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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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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.

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Happy New Year to you all Tomorrow I will put…

Happy New Year to you all.

Tomorrow I will put some of the photographs that have been sent in.

Just got back from collecting two late eggs from the Emu. It is the first time that I have been to the Emu Field in the dark. I disturbed a few of them, but as soon as I spoke to them they calmed down. There were many other laying together in pairs. I presume that they were mating pairs as I have never seen them in pairs during the day. A couple of weeks ago I went to the field at dusk and there were a few pairs mating so I would imagine that they lay together through the night after mating. I also disturbed a few that were in the shelter. I did not think that they used the shelter. Mind you it is cold here at the moment. Mild winter the met office clowns told us. There has got to be a big problem in that organisation. Something for sure is not working.

We didn’t manage to get the Emu back to the Emu Field that I told you about in the last Diary until two days ago. By that time he has acquired the name of Edwin. How he managed to be named that I really don’t know, but it was nothing to do with me, I promise. Edwin had started to follow us. Last Friday, or maybe Saturday I went down the Valley on the Quad Bike with three lads who were here with the Family for the New Year. It was a return visit from their holiday with us during the Summer. Within a short time Edwin had joined us from the Horse Field where he had not strayed from since we put him there and it is not easy to get out. I was more than concerned as you know the Valley is surrounded by our Woods. If he had gone into the Woods there are many ways out and where he would finish up wouldn’t be worth thinking about. I should not have been worried as when we went up to Edwin he followed us through the gate back into the Horse Field. The next day with the help of our Holiday Guests we walked Edwin up our drive back to the Emu Field. He was a little hesitant, but he followed us as if he was on a walk. It went a lot better than I thought it would, but I wouldn’t have tried it on our own. Done and dusted a good job done I thought until I went to feed the Emu yesterday morning. There in the Horse Field that I pass on the way to the Emu Field was Edwin as bold as brass waiting for his feed that he was use to having on my way to feed the Mob of Emu. He had a slight nick on one of his legs but, other than that he was fine. It would have been a long way round to get to the Horse Field from the Emu Field. It seems that Edwin prefers our company rather than the Emu, so we will leave him there for the time being.

Some of you saw the Rooks, Magpies and Buzzard in the Valley yesterday. They were feeding on fresh Ox liver and hearts that we get for Tass and Kye from a small abattoir in our Village. We use to feed Tass and Kye on a couple of chickens, canned dog feed and dog biscuits costing about

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font color red Sorry just not had the time to…

Sorry, just not had the time to do the Photo Page or Diary. Not even had time to do any Christmas shopping or send any Christmas cards. Not even time to get to the shops. Will get back to it very soon.

I saw the Kingfisher this afternoon. First time at this time of the year. Also saw a Deer in the Valley last night.

We have had over 40 Emu eggs and have 30 in the Incubator. Check out the Hatchery Cam as there are Light Sussex eggs going into the hatcher in the next few days.

As you, we are very disappointed with the Northern Light webcam. I will start to look for a new location in Norway.

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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.

On Sunday two weeks ago Chris and I went to the Royal Albert Hall to see a fantastic charity concert for the Performing Rights Society Benevolent Fund. The stars included Kiki Dee, Mick Hucknall and many more, but the highlight for me was seeing The Faces again – albeit without frontman Rod Stewart! (36 years after I first saw them in Bristol)
We stayed overnight in a hotel just around the corner from the Albert Hall, on Queensgate, and Chris was delighted to find that Benny Hill had lived next door! The Albert Memorial looked amazing – very shiny and Gold! Lynne.

Diane, John and Vicky who are staying at the Farm for a coupe of weeks told me that they had seen the Deer last night on the monitor that we have in the Cottages. There were three as the were three night ago. Regular visitor to the webcams will remember that there were three Roe Deer that regularly visited the Valley two years ago, before I allowed a local Farmer to let his cattle graze one of our Field further up the Valley. I didn’t see a lot of them the other night but I will make it a point to see if I can recognise them if they come back.

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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 Horses at Denbury taken by Marie on her stay at the Farm with Margaret.

We have been very busy over the past few days getting the Paddock where the Rhea are ready for the arrival of the Bagot Goats. Part of the paddock was fenced for Ostriches that was ample secure for the Rhea, but the Goats would soon have found their way out and we really didn’t want to be chasing after Goats, so stock fencing now completely surrounds the Paddock.

I collected the Bagot Goats this afternoon from Cricket St Thomas. They loaded on to the Horse Trailer a lot easier than we thought they would. The only suitable place to load them was on a path next to the Cheetah enclosure at the Wildlife Park. The Cheetah got really excited running up and down the fence line. I reckon it could see dinner, with only a fence stopping a feast. The Goats were a bit put out but not as bad as I imagined they would be as they ran after a bucket of feed that one of the Keepers was running with.

The journey back to Denbury is under an hour so it was an easy journey for the Goats. When they got off of the trailer they were very calm. None rushing to get out in a herd, just a casual slow one by one stroll, with a minute or more in between each one getting off. The last one even had to be got up as it was quite happy to stay in the horse trailer. Then it slowly relieved itself before it finally joined the others. They soon found the Rhea feeding trough and ate what was left. I had forgotten to make a stand to put the trough on so that the Goats were unable to reach it. The Rhea feed was put in earlier so they didn’t miss today’s feed. I will need to make a stand tomorrow.

We are going to get the main horse Field stock fenced so that the Bagot Goats can use that Field with the Sheep and Horses. The straying Sheep can be a nuisance to other Farmers and a pain for us when we have to look for them, so we will have a secure Field for them all.

That was a surprise seeing the Roe Deer in the Valley Field tonight. One was seen this afternoon by the Horse Field entrance gate and ran to the Wood on the right hand side when they heard someone walking close to them.. If I had not followed the Fox walking towards the camera in the Valley I would not have followed it to where the deer were laying. It is the first time for a good few months that we have seen any Deer on the Farm. We know they are about by seeing their foot prints but they have been elusive to the camera.

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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 sent in by Lynne.

We saw one of the released Barn Owls on our way to the Lake a couple of days ago. It is very close to our large hay barn that the Barn Owl Trust put up two nesting boxes. I still have not managed to find the time looking to see if they have settled on the Farm.

Our new arrivals seem to have settled in well. More of the Emu are waiting at their main Field gate to meet me in morning for their feed. I will need to stop them or they will all be there one morning and I will find it difficult to get into give them their food.

The Rhea have also settled. They are using all of their Field rather than confining themselves to a small area. We are able top get quite close to them. Margaret came into their Field when I fed them a couple of days ago.

December time we should start getting eggs from the Emu. We will be incubating some and will show the hatching on the webcam. We will also let the Emu try to hatch their own. Now that Emu do not need a licence to keep we are hoping to be able to sell some of the Emu chicks when they have hatched.

We have seen both Red and Roe Deer in the Woods over the past few weeks, but we have not be able to see any on the webcams in the Valley. I cant imagine that they have not been in the Valley to graze as their is ample grass for them. In the far left hand corner where it narrows to the entrance to the next Field we have seen the Deer foot prints. I should think that the camera has not been in the right place at the right time.

We wont need to buy Thornton treats for a week or two with what Margaret has left for him. She has left biscuits and cereals, treats for the Horses and bread for the Chickens and Dennis. With Thornton spending more time with the Sheep he visits the Cottages early and Margaret and Marie missed him some days.

As from Sunday night I will be feeding the Badgers from about 5.20pm. I will then over the coming few weeks feed them 10 minutes earlier over a week so that I can see where I am going and our Holiday Guests get a chance to see the Badgers.

I have been speaking to Gudny a receptionist at the Hotel Ranga. It was she who had the camera angle changed. I will ask her if she will let me know when their is an Aurora. I am sure that she will as long as she is on duty.

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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 BADGER WILL BE FED AT 7.15PM FROM TOMORROW (MONDAY)

Allium BETTY CANADA

Lupins thrive in ouir garden BETTY CANADA

Small standard lilac bush BETTY CANADA

Sweet woodruff, June 09 BETTY CANADA

Lily of the valley. May 09 BETTY CANADA

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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.

Some fungi pictures for Jordan . Let me know what he identifies them as. All take next to the ranger station at Roche A Cri State Park , Adams-Friendship , Wisconsin , under some red pines. Penny, Chicago Chicago Chicago

I had hoped that the Northern Lights webcam would have been up and running by now. We are getting a very good picture from Iceland, but we are waiting for the Hotels web designer to send us a page of their website so that we can put the webcam screen into it and get the webcam on our servers. At the moment the webcam image is on the Hotels server, If more than a couple of viewer watch it the server will fail and stop the Hotels website from appearing. I spoke to Bjorn the Hotel Manager just before 7 pm this evening, he is going to try to hurry the page along.

There is still no positive news on the Black Swan Pen. It looks as if it is going to be a long time before she returns.

At last we have made our hay with no help at all from the Met Office. They must be crowing to themselves with getting the forecast right for the past week or so. Mind you it is not rocket science to see that there is clear skies from a satellite. That wouldn’t be a bad idea if we were able to see the live satellite images. They would be able to close the Met Office and sack all their employees.

The work is now finished in stopping the erosion that was threatening the Lake. The person who has been doing it has done a good and tidy job. Just after Christmas we will need to plant a lot of willow shoots in the the repaired bank. It wont take long for a good root structure to form and secure the bank for a long time.

Last night at about 8.pm I checked the Valley webcam and saw that Thornton was on his own without any signs of the other Sheep. He was heading down the Valley towards the Woods. Not a good place for Thornton to be going, as Thornton really hasn’t any Sheep sense. That is why he gets parted from the other Sheep. He has a habit of going into a deep sleep. Trouble was when he wakes he is on his own not knowing what way the Sheep have gone. We had no option but to go and get him. Thornton was having none of it, he had me running here there and everywhere. When I finally managed to get hold of him I was exhausted in pain after falling flat out and Thornton wasn’t helping. He wasn’t wanting to go the way I wanted him to go, so I needed to put him across my shoulders. I managed to get a couple of hundred yards but he was to heavy for me to go any further. With help including Jean one of last weeks Holiday Guests in holding him down I went and got our car and drove into the Valley Field to collect him. He soon settled down in the Farm House and has been about the Farm Yard all day. I should think that he will go back with the Sheep when they come back. Well at least until it starts raining.

Julia and Chris arrived for there Holiday this afternoon. They are still keen to feed the Badgers whilst they are here. I wont be complaining. I will show them what to do tonight and leave them to do the feeding for a whole week.

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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.

Northern California , near San Jose/San Francisco:

Female sea lions on the boardwalk in Santa Cruz . They are not in a cage but in a fenced off area (for their own safety) on the boardwalk. They get into the fenced area by climbing up a ladder like ones found in swimming pools for people to get out of the pool. Penny

Little lizard on the beach at Big Sur. Penny

Another shot of the female sea lions. Penny

Sunset into the Pacific Ocean at Big Sur. Penny

Male sea lions, under the boardwalk at Santa Cruz. Penny

Yesterday the Butcher who we get our dog meat from gave us two large bags of beef trimmings that was a little bit off colour. Last night I decided to try putting some of it on the pole in the Valley in the hope that an Owl may have come and eaten it. It didn’t work for the Owl but a Buzzard did land on the Pole this morning and ate one piece. One of this weeks Holiday Guests managed to get a photograph. He has promised to send some of his photographs that he has taken on the Farm this week for the Photo Page, including the Buzzard on the Pole. You may have noticed that I have replaced an infra-red lamp bulb in the Valley. We may see a bit more Wildlife than we have recently, Although as we still haven’t managed to cut the grass for our hay in the Valley it is long and will stop us from seeing as much as maybe we would with the grass cut. If I get time tomorrow evening I will put meat on the Pole in the evening and do a close up on the webcam after the Badger have had a feed.

Some of you have asked about Thornton. Until last night he has been living in the Farm House for a good few weeks, only wanting to be a Sheep of a daytime. Last night he was on the drive with the rest of the Sheep and started to walk towards the Farm House as if coming in for the night. For some reason he changed his mind and turned back and stayed with the Sheep for the night. He would normally be waiting outside the kitchen door in the morning for his feed. He didn’t bother this morning. It wasn’t until this evening that we saw him, and that was because as we hadn’t seen him all day we went looking. When we found him we could see he had decided to stay out again tonight. It could well be that some of the Ewes are in season. Not that he is able to mate with them.

I had hoped that the new webcam would have been going by now. Not that you will be missing anything to much. There is still over three weeks to go before what will be able to be seen can be seen in the right conditions.