Early Morning Clean Up

Sometimes you have to find little jobs to tied you over, this morning up at 5-30, cup of tea first then what to do, too early to feed animals they would still be tucked up asleep, 

Got bread on the go, washing machine on, then decided to clean down the log burner

 Out with the stove polish and cloths

 It was pretty grubby

now its nicely blackened again

 Then out with the glass cleaner

 grubby but not too bad

Soon it was all clean

Finish off with the slate oil

 The slate tiles were filthy

 they were washed down and oiled  

Logs all brought in and its ready to have a match put to it tonight,

the bread was done, washing was done 

it was soon 8am and time to take out feed and hay, break the ice on the water troughs.

Sun is shining, blue sky the rest of the day is my own until 3pm, then walk the dog, feed animals, bed down goats and chickens, light the fire and enjoy 👍

 

Diary 

Thursday December 7th 1982

Celandine calved bull 12-30am

Blue faced rams picked up at mid-day

Mr Emmet  Ministry Agri called to discuss various grant schemes.

Took Magic's swab to vet lab.

Bought Xmas presents,

had two letters from mother.

Made 12lbs of marmalade.

John started making clothes airier.

Hoovered bedroom, did 3 loads of washing.

Rained all day, thunder and lightning.

 

 

 

 

Keep The Sea To The Left

Yesterdays plans did not come to fruition, Martin's work scheduled over the week end threw me out completely.

He came home Thursday night, went back to work Saturday, came home again Sunday night and goes back to work today.

Anyway yesterday, I had an order of cushions to deliver to shop that sells some of my wares over at Haverford West.

Off we went, delivery made, hubby suggested we pop down to Fishguard as we were not that far away, we haven't been to Fishguard since a holiday about 5 years ago, it was wall to wall blue sky with brilliant sunshine. 

After Fishguard Martin suggested we drive home the coastal route, keeping the sea to the left off we go, Newport beach looked inviting.

 An opportunity for Sol to have a run around and stretch his legs

 And a paddle in the sea

We then set off up to Cardigan again we haven't visited since the Welsh holiday.

 Parked up then set off hunting for some lunch.

 We happened upon this cafe and Sol thought it was perfect

unfortunately he was disappointed, they were having a re-fit so no sausages for Sol.

After lunch of baguettes we headed home via Newcastle Emlyn were I paid a quick visit to the fabric shop 

were some lovely brushed cotton flannel came home with me.

We got home just in time to start the evening feeds,

I cooked a chicken curry for dinner then we sat in front of the log burner and watched some TV on catch up and Martin had his winkles we collected from Newport beach.

Perfect day but not what I had in mind.

 

Diary

December 6th 1982

Phoned Jones to collect Blue Faced ram, John phoned about subsidy cheque and to notify final amount of ewes.

Got paint, putty cement, putty knife and wood from timber shop, vets for medicine for scouring, Iron-aid + 21/3pts of water for Magic Aureomycin powder 11/2 teaspoons and 6ml injection, also gave Bracken, Fran and Misty powder.

Phoned mother to stop her getting Hoover, father feeling tired, got her to find measurements of Lisa and Michael for Christmas presents, then she phoned back with same and is sending name and address list for Christmas cards. 

Took swab from Magic, talked to Mr Emmet about farm schemes.

 

A Few Treats

The livestock all enjoy a few treats

Sometimes with a variety of other animals about the place the chickens get overlooked,

This time of year there is some bargain treats around that they enjoy, even more so when they have removed every bit of green from there run.

 Tucking into 10p pumpkin for breakfast

 I got a load of pumpkins the other week 10p each, they store fairly well, quartered up the chooks really enjoy them, I also keep a look out for squashes and melons for them.

 Apples, Bovey Belle fellow blogger brought me up two big boxes of apples, I scatter about a dozen around the run before letting them out and they love them. Brassica's hung from the frame of the run are another favourite although they do ave to work a bit jumping up for those, another is one of those solid cabbages, rammed onto a long nail in a bit of wood, they work at it for days.

 As do the piggies again they are scattered around there enclosure,

you can here the squeals of joy when they find one. 

Diary

Sunday December 5th 1982

Mr Coates came round for final settlement  of hay and agreed to previous price. 

Molly and I walked round and checked sheep, mended fence were they got out of top field.

Went down to the dingle, had lunch finished about 3 o'clock.

Molly and Douglas left about 4-15pm.

John gave Magic another dose of mixture Bracken a lot better.

Bacon Day

The bacon I started curing the other week is now ready for eating

 It looks yummy

 It was all sliced up with a meat slicer

 And the first slices were straight into the pan

 proper bacon with no white scum, makes yummy bacon sandwiches for breakfast.

 all sliced ready to be chilled before packing to go into the freezer.

 you get a lot of slices of bacon from a small loin, curing bacon is so easy to do, no special equipment or ingredients

 The end bits were kept aside for Bean and Bacon soup.

 a couple of tins of Cannelli beans

 onions carrots and celery I didn't have any fresh to hand so dehydrated celery was used.

 the bacon scraps were diced and fried up added to the beans, veg was diced and soften in the same pan that was used for the bacon seasoned added to the pan with some stock add some tomato paste and minced garlic, cook it all slowly for about an hour,

 serve with fresh home made bread perfect lunch for an autumnal lunch. 

2 Bowls well Martin came home unexpectedly last night unfortunately he has to go back Saturday night, then he will be back on Sunday night, talk about confusing me, I never know what day of the week it is when he changes his days.

 Tonight's dinner meatballs in barbecue sauce, I did make up a big batch of meatballs, there is now another couple meals in the freezer ready for when he comes home unannounced again.

Diary

Saturday December 4th 1982

Jessy in season.

All went to Carmarthen, Douglas bought Hoover cleaner and attachments. 

I bought Xmas tree lights, tinsel and another Xmas pressy.

 Had fish chips and coffee, then tea and cake.

Bought book of music.

John phoned Taf about getting some straw.

No medicine given to calves today.

The Lie Of The Land

I was asked if I could show the layout of the land and everything in relation to each other 

well here you go

Marked in red is the original area of 5 acres we bought,

Blue shows the new 15 acres we have purchased

 The long bit at the top is the driveway

 This shows the layout as it is now, House and Cabin in yellow on the right surrounded by garden area, the blue building in the garden is a barn Martin is converting to a workshop, the other blue building on the side of the house is another barn we use for storage.

the blue lines is fencing we have put up, top left shows the woodland I am planting, next to it is the goats and then the pigs, the area in front of the pigs is the vegetable fruit garden with nut trees off to the side bordering the drive, all the small paddocks are used by the alpacas and the lambs when we had them, small orchard and bees in the bottom paddock, Chickens nearest to the house, all gates are the pink dashes there is a lot of gates, the pink dots show were the cherry trees are going to be planted. Oh and that green circle is the willow dome.

 This is the plan of what we have in mind

 Poultry to be expanded, to egg layers, meat birds and turkeys all moved to the bottom paddocks, the barn at the side of the house is removed and relocated to the poultry fields, house to be extended, a pond to be put in, two top paddocks are turned over for crops to feed livestock. The ? well I have an idea as all this area is to be Incorporated into the garden I would like to plant up an evergreen maze. Two unmarked paddocks used for lambing, or livestock holding areas.

 The fields at the back, the bees get expanded and moved over to the gorse field, the other two fields will be used for sheep, the middle field is to be divided up into 4 rotating paddocks with a field shelter in the middle for the Alpacas, a field for hay and a field for spare grazing, 

That's the plan now we need to put it into action,, there is a lot to do fencing all has to be replaced, hedges restored, in a few weeks the big 24ft field shelter arrives and we have to set up water catchment as well. 

Any questions?

 

Getting Me Ready For Winter

So much time and thought has gone into preparing the veg and fruit gardens for winter, preparing the livestock with health checks, getting in hay supplies and feeds, getting the log supply for the house done, stocking up the pantry, putting Flash into hibernation, I seem to have come bottom of the list again.

Now I am ready.

 4 pairs of nice long thick socks 

cant do with short thin ones in winter

 6 t-shirts to wear under jumpers, the rest of the year I wear vest tops, I have stacks of jumpers already.

 4 thick pairs of jogging bottoms, the ones I bought a few years ago are starting to wear a bit thin in parts, jeans I find are find too restrictive for everyday wear and when they get wet they are very cold.

All of the above came to £43 there was some new underwear as well but you don't need to see my knickers do you. Just plain black Bridget Jones types, no little fancy thongs here. 😁😳

Yesterday when we went to pick up animal feed I spotted this coat in farm supply shop

 I had looked at these earlier in the year at a show but didn't get one and being out in the rain yesterday reminded me, all my coats are of a shorter length I wanted a long one that will come down to my welly tops to keep that bit between wellies and thighs dry.

I went for a larger size so I can were it on top of a fleece jacket 

£33 I am more than happy. I do have waterproofs but it is a bit of flaff getting kitted out in them.

Talking of wellies 

The soles are not good for keeping out the cold 

 A couple of packs of these helps to keep the chill away.

Our lovely neighbours who we bought the land from popped around with welcome gifts for us, beer for Martin

Gloves for me

 I go through an awful lot of gloves in winter, a very welcome gift.

So I am all sorted now for under a £100 no designer stuff nothing from branded high street shops just practical clothes to see me through a couple of winters.

Bring it on I am ready. 😉😜

Diary

Friday December 3rd 1982

John did more paperwork, I finished off hedge by lawn and tipped rubbish in tip, pressure washed around the barn and yard.

Molly phoned they arrived in late evening.

Went to get some paint but shop closed at 4-30pm, to paint large white gate.

John gave Magic another dose of mixture and Bracken.

Lovely Sunny Sunday

Its been a lovely sunny day here today, chilly but the sun was out and we had blue skies.

My 5 Sweet Chestnut trees arrived the other day

 I got them planted out in the woodland field, while I was up there I planted out a few other trees as well, all the young trees I have in pots have been moved up there so when ever I am passing through I get another couple in the ground, I leave a spade up there along with a tub of dried blood and bone meal in readiness.

It takes the pressure off doing one big planting session.

My new Almond tree got planted out today as well.

 Martin was finishing off some scaffolding he was doing next door on there barn conversion, once done he joined me with Sol and we took a walk over to see the progress of the new boundary fence that is going between our new fields and the neighbours.

 

 We dragged a load of branches back for the goats.

 They really enjoy have the branches to chew on, and with all the hedges being cut there is plenty there for them to work through.

They like to chew the bark of the branches along with all the twiggy bits and any leaves that are left on them.

I got the poly tunnels watered then set to clearing the asparagus ferns, weeding the bed and getting a load of spent mushroom compost on to top the bed up. Picked the last of the raspberries and the first of the sprouts. Martin has been splitting logs

The log burner is now lit and lamb chops cooking for dinner.

Diary 

Thursday December 2nd 1982

John got combine out of cattle shed, Day's rep called left some scour mixture for Magic, 75mls daily.

 Shifted more machinery around, checked antifreeze in machinery and vehicles, I cut back hedge alongside lawn.

Wrote to mother, Richard and Cheryl, Daniels called with 1/2 ton rolled barley at £144 a ton and 3 bales of straw (to be replaced)

put landrover and tractor batteries on charge overnight.

A Soap Box Moment

Ok we all moments when we want to grumble, so I am getting a few things off my chest, putting them to bed to be done away with.

Please dont be offended by my comments they are not aimed at any one in particular just general observations.

Vegetarians

I dont get this at all, making statements about not eating meat, cant stand the thought of an animal losing its life so they can eat, etc etc etc, then they go ahead and eat dairy products,

First up Cheese, no it there is no meat but a day old calf was taken from its mother and slaughtered to make the cheese, to make cheese the manufacturers need Rennet, rennet comes the the stomach lining of calves to enable them to digest the colostrum and milk, the only way to get Rennet is slaughter the calf,

 no graphic images just facts link to the INFO 

 also for a cow to produce milk to make cheese butter, cream it has to produce a calf, those calves are taken away so the cows can be milked that is not so much a problem, female calves are brought on as future milkers, male calves are killed and thrown out, what a bloody waste of a life, just so we can have dairy products including chocolate,  which vegetarians also consume.

no graphic images just facts on raising dairy animals INFO 

Then its what is on your feet, this popped up on my news feed yesterday Contains Graphic Images Ugg Boots 

This morning on the news it was the turn of the salad, those salads and prepared vegetables you buy in bags are bad for you, they contain Salmonella 

Salmonella Salad 

And they added at the end of report washing it can make it worse.

This is only the tip of the ice berg, I hate the holier than vow attitude of some vegetarians, who in turn put down meat eaters.

At least I can dress and eat with a clear conscience.

Normal posts resume tomorrow. 👍

 

The New Land

Took some photos today of the new land we have bought

 This is field one its at the top of the woodland field I am planting up

 Looking back across from the other side

Field number 2 this field is going to be divided into 4 paddocks with a 24ft field shelter in the middle, this is were the Alpacas will move to, they have been out there today for a look round but didn't stay long as there is no grass for them to graze, the wandered back into there old paddocks.

 Field number 3, this field I would like to try and bring on for hay

 Looking back from the other side, already a start has been made on re-taming the hedges, trees will stay everything else is getting cut down to encourage it thicken up from the bottom.

 There is a gateway from 3 into 4 over the back,

 Then into field number 5

 these fields at the back go straight down to the forest boundary at the bottom

 We plan to use these two fields for sheep.

At the bottom of the fields 

 Is a small wooded area

 It looks like at one point it was a track

 The previous owners called it the tunnel of love 

 Field number 6

 Its called the gorse field as it has lots of gorse, we are going to move the bee hives over here, they are going to be tucked into pockets among the gorse to give them shelter, at the moment you cannot walk around the boundary of this field there is too much gorse and brambles, I want to try bringing the goats in here to graze on the brambles.

 There is some fantastic views across the valley from the new fields.

 There is a lot to do

 The hedgerows between the fields all need serious attention

 We also have to get fencing up between the fields, there is only strip of fencing dividing the top three fields from the middle fields but it is in poor condition.

 There is also trees down from the forestry side coming across the land. We will have no shortage of firewood for years to come.

Final photo

I was filling a water trough for the Alpacas this evening and looking back across towards the house I realised for the first time you can now see the house, buildings and poly tunnels, before we took down the trees you couldn't see the house at all.