Turkeys-to-be

We hatched some turkeys last year 

The aim was to have turkey for Christmas, but it didnt actually happen - we#ve ende dup keeping them.
And we have a him-turkey and a her-turkey.

Tiger - the him-turkey

 And Lily , the her-turkey has been busy

There is nest in the rushes.

And getting a bit closer :

We will have to wait and see if we end up with any turkey-lettes

the Goose house

weve decided to hatch some goslings .
So the geese will need somewhere to nest .

We've had broody geese before  - in 2016  and 2014 , for instance ., but we ignored it

So ive made a suitable house for brooding - it needs to be big enough to take a goose and ideally  provide a protected, dark environment .

So  with an old crate  cut in half and some spare metal panneling from the shed, I made something

adn then it needed to be trainsported. Whilst not heavy, its an awkward shape .

and then the geese are hanging around at the top of the field , so we put the box up there

 but in the brush, one of them has started buildign a nest and laid eggs ( here partially covered by moss)

 so we might be a week too late.
other the other goose might devide to use the new palatial accommodation.

Or something

Scanning

Are the ewes pregnant ? .Theyve all been tupped but .  We need a scanner to  confirm
So on saturday we had

1. Weather.

50mph horizontal hail. But that's just a mild spring breeze.


2. Some sheep 

3. A scanner 

Bruce arrived

4 Some helpers 

 5. Some action 

And the result is that we are expecting 7 twins and 12 singletons,  commencing at the start of May.
Unless its all a bit early, then its the end of April.

Lambing  - lots of hanging around for stuff to happen.  And then it happens and a biot more hanging around . Or action . or something

The trees

We brought the apple trees up with us  and they really haven't done anything, regardless of what we have tried to  protect them.
Putting treed in the polycrub has been a success - but there is a limit to how many we put in  without comprimising any other stuff we want to grow.

The tree in the polycrub produced some apples last year - hopefully more this year.









 But one , planted in a sheltered spot near the house has  at least put on a lot of growth .












So I decided to build a raised bed

Which got filled with soil and decoartively enclosed with some stone that is lying around

And now has 6  apple trees  in it

 So we shall see what happens later in the year.

Its english .....

a bit of rain

Its rained quitea lot in the last 24 hours, the tail end of Storm Erik working its way across Scotland .
the pond was very full and the outlet almost over-run

and the rest of the burn has quite alot of water coming down it

  ane the field is flooded

as is the road

Shapinsay and back

Its been arranged for a while that we would take a couple of sheep

To Shapinsay ,  the nearest Island and a 30 minute ferry trip



 The snow is still lying here , and the first bit of the trip, getting to the end of the drive could have been the most challenging .



But the road to the Ferry terminal ( checkin time 15 minutes before departure)  was fine

And we waited for the incoming  ferry

 And the next bit was taking the car and trailer onto the ferry.
Reversing on . Down the slipway ansd the length of ferry .
At least the only people watching were the crew,
unlike the last time I had to reverse onto a ferry 





We can see Shapinsay from the house , so we had the chance of the 'reverse' view

And 30 minutes later, Balfour village, Shapinsay came into view

 And sheep taken to join the  flock  of Borerays in Shapinsay

And coming back, you can see how the Cathedral  dominates the skyline of Kirkwall

PS Ive got a new camera - can you tell ?