-).
The shortest day plus one
Sunday 23 December, 2012
Well, the shortest day has been and gone – probably floated away on the loch that is our fields. Hey ho, we’re on the way to spring now and the weathermen have promised a couple of days respite from the rain.
It’s the wettest I’ve seen it here (although nothing in comparison to other areas of the UK) although I think there was as much water around over the winter of 2010/11, it’s just that it was all frozen that year.
So, I had been planning to bring the cattle in about this time anyway, but the weather has just sealed it for me. Since the ponies had knocked down a bit of wall in the barn a few weeks ago, John and Dan spent this morning sinking a telegraph pole and fixing rails to enclose the three big cattle. Once the straw was down, lick in, trough in, hay rack in and filled, it was time to bring them in.
Missing presumed dead
Sunday 23 December, 2012
Our two young Welsummer cockerels are missing presumed dead ☹.
We have one cockerel from the first hatch left – he damaged his leg when he was young and has been named Hoppy ☺.
He was destined for the freezer when we killed the Hubbards a few weeks ago, but we mistook him for the one going to Louis’s Little Farm so he got a reprieve.
Now with the apparent demise of the other two, one of which was going to be our breeding cockerel, Hoppy has got a second reprieve – Dan’s renamed him Hoppy-go-lucky ☺
Penfold
Monday 31 December, 2012
When Dan asked me what I wanted for Christmas, there were two things on the list – new waterproof trousers and a cat.
We have two cats - Felix (13) and Bertie (nearly 4). Bertie’s brother, Harry, was killed on the road back in May. Of the six cats we’ve lived with, five have been black. Actually, five have been black toms – only Copper was different being a tortie female. We’re nothing if not predictable.
So about ten days before Christmas, we set off to the Cat Protection shelter in Dundee – “just for a look”. There were a couple of black females on the website that we quite fancied, but neither was suitable for us. Then the lady said “What about Pepsi?” – black tom, about 4 years old; was a stray being fed by a lady with four cats of her own; lady unfortunately died; husband kept two cats and the other three came into the shelter. We saw him, had a chat and said, “Yes, please”.
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