Epic Sunday

Today is date night and the plan was for no update however as A leaves me for 10 days tomorrow, and I'll be taking her to the airport in the evening so there'll be no update, I am doing one mid afternoon to get through all these pics. We had a good long chat about the future of the blog last night as once the building work finishes I'll probably want to slow down the rate of updates. We'll see what happens, but I promise I won't get away permanently.

Sassy getting cleaned out

Anyway, to this update. We both slept well; Louise did her earlier toilet break but afterwards we had a monster lay in until 8am which was lovely. This was only achievable because Louise was actually in bed with us but anyway. It was another misty start to the day however before I'd even drunk my first brew I had done loads. First of all I took Sassy's cage apart and carried that down to the humanure, then got the toilet buckets, and the food box from the kitchen, and all of this was emptied and done. Before coming in I took the hay fork and gathered in all the piles of grass across the front "lawn" and piled it all on top of the compost heap. Finally I washed Sassy's trays and left them to dry. Then I finished my brew.

Dew covered spiderweb

Misty morning pear tree

The next job was to set a burn going so we gathered everything together and took it onto the top bank to get rid. I went on a quick walk about to collect together blown plastic from the men who have been putting their waste into the bonfire circle but then we aren't planning on burning anything there for a month. On the way I saw a lovely spidersweb jeweled with dew and the new camera excelled itself. The mist was really thick still, even then at 9.30am, and the pear tree was looking spooky in the mist.

Just before the ball was thrown....

The puppies were up with us and Rambo had brought his ball. The two girls don't realise really that it isn't their's to chase so they get all excited when A is about to lob it. Bless them they chase him all the way to it, and then race him back. He puts up with this very well, with only a few growls if they try and steal it from him when he has it on the floor.

Puppies in mid flight

By this point I was starting to get a bit hungry so I went in and started making Posh Scrambled Eggs. The bacon was frying and I was just about to start on the butter fried mushrooms when A headed out to start emptying the pond. The puppies ran out after her and she managed to capture this fantastic shot as they chased her.

Pond draining away

She was a bit worried about all that water heading down the driveway so took the pickaxe with her and dug out a channel to guide the water into the waste land next to the drive. It worked very well and eventually the water had drained (though not that quickly - it was still pouring out when we went out after breakfast) and almost none of it ended on the drive.

Louise scoffing my Posh Scrambled Eggs

The Posh Scrambled Eggs were really good today and I wolfed all mine however I made slightly too much for A so Thelma and Louise got to have some as well. They loved it and munched everything apart from the olives. With breakfast out the way I finished the washing up and then we discussed our plans.

Putin got nothing on me

The job we ignored yesterday that was top of our list was getting more kindling bundles together. It was still a bit misty, though the sun was burning through, when we went out and I had boots, tracksuit bottoms and a T shirt on at first. The fog rapidly burned off, however, and after about ten minutes I had to lose the top. It was really warm! We spent quite a long time with me chopping and A bundling what I produced and then she went in to make us a brew while I kept chopping to get ahead as she's so quick at the bundling now.

Scrubbing out the pond

During one of the breaks A went in to the pond and started sweeping out, as it had finally emptied of water. She used a broom and then asked for a hose but it wouldn't fit on the tap so we had to rely on a watering can to get the water up to the other end. Anyway, it didn't take all that long to clean it and then I put together the new water filter, not without some struggles as there was almost no instructions and some bits didn't quite fit together, and then we set it to filling again.

Circling vultures, I think?

After this it was back to the chopping and we carried on with very little interruption. The one cool thing that happened while we were doing this was a sparrow hawk swooping down about 5 foot away from where I was chopping and grabbing a sparrow out of the thorny brushwood we have discarded for being too painful. I went to try and see if the bird of prey had landed in a tree on the edge of the land but I think it had gone by the time I worked my way round near it. This distraction did, however, mean I was looking up and saw a large flock of large birds swirling around in the distance down the valley. I didn't get a chance to get my zoom lens out as they flew off as I ran towards the door but still; this is what the stock lens managed.

What can I say....

The temperature was really starting to rise now, with the sun fully out and the clouds pretty sparse. I was feeling the warmth and so was A so she headed in and got changed, then grabbed out my shorts and flipflops for me to change into. She grabbed her camera as I was making the swift outdoors swap over and laughed so much that I had to put this picture in the update, even if just for her.

Budding still, maybe it'll survive

Some of the wood that we were chopping was from the walnut tree that we had chopped down. I came across a bit that was budding, even though it had been off the tree for a few weeks. Rather than split this up into kindling I decided that I would save it and plant it in the off chance that it grew. It may not but what have we lost if it fails.

Hopefully it'll grow

We eventually ran out of patience for processing wood so I finished the pile of wood so A could carry on bundling then went and got myself ready to plant out that bit of walnut. I dug a hole, filled it with a mix of manure, compost and sandy soil, and then planted it in so it was securely upright. Finally I surrounded the area with stones and then watered it well. We shall see if it thrives or dies.

A pile of kindling, Louise with the string again

A had finished the bundling while I did this and what a fantastic amount we have done today.This was all moved inside in a wheelbarrow and is now drying out in the gardening room. We have so much more to get through but a few more days like this should crack it I reckon. After clearing this we went to try and turn the new water filter on as the pond was finally full enough to cover it fully however nothing happened when I switch the power. Now either my plug socket wiring isn't good, I've not put the filter together right, or it just doesn't work. I'll have to get online to check out instructions in English I think.

Butterfly settled,and then flying off

I took a little stroll around the place with the camera with the aim of getting some pictures of the many butterflies that have been flying around all afternoon.Typically they all disappeared but then I managed to snap one resting on a dandelion and as it flew off as well. I can't believe that it is October and we're seeing such beautiful weather. I hope it lasts long enough to get all the external tasks done that we need before winter.

Time to relax in the sun

We were both pretty tired by this point and so it was time for a rest. A suggested going on to the roof terrace and I was a bit unsure in case it was too warm but as it happened it clouded over a little bit and was just perfect. I had my book, A had her game and we both had a beer and again it was time to revel in our location, the peace (apart from some music from the farm) and the gorgeous weather and views. Just heavenly.

That room is getting full

Once we had finished the beers A suggested we go and shift the remains of the walnut tree from the front up to near the wood chopping area. I finished my chapter and then down we went. You don't realise just how much wood there is in a tree until you have to move it piecemeal across your land. We shifted all the big bits then I got the chainsaw out and between us we chopped up a few of the logs, then I split them and finally they were stacked in the storage inside which is now getting rather full.

I then had the choice of whether I would do this update or make up the pallet storage units for the garage. Obviously I chose to do this so they will have to wait but I don't think they'll take long anyway. A put the chicken in the oven when I started this and now I get to the end of the update it is really starting to smell amazing. I'm going to sign this off and I'll be back with a day off tomorrow so please don't miss me too much.