Month: August 2008

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There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting from number six. All we have left are some really good photographs that Lynne has sent in, and that is all we have.

Picky One is a chipmunk taken at Edwards Gardens in Toronto.

Raccoons is Mum and her bagies, in Edwards Gardens in Toronto.

Rosalee the cat. Rosie’s Mum in Toronto.

I have two lots of lilies left this beautiful white one, is one of them. Karen Stoke.

The Border under my front window. Karen Stoke.

It is getting near the time when Sox needs to be weaned off of Emmi. We cant make the mistake as we did last year by leaving Willow with Lady. That was an experience that we don’t want again. The trouble is that Lady’s Foal, that we have decided to name Solo, is not yet ready to be weaned. We need to keep him with Lady for at least another six weeks. But they will have to be weaned together to keep each other company. Weaning two Foals together makes it a lot less stressful for them.

Both Sox and Solo are already very independent, probably Solo more so than Sox. Solo is very often at the far end of the field when the other Horses are waiting at the gate to be let in for the feeds. Going back out after their feed is a bit different, for Sox is always laying down in the stable not wanting to get up until the very last moment, just when Emmi is out of the stable. Just like a lot of human teenagers. Both a very kind Colts and easy to do. Unlike Willow and Gypsy there seems to be very little bickering between them. It looks as if neither will be dominant when they are put together on their own. Gypsy is a bit of a bully with Willow and was from day one, she would have Willow on the run around going from one feed bowl to the other when we fed them. Poor Willow just had to put up with it. We would put their feed bowls at each end of the stable area in the Barn, far away from each other you would think to stop Gypsy from going from one bowl to the other, but she did.

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There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting from number one.

SWAN AT WELSH WILDLIFE CENTRE LYNNE.

MALLARD, LYNNE.

DUCKS RUSHING FOR SOME BREAD, LYNNE.

ROSE AFTER A RAINSHOWER, LYNNE.

I WANT …..THAT NUT THERE !!! LYNNE.

We took a bit of a fly-er on making our hay last month. There was only a four to five day gap in between forecasted rain. It turned out to be the correct decision for since then we have not had any four to five day rainless periods. I would now be worrying that we would not have made any hay at all this year. After being made hay takes around six weeks to show how good it is, and our is looking very good, with a nice smell. We only made just over a hundred large round bales, a good third less than we made last year in large bales. We also made over a hundred small bales last year, so this years crop has been small. With the rain and warmth that we have had over the past month the grass is still growing very well and if we have an Indian summer we may well take another cut. I could have made more hay in the first field that we cut but I promised our Contractor that he could have it for haylage. Haylage is made by baling and wrapping the hay just before it is completely dry. If made well haylage has a very sweet smell and is a favorite for livestock, including Horses, If we get the Indian summer I may just try to make a little haylage in one of our other fields. The trouble is that if it is made badly it goes mouldy and feisty and can be bad for Horses.

This year is the worse Summer that we have had for making hay since we moved to Denbury fifteen years ago. Unfortunately the weather has been like it for most of the Country. I cant imagine what it must be like for the people that have taken their Children to seaside resorts, the Children must be so disappointed. We don’t get any moaning about the weather from our Holiday Guests. Of course the weather is important but there are other things that can be done on a Farm. Mind you I make up for every one else when the Forecasters get it wrong. We never did get a call from the Met Office, as they said they would, I suppose there wasn’t a lot that they could say. Our Contractor didn’t make haylage in the field that we let him use. He used it for grazing his Cattle, but it hasn’t lasted very long as with this rain the cattle have poached the land and I have had to ask him to move his Cattle to a different part of the field that is higher. I only realised at the weekend that another field that we have allowed him to used is quite badly poached. I don’t like poached fields as they are uncomfortable to walk as well as being very muddy. This year is the first since I had Cattle, that we have had Cattle at Denbury nearly ten years ago. We wont be having them here again.

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There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting from number eleven.

My mum,s catfish she has had it from a baby and has had to change the tank once because of its size.Eventually it will get bigger and the tank will need changing again.In most cases people will take them back to a pet shop as they are getting bigger or sell them on but my mum likes it that much she would never part with her catfish. Tina,Stoke.

Here is a photo I took on my ‘phone the other morning. It was just after sunrise and the sky was glowing while the edges of the cloud were golden. I was driving down the A38 towards Bristol to collect a passenger for the airport but had to stop to try to get a picture. The photo doesn’t do justice to the real beauty of that morning. Julia.

Thought you might like to see what I had in my garden tonight. We did try to catch it as it was being mobbed by a couple of Magpies. Elaine.

Buzzard. Karen, Stoke.

This is a red squirrel taken in Edwards Gardens in Toronto. You can see the difference between this squirrel and a grey squirrel/ Rosie’s Mum in Toronto

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There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting from number six.

GJ and B wedding cake. PM.

I thought the ladies would like to see Robin in his bridesmaid dress!! PM.

I had to put this email on. Not to get you to holiday here.(hope you don’t mind Jenny) We thought it was very funny. The photograph of the Reindeer is of two that are coming to Denbury taken when Jenny and her family visited Cricket St Thomas.

Thankyou again for the brilliant week we had at the farm. We are determined to return next year even if we have to sell one of Jasmines kidneys!
I know the weather is plotting another wet week and sincerely wish you a drier week sometime very soon.
Noah has decided that he is going to move to the farm so watch out for any suspicious large unplanned parcels (the clue will be the address written in crayon).
As promised I have attached the pictures of the Reindeer herd I am sorry they aren’t brilliant but I only had the digital camera with me. Jenny, Gareth, Jasmine and Noah.

I took this photo on the way up the lane to the stables, of some ducks, my sister threw out most of a loaf so i could get a good photo, only managed this the others turned out blurred. Karen Stoke.

We just had a real nasty storm in Florida today and after the storm, a double rainbow. You can just make out the 2nd rainbow, but the other rainbow was real bright. Karen, Florida (USA).

Unfortunately the Green Woodpecker cant be enticed onto our bird feeders, their diet consists of Insects that they eat from the crevices in the trees and Ants that they eat from the ground, so what is on offer on the feeders is not what they would want. We hear their chattering laugh every year close to the Farm House. This year we have heard them a little more than other years and a couple of days ago the chattering laugh seemed to be all around us. Sitting in our lounge yesterday evening we realised why, for sitting on the garden wall were a couple of fledglings with one of the parent birds in a branch overhanging the wall, with an insect in it beak. Today as many as five have been flying around. They must have nested close to the Farm House. Next year we will watch to see if we can find where they are nesting. We wouldn’t be able to put a camera in the nest, but we could put a camera so that we are able to watch them entering and leaving the nest.

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There are five photographs on the Photo page starting from…

There are five photographs on the Photo page starting from number one. We need some photographs.

Thornton part of his hop, skip and jump taken by Peter from the Lock whilst on a walk down the Valley.

Deer at Wollaton Park in Nottinghamshire. Vicky.

Piglet taken at Sherwood Forest farm park. Vicky.

Peacock Butterfly taken in my garden. Vicky.

The Hermit Butterfly taken at Wollaton Park. Vicky.

Vicky now has her own website
http://www.victoriasphotogallery.co.uk’ next week you will be able to link to Vicky’s website from the Photo Gallery page.

We have had a Sparrow Hawk hunting on the Farm for a couple of weeks, probably a bit longer but we haven’t seen the feathers from what he has caught. Just lately it seems to be getting quite successful in getting Blue Tits and Green Finches as for the past two days we have found feathers in a number of various places. This morning when we went down the Valley we found the feathers of a Greater Spotted Woodpecker that the Sparrow Hawk must have caught.

A couple of years ago we had a Sparrow Hawk that for over three weeks was taking a Dove nearly every day. We regularly use to see it taking the Doves in flight. Some years back we had a very friendly Robin. It seemed that no matter where we were the Robin was always very close by. One day I was talking to some people in the Farm Yard, our Robin was within a couple feet from us hopping around on the ground, without any warning or noise the Sparrow Hawk swooped down and flew off with the Robin.

When one of our cottages was tenanted to two nurses, a Sparrow Hawk entered the loft through an Owl hole and nested. I did warn the nurses that it wasn’t a good idea and that it would be better if they blocked the hole that the Sparrow Hawk had entered. They didn’t take any notice and allowed the Bird to nest, they even unbeknown to me sourced Rats and Mice and fed the Sparrow Hawk through the loft hatch. The eggs hatched and it was all OK for a few weeks until the fledglings left the nest and walked about the loft above the cottage bedrooms. By all accounts the noise of them walking about woke them all through the night every night until the fledglings left the loft.

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We have had a few problems with the Photo page…

We have had a few problems with the Photo page, Forum and Diary that needed the servers to be changed. In changing over to the new server some entries have been lost. Last night I thought that the loss may have been worse than it was. The Forum and Diary has become good references that I regularly go back to check the date of things that have happened in previous years. It could be that what seems to have been lost maybe in different files and can be found over the next few days.

Tomorrow I will restart the Photo page and put on the photograph of Thornton, as requested by Elaine.

We are going to try to feed the Badgers earlier tomorrow. I should think that it will be about 8.35pm. Part of the reason is so that our Holiday Guests are able to see the Badgers from the hide. It looks as if the area that the Badgers feed from is well lite. It is not, to the human eye it is as black as the ace of spades, it is only the infra-red lamps that make it possible for the cameras to see the Badger.

Speaking about the Badgers, one Family of this weeks Holiday Guests had the Husband drive here without telling him where he was going. I met them when they arrived and I must admit that he did look a bit surprised. He soon bucked up when he knew that he would be able to see the Badgers live, for he has been a Badger enthusiast for most of his life.