Smallholding
Honey / Urquhart/ Pig fence
Wednesday 13 March, 2019
Monday 4th March
Heavy rain overnight but sun and wind today drying it up.
Got a reminder that Smokey’s vaccinations were due; checked Leo’s passport to see when his are due – and apparently, he’s never had any. According to his passport anyway. What a joke equine passports are – a useless piece of legislation that isn’t enforced and of which no-one takes any notice. Anyway, Smokey isn’t due a tetanus until next year, so I’ll get Leo done the next time the vet’s out for something else. With lambing coming up, it’s more than likely they’ll be here for something.
Rubbish / Piglets / Roo
Monday 4 March, 2019
Monday 25th February
Cool and misty this morning but the sun was out by 9am, with a lovely day to follow.
Dan harrowed the last of the seven paddocks for the first time. I spent the day in the office.
Here's Roo.
Roo and her sister.
Tuesday 26th February
Up at 4am with pesky dogs – very frosty then, but the sun was out by breakfast time. Lovely weather but it won’t last. False Spring.
Bambi and Kit / Harrowing / Urquhart
Monday 25 February, 2019
Monday 18th February
Office day – finally finished the quarterly VAT return. My least favourite job, so it always feels good when it’s done.
Dan cut and packed a dozen orders for comfrey root cuttings.
Met with Kit Martin, who will be running some workshops here later in the year. All good! Very pleased.
Tuesday 19th February
Light ground frost this morning, then sun then rain this evening.
Dan and I had a business meeting. The plan is to meet weekly to decide what needs to be done and by whom – we’re using Trello now but I really prefer a paper list.
Ave / spuds / snowdrops
Monday 18 February, 2019
Monday 11th February
Back from holiday today – no disasters, except for Gwenna’s escapology, which is an annoyance rather than a disaster. Emptied the car, opened the mail then off to East PItkerro to put hay in for the steers. Their bedding is standing up much better now that there's a deep layer. We might not muck it out this summer for that reason.
Tara took delivery of her new on-loan horse. She’s called Ave and is a teenaged grey Irish Draft. The boys seem to like her.
Scanner / Trimmer / Snow
Sunday 3 February, 2019
Monday 28th January
Frosty but plenty snow on the way to Inverness to meet with folk form Scottish Crofting Federation. Planned to work on the train but my reserved seat didn’t have a table so just had to read and admire the scenery.
We had a visit form the local rates Assessor to discuss the impact of any diversifications on our rates liability. Very helpful.
Tuesday 29th January
Cold and raw; icy early but thawing later. Spent the day catching up from yesterday.
Boots / Bees / Flukicide
Tuesday 29 January, 2019
Monday 21st January
Frozen water this morning, thawing later and light rain this evening.
Office day today.
Tuesday 22nd January
Mild at 6am but frosty by 8am, then lovely sunshine.
Baked biscuits and popped down to East Pitkerro to see if the steers needed hay. They did – and straw. Last year they were very clean but they’re mucky this year. I guess many years of old bedding, dried for years too, acts like a big sponge.
Snow / Nest / Apiary
Monday 21 January, 2019
Monday 14th January
Cold and sunny with an icy wind, but getting milder as the day progressed.
Lots of office work today – in fact, I’m going to be pretty much office-bound all week.
Jane came to trim the ponies’ feet.
Tuesday 15th January
Spent most of the day working on www.dalmore.org.uk stuff
Wednesday 16thJanuary
Cleaned out the hens then back in the office.
Topping / Polytunnel / Raspberries
Monday 14 January, 2019
Monday 7th January
We’ve had some rain overnight but it’s mild and breezy this morning – forecast to get colder though.
Tara popped down for a blether and did the milking – needs to keep her hand in for February when we go on holiday. I don’t know if we’ll still be milking then.
Finished weeding all the veg beds; Dan put some manure on and we’ve only one to do. The strawberry beds are thick with couch so after they fruit this year, I’m going to clear them out and replant. Pruned the blueberries – they’re so easy to keep – must try and make cages for them this year though so that WE actually get some fruit.
Ditch / Mastitis / Sheep
Sunday 6 January, 2019
Monday 31st December
Hogmanay – and it’s dry, sunny and windy. Not complaining though! Picked up a bale of hay and a bale of straw for the steers at East Pitkerro – they were very happy indeed. The last bale lasted ten days.
The last beef box was picked up today. Still got hundreds of £££ of beef and lamb to sell over the year.
Spent an hour or so in the office – I like to start the New Year with an empty filing tray. And I have. The filing is now lying on my desk. Completed my 2018 Flock Registers and started my 2019 one; I intended to update my flock records in the Ryeland Flock Book but it was just too hard. Updated the pig health and welfare plan; will do the rest this week.
Cushion / Crumpets / Wood
Monday 31 December, 2018
Monday 24th December
Hard frost with temperature -4C at dawn and didn’t go up much all day. Milked all three cows but planning to move to alternate days now, so won’t be milking tomorrow. Put hay in for the cows – a round bale is lasting five or six days.
In anticipation of Christmas, the ponies had a can of “Sweetheart Stout” on their feed. And carrots. Even though they aren’t reindeer.
Dan made bread and wholemeal sourdough crumpets. The bread was delicious; the crumpets were interesting.
