Gonna add these bad boys to the list of wildlife…. June 26, 2009

Ref the previous list of wildlife we see in our parts – the wife discovered a lovely nest of these little buggers last night. 

Freaked her out a bit as they went wild taking over the kitchen.  Luckily it looks like we caught the nest at just the right point and managed to scrub the kitchen fully clean again.

Not sure at all what they are though….  They had made they home/or maybe originated in a box containing  a bag of wild bird seed.  Had wings and flew – and then had quite a pointy head.  didn’t seem to be a beetle or a cockroach…. but we not sure..  Close up below for those of you who don’t get too itchy thinking about these things….. we do….. nice…

All the creatures… May 14, 2009

I was thinking about all the creatures that I have living around me.  Some people never see any kind of animal/wildlife unless it’s domestic pets, or in a zoo. 

We have seen/have:

• Great crested newt (2 seen in the house, 1 out in the car-port).
• Couts/Moorhens
• Wild rabbits
• An Owl
• Moles (recently saw babies in a small nest)(and saw a real one the other day)
• Field mice
• Rats (!)
• Pheasants
• Foxes
• Bats
• Of course: Sheep, Horses, Next door’s dog, our Chickens
• Crawlies: Earwigs, Beetles, Spiders, ladybirds, moths, many flys/midges [all in the house]
• Tonnes of birds: tits, jays, robins etc

 

Experiences:

• Killing a wild rabbit
• Seeing a chicken peck/eat a bumble bee/wasp
• Seeing baby birds fall out of nests/dead :<
• Seeing an poorly/abandoned mole baby – and family of other moles
• Robin flying around the house (twice)
• Other birds flying around the attic!

Death and illness… aka My first Kill May 14, 2009

Wierd – got my first kill.

We had a small rabbit in the garden that I decided to see if I could approach and I could – almost too easily.  when I got near enough I could see it looked almost blind and moving quite slowly overall.  Got him and took him to show wifey at the back door and she said ahhhhhh…. oh…. mexamitocis (sp?).    So she said something needed to be done – 100% mortality rate apparently.

So told toddler I’d let it go in the back fields, but went off.  Took a deep breath.  Got a grip on it’s neck/head and held it’s back legs for a crack.  Seemed quite easy and definite.  But it did seem to still be breathing a moving slightly and not jerking around, so I gave it a smack against a fence post.  Then it did the jerky thing.

Not nice.  But I felt glad he wouldn’t suffer any more.

Update. May 14, 2009

Man I’ve failed for a numer of months now.  Ah well.  At least things have been happening so there’s always plenty to report.

Current status:

- Good crop of early potatoes coming through into small bushes

- Main crop are desperatly pointing out of the window at the garden they want to be planted in (soon)

- Carrot early sowings are actually coming through and surving so far

- Misc others ok like salad, cucumbers, strawberries.

- Got small number of baby tomato plants going ok – will they actually produce fruit (!) for us this year?

- Got two beds of sweetpeas growing (wifey is hoping for wedding flowers in September).

Poor performers – Peas – Only around 6 in so far – had about a 20% germination rate…..    Spanish peppers -third year of failure….!

Chickens are doing well except for an attack of red mite – have scrubbed the house today but now am itching lots and think I’m being eaten by the little buggers…… wifey will be pleased in bed-not….

… and it stayed overnight. What a day. February 2, 2009

 

 

The view from my office (got sent home from a near-empty office by our boss boss)…..

BTW I am still here…. November 17, 2008

… just quiet on the blogging front currently..

watch this space….

it was my birthday…. July 14, 2008

And fantastic lady indoors got me one very great thing especially relevant to this blog (amongst other really great things including a her-decorated cereal bowl which I love).

She got me the river cottage cookbook (… erm, book !).  River Cottage for those non-english visitors is a big thing here at the moment, a chef with a business/tv/media company promoting good smallholding/self-sufficiency/proper diet and tastebud ness (pig brain anyone?) etc etc etc.

Hugh has silly hair but other than that he is very cool.

So her indoors has been keen on the idea of some pigs for a while, and I’ve always thought it was a little way off or maybe a bit too much for us….. but I’m coming around to the idea definitly.  Need to give it some thought for two weaners to baconers next Feb to October?!! tee hee.  ya boo to Rach who would never manage that in her city earth patch!!! har har ! (But maybe we’ll call then Rach n Tom?!)

Lots of fantastic information, advice and recipies about all cuts of meat (hence the pig brain reference for “brawn” stew type stuff, or even “fried with a heap of garlic…..” :> ????!!)

Excellent present, highly recommended.  Plus subscribe to the river cottage site/blogs etc – note the especially good attempt at influencing tescos.

comedy veg as inspiration…. April 7, 2008

Just found this on facebook!!

Kudos to Fiona Stokes on the ‘I’ve got an allotment and it doesn’t make me wierd’ group!!!

 

 

I think it should inspire us to get growing!! onwards – though might take the tip about planting in loo rolls to help be straight!!

I have potato fustration… March 17, 2008

…and it’s not just because i keep spelling it potatoe!

The weather keeps being so naff – so wet that we can’ t get out to do stuff inc getting the earlies out now.  they’re getting huge chits (!??!) now so need to get them in thou her indoors was told by an irish mwife that it’s traditional to put them in after st paddies day.

Also have some plans to relocate wonky glass-broken nigeygreenhouse and put up the freecycled shed for tools n things.  This will also involve some nigeybodging of a fence to protect the kiddies.  watch this space!

Final update  hi to those visiting from blotanical. !!

sunshine and nigey-diggin January 12, 2008

Right, that’ s it. Christmas finished, weather sunny and dry…… all hands on deck to the garden to prep for 2008 season!!!! we’re quite excited now by the prospect of year 2 with a bigger plot, some experience under our belts and grand plans!! Especially fired up by Jamie Oliver program on chickens n eggs, and by progress now made in the allotment area(s) – yes – plural!!!

 So today consisted of fence building – then being able to expand the previous year’s plots again – now they should be protected from encroaching nettles, brambles, grass etc from a true nigey-bodge fence!!! Think her indoors may not actually like the fencing cos it’s quite bitty and thrown together messily!! ah well.  she came out to see but I have covered them with the weed protector!!!  Reading over my shoulder she says that it’s fine!!

Then I made progress to explore allotment area no 2 (see some of the first blog posts from last April)  – clearing the top grass, digging a little, clearing some bark and stuff as a top layer…..  bad news is that it only has an average of 2 inches of top soil – some it has zero – straight to clay/sand stone! and that the peat/soil feels pretty poor.  The good news is that it means I get to explore more woodcraftynigebodgeness with making some raised beds!!

So a great day – felt very productive.  eldest dd came out to help – littlest (at mo) dd was also out for a while this morning.  Loved the work although a rapid bit of digging up the previously-un-dug-section made me feel quite sick and heart-attacky.  :>  Decided to take it easy as a treat afterwards with a beer, in the hammock, with the moon shining and owls hooting.  nice.  :>

  

Her indoors has got out some gr8 books on self-sufficiency (from the library….!  :>)  to compliment our progress through series 1 and 2 of the good life and into series 3.  Nice input and perspectives – including the plans for a suggested 1-acre small holding which has totally taken both of our attention and become something of a not-too-distant grand vague plan.  I enjoyed a few elements of self sufficiency today with my toils – including checking the topsoil created from the extracted turf last May - lovely brown stuff and v pleased with the result.  Just need to build the beds to use it in!! Got offer of horsemanure from the farm next door and of mushroom compost from mateymikey from back home in the coming weeks!! onwards.