Month: November 2007

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From last nights Diary We do intend subject to there…

From last nights Diary. We do intend, subject to there not being any unforeseen circumstances to let you see Bliss and Misty being ridden. We think that next Sunday from about 10am would be a good time. It may not be right on that time. You will know we are going to show them, by a view of the yard in front of the Farm house on both Camera Two and the Puppy Camera.

Bliss and Misty need to be able to ride in control, to be able to do a figure of eight. We need to be doing that by next Sunday, as just a week later they will be on their way to France. We would like to have them trotting by the time they go away. The Trainer will take them on from there. We have not pushed them into do any thing that would not want to do. Just at a very easy slow pace and not more than fifteen minutes at a time. We will need to get them trotting on a head collar next week, that I reckon is going to be fun. When they trot and canter in the their field, they very often give a buck or two. We will need to get them out of that on a head collar and lead rope or they are liable to do it under saddle, and the riding will finish as a Western Rodeo.

As some of you may have seen on Camera Two we have a few Firework displays and parties going off in the area. I must admit that do like a firework party myself. Up to about four years ago we always had a display up the valley with the people living or on Holiday on the Farm. We use to build a large bonfire, get to many fireworks and have a feed and a few or maybe too many drinks, but it was always a goodnight. We really were being selfish. The Horses definitely don’t like the noise. Arnie as big as he is cant stand the bangs. He doesn’t run around mad, but you can see he is concerned. Even when there are shoots in the area he doesn’t like it. We did at one time stable the Horses, but they seemed a lot more restless inside. Now they all stay out on Guy Fawkes night.

The Badgers didn’t worry to much about the fireworks going off. When I fed them tonight there was a lot of bangs going off, it didn’t stop them coming out. The Badger were another reason that we stopped our displays. Their Sett is very near where we use to build our bonfire. If we had changed the place, we would have been near another Sett. Another worry was that a stray firework may have got into our barn with the hay and straw. We are fortunate that our nearest neighbours rarely have fireworks. That could cause us a few problems. Also our village is far enough not to have to worry to much about stray fireworks, and our closest large village would be over a mile away. That is where I am pointing Camera Two this evening. Being in the quite location and valley that we are in, we can still hear the fireworks going off as if they are a lot nearer than they are. Better go and make sure that the Horses and Sheep are all OK.

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We have company this evening so it will be a…

We have company this evening, so it will be a quick update tonight.

No Elsie, the Sheep did not go to market today, I had a lot to do this morning and by the time I had finished it was to late. They will be going next week.

Pat, I will definitely let you all see Bliss and Misty before they go off to France. We are not looking forward to be saying goodbye to them. They are enjoying their work being broken. We give them two days off a week, when we turn them out on those days they wait by the gate in expectation. It is not a promise, but we will try to let you see them being ridden before they go. if we can we will do it on a Sunday, maybe next. I will let you know well before.

After I finished my work this morning I phoned a wholesale nursery about the trees we are going to plant. When we plant trees we mainly use whips, they are very cheep, three foot wild cherry are priced at about 54p. Although very low in price they tend to do a lot better than pot grown. We will be buying some larger trees to put in areas as where we planted the Willow yesterday. We probably look at buying some Maple, Ash and we are also able to get some Elm whips, to replace some of the Elm that have died. The only large tree that we are going to get is a Weeping Willow to go by the lake.

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Dutch Elm disease must have peaked over twenty years ago…

Dutch Elm disease must have peaked over twenty years ago. The disease decimated all of the mature Elm Trees in the UK. It is a fungal disease of the Elm Tree, and is spread from tree to tree by a Beetle that gets under the bark of the tree, causing the tree to shed its dead bark, eventually the tree will die. The disease originated in Asia, not as the name suggests as being from the Netherlands. Spreading into Europe and America, where it has devastated native populations of Elms, which had not had the opportunity to have any resistance to the disease.

When we came to Denbury, we did not realise that we had Elm in our Hedgerows, we had believed that the disease had wiped out all of the Elm, but in fact if hedgerows are cut back regularly the Elm survives in the Hedgerows. Thinking that, and even being told by County Council Farming Adviser’s that the Hedgerows should be left to grow, only cutting back every few years or so to encourage wildlife, that is what we practiced. Unfortunately what we didn’t know was that is that a few years of growth of the Elm makes it more susceptible to the disease, and most of our Hedgerows have now not got any live Elm in them. A good example is the view from the main Badger camera where I get over the gate to feed the Badgers. Most of the Hedge that is more like trees now, either side of the post where the IR lamps are position, are dead Elm.

Around the Pond in front of the Farm House, are a lot of Willow Tree whips, that have seeded from a Willow Tree that started to grow out of know where in our front garden. I must admit that the tree is a nuisance as it stops the light getting to part of the garden, and every year its fluffy seed cones get every where, including our kitchen. This Winter it will have to go. Seven years ago it was a whip itself, it is now a very large tree, nearly as tall as the Farm House.

With the growth rate in mind, I thought that it would be a good idea to dig up a few of the Willow whips in the pond area and transplant them into the hedge, where I get over the fence to feed the Badgers. In a few years time they would have grown, so that we would be able to cut down the dead Elm. My Lads spent an hour or two transplanting the whips today. I must admit that I have made a mistake in transplanting the Willow. They would very soon spread to places on the Farm that I would not want them. Come Monday we will be digging them out and replacing them with whips of other pretty quick growing species of trees. Maybe a few Cherry.

Another job my Lads managed to start today was to cut up a large Ash Tree at the end of the valley. It is obscured by the clump of trees in the middle of the valley. It was brought down when we had the bad flood in June. It just shows what a force of water came through Denbury that night. The logs from the tree when cut up will last us for most of the winter for our fire. We are only just now finishing off the work that was needed after the damage that the flood caused.

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For the past couple of weeks the lanes around our…

For the past couple of weeks the lanes around our area have been teaming with young Pheasants that have just been released for the shooting season. You can tell that they are young birds by their plumage. Some are found on the lanes have been run over, probably a better way to die that being shot. The others when approached by vehicles don’t know where to go, being more liable to be run over, as the quickest way of escape is to run in front of the vehicle, into the path of oncoming vehicles. In a few week time the Christmas corporate shooting parties will be starting. Very often with inexperienced guns, who will injure the Pheasant or other game birds, rather than an outright kill. In this area the public are not particularly safe. Most of the shoots are next to the lanes. Passing cars have been showered with shot, and on numerous occasions Horses and riders have been frightened by unexpected shooting, as they pass by shoots, just as the game birds are flushed out, into the waiting guns.

The recent report of the Hen Harriers being shot, shows that nothing is allowed to get in the way of these large shooting estates. The Scottish Grouse Moors are the worse, with regular reports of endangered species of Birds of Prey being killed to protect the game birds from taken by them. It cant be a large percentage that are taken by Birds of Prey, so why don’t the estates put a few more game birds down. Better still ban the sport. I have said it before, shooting is a far worse sport than hunting with dogs.

The Ewe Lamb that we put back with the Sheep last night, was laying flat out this morning and had obviously been bullied over night. I have taken her out again. I will not try to introduce her to the other Sheep as we can see that she may well be killed. I only put her back as she was waiting by the gate for most of the day. I will take her to Market with the others that we are sending either this or at the latest next Saturday.

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For the past couple of weeks the lanes around our…

For the past couple of weeks the lanes around our area have been teaming with young Pheasants that have just been released for the shooting season. You can tell that they are young birds by their plumage. Some are found on the lanes have been run over, probably a better way to die that being shot. The others when approached by vehicles don’t know where to go, being more liable to be run over, as the quickest way of escape is to run in front of the vehicle, into the path of oncoming vehicles. In a few week time the Christmas corporate shooting parties will be starting. Very often with inexperienced guns, who will injure the Pheasant or other game birds, rather than an outright kill. In this area the public are not particularly safe. Most of the shoots are next to the lanes. Passing cars have been showered with shot, and on numerous occasions Horses and riders have been frightened by unexpected shooting, as they pass by shoots, just as the game birds are flushed out, into the waiting guns.

The recent report of the Hen Harriers being shot, shows that nothing is allowed to get in the way of these large shooting estates. The Scottish Grouse Moors are the worse, with regular reports of endangered species of Birds of Prey being killed to protect the game birds from taken by them. It cant be a large percentage that are taken by Birds of Prey, so why don’t the estates put a few more game birds down. Better still ban the sport. I have said it before, shooting is a far worse sport than hunting with dogs.

The Ewe Lamb that we put back with the Sheep last night, was laying flat out this morning and had obviously been bullied over night. I have taken her out again. I will not try to introduce her to the other Sheep as we can see that she may well be killed. I only put her back as she was waiting by the gate for most of the day. I will take her to Market with the others that we are sending either this or at the latest next Saturday.