Smallholding
Winter Solstice 2024
Monday 23 December, 2024
Monday 16th December
Windy overnight and a bit breezy during the day, but a nice day with some sunshine and showing 11C on the car. I took Linda to Ninewells for an appointment – all good news.
Dan made great progress plating the hedge in Home.
I thought Mickey looked a wee bit footsore last night so kept them in today – hay and water – and he’ll just get chaff for his feeds (no beet pulp). Hopefully, he’ll be fine. I switched to feeding them twice daily for the winter but didn’t think about the possible impact of a double amount of beet pulp.
Cows / Workshop / Rohirrim
Monday 16 December, 2024
Monday 9th December
I found Mickey’s passport in the barn last week – in a pool of pee. Don’t ask. I must have had it out for the vet and left it lying somewhere. If you have horses, you’ll know how pungent horse pee is. And clinging. It was banned from the house to dry out but it’s had it. So I set out to get a replacement. It’s issued by the Veteran Horse Society, but the Traditional Gypsy Cob Association has taken over their passport issuing. I sent it to them last week, after emailing a warning.
Sitooterie / Hedging / Heathers
Monday 9 December, 2024
Monday 2nd December
Rain overnight; damp and cold this morning. Jings, it was 13C yesterday. It’s maybe half of that today, with a significant wind-chill.
The sitooterie has arrived. We love it.
The sitooterie is here.
Wormed the ponies this morning; it’s a once a year job, and both were very good. None landed on me or the floor, so that’s a huge win.
Paths / Pew / Sitooterie trial
Monday 2 December, 2024
Monday 25th November
Blowing a hoolie, but dry and sunny until about 3.30pm, when light rain started. I thought it was just getting dark, but it wasn’t. The ground has that scoured look.
Dan suggested this. It's done in Lonicera nitida, as ours is.
Lonicera nitida cat hedge.
Dan set the frame for the base for the sitooterie this afternoon, despite the inclement weather. Murdo’s here tomorrow, so the plan is to get the ballast in and concrete poured. I think we MAY get the building this week!
Sitooterie / Bert / Soup
Monday 25 November, 2024
Monday 18th November
It’s very cold. Dry and sunny but must be -2C and it hasn’t changed much all day. The outside taps thawed out about 4pm, long enough to let me fill the sheep’s water and the ponies’ trough in the barn. I had to use the spare drinker for the chooks this morning and both are now in the feed store overnight. My plans for weeding, of course, didn’t come to fruition. And won’t tomorrow, according to the forecast, so the plan is to prune the blackcurrants, gooseberries and blackberry.
Frost / Weeding / Sitooterie
Sunday 17 November, 2024
Monday 11th November
Dan finished the preparation for the hedging plants and got the first bed planted up yesterday. I think it looks pretty good.
Final bed prepared forhedging.
He and Andy also split and stacked more wood. A session next weekend should see the backlog (pun intended) dealt with. The woodstore looks fair braw.
Beds / Bedding plants / Hedging
Monday 11 November, 2024
Sunday 3rd November
So we got home on yesterday after a lovely week in Gardenstown. The weather was kind – the only rain was on the Friday. It’s just a great wee place – made even better by the advent of a fish and chip van on a Thursday teatime. That was the only time our car turned a wheel between arriving and setting off for home.
Sadly, the pub was closed – it’s changing hands and there was some legal hold up – but Eli’s, the café, was open and just as good as we remembered. Next year, we’ll book a later week so we don’t have the dogs mixed up by the changing of the clocks and so we can go to the village bonfire – which, this year, was the day we left. Although, by the size of it, we thought we might be able to see it from Carnoustie. Apparently, it’s the time for the village annual clear-out of anything that will burn.
Post-Festival / Cake / Holiday
Saturday 26 October, 2024
Monday 21st October
Awake and up at 4.30am. So windy. Still, was able to crack on with the cattle movements and other paperwork for the Festival clear down.
Dottie did NOT like Storm Ashley. When I took their chicken up last night (they’d been put in their room early because we were going out to dinner) at bedtime, I couldn’t see her. She was tucked right at the back of the box with a blanket in, wild eyed. I tried to get her out but she spat at me but I persevered because I couldn’t believe it was the wind making her like that. But she came out and darted into the cat carry box. She didn’t come out this morning, finally appeared at lunchtime once the wind had dropped, went outside for 15 minutes, came in and has slept all afternoon except for a brief waking to eat some chicken, the back in the land of Nod. Poor baby.
Rain / Festival / Ashley
Monday 21 October, 2024
Wednesday 16th October
Heavy rain overnight and through the day, but mild. Dottie has been asleep in her box most of the day, and the boys are through the house. The dogs are outside, but they’re nuts.
No idea where Monday and Tuesday went. Tuesday, Lorna, Linda and I went clothes shopping in Dundee – maybe my brain has shut out the trauma It was fine – got some clothes for Lorna, which was the objective.
The parts for our car are now not going to be in until 22nd October – that’s over two months since the accident. Hope we have it back to go on holiday.
Autumn / Cleaning / Festival
Monday 14 October, 2024
Monday 7th October
There’s been a fair bit of rain overnight. I thought I heard thunder in the very early hours, and heavy rain. Still loads of midges though. And it’s very mild. We need a good hard frost to kill the wee b@ggers.
Mickey is resisting taking his Prascend, wee pest. Need to find another method than apple.
Managed to get out in the vegetable garden for an hour or so. Pulled up the runner bean, spinach and rocket, then weeded the bed. We can get most of it covered now. What long roots rocket has. I was driven indoors by the dreaded midges.
