The Flock Increases

The 15th saw the arrival of another 3 goslings and R has taken over as chief bird-minder. We got some more for two reasons. The first is fairly simple in that they are our ecological lawnmowers and the grass in the orchard, especially in the Spring, needs as many nibblers as possible.



The second reason is more about animal welfare. When we had four geese, Phillipa and Gertie were a 'couple' as they were the remaining two of the original three, and Nora and Nibble were a pair, each looking out for and protecting the other. After Gertie died, Phillipa went into mourning for quite a few weeks but as she came out of it she began bonding with Nora who looks quite like Gertie. This left poor little Nibble all alone and she was failing. So we got some more goslings in the hope that she would find a new interest. Happily, she has indeed taken to the goslings tremendously well and looks after them like a mother goose. Phillipa and Nora are not so bothered. In fact Nora is sometimes downright nasty to them and pecks them if they get in her way but Nibble rushes over and protects them. It's sweet to watch. Once again these birds hold me captivated.

Race Against Rain

We have been haymaking again. Our current two WWOOFers, Danny and Sarah have helped me to scythe down another of our fields and turn all of the hay for drying. It's a gentle task, though a very hot one at the moment as temperatures are reaching into the 30's. We therefore can only work the fields in the early part of the morning and sometimes in the evenings if it has cooled sufficiently. It is important that the hay is properly dry as it seals in the goodness of the grasses and plants and prevents them from going mouldy. This afterall will be part of the winter feed for all our animals except the hens.

Yesterday rain was forecast for the evening so we had to make the most of every minute to gather the laid out hay into the big hay stack. It was all hands on deck but we achieved what seemed at the beginning like a massive task by 9pm and happily retired to await the badly needed rain... that didn't come again! Sigh.

Broody Hens

So here is Neige, 3 weeks and two days into being broody. She continued like this for another week before I took action. She had no eggs under her but day after day continued to sit, sit, sit. It's a hormonal thing. I had to lift her off the nest each day to make sure she had a drink and something to eat but as soon as she'd had a wee peck she went straight back to the nest. Her comb began to lose its red colouring and became pale so I knew that I had to intervene or she would lose so much condition that she would die. So I put her in an empty cat cage for 24 hours, still in the hen house but with air circulating under her and no cosy nest. It felt so mean but it seemed to do the trick as the following day when she was let out she went off with the other hens ... for two hours then she was back on the nest again. So in the cage she went again for another 24 hours. Out she came, off she went, two hours later back on the nest. So I took the entire nest box with Neige in it outside, sat her next to the cat cage, told her that she'd be back in there if she didn't buck her ideas up. She listened, squawked then fluffed her feathers, got up and didn't get back on the nest again to be broody anymore. Phew.

We live and learn. I hated doing the cage thing. It really brought home the vile practise of caging hens for commercial gain and I really felt sorry for all the battery hens that are caged like that all their life just so that folk can have cheap eggs. The next time we will get fertilised eggs for them to sit on and hatch (we don't currently have a cockrel to fertilise ours). That would ensure only a 3 week sit and then Mrs Broody will become a happy mum.

Sheep Shearing

Well it's that time of year when things are getting HOT and the wearing of thick woollen coats is definitely not recommended. I therefore asked my 'sheepie' friend Sheena if she would come and help me to shear our two mummy ewes. Thankfully she agreed and brought her brand new two-handed shearers with her.

Next we needed to catch the ewes. But guess what? They were not up for that. Small they might be - only 50cm high at full grown - but they sure are fast. It really was quite hilarious watching Dan and Cal race and dive about in the orchard trying to catch one or other of them, or even just steer them into the 'holding pen' that we'd fashioned. Eventually after lots of huffing and puffing and laughing we got them all in and started the job with Sheena's shears. Sadly they require two hands to operate and it was proving very difficult to hold the sheep, hold the shears and guide the blades. I therefore got out our dog-clipping one-handed shears and we continued the job with those. Three hours later - yes THREE hours later - Ema was done and glaring at us in a most unforgiving manner. Next up was Mince but we were truly professional by then so she only took an hour and 15 mins. Just think, next year there'll be four to do! The fleeces however are lovely and thick an heavily laden with lanolin, Ouessants being sheep kept mainly as a fibre producers. Now I have to think what I'm going to do with the fleeces.

Above you can see Mince after her haircut - oh so thin, oh so mince (French for thin/skinny). Not too bad a job for a first go even if I say so myself.

Storage Solutions

We have a lean-to veranda at the back of our barn and it had leaned so far 'to' that it was slowly sliding to the ground. So this year's task was to renew it and install a rain water harvesting system.

Ben worked out all the plans and with the help of Dan and Cal, our two Australian WWOOFers, they began weaving their magic.

Now although it looks cloudy here, this was only for a moment. Cal is sporting this year's sun protection wear and looking to all intents like the proverbial Virgin Mary if you ask me!

The weaving itself wasn't hard work but the preparation of the sticks - taking off all the sideshoots - was a long and arduous task. Blistered hands were sadly given to all participants (unless you already had callouses like I do). But as you can see, it's beginning to look good.

Celebration Time

Just some clips of the hero cyclists celebrating and folk who came to stay for the Le Mans 24 Hour.

R was ecstatic because it coincided with his 7th birthday.

And after the party's over.....

































































































































































































































































































































And after the party's over....

Edinburgh to Le Mans

Ben has been away for the last 10 days - back to Edinburgh by car and then cycling down through the UK and across France to Le Mans with his friend Paul. They were both raising money for charity, in Ben's case for BLISS the premature baby charity. He was pleased to have raised almost one GBP for every mile that he cycled - 756 GBP in total. Paul's wife, Lynsey and their little girl Rachel had come to stay here at LPM and it was with relief that we welcomed both boys back - tired but happy.