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Some of you may have seen over the past few…

Some of you may have seen over the past few days some Sheep in the Valley. This afternoon for a short moment I thought that the Sheep had broke through the new fencing that we had put up in the Horse field to keep the Sheep in. With the earache I got from my neighbour’s about our straying Sheep it was the last thing that I needed. I didn’t hang about checking in case there was a way out in the fencing for the other Sheep to escape. On getting to the Sheep in the Valley it was obvious by the way they scarpered that it was the group that was with Ewy that we were unable catch. Although we had looked for the Ewy groups through the Summer it was the first sighting that we had, but unfortunately there was no sign of Ewy. Mind you Ewy is a Sheep with her own agenda so it is possible that she has had Lambs and is on her own in the Woods. Of course it may also be that she has died as she was getting on a bit. We can only wait and see.

When in the valley I checked on the cut grass that I had hope to make hay with. I don’t reckon that I am going to be very lucky with it as it is well wet and smelling. If we have a bit of a dry spell we may be able to make silage but it wont be very good. We did manage to make seventeen bales of haylage and with what with the remainder of last years hay that we have left as long as it is not a long Winter we may just scrape through.

In case you don’t know the difference between hay, silage and haylage I will try to explain. Most will know that hay is completely dried grass. Silage is newly cut grass that is baled shortly after and wrapped in plastic film or put into a large pit and covered very tightly in plastic to stop air getting to it. If silage is not wrapped or covered and air gets to it mould so sets in and it heats up making it not edible. Silage is fed mainly to Cows. Haylage is grass that is left to nearly dry then baled and wrapped in plastic. As long as air does not get to it it is a very good feed for Horses and has a sweet smell. Most Horses prefer it to hay.

The new Swan has now settled in well and is getting on with the Cob. A good sign is that he is allowing the Pen to eat with him. We have not seen the Swans that flew away since I last told you about them, but I reckon they will be back.

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One of the pairs of Swans who flew off of…

One of the pairs of Swans who flew off of the Lake were waiting by the feeding place when I went to feed the Swans this morning. I half expected it after seeing a pair flying above the Farm two nights ago but is was still a surprise. It does look very much as it is the breeding pair that last flew off a couple of weeks ago. How long and if they will stay we will have to wait and see.

Made a mistake in cutting the grass for hay. It bucketed down last evening and night and the laying grass is soaked through. Got to hope for wind, sun and no more rain.

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Last night when I walked around the lake to make…

Last night when I walked around the lake to make sure that all was well two Black Swans were flying above. I reckon that they must have taken off from the Lake just before I had arrived. With a bit of luck it maybe the breeding pair that flew off just over a week ago and are coming back to to nest in the Autumn.

The new Pen is settling in well and is now being accepted by the Cob although after the hard time the Cob gave her when she arrived she is a little wary to feed with him and we are having to throw her food out to her. It will get better over time.

We started to make our hay yesterday. This year is the latest that we have ever started to make it as the weather has been so dry the grass has not grown as it has in previous years. I kept putting off making it in the hope that we would get enough rain for the grass to grow a bit more, but it never happened so I am hoping that it now stays dry so that what grass we have got will make. Already there is a shortage of hay in this part of the country and is costing more than it has for many years. I should think that we will only make 60% of what we normally make. Fortunately we have some hay from last year so we may be in a position to be able to sell some.

I still have not found the time to change the Bees into their new hive. Mind you something maybe telling me in my head to put it off. I must try to do it this weekend.

I must admit I don’t like to see Horses tethered by the road side but if they were not there is a great danger of them straying and getting hit by cars or lorries. I like to see working horses as long as they are not over worked. You do find that most people who are on the road with horses drawn caravans do look after their horses. They have to or the horses would not be able to do their work. Not having ready water is wrong especially in hot weather. It is better to have some that could be knocked over than none at all.

About a month ago whilst I was away from the farm an RSPCA inspector trespassed on Denbury after a complaint that Branston was not being looked after. The inspector trespassed around the cottages and spoke to our holiday guests who assured the inspector that the report was wrong. I phoned the inspector and asked what knowledge she had of horses. Guess what she admitted none. She said that Branston was old. He is 5 years old. I am sure it was that Branston is a grey horse that she thought he was old. Our horses are very well looked after. With the holiday guests that we have at Denbury we would soon get complaints if they were not. The RSPCA do some very good work but they seem to be always looking for easy headlines to help bring in donations.

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When I first decided that I was going to make…

When I first decided that I was going to make Cider our apple trees were in blossom. As I had not seen any Bees to pollinate the trees I decided to purchase two Bee Hives, one with Bees. The Bees only arrived four weeks ago and as it happened the Trees were well pollinated without the Bees I had purchased.

I had purchased the Hive and Bees from a large honey supplier in Shropshire who I believed to be reliable source so I didn’t bother to go and see what I was buying. What a mistake that was for when they were delivered I could not believe what I had been sent. The Bees didn’t need to go in and out in the hive through the normal entrance. The hives were so rotten they could have gone through the rot.

As you can imagine I squealed like a pig in protest and the seller agreed to take back all that I had purchased. The cost of returning the hives and bees would be over

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That was a bit of an eyeful last evening about…

That was a bit of an eyeful last evening about 8.pm, there were eight Red Deer Stags all very relaxed and chilling out. I had to go out so I didn’t see what time they left or in what direction they went. Later there was a Roe Deer and Karen saw another Stag early this morning. I haven’t seen so many in a few year as what have been coming to the Valley over the past weeks. A few year ago when there were a lot of Red Stags in the Valley we had a rut here in the Autumn. Who knows we may be lucky this year.

Simon one of this week Holiday Guests has put a hide up in the Valley so that he can try to get some photographs of the Deer. He managed one evening but last night he was up by the Badger Sett. He missed the lot.

This last month or so has been a disaster with the Black Swans. We have lost five that have flown off, I am not best pleased with the people that they came from as I was assured that they were all pinioned or had their wings clipped to stop them flying off. Fortunately they did not cost me anything and they will survive elsewhere. The last three that came consisted of a pair that had bred before so there was a good chance that we would have had Cygnets this Autumn. Not going to happen now as the Female that we introduced yesterday is only eighteen months old so we will have to wait until next year.

The new Pen that we introduced yesterday is being given a bit of a hard time by our Cob. He is chasing her away quite often. Don’t know enough about Swans to know if it is normal. It did not happen last week when the other three arrived. Mind you they must have been hatching up their escape to worry to much about fighting. This morning when I fed the Swans the Cob chased the Pen away when she attempted to join him to eat. I know a Lady who will know and speak to her about introducing Swans to each other.

Simon has taken some photographs of the Swans yesterday and Vicky has some from last week of the three escapees. I will get them put on the new Gallery page. It is possible that the first two who have been here for over a year will return later in the year. Last weeks three I don’t except to see again.

The new Gallery page is a free download for any one who wants to try it. jalbum.net It should take up to 50 photographs and is very easy to use.