Tag: rubble

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Sunset

A wet start to the day, the rain gave way to cloud and a mackerel sky followed by a glorious fireball sunset. Rubble to help widen the driveway arrived on a trailer, a dumpy bagful doesn’t go far, but it helps. The donkeys were curious, running away and then coming back to see what was going on. Harvested the onions and put them in the greenhouse to dry off, left the two leeks growing in the raised bed. The last of the runner beans taste ok but don’t have the flavour of the earlier pickings, and they smell different when being cooked, must have less sugar. No need to light the woodburner.

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Driveway

Delivery of three tipper truck loads of mixed rubble should take the driveway to the paddock gate, not sure it’ll reach the straw. The area already leveled stood up to the weight of the truck very well, only the last yard suffered and sank a little, so more reinforcement required. William was spooked by the first batch arriving and was calmer for the other two loads, Toby just watched from a safe distance. The surface to the paddock gate needs to be finished by the end of the month so that the tree surgeon can drive round to the oak tree. A warmer day with moderate winds and no rain despite dark clouds arriving late afternoon.

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Itchy

William is scratching a lot, especially his neck and rump, he should start shedding his hair very soon, grooming will help, the fence posts and gate fixings are popular spots for him to linger. Collected more rubble, the tipper truck delivery has been delayed so there’s more time to prepare the edges. The pair of green woodpeckers are making the most of the soft ground and have found several places to feed on the lawn, the oak tree has a patch of broken bark so maybe they’re spending time there as well. A sunny cloudy day with lighter winds, the paddocks are still very soggy.

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William and Toby

Enjoying the sunshine in the fallen oak paddock, the fog soon moved in and there was low cloud and the threat of thunderstorms for the rest of the day. Raked the raised bed ready for sowing carrots, not quite warm enough for the seeds as the nights are still cold. Sifted the worm casts to remove the worms as they won’t survive the summer in the tomato pots. Collected rubble and shingle for the driveway, have reached the bottom corner, just need to make it to the paddock gate. A day of light winds, the sun tried to break through the cloud at sunset.

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Elephant Garlic

Six big cloves are now in the bed next to the Marco Polo garlic which was planted five weeks ago, they sprouted quickly and are now six inches high, once harvested and dried they should keep for up to a year. These shallow beds were filled with compost for the strawberry plants but there were only enough plants to fill half the beds so there’s been lots of space available for the garlic. Collected the last load of rubble for a while, there are lots of bags to empty and the contents will need leveling. Heavy rain overnight followed by a sunny day with a chilly wind.

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Garlic

Planted a couple of weeks ago it’s been warm enough for all of the cloves to root and sprout, it’ll take six months for each clove to grow into a new bulb and then a spell of consistently cold weather is required to make the bulb split and form individual cloves. Hope that works ok. Collected several loads of free bricks for the new driveway, it kept the donkeys amused watching all the activity. There are lots of oak leaves blowing around everywhere, they collect on the concrete outside the stable and then Toby eats them, which is not ideal. Too wet underhoof for them to go out in the paddock today. A mild, cloudy windy day

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Willow

Toby and William love willow and the high winds of last weekend brought down a few small branches from the lane-side willow tree, they’ll be given a little at a time as a treat. Collected several more loads of rubble for the driveway, some of the larger pieces will form an edge and the smaller pieces can go in the middle, reversed the car onto the first few yards without getting stuck so that’s progress. Widening the front driveway with plastic frames filled with gravel to avoid driving on the grass will look a bit smarter. A warmer day with light winds and the odd shower.

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Sheep Shelter

A temporary shelter In the bottom paddock, not really a Mk III, just enough to keep the rain off until the new arcs are available, hopefully next week; they’re made to order by Solway so take a few weeks to arrive. Collected more rubble for the paddock entrance, need someone to drive on the bumpy surface to see if they get stuck, may try the ride on mower when the box is full of grass. Getting through a few logs every day in the woodburner so cut some pallet wood to get them burning well at the start. The rose bed has been weeded, must give them a scattering of manure before the frosts. A windy showery day with a glowing sunset.

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Driveway

The paddock entrance has been a bit of a problem with several vehicles getting stuck in the mud when it rains, so in the winter bales of straw etc are often left at the front of the house and manhandled to the workshop for storage. A quantity of rubble should help to form a base that’ll be worked into the ground by the next set of tyres, fortunately there’s lots available locally. Rained all day, good for the garden, made a few additions to the temporary sheep shelter to afford more protection from the weather, the donkeys are very wet but still stand outside. Wore gloves most of today as the temperature dropped, hope the weather improves tomorrow for a cycle ride.