Blog - Page 52 of 109 - Farm Holiday Cottages - Fishing and Wildlife Holidays

Starting from number six there are five new photographs on the Photo Page taken by seven year old Finn on his Holiday at Denbury.

A locomotive at Minehead station when we took the kids on the West Somerset Railway.

A view of the Bristol Channel from the train.

A toadstool at the top of the valley at Denbury.

Thornton.

Smuggler and Thornton.

If any of you were watching the Reindeer field this afternoon you may have seen three Birds. They were to far away to be easily recognised but they were a pair of Buzzards with this year youngster’s. It is mainly above this area they they are hunting for food. I should think that the Buzzards nested in this area.

On my walk through the Valley this afternoon I believe that I saw a Rabbit with Myxomatosis. I was a bit of a way from the Rabbit so I could be wrong. The Myxi virus causes tumors on the skin but is noticeable around the eye and nose. The Rabbits with the virus usually die within a couple of weeks, although some Rabbits are immune from it.

Starting from number one there are five new photographs on the Photo Page sent in by Judy.

Hi Mr Farmer, here are some views taken whilst I was on holiday in Norfolk. I hope you will be able to include them on the gallery.

The Old Lighthouse. Hunstanton. Norfolk. Taken from the arch of the chapel of St Edmund ruins.

The famous striped cliffs at Hunstanton. White chalk upper, Limestone, or Red Chalk middle layer and then a layer of grey/green Carstone. Many fossils have been found.

Castle Rising. 12th century Castle with keep built around 1140AD. The most famous piece in its history was when it came to the Mother of Edward III , Queen Isabella ,following her part in the murder of her husband , Edward II. It is said to be haunted by a she wolf with hair as white as snow and dripping fangs!!

The Church of St Lawrence, Castle Rising village.

Sunset at Heacham Beach. from Judy.

All of the Reindeer are now in the field we have prepared for them. Last evening we decided to take the four Females (Cows) to the field as we wanted to collect Padfoot the Male from Cricket St Thomas early this morning, before the Zoo opened to the public. We had decided before we loaded the Females that we would have a few problems and a bit of a run around to get them into the Horse trailer to take them from the Stables to the Field. In fact we could not believe how easy it was. We had prepared ourselves with gates to confine then in a small area just by the entrance of the trailer. We let two out of the stable and they walked straight into the trailer, we opened the other stable expecting the first two to come out of the trailer, they didn’t and the second two also walked straight in. On getting them to their Field, no sooner had we opened the trailer doors they ambled out took a few paces into the Field and put their heads down to munch at the grass.

We got up very early this morning so that we could get the Horses into feed them before we set out to Cricket St Thomas. The Zoo is only forty minute away from Denbury, so an easy journey for Padfoot the Male (Bull)back to Denbury. Again he was easy to get into the Horse Trailer. The Zoos two females were watching Padfoot leave. It made us wonder if they will miss Padfoot. Mind you we have the same problem when any of our Horses leave the Farm when sold.

We didn’t know what to expect when we let Padfoot out of the Trailer when we arrived back at Denbury. At first he was in no hurry to leave the trailer. He seem a little bewildered, that was until he saw the Females who had come out of one of the two shelters that are in the field. Head up and away he went for all of ten paces, until he realised that he was in a field of grass. Padfoot didn’t even bother to acknowledge his harem. Even when the Females were next to him they were ignored while he munched on the grass. Thankfully moving the Reindeer and introducing them to each other was a lot different than what we had imagined. It was a bit of an anticlimax. We have been looking in on them all day. They have settled in well and are together as a group, even when in the shelters they are all together. Padfoot come over to the the rails when we call out to him as Paddy bringing the Females with him. He is not in his Rutting mood yet, but going by what we have been told by both the Zoo and the suppliers of the Females he will soon change.

We are using the main Badger camera to look into the Reindeer untill we get the time to install a camera into the Reindeer Field.

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

The first three from. Angela (Kent ) that goes with the Horse story.

Branston – the grass is always greener! Finn.

Fungi on a tree in Denbury woods. Finn.

Below is an email from Libor concerning the CZ Owlcam.

Hi.The webcamera and the computer is under small reconstruction now, something regarding to “stream and new server”. I hope, that everythink will be OK as soon as possible.
I hope, that next year we will prepare less complicated arrangement – maybe on our own web sites. The cooperation would be with UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Dolni Morava – we can prepare several interesting webcams from some nests (white storks, kestrels, maybe short-yeared owls). The director is interested in web cameras and we will discuss the technical possibilities and financial conditions. Best regards, Libor

Hello Mr farmer it been a time since I sent any pic to you I have kept myself informed on the farm I was without a computor for a while but I am now back on line Its been so busy here in kent this so called summer I am not too far from Dungernes and rye I just thought you would like to see this horse it a truly amazing animal My grand children are sooooooo pleased you have santas Reindeers on holiday for him I have told them you are going to loan them to hhim at christmas Take care. Angela (Kent )

A terrific (and true) story.
http://www.snopescom/photos/animals/molly.asp

Ya gotta meet Molly

Meet Molly. She’s a grey speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners when Hurricane Katrina hit southern Louisiana She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled. While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg becamen infected, and her vet went to LSU for help, but LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case. You know how that goes.

But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn’t seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her. She protected her injured leg. She constantly shifted her weight and didn’t overload her good leg. She was a smart pony with a serious survival ethic.

Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee, and a temporary artificial limb was built. Molly
walked out of the clinic and her story really begins there.

‘This was the right horse and the right owner,’ Moore insists. Molly happened to be a one-in-a-million patient. She’s tough as nails, but sweet, and she was willing to cope with pain. She made it obvious she understood that she was in trouble. The other important factor, according to Moore , is having a truly committed and compliant owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care required over the lifetime of the horse.

Molly’s story turns into a parable for life in post-Katrina Louisiana. The little pony gained weight, and her mane finally felt a comb A human prosthesis designer built her a leg.

The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life, Allison Barca DVM, Molly’s regular vet, reports.

And she asks for it. She will put her little limb out, and come to you and let you know that she wants you to put it on. Sometimes she wants you to take it off too. And sometimes, Molly gets away from Barca. ‘It can be pretty bad when you can’t catch a three-legged horse,’ she laughs.

Most important of all, Molly has a job now. Kay,the rescue farm owner, started taking Molly to shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, and rehabilitation centers. Anywhere she thought that people needed hope. Wherever Molly went, she showed people her pluck. She inspired people, and she had a good timedoing it.

‘It’s obvious to me that Molly had a bigger role to play in life,? Moore said. ‘She survived the hurricane, she survived a horrible injury, and now she is giving hope to others.’

Barca concluded, ‘She’s not back to normal, but she’s going to be better. To me, she could be a symbol for New Orleans itself.’

This is Molly’s most recent prosthesis The bottom photo shows the ground surface that she stands on, which has a smiley face embossed in it. Wherever Molly goes, she leaves a smiley hoof print behind. Forward this and share it with all of the animal lovers that you know.

There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting from number six. Only a few photographs left.

Mountain on way to Whistler from Vancouver. Elaine.

Sunset over Vancouver.Elaine.

Smuggler – taken from the low angle of a 7 year old; Finn..

The Reindeer. Finn.

Now have a close look at the bark and experience the unbelievable figures of creatures engraved in the surface of the entire tree trunk!!Absolutely real!!! Elsie.

When the Reindeer came here on Friday there was not any feed for them, other than hay and straw, so I had to go to Cricket St Thomas on Saturday to get a bag until I can find a local suppliers. Whilst at the Zoo I went to look at Padfoot and Fleur, who were meant to be coming to Denbury when Padfoot had started to loose his velvet. Unfortunately one of the Female Reindeer at the Zoo had died a couple of months ago. If I had taken Fleur it would have meant that the Zoo would have only one adult female and two of this years calves. Although when I agreed that I would take Padfoot I would need a female to go with him, it would be unfair to leave the Zoo short. Now only Padfoot will be coming to Denbury. We hope that will be on Wednesday.

Our intention was to keep two of the female and sell to sell the others. Trouble is that we like them and have decided to keep the four, especially as we are now not getting Fluer. Two of the Female Reindeer are getting quite friendly. We were hoping to get lead ropes on them by tomorrow, but I don’t think that will happen. We will need to put the Females into the field that we have prepared for them tomorrow so that Padfoot is not left on his own when he arrives on Wednesday.

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

Have a close look at the bark of the tree and experience the unbelievable figures of creatures engraved in the surface of the entire tree trunk!! Elsie.

Some fish Don’t know what sort they are or where she took it. Elaine.

The next two photographs were sent by Julia taken by Finn Julia’s seven year old nephew whilst staying at Denbury last week.

Thornton; (I’d changed the batteries in the camera and forgotten to change the date/time! This was taken on 1st September)

The lovely Reindeer. Finn.

The Swallows nest had been raided during the night or early this morning. When I changed the camera over this morning most of the nest was gone and on checking out in the barn their were the feathers of the youngsters on the floor. It was more than likely a Magpie. It was late for a Swallows nest, by the time the chicks had of fledged in over a week or more time in would be getting on for October. It wouldn’t have left a lot of time for them to have strengthened for the their flight to the south to migrate to a warmer climate for the Winter.

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

Here are a couple of photos my friend Tracey sent from her visit to Vancouver.Hope you can use them.

The first one is a bear climbing a tree. Elaine.

The second are some fish Don’t know what sort they are or where she took it. Elaine.

View over the RESPB Reserve at Dungeness. Jill. Epping.

Some people have a great imagination to visualize this in their heads first.A Tree in Andra Pradesh -India

At a glance you may be confused the above tree with a massive trunk with a ‘Baobab’ tree (which is renowned to possess the largest tree trunks of the world) but, this is yet another unknown specie which is seen in the close proximity of a hermitage deep in the dense forest in ‘Andra Pradesh’ in India. Elsie.

The bullying by one of the Reindeer last night wasn’t very bad, but it was unfair after the long journey that they had yesterday to have one being chased about. After splitting them up into two groups they settled and when we let them out together this afternoon in the corral there was no bickering at all, but until we put them in to their field we will keep them separated. They will soon sort out the pecking order once that they are in their field. All new animals put together for the first time go through it. Although all of Reindeer came from the same place I should think that they were in different groups. A couple of them meeting each other for the first time yesterday.

Branston got really spooked when he first set eyes on the Reindeer. He didn’t hang around to get out of their sight and hid away for a good few hours. Even when we put his feed down he didn’t want to know until we took it to him out of sight of the Reindeer. This afternoon he started to get braver, first looking from a distance, then near the corral but with an exit if he needed to run. Eventually he put his head into the corral, even touching noses with one of the Reindeer. He will be alright now.

This afternoon after only being here for a few hours two the Reindeer are getting friendly with us. They are coming up to us and allowing us to touch them. For the next few days before they go into their field we will try to get then being walked with a lead rope. We never have considered keeping Reindeer and if it had not been that we were offered Padfoot from Cricket I must admit that we would not have have got any. Up to now we have found them to be extremely nice animals to have and our Holiday Guests all seem to agree.

There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting from number six all sent in by Jill. Only four photographs left.

A few more pics showing the start beauty of Dungeness….

My Accommodation with power station in background.

Burrowes Pit with Water Tower in background.

Part of the trail path.

Yellow Horned Poppy.

Cormorant Island. Jill, Epping.

When the Reindeer arrived this afternoon we put them straight on the webcam so that you were in on the action as we were. The person who delivered them put head collars on so that we can later start to lead them around. As soon as they were settled one started to put her marker down as the herd leader. They had come from a lot larger herd that would have had a herd leader, so our little herd was leaderless when they arrived. There may be a little more bickering but I think that they are now settled.

Once we know who is who we will remove the plastic number collars from around their necks and look to put them in the field that we have made ready for them. We need to try to get them in to their field by Tuesday so that we are able to collect Padfoot and Fleur who will need to go straight into their field.

There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting from number one. Only four photograpgs left.

Young Common Seal. Vicky.

Giant Owl Butterfly. Vicky.

Glass Wing Tropical Butterfly. Vick.

Here is a photo my friend Tracey sent from her visit to Vancouver. Killer whale swimming in the Atlantic I think she said. Elaine.

Fortunately I have had no more encounters with Rats. Reading it from a long while back I can see that if it had been any body but myself experiencing the encounter, I would have been falling over with laughter. Nothing to do with wildlife or farming one of the funniest stories that I have ever heard was told to us by one of our relations. They do not own a computer or know how to use one, so I am safe to tell you the story without them seeing it.

The lifestyle of our relation who lives in Birmingham, is one of the Women’s institute, cake and jam making and visits to the theatre and classical concerts. For sure the Husband would not have the interest as his wife and I should think that the theatre and music night outs were done under protest and to keep the peace, on the Wife’s side to make the Husband feel involved and not left out.

This story was on a visit to Birmingham Symphony Hall, for a concert by the City of Birmingham Orchestra. At the interval the Husband was in need of the toilet, telling most of the audience with his deep Brummie loud accent. After the twenty minute interval the Wife was starting to get concerned as Husband had not yet returned to his seat. The light dimmed and the Conductor returned to rostrum taking a bow and raising his baton when on the stage came the lost Husband trying to find his seat. He told later that he had been wandering about the theatre trying to find his way to his seat and had followed what he thought was a member of the audience who turned out to be the conductor.

There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting from number eleven. Only four photograpgs left.

Does anybody know what this is please?.There were lots of them found on the beaches near Mallaig on the West coast of Scotland.They are quite hard to touch.My daughter said it was a very low tide and wondered if they were Turtle Egg shells which had been swept across the seas in the currents.Occasionally large seeds have turned up on the beaches from the Carribean..Lindsay.

My daughter took this at the cottage they are staying at in Glen Nevis near Fort William in Scotland.Lindsay.

My daughter has taken this photo tonight in Glen Nevis near Fort William.Lindsay.

One of hubbys cards he received for this years birthday we had quite a giggle about it, it has not scanned as well as i hoped it may.
Marie in Taunton.

This is for Elsie now she is able to use her pc again i took this in Spain growing in my friends garden a Pomegranite in flower with a fruit just setting at the side of the bloom i think the flower is very attractive. Marie in Taunton.

The Kingfisher was on the branch this morning. Seeing him got me wondering why we haven’t seen him as much as last year. Pity I didn’t think a while back, as just behind the branch is a partly broken limb of a tree that has fallen into the Lake. As it has a lot more branches and is lower in the water than what we have put up, it is obviously catching from the tree instead of the branch. We are still getting the fencing ready for the Reindeer that are arriving on Friday, but as soon as I get an opportunity we will cut away the overhanging limb.

We also found another Swallows nest in one of the Barns this morning. By the look of it and is was a quick look as one of the Adults dived at me a couple of times, the youngsters are about a week old. I put it on the Cam Two but there seems to be a problem with the Electricity as it kept tripping out. I will get it working from a different supply in the morning. I cant remember how late the last Swallows nest was last year. It was quite late, but the weather was better. At the moment it must be difficult for the Adults to feed their young with the amount of rain we are getting.

There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting from number six. Only three or four photograpgs left.

Here are a few pics of interesting finds at Dungeness!

Two common cranes that paid us a very rare visit.

Rosy Underwing Moth – a rarity for Kent and a first for me and a credit on the mothsofdungeness website!

Great Green Bush Cricket – specimen found was 4 inches long and a very handsome chap!

The Black Hut on Rye Harbour – just to show you it does exist! Jill (Epping)

More Turkeys. Marie/NJ

Jill’s mention of Dungeness reminded me of a job I once had as a Driver for a Company delivering refrigerant gas to Ships in the London Docks. Boring would be an understatement. An adventure would be a twenty mile journey to Tilbury Docks. So when I was offered overtime on a Saturday morning to Dungeness, it was as if I was being offered an adventure. As it happened it turned out to be very different from my normal working day.

The delivery instructions for the gas was to the agent for a ship. On arriving at the office that overlooked the sea, the ship was pointed out to me as a speck on the horizon, with the instructions that I would have to deliver it out there, and that a boat would be available to take me there at the end of a long jetty that was only accessible by a Thomas the Tank look alike train. The gas bottle was as tall as me and weighed twice as much, that I would normally deliver at the side of the ship on the dock side in London. With no wheelbarrow I had to ask the train driver to drop the bottle at the end of the jetty for me. The only place for the gas bottle was on the footplate of the train and which the driver invited me to stand. Although it was the first and last time that I ever stood on an engine footplate, that was not my lasting memory of the journey, it was when the train went round a sharp bend that for a frightening moment I thought that I was going to finish up in the English Channel.

The train driver pointed out the boat that was to take me and the gas bottle to the ship. It looked well over laden with stores for the ship before the bottle and me got in, and I swear it wasn’t much bigger than the dingy on our lake. The journey to the ship took getting on for three quarters of an hour in not a raging sea but not over calm either. It didn’t help my courage with the sea splashing over the sides of the boat, leaving more seas water in the bottom than I liked the look of. If I had a baling implement I would have been using it. Unloading the stores and gas bottle was a nightmare that I would never want to experience again. The ships gangway was lowered fully down but it was still at head height one minute and nearly sinking our boat the next, somehow we had to pass the store to the ships crew who were chain passing them to each other on the gangway. I had signed up for the Merchant Navy and had done a couple of three months trips only a year or so before, never once being seasick, or was I on the outward journey to the ship to deliver the gas bottle, but was I ill on the way back to land.

I never had reason or a desire to return to Dungeness. Until Jill’s mentioned it I forgot it even existed. And those Heron are still not as far away as I would like.

Farm Holiday Cottages – Fishing and Wildlife Holidays

Starting from number six there are five new photographs on…

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There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…

There are five new photographs on the Photo page starting…