Bruces Tree and Christmas

The picture is the tree we planted earlier this year in memory of our dearest old friend Bruce Watts who tragically died last year, too soon, too early and too young. While the boys were here for Christmas we managed to move an enormous great heavy whinstone boulder that had been taken from the heart of our house when it was being renovated and we felt it was just the right thing for the little plaque we had made to mark Bruce's tree. It was a laugh a minute moving the rock but like the Stonehenge Druids or the Egyptian Pyramid builders we managed to get it into position with levers, rollers and lots of cursing, we made a video of the proceedings which is both funny and entertaining but fails to qualify for You've Been Framed as amazingly, nobody ended up with a crushed foot or toe, of course had Bruce been here he would have had both!

Because Roly was away for Christmas we have been able to let the hen girls out to free range, they have loved it and even laid an egg in a bush by the backdoor for us yesterday.

The new doves have settled in well and do a lot of flapping and cooing and even a bit of kissing, we could yet get babies for the spring.

Sam never got back for Christmas, in fact on Christmas Day he was to be found testing metal panels in a narrow pipe ten feet into the water under an oil rig, he was both terrified and exhilarated and says it counts as his most unusual location for spending Christmas Day yet. As the rig was Danish they had Christmas dinner on Xmas Eve and he said the spread was wonderful, when he hit the sack later on the company had put a card and a box of chocolates on each of their pillows. He is now in Denmark onshore and flies back to Aberdeen tomorrow to have another Christmas with us.

The floor in the byre was laid in time for the party on the 23rd and looks fabulous, a few finishing touches to do but it passes muster and was tested when some blonde bird slopped Vintage Bolly on it and it never left a mark at all.

Happy New Year to you all from all at the Farm.

New Doos ....again

This is one of my new doos. They arrived on Tuesday and have settled in well, meet Ben and Jerry and Holly and Ivy. They are about five months old so a lot older and wiser than the others when they arrived. On the first night they seemed a bit reluctant to go into the warm and cosy nesting holes but by last night all had found a place and this morning they are sunning themselves on the ground under the dove cote.

It is quite amazing that they are so settled, as less than 24 hours after arriving the bloody Hound of the MoonzieMills from next door bounded in and launched himself at the wire netting in an excited frenzy. One of the doos got a bit tangled in the wire and damaged a wing but apart from a bit of blood seems to have got over it. The dog was duly reprimanded and given a taste of his shock collar by the owner, whether it will work remains to be seen.

Since they have arrived we have had terrifically high winds but they are all safe and secure and will remain inside until April. So that I do not cause undue upset by going in to feed we have invented a feeding tube from a funnel and a pipe and I decant the feed into the feed bowl from outside the homing cage. It works very well and causes less stress than me going into the run twice daily. I can also fill the water containers with a watering can from the outside too.

On deciding on names for them I wanted something a bit seasonal and Holly and Ivy for the girls seemed ideal, however the boys names were harder, Noel might have been OK but I loathe Noel Edmonds and Wencleslas, Balthazar and Melchior were all a bit of a mouthful. Mind you Caspar would have been nice but as I was consuming a whole tub of Ben and Jerrys Chubby Hubby (Fudge-Covered Peanut Butter-Filled pretzels in vanilla Malt Ice Cream Rippled with Fudge & Peanut Butter) at the time it just struck me as to how right the choice would be. Anyway Rudolph hardly seemed to fit a little white doo. And as I only ever eat a whole tub of ice cream at a time at Christmas ( it is good for stress) I decided that the names were most appropriate.

I eventually got round to planting my daffodil bulbs, they had been bought in September and the net bag put into the shed by the back door. Every time I went to get a beer or some spuds I felt very guilty as they were actually sprouting quite nicely through the net and growing to a fair size. As I did not fancy having a nice spring display in the cupboard I relented and planted them today. Still have to get the garlics in too but as they were only due in last month feel less guilty about them, as it is such a brilliant day weather wise I will plant them after lunch.

We are all geared up to getting the floor laid in the byre, Herb has used the time the byre has been out of action to repaint Jousters boom in it and inflate and check his dinghy, however they are getting the boot today in preparation for the lovely oak floor due any day now, well Tuesday but we have hopes it could arrive as early as tomorrow. Pictures to follow.

Off to cook some more of Nigellas wonderful treats although in my case I will not be wearing a low slung cashmere jumper and oozing scrummy, yummy mummy over the top gush while I fondle my little pearly orbs ( silverskin onions to you and I)

Merry Christmas.

Freezing weather

Things have been a bit quiet down at the farm for the last week or so, no more mink appearing and after I spent near enough £20 on a special trap, but we have caught 3 rats and 5 mice in more traditional traps.

The doves are nicely settled inside the homing cage and will stay put until the winter is over. I hope to get some new doves before Christmas so they can well and truly home before release day. It seems a shame to trap the doves inside and not allow them to fly at all but they do a fair bit of flapping and wing stretching and get up and down to the ground most days.

The chickens soldier on, still no eggs at all from Trinny and Susannah or The Miserable Veras but the other four are doing great, Poppy will be three in January soon so we will be planning a chicken birthday party for her in the New Year! Yes I am completely potty! I guess in human years she must be coming up for 30, a real old spinster.

Christmas is coming soon, from looking like we would have all three boys home it now looks like Murray will have to be the sole lad to be spoiled, pampered and generally fussed over. Sam goes offshore on the 20th and Stu has at last got his first Saturation Diving job starting next week in Denmark. He could just get home in time, hope that he is not still speaking like Donald Duck, a strange phenomenon from breathing helium. The first time he called me from the Sat Chamber when he was training I thought it was some pervert!

UPDATE on the flooded byre. Our new wooden floor is being laid on the 23rd of December! So all being well we will be back in the room on Christmas Eve, in case you have forgotten the flood was on August 13th and it has taken this long for the insurance company to sort it, still it should be lovely when it is done!

Snowing at last!

It was lovely to wake to crisp white snow this morning. The chickens have viewed it with mixed feelings, some with suspicion as Trinny and Susannah refused to come out onto it while Ronnie, Roxy and Peggy all ran around thinking it was lots of lovely food! The Two Veras just looked on with their usual aloof look on their faces, they are a couple of miserable hens!

Yesterday I saw that Lily had something attached to her undercarriage, it was an egg shell and it I caught her , carefully removed it and discovered it was somewhat smelly, I think she had sat on an egg that had cracked after it had gone off. I threw the other three week old egg out but she is now sitting on at least one more egg. Once I get the china eggs we should sort the problem until spring time....I hope!

They seem to have settled down well in the enclosure and I am a lot happier knowing that they are not going to get eaten by the hawk. As the new enclosure had extra nest boxes I will restock as soon as I can.

Off out to build a snowman before curling up on the sofa in front of the fire with a good book and more hot chocolate.

Fort Knox Mk 2

Herb got the new winter enclosure done, the theory being that if the hawk does not get her meal here she may move away, so far since the big plastic owl went up we have not seen her but I am assured by Malcolm up the track, that she is still around.

The doves moving into the new enclosure was planned with some precision, the outer frame went up one day and then we gave then 24 hours to get used to it like that before very quickly putting on the chicken wire. At dusk Lily settled in onto the eggs and Huffy went into the vacant next hole next door. Sam swiftly blocked both holes with bits of timber and we deftly tossed the net over the roof, stapled it down and Bob's your uncle, two doves trapped safely inside.timber removed and two curious doves poked their heads out to see what ahd been going on.

This morning there was no movement from either nest hole but around 11am Lily appeared, she seemed a bit flummoxed but came down to feed and have a drink. A little while later Herb heard a lot of scraping and Lily was 'rearranging nesting material in the spare box. She then sat on the landing shelf and promptly laid an egg! I was lucky enough to capture the whole event on my new video camera and with a bit of luck and a visit from my very own Cyber expert I will post it on here. I guess that I will have to remove the two unhatched eggs again in a few days. I am hoping my new found pigeon expert ,Harry, will advise me on my next course of action.

They should settle in fine in the new enclosure and at least will be safe from predators during the lean winter months.

The mink killed another rat and this time left it with its guts hanging out and hits head bitten off on the back door mat. Thank goodness I had my shoes on when I stepped outside. Last night I set three traps and the tally this morning was one rat and one wee mouse. Tonight I am laying poison and traps and intend to do my best to get rid of the varmints for good. I think the mink will be too wily to be caught in a trap but I have left the Nooski Trap in situ anyway. The first night it was out a wee mouse had carefully avoided the spring catch, crept in, eaten all the peanut butter covered bacon and left after pooping on the way out. So two fingers from a mouse to modern foolproof technology.

The chickens are all fine, only getting 4 or 5 eggs a day at the moment. The Two Veras may well have stopped for the winter but I was assured that Trinny and Susannah would lay all winter as they come from Chile .

All calm at the farm

SPARROWHAWK (NOT MY WEE DOO)

This is what a sparrowhawk looks like once it has grabbed one of your pet doves. May be a lovely looking thing but it is a nasty vicious predator that needs to be sorted somehow.

So far my remaining two birds are OK, the new winter aviary is nearly ready and we will move them in a few days, they are still on the eggs but should lay lots more even if these do not hatch and I have now been advised that it is highly unlikely due to the temperatures. Although yesterday we had 15C up here, almost unheard of for November, some days in the summer we are lucky to get that.

The mink has also been conspicuous by its absence despite me shelling out for a special mink trap. After I had bought it and had it delivered, Stu found another internet site where the same trap was £10 cheaper! It pays to spend a long time surfing for the best buy, a good lesson, expensively learned.

The chickens seem to have reacted not too badly to the mink in the run, we had some 'softies' for a day or two but all has gone back to normal. ( 'Softies', soft shelled eggs, are laid when the chicken has a terrible fright or is out of sorts in some way) Trinny and Susannah are not laying and still moulting like crazy, they really do look like they have done ten rounds with a mink each morning as there are feathers everywhere, still not sure if it was an initial mink attack or if this is just how they will moult.

I have had some comments that mink are nice furry wee things. They are not. They are vermin, they kill our native wildlife, they do not belong here and need to be exterminated from our lovely countryside. Following the release by so called 'animal lovers' from fur farms they are now encroaching on towns and villages and kill pet rabbits and cats and there has been a recent documented account of an attack by four mink on an angler at night. Mink are only acceptable as coats and hats.

Enough of my soap box for now!

Found this on the web and I think it is lovely http://www.dashpoemmovie.com

Somebody recently said that I was getting seriously 'sad' writing a blog, well, if you don't like it, don't read it. Easy enough. I enjoy putting down in words what is going on around me and I know for sure that I have many friends who really do enjoy reading it.

Peace, love and hippy stuff.

Bloody Mink Now!

I have solved the mystery of the rat with it's head bitten off, it was not a sparrowhawk but a mink. Yesterday Herb heard a commotion in the run and went out in time to see a sleek black mink helping itself to the chicken food and generally causing some consternation amongst the girls. He told me and I grabbed my new video camera and was able to get some shots of it as it made it's escape down the burn. The mink might also explain the huge pile of feathers I found in the chicken run last week when I thought that Trinny was moulting, I think now that she had a close encounter with a mink. So not only do I have to relocate the hawk, I also have to do the same to the mink who given a chance will take the heads off the chickens and not even bother to eat them. One lady in Dunblane recently lost of 8 of her 15 chickens to a mink .

Mink while looking interesting are in fact a bloody nuisance, they are not native to UK and are responsible for the devastation of the water vole population in UK and cause havoc to nesting ducks and birds as well as the inevitable losses to us backyard hen people. The mink we have are either descendants of escapees from mink farm or are some of the ones liberated by those so called animal rights idiots. What about the rights of the native Vole! Trapping may be easy enough but it is illegal in Scotland to relocate then live after capture anywhere and it is also illegal to drown them in the trap, shooting is the only answer. 'Now just stand still Mr Mink while I aim a shot at your skull, oops, sorry, I don't have a gun!' I am hoping that the local Countryside Ranger may help out, I already have the promise of a mink trap I just need the means to get rid of the mink once it is is it.

I got a great video of the little darling and once I work out how to add it will add it to my blog. So now I am spending my time checking on the bloody 'Spar' at the front of the house, the mink at the rear and hoping that Herb soon gets the winter aviary finished while I still have doos to put in it. The big plastic eagle looks very grand in the garden and a neighbour gave me a smaller long eared owl too, the trees look decorated for Christmas with strings of twirling cd's and the doos are watching it all with great interest.