Semi-detached

It is the season where youngsters have been raised and sent out into the world – but remain under a watchful eye.

The young rabbit thinks this is how it should feed

while mother looks on indulgently

The young robin goes exploring

while mother hopes for the best

The young blackbird is slightly puzzled

father is not impressed

The young sparrow thinks that if it sits in the feeder, someone will feed it

and the young blue tit

and siskin

hope for the best.

Meanwhile getting in the grass proceeds apace

Some of our harvest today

The Goodness of Grass

As the sun goes down on Gribin Isaf tonight the air is a abuzz with flying creatures

and with the rumble of surrounding machinery.

This is because as the year came to life during the Spring the grass in the fields around us woke up and the neighbouring farmers were thankful that the sheep could feed themselves. As the year progressed the tide of growth rose up the hills until the sheep could follow it to the rough pasture up above. The lower fields were left to grow until the grabbed opportunity of a dry window when that goodness could be captured and stored for the dead season ahead. That is this weekend as across the valley patterns emerge

and closer by strange machines loom over the hedgerows

Drawn by the disturbance, opportunists arrive – buzzards, kites, and then a solitary gull

Not to be outdone, our haymaking proceeds – although at a more leisurely pace

Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:

Apple hunt

In the orchard

there are droppings and thinnings

good chance for an apple hunt

Bert is not sure

Lottie and Bina do want their main meal too

Brutus would like dinner every hour

and would also like his bed refreshed

Meanwhile, the Rabbit Who Wants To Be a Pet poses for a 360 degree photo shoot

Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:

The Rabbit who wants to be a pet has decided…

The Rabbit who wants to be a pet has decided that if it imitates a cat we will invite it in:

The Robin watches, bemused

as does a creature in the undergrowth

Part of today’s harvest

Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:

Wigglying ones roots in the ground

Many years ago we visited an open day at our local Buddhist centre in the City (which has since moved here).  We bought a six inch tree in a pot – thereafter known as the Buddhist Tree.  In the City it stood in a pot in the back yard.  That pot travelled to Gribin Isaf in the removal van and has moved around the plot for the last eighteen months. This week it sunk its roots in the solid ground:

It is here to stay

spreading its goldeness

Produce round up:

We have inherited many varieties of strawberries. As soon as one ends its fruiting, another starts

We have a very well organised succession sowing radish system. This means if we don’t eat them for a week they do grow a bit – but perfect and devoid of slug nibbles

Two rows of beetroot were sown, most came to nothing but it appears we do have one available

We have been growing chard because it is pretty, but are not sure what to do with it next

After last year’s fruitless weather the orchard looks a little more promising

Lemons have tantalised us in the past, now they are tucked up in the polytunnel can they see it through?

The first tomatoes are colouring up

Like the lemons, last year the aubergines teased us, flowering and then wilting. Will it be different this year?

Meanwhile the newt rests in the Green Room tank

the guinea pigs practise ramp walking in their new home

and the youngest ducks (who are not really -lings any longer) move to their evening quarters and line up for the bedtime bath

Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:

Making Hay While The Sun Shines

Earlier this week we had summer – which was a bit stressful as it was hot.

The problem is, if you make hay while the sun shines, then you get hot.

Beetles frolic in the heat

beans and courgettes are ready to eat

The Rabbit that wants to be a pet is holding the duck fence to ransom

and also brings a friend

Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:

We have got our ducks in a row

Plus we have A New Hole in the Bank

we have surveillance trained…

Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:

Mist and mizzle

For the last two days we have been moist. The air is full of dampness – mist, drizzle and fog. Not unpleasant. We feel a bit surrounded by mystery as things loom out of the whiteness

All things have droplets

The Rabbit That Wants To Be A Pet dines on the ground feeders

and takes refuge under the car

from where it eyes up the new guineapig run, wondering if it too can have one like that

Young birds are still everywhere

apart from where the female Sparrowhawk has visited

Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:

What do you do when a rabbit wants to be a pet?

What do you do when a rabbit wants to be a pet?

There are a number of rabbits around the plot but one is special

it occupies the inner zone and continues about its business as we continue about ours.

it waits to be let into the wood shed – but we don’t know what it does in there. Today it was seen doing a tour of the freezer shed.

Today it was laying up, at first outside, and then later inside a vacant hen run

asking if it could use it as a home.

Meanwhile the Guinea Pigs watch apprehensively (mind you, they do everything apprehensively)

as a new mobile home is fashioned

The polytunnel is swelling

aubergines, peppers and tomatoes

In the greenhouse the chicks are striking poses

and pushing their boundaries

Down in the meadow, about 2% of the three-quarters of an acre have been mown

the proceeds are being appreciated by Brutus

Bina

Spot

and even Bert deigns to try a mouthful

Down in the Valley the engine is watered

and sets off with its happy load

Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:

Essential life skill No 32

Essential life skill No 32 is Peening

essential if two years of lodge upon thatch is to be cleared

The chicks in the greenhouse are pushing their boundaries

while developing their plumage

including on the feet

Elsewhere things are swelling

Plenty for us, and for others

Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw: