Birthday Bins

Last week saw a birthday here and the occasion of the (almost) completion of the dream structure.

Work had started way back in the new year

Securing posts

Getting everything square and level

Bit by bit

Our inspiration:

Charles Dowding of No Dig fame and a compost wizard as you can read here

These are his compost bins and we have always dreamed of emulating them

Now that dream was coming true

We couldn’t wait to start using them even before they were finished

Then the roof started going on

A big overhang at the back will provide tool storage

Not quite finished but convincing enough to celebrate a birthday

Finishing touches will include water collection and, of course, adding the name plate: “The Dowdings”

We have the blessing of the man hiself:

A birthday is always an upside down kind of day – such as starting with a special radish breakfast

and this birthday is always marked by a walk up the hill, looking down on where we normally are

and getting closer to things we normally see in the distance – this ancient holly stands out from far away

but getting close shows its girth and age

We discovered some things we can’t see from our patch

and brought back some treasure

Blossoming

Is it really here? Was last night the end of frost for the time being? Can we whisper S P R I N G?

We had an omen today.

Our Pied Flycatcher flew in from Africa and… straight into a shed.

This rather fuzzy picture shows him being redirected

towards his reserved quarters which we described here. (As soon as we unblocked the entrance a pair of sparrows were inspecting the box)

Elsewhere chicks are growing

Lambs are congregating

Ponds are vibrating

and insects are on the move

And Blossom is blossoming…

The cherry in the polytunnel

and the ornamental ones outside

Blackthorn is everywhere

Plum

Pear

Time to blossom

A Day of Two Halves

April 12th 2021

Morning…

Afternoon…

Mobility aids for Chicks

We have hatched many many hen eggs over the years and it was not until last May that we had a case of Splayed Leg.

It took as a little research to find the solution:

The full story can be read here and here.

And now Hubble looks like this:

a slightly too feisty cockerel, in charge of five Speckled Sussex hens

So we were ready when it happened again this month

This time the, as yet, un-named chick only took two days to find his/her own feet

and join her/his peers

We just hope we don’t have a case of Crooked Toes and have to make chick sandals

21 days – as Sure as Eggs are Eggs

You can read in this earlier post about our plans for hen production this year.

Today we have some results:

Chilled Lamb

You can see where our wind has been coming from today:

In other words, straight from the arctic bringing… chill:

Recently the skies have held more than the usual quota of Buzzards, Kites:

and Ravens

All keeping a close eye on the ground below

criss-crossing the fields

passing on the news

Because it is lambing time

They are mainly looking for nutrition-rich after-birth, which they won’t find in the field next to us as it is designated as the nursery for some of the weaker, indoor born lambs

They are brought in by taxi

and then have to sort themselves out

Ewes closely inspecting the numbers

until they know they have their right lambs

Our small contribution is to provide the water supply

through the fence

and into the trough

From where it is magically turned into milk

A happy scene

(Before the arctic blast)