ducks and water

And the ducks have finally realised that there is water available , that isn't in  a bucket.

9 it is then

And well done George - 11 fertile eggs .
Thye'll get rehoused  out of the stable tomorrow, if the weather is OK

10 am update

7 live chicks, 2 unfortunately have died after emerging from the egg and the last egg has a small hole in it, so the chick is just starting to hatch,

and they are starting to get inquisitive

5pm update

First arrival

 taken at 14.10 today

An antenatal crisis?

the broody hen was sitting on only some of the eggs this morning and the ones she wasn't on were cold.  Something disturbed her during the night. Mouse ? Rat ? - no signs of either , but that means very little.  She has been repositioned on all the eggs and continues to sit. We will see over the weekend if all the chicks have survived and how many hatch.

The morning after

Don't know what the fuss was about really.

We were bought an anenometer as a present. And testing it  at ground level was OK. Wanting to get a true record of windspeed, I fixed it as high up as I ( easily) could .

 

After a few a days with a 'mild' Orcadian breeze, i realised it was in the wrong place - its good for westerlies  and perhaps southerly winds but is sheltered by the stack for any other directions. So it will get moved in due course.  Not sure where to, yet. To attach it to the top of stack will mean a bit of fiddling around with the cables and  wiring. 

Anyway the vanes rotate and numbers appear on the screen . The metoffice forecast for this area was for 45 mph winds, the TV weather was quoting 60 mph. The anenometer measured a peak  of 34.1 mph . So its in the right ball-park figure. it may be that either its still a little sheltered  where it is , needs calibrating or that's what we had here. 

There was quite a bit of  rain as well. 

The  pond has filled up a bit

Before

After

and the ground is waterlogged in places 

the only casualty that we have found so far is the hens' water .

The Boreray Boys

Going to Clachtoll anad back in a day meant an early start. So we got to watch the sunrise at 5.45 am whilst waiting for the ferry from Stromness to Scrabster.

Once in 'the South' , we had to get to the West Coast of Sutherland.

 Google maps suggested  one way, via the A9 and Golspie. The satnav suggested  going a different route










As we had the trailer we thought the A9 would be a better bet , so off we headed towards Halkirk.

Down on the A9 to  Golspie,  no problems  , then turned right on the A839 to Lairg.   I must say , its **very** scenic countryside to drive through . The whole A839/A836 has scenery as good as anything we've driven through in the Dordogne when we have been there on holiday.

At Lairg, we followed the A 839 to Lochinver.
The directions we had been given mentioned that  stretches of the road were Dual Carriageway, so brilliant , thought I , easy to drive along with the trailer . it became clear ,after a few miles that  the dual carriageway isnt quite what I was expecting

DUAL CARRIAGEWAY

NOT DUAL CARRIAGEWAY

The road carries on around passed Inchnadamph and Loch Assynt . We were just passing through but some photos   ( not by me !) of a very scenic area are  here.

Just West  of Lochinver , there is the B869 heading North. Now that certainly isnt Dual Carriageway .

One more  minor obstruction before arriving at our destination.

The return journey , the reverse route was  just as scenic (and a little slower)  as we now had a   load in the trailer .


Mrs Woolsack has a few  more pictures .

Getting Ready

Forecast is  that its going to get a bit windy for the next couple of days or so .

So the locals have started to tie stuff down and take in anything that could be blown away .

So we thought we'd better do the same

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

BEFORE

 And we've managed to  put the trailer next to stable  and tied it down as well.

un-freeranging ducks

The unoccupied Pond

We've decided to let the ducks loose. They havent got the hang of going into the duckhouse at night, but food is in there, so they go in voluntarily,  and hopefully they will lay eggs there. We don't want to be hunting  up and down the burn looking for where they might have laid.
They have lots of interesting places to explore in and around the pond.
This is the small wood and the burn , taken in the Spring.

pond and burn

but they don't .

They sit on the grass, where they were penned - you can still recognise the area . It didn’t get cut when the pen was there. But the ducks sit there, not exploring the pond, preferring to use the bucket for water, and they   only move any distance when someone approaches .



I think ducks are more stupid than chickens.

Not sure what this is about

This is looking West at about 8 pm.

The forecast isn't for rain over night ( although Shetland is due some)

And then there were 7

Not content with the 3 Saxony ducks , including we hope,  a drake , we've added 4 Cherry Valley birds.

So they go round the pen en masse

And its not like hens - any heirarchy seems to have been sorted out and there is just the occasional mild peck.  They need to get the idea of nesting in the same place - who knows  how for up ( or down ) the Burn they will end up if left to their own devices. So currently they are penned in and 'encouraged to go in the Eglu at night.

Once they've got the idea  they can try the pond.

EDD 26th September

So we made the delivery suite ready

and used 11 eggs of our own eggs

and borrowed a broody hen from  Claire and Magnus

and we ( and she ) sits and waits

BT -robbers

My download speed is usually about 1Mb/s. This from a package that advertises  'up to 16 Mb/s'

Once I had  signed up they sent me an email that says

expected speed 0.75 -2.5 Mb/s 

The best ever speed I've measured  ( and we do regular tests)  is 1.5Mb/s 

they managed to excel themselves last night.  On several occasions we gave up trying to do anything . When it did work , here are the speeds we were getting 

And this co-incides with them sending  me my bill. 

I think  I should get a refund for the days when my service is unusable.  

And now you see it

The Eglu came apart here  and was transported , along with a fair bit   of other stuff , here .

  

The front has been re-organised and its lost its wheels

And  it been located next to the pond 

And its been re-erected on the lawn, next to the pond. These were taken in March - weve had a bit of rain so its fuller and flowing a bit more just now

And it has some new inhabitants.

 
 

We went and picked them up from South Ronaldsay, but had to stop off  at The Creel, Orkneys Michelin -starred restaurant  for  meal . We have also stayedd there on previous visit and t can be highly recommended.
 Seeing as you ask, I had

• Lemon Sole in lobster Bisque
• Slow Braised Brisket of Beef, Onion Marmalade, Glazed Carrots
• Lemon Tart with Marmalade Ice-cream

We then went to the far tip of South Ron and came back with the ducks. 

A carfull

i was going out and I needed to put some stuff in the car boot.
Guess which car i didnt take ?

Welcome home

from a the first day at work. (well it was induction lectures, but nevertheless...)

All hand made.

Raspberries from the Organic Growers who live ( and farm) down the hill)