Failures

A muddy walk

We recently had a weekend of failures. Very satisfying failures.  Air punchingly deserved.  And boy, did we learn a lot from our failures. 




We put our farmhouse to the test with 11 of us here.  Six adults, five children and an extra dog.  We wined, dined and had great fun.  The kids squelched in the mud. The boot room was utter muddy chaos - as it should have been!  These are friends we've known for ever seemingly.  Well before small people arrived on our horizons. 




It was lovely.  The kids all interacted well.  The big boys got stuck in and had fun.  We had a tree surgeon here on the Saturday morning who got our tractor stuck in the mud - even his trusty vehicle wouldn't pull it out so off went the Ologist round to our neighbour, cap in hand, and promptly an enormous blue shiny tractor arrived that made our tractor look like a Tonka toy!  It did the job and both tractors chewed up our lawn something rotten.....however we have already decided that now is the time to chew up lawns to get trees out  - there's nothing we can't repair and nothing newly planted so it really doesn't matter.  What's more important is to get these big trees felled and off the lawn into the burning paddock as quickly and efficiently as possible.  That was the first fail....not our fault thankfully but quickly resolved.

Log splitter

The boys failed to get the log splitter to split any logs.  The new log splitter that was going to be our best friend and save us loads of pennies by making our own logs from our home cut trees. Oh well, we still learnt a very valuable piece of information.  What they managed to do was get it all hitched to the tractor successfully and get it turning.  It just wouldn't bite the wood.  It transpires that a new sharp point is needed to do the job so it was worth their failure to find that out.  Internet + credit card....and the part is in the post.  Presto!




We have a series of ponds lining the driveway as you enter the farm - they were dry dust bowls when we viewed and subsequently purchased the property.  We assumed they would fill up given time and the right weather conditions.  It was, afterall, the longest and driest summer for ages.  We didn't quite know how it would all work until the rain came.  Pond number one is now full to the brim and has no outflow - so basically with a bit more rain will probably burst banks and flood the drive - the house is not in any danger of flooding unless there is an apocalyptic event. Pond number two, three and the subsequent ditches that lead off to the settlement pond and field drainage all seem to have overflows and run into each other....so next project may well be to get our hands on a mini digger and cut through the bank and sink an overflow pipe....all sounds very easy and simple.  Watch this space. 

Pond nearly full

The Ologist had a fiddle yesterday - I bought him some very long wellies that strap to his belt so he can wade quite deep and still keep dry - thigh waders.  He said he should have had a flag as he finally made it to 'Duck Island' - and with his machete cut his way to the summit!  It is our intention, in the fullness of time, to have ducks here.  We thought we may have to buy ducks but the tree surgeon, who is the new font of all knowledge, has reliably informed us that if the area is cleared a bit, and made to be more duck friendly and open to the sky the wild ducks will find us.  Again, watch this space.



The sheep man came and had a chat.  It seems odd somehow to refer to him as a shepherd.  He will bring 40-50 head of sheep to nibble down the fields that are ready.  Over the winter, through until lambing.  The ram will be with them - I might ask him to 'condition' the dog to the sheep.   I don't know if its an old wives tale, or indeed if it works on an old dog.  This is how it goes: the rambunctious ram head butts the dog repeatedly while shut in a small pen or stable.  The resulting effect being that the dog will never so much as look in a sheep's direction again.  Ever.  I repeat, watch this space. Might bale on this as the dog is my precious poppet.

My new ragfork

Got myself a new gadget this month.  A 'ragfork'.  Have I mentioned the ragwort before?  Well we have it.  In one of our fields where stock will graze.  It is the bane of a farmers life really as it needs hand pulling - unless you are prepared to blanket spray with chemicals - which I'm not.  It is poisonous to sheep and cattle, and horses.  It is at its worst when dried - it spread seeds to propagate and is most tasty to animals.  Although animals needs to ingest quite a lot, and I mean a lot, in order to affect the liver function, we are not prepared to take the risk therefore are taking action. 


So there's a new song the small girl and I sing when out in the field with my new tool and barrow....'an hour a day keeps the ragwort away...'.  Anything to keep it fun.


Tractor rescue