The Golden Fleece…

…and other Golden Things

We will go no more a roaming…

We have enjoyed having Clare and her brood free-ranging round the patch

but flower beds and vegetable beds are suffering so the time has come for a some serious corralling

Clare is not amused

From now on previous free-style perching

will have to be replaced by approved perching

although… later tonight, after her brood have gone to bed, Claire is found going on an evening stroll. Wing clipping or fence heightening?

This evening we go on a mission

As our first bee colony was a little late in getting established it needs a bit of help

Keeping track of the feathers

Clare, the ex-broody hen, is finding it hard to keep track of her brood

Each day they find new places to explore


We tried to contain Claire and Co but they insist on exercising their right to roam. She has started laying again but since she declared herself truly free-range we have to hunt down the eggs.

Solo and the Three Muscovites have been spending their days in the greenhouse

and tonight, for the first time, they have moved their bedroom from the dining table to a shed, where they enjoy the window view

They have to leave the indoor accommodation as that will shortly be needed by the six Australorps, six French Marans, and six Speckled Sussex which we hope will emerge from the eggs in the incubators. Good job they will be vacating the incubators as we have some Muscovy eggs on the way – having been seduced by the emergency ducklings we acquired to stop Solo being solo.

The best thing all these young fowl can keep in mind is, if possible, to be female. The adolescent Cayugas are somewhat depleted today following some quite hard sexing

Meanwhile produce swells

and the visitor room is getting a drawbridge

and further interior decoration

We prepare to inspect the bees

and are pleased to see the queen is still there

Preparations for winter are underway

Elsewhere

Diana looks on

Lazy Sunday

Watching the world pass by the gate

Selecting the vegetables

Carving the joint

Choice of desert

Inspecting the flowers

and just time to repose in the visitors’ boudoir

Claire on tour

Claire and brood have a busy day…

resting in the feed shed

resting on the bank

and wondering, if this is a bird feeder, why it is empty

Meanwhile Solo and and Muscovites wait for a bath

have a bath

and recover from a bath

Soon they will have to move outdoors as there will be new arrivals

Beans of the day

and some other produce

Plus…

New Arrivals

Two new arrivals at the Lake this week. Firstly, a damselfly we have not seen before

Is this an Emerald Damselfly?

Then down in the water, strange tubes

A closer view

A caddisfly larva with a beautiful case made from leaves. There are quite a number of them there.

We keep thinking we have identified it but the more we read the less certain we are. One source says “it is often not realised just how many different kinds of caddis there are – in Britain alone there are around 200 – and that they make up one of the most diverse groups of freshwater animals.”

[edit: currently going for Triaenodes bicolor]

Elsewhere the ducklings enjoy a bath in the sun

and…

Day out

We went out today, to learn about…

How to manage a quad bike on a smallholding

The best way to win prizes

including Pansy Presentation

assessing the bale of hay entry was a serious business

Unfortunately we missed the Punch and Judy tutorial

but did learn how to get a reluctant horse into a trailer

We appreciated the heavy horses

and the old oaks

We came home with two new hens

and found the swallow brood in the woodshed practising sitting on a wire

and our young hedgehog in care slightly heavier

First Bath

A fine sunny day provides a good opportunity for the ducklings’ first bath.
Initial hesitation

is soon overcome

Solo, of course, leads the splashing

Afterwards, a good preen

Yesterday we penned in Claire and her roaming brood as flower and vegetable beds were suffering.
First thing this morning they broke out – largely due to the fact that the youngsters are smaller than the netting mesh – and continued exploring… the compost bucket

Tonight they staged a sit out


refusing to go to bed unless the fence was removed.

The swallows’ second brood left the nest

and moved as far as the rafters

before making exploratory flights outside and then returning to the nest tonight.

Over the Lake twenty to thirty neighbourhood swallows swirled and swooped
with an occasional breakaway, coming low to snatch water insects

Happily they left this one

our third species of dragonfly – as yet unidentified [update: we think an Emperor] – as it visited the bullrushes

where it deposited some eggs

We continue to ornament the Guest Room

and test the kitchenette

Tonight we have a mysterious hole staked out

Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:

Dressing for guests, juggling ducks

With the foundations ready

The Guest Room is now in place and time to get it dressed. Obviously the things that need sorting first are the ornaments



The electricity supply is tested

Just remains to try out the wood-burner

Good view of the hills – and the pig house

We continue with the tortuous, and basically failing, attempt to expand our flock of laying ducks.
Solo seems kind of grateful for his three muscovite companions

Although he wonders why they only drink from the water bowl when he knows it is for jumping on and jumping off

Outside we have five that side

and five this side

nerving ourselves to end the five a side and go for a merger.

It has been good to have Claire and her brood free roaming round the site

but as they roam wider with a gleam of intent in the eye

the range will soon have to be limited to give flower and vegetable beds a chance.

We enjoy our home grown lunch

The Japanese Honeysuckle is also edible but we haven’t tried yet

The bees seem busy

and we pleased to spot the Queen

Pethan eraill yn y tyddyn heddiw:

Solo and The Three Muscoveers

This morning one day-old Solo was all alone in the world

But following a cross border mission tonight, beneath the swelling moon

he has company

three day-old Muscovies.

Down at the Lake

our bees collect water

and…

a new arrival. Our second dragonfly species – a Ruddy Darter, if we are not mistaken.

Today’s butterfly pictures:

and in the woodshed there has been a non-stop feeding shuttle as brood two approach fledging

Up until now the swallows have determinedly built their own nests in the rafters but for this last minute effort they have taken advantage of our concrete offering.

The salad thrives

Guest Room foundation work continues

and Claire teachers her brood deportment – how to walk like a lady