Dorset lifestyle
These were in the bottom of a bag of twigs, a crispy sweet treat for the donkeys, the last of the twigs will be eaten this week and luckily there’s a load of apple tree pruning available a few miles away. The donkeys will watch them being unloaded and know exactly what they are and who they’re for! The fish are starting to wake up in the pond, the water is clear but I can’t see any toad spawn. A cloudy day with late sunshine and a lovely orange sunset.
A drizzly day with light winds, tidied the greenhouse and tied the tomatoes to their canes, the cucumbers are newly planted and looking ok. Reset the electric fence, the donkeys grazed the paddock in the afternoon. Fixed a few more of the runner bean sticks, the frame needs to be strong so some of the canes extend into the hedge. Topped up the pond with rainwater, the fish are hungry and the tadpoles are growing. A calm end to the day with a pale pink sunset.
I’m very happy to say I was wrong about the toad spawn, there are lots of tadpoles in the pond, all being ignored by the fish who are bigger than last year and prefer the pelleted food. The strings of spawn must have been laid lower down in the water, out of sight in the elodea. The water is clean and clear with some weed growing on the waterfall. Friends came over to talk with the sheep and donkeys and stayed for lunch, which was lovely. A sunny day with a cold persistent wind and a pale orange sunset.
Between the straw area and the new driveway, surrounded by an electric fence to stop William and Toby eating the hedgerow this small area has longer grass than in the square paddock and because it will become part of the driveway it doesn’t matter if it’s poached. Not big enough for a run around but it’s ok for a rollover. As the days are milder the fish have emerged from the bottom of the pond asking for food, mustn’t add too much to the water or the nitrogen content will increase, they should eat everything within the first minute. A cloudy mild day with increasing winds.
Blown off the big willow in the bottom paddock these twiggy branches are a treat for the donkeys, Toby especially likes to eat the smaller pieces with buds and come back for the larger pieces later. Any particularly desirable branches will be eaten by both donkeys in a tug of war moment. Moved the sheep arks higher up the paddock to a fresh area of grass near the hay feeder. Several Robins are sitting on top of the trees singing and the rooks are flying around calling to each other. A warmer sunny cloudy day with a couple of showers, fed the fish.
Poppy likes fishing so the net has to be a permanent feature unless there’s time to watch what she’s up to, the fish are always hungry and thrash around when they see you or feel the vibration of your footsteps. The black fish gradually turn orange with age and the older orange fish become paler and their tails seem to lengthen. The water lillies have done well this year and the oxygenating weed is flourishing so there’s lots of shade and places for the fish to hide. The blanket weed is disappearing as the temperature starts to drop but the filter and pump should be cleaned before the water gets too cold. A cloudy sunny day with no rain, picked runner beans, carrots and cucumbers.
William and Toby are getting the hang of these now, especially as there’s more carrot and less ice. Toby especially likes to crunch the ice to get to the carrot, William is happy to wait for the ice to melt. The fish in the pond want feeding every time I walk past and there was a very young newt sitting on top of a lily leaf. Picked beans and almost have a ripe tomato, cucumbers doing really well. Tried to sort out the compost heap so that I can plant something on the top, need more raised beds….. A hot day with the promise of rain later, watered everything.
Yellow and pink flowering at the same time. These hardy Water Lilies float on the surface of the pond unlike the sub tropical varieties that sit on long stalks above the water. The leaves dislike being splashed, so prefer growing at the other end of the pond to the fountain. The fish are very hungry and want feeding several times a day, the water boatmen that eat the plant debri and algae sit on top and push the food sticks to the nearest leaf edge. It started raining early this morning and should rain all night so no watering. Donkeys are standing outside and quite happy to get wet, the hardstanding is nice and clean having been swept a couple of times, water butts filling up.
