Smallholding
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 :-).
Boys' toys
Friday 30 March, 2012
Dan's on "holiday" next week, we we've hired a mini-digger to do a few jobs about the place.
This morning, Roy bought Scott's big JCB along to clear all the stone and rubble from around John and LInda's house. The roughcasters have been here yesterday and today, but they're not finished yet and are on holiday next week - it's looking good though. The area Roy cleared today will be lawn and parking for the caravan, so we'll use the mini-digger to move soil on to the area, ready for turf. Linda's been doing loads of work on the garden and it's looking much better. She cut the grass this morning - even though it wasn't very long, it made such a difference.
Another lovely day
Sunday 8 January, 2012
If it wasn't dark at 4.30pm, you'd have thought it was May here today. I was working in a T-shirt and fleece gilet (and jeans, of course). It wasn't sunny but it was so mild.
Dan and John have been cracking on with the January jobs list 
. Yesterday, they put up the new pedestrian gate at the North entrance to Dalmore, replacing the old pallet. When we moved here, there was no gate, just a metal barrier - fine for horses and stopping your tractor being stolen but no good for stopping dogs or sheep. Or probably Bugsy.
Hurricane Bawbag
Thursday 8 December, 2011
We are in the grip of Hurricane Bawbag. However, we seem to be less affected here than other parts of Scotland, so we're grateful for that.
The animals seem fine. The ponies have been a wee bit spooky about stuff blowing around, but not at all bad. The cattle were cosied up in the field shelter earlier - I opened the gate yesterday for them. The sheep are grazing and pulling at the hay - I think a combination of wool and a low centre of gravity makes them pretty impervious.
I was most worried about the chooks but they have food and water in their houses, plus grit and oystershell feeders, so they can stay indoors if they want to. In fact, most were outside but looking a tad ruffled. Bet we don't have many eggs tomorrow.
All done
Saturday 12 November, 2011
It's been an unseasonably warm week - but I'm not complaining. The grass is still growing and it hasn't been too wet, and that suits me just fine.
Leo has now served his nine ewes. We changed the raddle from yellow to green today and we'll be looking for green bums for the next couple of weeks - hopefully, there won't be any and he can go back into the orchard with Dickie at the end of the month. Leo's such a docile big boy - I just slapped the raddle on in the field, while Dan held his head (I'm not sure that was really needed though).
First frost
Saturday 5 November, 2011
We've had our first frost this morning. It's a beautiful day - clear blue sky and bright sunshine, but cold, so I had to root out the wooly hats and gloves.
I've given the ewe lambs some hay this morning. The paddock they are on resembles a bowling green, since the ponies have been on it all summer. The hay rack has a lid so the hay won't spoil and they can pick away at it if they want to. They also have a molassed lick and they're getting a handful of sheep nuts late afternoon. The feed is really to get them used to coming to a bucket.
Tidying up for winter
Monday 24 October, 2011
Do you get the urge, as the days shorten, to batten down the hatches? I do.
There are a few jobs still on this year's list 
but the orchard fencing is the last big one. There's a couple of wee bits of fencing left, a couple of gates to be hung and wood to cut but these are either inside jobs or ones that can be done on the good days we get in winter.
Wood storage
Saturday 1 October, 2011
When we moved here, there were four tattie boxes in the barn. Stacked two on two, we've been storing cut firewood in them, but they are almost full and we haven't started on the piles on wood that have accumulated over the past year. Since the tattie boxes are great for this purpose, I phoned the local sawmill to see how much they were to buy - £58 each plus VAT. Time for a rethink.
Our neighbour has a roofing business and he gave us a few empty slate boxes for firewood - just the thing. They aren't quite as deep as tattie boxes but with a bit of work, they will do the job just fine. So Dan's been working on that today.
Barn enclosure
Thursday 29 September, 2011
The walls of the 1/4 of the barn we're enclosing are complete. We're very pleased with the result.
Barn enclosure
Before the first course of the wall was built, we sized it to take 2x4ft hurdles and one 6ft hurdle neatly. Before the concrete floor was poured, we put in blocks of Kingspan about the size of the feet of the hurdles; now that the floor is set and the walls up, we've dug out the Kingspan and the hurdles now fit quite securely in the holes.
