Month: November 2008

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Starting from number six there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number six there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.

Thought I would share with you some forest ponds and autumn reflections, and some more Glistening Ink Caps – all taken in Epping Forest… Jill xx

Cricket Field Pond.

Middle Pond.

Middle Pond.

Third Pond.

Glissening Ink Cap. Jill xx.

It is not the telescope that is on camera 2 tonight, it is the Valley camera that we managed to get going today. To move the Valley camera we needed to control it from a computer, that was quite hard. We are now using a keyboard making it a lot easier. The Focus on the moon is not great, but we are seeing the moon as close as the small telescope in the observatory.

We disconnected the the infra-red lamps on the Valley camera and installed a different type believing that the Valley camera would have needed to be repaired. Now that we have got it working we will reconnect them.

The Wood we acquired yesterday borders the Valley and it is what you can see beyond the post and trees and far over to the right hand corner of the Valley. It then cover to the North and East to just under 18 acres. It needed to be under our control as although it belonged to Somerset County Council it was being used illegally for shooting. Why the Council sold it I will never understand. It was sold at the same auction as a Farm that borders it. I can understand the Farm being sold, but not the Wood.

Although I have lived at Denbury for fifteen years I have never been very far into the Wood. On Sunday we walked around a good part of the 18 acres. It was a lot nicer Wood than I had imagined. Over the years it has had very little work done to it. There are many fallen trees that will keep the Lads busy for the Winters for a few years cutting logs. There will also need to be a lot of thinning to open the canopy. I am making it sound not very nice, but it is a very beautiful wood, with a couple of streams, two small quarries and a restored Lime Kiln. It is a wonderful wildlife site that Red, Roes Deer, Fox and Badgers live or frequent.

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Starting from number one there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number one there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.

I mentioned a while ago about my late cousin being an amateur photographer. Here are 3 of her photos I found will send some more in at a later date. sue.

Here’s the photo of Finn leading Arnie up to the field – The kid’s had a brilliant time at Denbury, thanks so much! Julia.

Gypsy sharing her feed with Ewey. David.

Vicky anf Thornton. Diane.

We acquired nearly 18 acres of wood at auction today. We acquired it for two reasons. The overriding reason that we acquired it was to keep one of our neighbour’s who’s land border the wood from shooting in it. The other reason to protect the wildlife that uses it. I will tell you more tomorrow.

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Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.

Here are a few more photos from our stay at Denbury. Julia.

Finn leading Breeze to the field – Tass and Thornton in the background. I grabbed the small camera from Finn and managed a very blurred picture!

Tass the footballer;

Finn and Tass feeding the horses;

For Jordan – fungi in Denbury woods;

Karen asked if we’d seen the Peacock – well, yes we did, but he’s a bit camera shy!!

Some where I’ve got one of Finn with Arnie – I’ll search it out. Julia.

It didn’t take the Squirrels long to work out where the peanuts were. And the Cock Pheasant soon found them too. He could see the peanuts through the perspex front but unfortunately for him he couldn’t work out how to get to them. I wont extend the course for a few days to give the Pheasant as chance to work it out. It is entertaining watching the Pheasant and the Squirrels. The Squirrel seem to be a little wary of the Pheasant and seems to be trying to stay away from them. I have an idea for the first post to make climbing that a bit more interesting. I will look around the yard for the bits a pieces needed and will try to do it by the middle of the week. If I cant manage the time I will try to get Vicky’s boy friend David to do it when he returns next week.

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Starting from number six there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number six there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.

Thornton and his mate (one of Dolly’s twins) Vicky.

Photo of Arnie. Vicky.

A Sulphur butterfly that emerged today (11/07/2008). Karen. Florida.

Fireworks. Karen, Stoke.

Vicky’s photograph of Thornton and his mate tells a better story than I could in Wednesdays Diary.

Vicky’s boyfriend David made the first part of the Squirrels obstacle course today. It is a very easy obstacle, being just a primitive bridge of thin wood that allows it to have a bit of give so that it bounces as the squirrel crosses it. The Squirrels will have to get use to the new post and Squirrel guard that will stop the Squirrel from climbing the post that the Squirrel feeder is on. You can never tell just how long the Squirrels will accept it. When they do, they will climb the original post that the feeder was on and they will hopefully see it on the new post and cross the bridge to get to it. The original post without a guard always needs to be the first in the course. Once the Squirrel have crossed the bridge we will put another obstacle for them to conquer. After two or three obstacle the Squirrel will start to realise that there is always food at the end and they will find it. Remember that this Squirrel obstacle course is at its very beginning. The Squirrels will start to use it.

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Starting from number one there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number one there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.

Here are a few photos for the photo page. The ones from Minnesota are all from 1958 or 1959. I was looking at the old slides my brother put onto a DVD and was amazed at how these places have changed. My aunt still lives in the cottage but they redid it and added more bedrooms and a second floor over one side, but that is where some of the pictures of the lake and sunset I had put on the gallery earlier were from. The view from the drive at the farm was unchanged until this very last summer, when the farmer who owned the field across the road sold it to a developer who broke it into smaller 1 acre lots and put little ranch style beige houses on each one, except for the one closest to the county road. That parcel he got zoned commercial and sold to man who has a used vehicle lot on it now. The beautiful view now has used junk boats, cars, trucks of every size and shape, heavy equipment, farm implements, and metal sheds (weird but true) in it. And I guess that is progress.

The anemone is from my garden, and I just put it in. It is supposed to bloom in the fall, and it is just really pretty. Penny, Chicago x3

Cottage in Miltona.

Insperation Point, Minnesota.

Central, Minnesota.

View from Drive, Farm, Minnesota. 1952.

Anenome, September Charm.

Not a lot to write about so I will tell you a few other things that Thornton gets up to.

When Thornton want to come in he knocks on the Kitchen door three times with one of his front feet. If he is not let in he will sometimes open the door as does Tass by pulling the door handle down with his front foot. If that fails he does not nag, he will lay down outside and tries again later. Thornton will often knock on the Holiday Cottage doors to be let in.

Most late afternoons Tass, Kye and Thornton are taken for a walk, some of you may have seen them in the Valley. The most obedient is Thornton. He will walk to heel unless he fancies a nibble of grass, when he gets left behind a bit. One call and he returns to heel. On returning to the Farm House Tass and Kye get a doggy treat, Thornton get a Horse Herbal treat. He waits by Kitchen units where they are kept looking in the direction of the treats until he is given one. Just recently as soon as we start the Quad Bike @Thornton come to see if we are going down the Valley and now follows, waiting patiently until it is time for us to return. If we start the Quad Bike and go without him he will soon be following.

Unfortunately Thornton is not House Clean and will leave his droppings and wet on the floor, so we do not allow him in any rooms where there are carpets. Sheep dropping and wet do not have any unpleasant odours and are easy to clean up. He will how ever let you know when he wants to go out by standing by the door and looking at you.

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Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.

The photographs are being put on the Photo Page by someone else, so they may not be on the website when the Diary comes up.

There are only a couple of photographs for tomorrow night Photo page.

Padfoot and one of the females at Denbury. Vicky.

Thornton taken today at Denbury. Vicky.

Fireworks, from my front window overlooking Jordan’s house. Karen Stoke.

Fireworks. Karen Stoke.

Fireworks. Karen Stoke.

I am trying to put some equipment together to try to get the Valley webcam working again. we are having to try a new system where we have a camera as the Badgers and most of the other cameras. With these type of camera we are unable to fix infra-red lamps to the sides so that as the camera moves the lamps show in the same direction. As the Valley is so big an area to light up we need a system where we are able to direct the lamps in the same direction as the camera, so it will need to be on a separate pan and tilting head. Tonight I am going to try to get the system working before it is installed down the Valley.

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Starting from number one there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number one there are five new photographs on the Photo Page. WE HOPED THEY WOULD HAVE GONE ON THE PHOTO PAGE LAST NIGHT.

The photographs are being put on the Photo Page by someone else, so they may not be on the website when the Diary comes up.

There are only a couple of photographs for tomorrow night Photo page.

Some more fungi I found in the forest

Honey fungus growing on the base of a birch tree

Glistening inkcap (turns black if left when picked, and the ink that comes out of it used to be used for signing wills and important documents so it could never be forged)

Amanita muscaria is the latin name for the Fly Agaric
Boletus or Penny Bun – very tasty fried

Blushing bracket – similar to my last pic just smaller

Hope Jordan enjoys these pics too! Jill (Epping

We had hoped to have made a start on the Squirrel obstacle course today. Unfortunately time ran out before we got round to it. Vicky’s boyfriend who is a joiner is coming to the Farm for a few days tomorrow. I don’t know if he knows but he has been delegated for the job by Vicky and her Mum.

Thornton really is something else. We can see our drive from the Farm House Kitchen. This morning we were watching the Sheep go from one field to the Horses Field, they were in no hurry and spent a few minutes standing in the drive, On seeing them Thornton went to socialise. Although he doesn’t usually mix with the Sheep he wasn’t pushed away and nearly followed the Sheep into the Field, who were going through an opening one by one. One of Dolly’s Lambs was waiting for Thornton to go through and when he decided he wasn’t the Lamb stayed with him. We thought that once all of the Sheep had gone the Lamb would quickly follow them not wanting to be left behind. Instead he stayed with Thornton who started to make his way back to the Farm House. After a few steps Thornton looked behind as if he was inviting the Lamb to follow, and he did following Thornton to the Farm House door. He wasn’t a bit frightened and even allowed a pat and ate a little of Thornton’s feed. My Lad and myself had to go back down the Valley. Thornton decided he and his friend would be coming with us. When we noticed that the pair were following us we managed to get them to return to the Farm Yard.

Last Saturday new Holiday Guests came to Denbury with a Dog that they took down the Valley for a walk. On their way back to their Cottage they pasted the Stables where we were working and told us Thornton had joined them for their walk. They could not believe the way that he had followed them, walking by their side and if he stopped he would go back to them when they called him.

Thornton is a character and is quite unbelievable what he gets up to. We would understand if you doubted his stories. I promise every word is true.

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Starting from number one there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number one there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.

The photographs are being put on the Photo Page by someone else, so they may not be on the website when the Diary comes up.

There are only a couple of photographs for tomorrow night Photo page.

Some more fungi I found in the forest

Honey fungus growing on the base of a birch tree

Glistening inkcap (turns black if left when picked, and the ink that comes out of it used to be used for signing wills and important documents so it could never be forged)

Amanita muscaria is the latin name for the Fly Agaric
Boletus or Penny Bun – very tasty fried

Blushing bracket – similar to my last pic just smaller

Hope Jordan enjoys these pics too! Jill (Epping)

We have been working cutting logs from fallen trees at the end of the Valley this morning. Thornton decided that he was coming. Although he knows his way back to the Farm House from the Valley we would prefer not to have his company as he may wander off. As we set off on the quad bike he started to follow. He wasn’t very pleased to be chased back and you could tell by his actions and posture that he was determined that he was going to come with us. After three attempts of trying to make him stay in the Farm Yard we gave in because of the time it was taking.

As we set off Thornton walked by the side of the quad bike looking very pleased with himself. As we got into the Valley it was decided that we would speed the quad up and that with a bit of luck we would leave him behind and that he would make his way back home. No chance, the faster I went the faster he ran. I didn’t look at what speed we were doing until I was slowing down. Thornton was then doing 27 kilometers (17 MPH) an hour so he must have been doing well over 30 kilometers (18.3/4 MPH) at full speed and he would have done a good 100 metres at that speed. He was determined to keep up with the quad. He started to slow up and we slowed down in case he may have had a heart attack. When he had stopped he was steaming. How he managed the speed he was doing with such little legs I will never know.

Thornton stayed with us all of the time we were working, following and staying close until it was time to return, trotting by the side of the quad on the way home. We did speed up to 24 kilometers (15 1/2 MPH) on the way back and he was at a fast trot at that speed.

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Starting from number one there are five new photographs on…

Starting from number one there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.

The photographs are being put on the Photo Page by someone else, so they may not be on the website when the Diary comes up.

We are also getting very low on Photographs.

This owl ws found when all the leaves had dropped off the trees. He looks quite cute. Elsie

Red Admiral at Dunster. Margaret.

Troop of Fairy Bonnets Toadstalls. Jill xx.

False Death Cap – similar to Fly Agaric but white, and very poisonous! Jill xx.

Me just before I set off (possibly the funniest picture) Margaret.

Karen saw one of the Female Reindeer standing on its rear legs pushing on my back. She was trying to reach the feed scoop that I put above me head as they try to eat it before I have time to put it in their trough. One of the Pennywell Farm Reindeer is now eating with our Reindeer without to many arguments. The other one just wont eat with the group so I keep her away whilst the others are feeding. I keep food in the scoops until the other females are finished so that she gets her feed.

The Reindeer jumping on my back reminded me when we had a couple of Quanaco. They are a type of Llama and as the Llama are of the Camelid Family. Unlike the Llama they tend to be all of the same light brown colour. I cant remember how we got them and I only got to know what they were when we went to sell them. I was selling them as they were two Males and to say that they were a nuisance would be an under statement. The first person to look at them told me what they were, as he was looking for Llamas he did not buy them. The next potential purchaser was a very posh Lady who spoke as if she had a plumb in her mouth, very proper and she let us know. The Quanaco were with our Llama in the Badger Field before we knew we had then, that is of course if they were there. The Lady was more interested in the Llama when she saw them but they were not for sale. Even after being told she continued petting the Llama with her back towards the Quanaco who both without any warning knocked her to the ground and started to stamp on her. Even after getting them away from the Lady within seconds of her finishing on the ground she was still showing signs of scrapes and bruises. She wasn’t a very happy Lady I can tell you, and the plumb in her mouth disappeared being replace with a barrage of foul language aimed at both the Quanaco and myself. I should think that she gave up on the idea of keeping members of the Camelid Family.

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Sorry no photographs as we are still having problems uploading…

Sorry no photographs as we are still having problems uploading them again. We have tried using a different program but that is so slow that it times out before the photographs upload.

I noticed Vicky and her Mum who are here on Holiday for the next three weeks looking out of their cottage window earlier today, they told me that they were looking at the Buzzard soaring above. On looking I could see that it was above the Badger Field, I had noticed them for the past week hunting above the Field. It can only be that they have seen the Squirrels using the Squirrel feeder that they have been using for about the same time that we have seen the Buzzards above. We do have more Squirrels than we would really want but we don’t really want the Buzzards having the Squirrel that we are preparing the obstacle course for dinner. We will need to think of a way of protecting the Squirrels. The best refuge is for the feeder to be under a tree as are the Bird feeders around the Lake positioned, but the Squirrels would only need to jump from the trees to the feeder to get the peanuts avoiding the obstacle course. We cant put a cover above the feeder as we wont be able to see the Squirrels feeding. I will have to give it some thought.

I saw part of a program on the television a day or so ago about Squirrel being caught to be eaten. They were put in a sack and dispatched, I know that one of the dictionary meaning for dispatch is to kill but they only use the word to try to make the audience feel better, as they believe it is not such a severe word as kill. The thought of eating Squirrels makes me feel ill. They are rats with a bushy tail. I can look at Squirrels where I cant rats but there is not a lot of difference. There is an advert on the television for a supermarket with a chicken dish. We are told by the presenter that the Chickens are reared to RSPCA standards. I bet the Chickens don’t think that.