Lucky Lads

So its tupping time.


And the sequence of events ( what could possibly go wrong ??):

 Get  the ewes from the field they are grazing in

  to somewhere where you  can separate off the lucky girls.

And then you need to get them penned

And as we are putting different rams to different  groups then you need to separate them and transport them to do the field where he is going  to do the business.

  
and put the group in the field

 And then you need to get  the ram.

  and then  you need to apply raddle (the oily stuff ) to their chest

 and then you introduce him to the ladies

 where he will go and find the ewes who are in season

and job  done !!

what could go wrong ?

Well. nothing actually.


 

More hens

The hens are getting old - and as they get old they dont lay as frequently. And  producing eggs is light-dependent and as the days shorten , we get fewer eggs.  And none for the past 2 weeks.

So something must be done.

And we heard that the British Hen Welfare Trust  were sending some rehomed hens to Orkney.
We've had  resuced hens before. So for a donation to BHWT we are restocked.

So our 20  need fetching -  they are part of a consignment that came up on the boat from Aberdeen.

And its 5 to a box.

And after overnight in their new accommodation they get to explore their new surroundings .

Or perhaps not. For mass-produced chickens they dont get to go out much. So these have spent the day hanging around the henhouses. over the next weeks they will gradually get the hang of exploring and foraging for food. .

And the other thing about mas-produced hens is they are a bit deficient onthe feathers front.
This lot arent too bad. Some we have had in the past have been feather-less

Its mild at the moment so its not so criticla if they dont know how to go into the henhouse at night .

And we got 14 eggs over the last day and a half !

Our own Tiggywinkle

We came across a hedgehog !

It was lost and not moving , so we brought it in ( with gloves on !!) to see if it was still alive.

It was!

 Hedgehogs hibernate through the winter.  And to survive the hibernation , it needs to have enough energy stores to see it through - and it needs to be a minimum weight of about 600 g . This one was 540g

So it needs rescuing  to help it survive the winter. A search for 'Hedgehog rescue Orkney " led down a dead-end and we ended up speaking to the SSPA . And someone will come and get it tomorrow.

So it needs a home for the night .

And returning to the tray on the floor what housed it ..........


  

It had escaped and tried to hide

So we get a bigger box - with a lid.
And it needs food. They suggested cat food. Do don't have cats.
A rummage through the cabbages in the usually  slug-overridden vegetable  plot was negative . It must be too cold for te slugs to venture out .

But we do have a wormery, converting kitchen waste to compost.

And its got worms.

So instead of catfood , the hedgehog has worms.  And 3 should see it until tomorrow.

Only in Orkney

The cafe at the airport ( they do really nice cakes and home-made stuff) is closed for renovation .

but they have got a self-service setup just next door

So you help yourself

And there is tea and coffee

And help yourself to milk from the fridge

And there is a price list 

And a box for the money.
I tihnk there is about £40 in there.

Lock the money away ?

Why would you need to do that ?

Slugs, mice or rats

We made a mistake in planting  4 courgette plants.
Courgettes hide amongst the foliage and turn into marrows.
large marrows.
The biggest we have  grew was 2.4 Kg.
So friends, neighbours and work colleagues have benefited

And marrows arew actually apretty uninspring vegetable, but there is marrow gratin  and marrow and carrot soup. The latter is actually  quite good.

But something has been getting at the escaped courgettes

Probably not rats- its diffuclt tos ee hoe they could get in but a  rat box will hopefully dissuade them form coming back .

Tree Hay

nd we have lots of bushes and small trees around ,that get regularly cut  back ( I hesitate to call it pruning)  .
So why not give it a go ?

A bush that has put on some growth throught the year

And after

And the products are tied together , put somewhere dry  with an even temperature . 

 adn watch this space !

not enough space

So even though we have 25 Acres or thereabouts, there isnt rally enough space for stuff.
And there is a land drain in an inconvenient place.

So a big pipe (600mm diameter ) in the bottom and quite a few barrel-loads of soil , and we have somewhere to put stuff.

And the soil came from the heap when we had the shed put up . It can't really stay as pile in the way and it has to go somewhere . And hopefully the overhang will collapse so its less shovelling  for the next bit

So who needs to go to a gym for an upper -body workout - you just shovel loads of soil for a couple of  afternoons !