What have I been doing!

A Few Veg from the North Wald Garden on Orkney

Time has Passed

It is well over a year since I wrote anything on this blog.

Why? You may ask, or not, as is more likely the case.

Shortly after posting the last post we made the hard decision to leave Orkney and North Wald and head back to the mainland.

It was a hard decision to make as we both loved Orkney and I loved my life at North Wald, but we wanted to be closer to our family as we missed them all terribly.

My Hubby moved away shortly after, and I stayed to complete one more season as were already almost fully booked for the cottage and caravan.

I could have continued with the blog during that last year but, due to a number of events, and being busy running the business and garden by myself, I never seemed to find the time, or the will, to continue.

Life Goes On

Life has been quite eventful since then and we have lived in Rhynie, then Brechin, and are now residing, for the moment, in Hamilton.

The blog was originally created to give a taster of life on North Wald for prospective guests at the cottage and caravan. That purpose is now redundant but I am still considering updating this blog as a simple blog about my life and family.

Time will tell I suppose.

Not that I have written much there but here is a link to my InfoBarrel stuff - http://www.infobarrel.com/Users/MEPark

And here is one for Bubblews which is also suffering from neglect lately - http://www.bubblews.com/account/143832-mepark

I also started on Daily Two Cents but have not done a lot there either -

http://dailytwocents.com/profile/mepark/

At Last a Hint of Spring to Come

My Daffodils breaking through.

I can’t believe it has been nearly a month since I wrote anything on here. Even longer since I posted a recipe on the Cheap Meals Blog.

What have I been doing in that time. You may be thinking - Digging beds, sowing seeds, rebuilding walls, cleaning plant pots, washing the algae of the poly-tunnel, re-potting the strawberries, pruning the fruit bushes, forcing the rhubarb. I wish!!!!!

These are all things I should have done and haven’t. I can mainly blame the weather. It has been atrocious here, as it has for most of Britain. We have not flooded again, so I can be thankful for that but the ground is so waterlogged I can’t even walk on it let alone dig it. It has not even been that cold this winter; the occasional cold spell but hardly any time below freezing at all. What is preventing me getting out and about is the wind. It is worse than usual this winter. Not destructive storms force winds but almost a constant gale force. It is all people seem to talk about when you go down town. It has been really hard on the shipping this year and affected freight and ferries alike.

Today is so different – not much wind and dry and even a bit of sunshine. I have managed to go out and do some cleaning in the hen houses and have a good wander about looking at things.

The bulbs are doing well in the poly-tunnel. I thought I had lost them to rot when it was flooded for a while but some of the daffodils are so advanced they are showing flower buds and today I even spotted the first tulips and hyacinths poking through the soil. I can’t wait to see them in bloom. Am I sad to get excited over the prospect of flowers?

We need to be despatching some more cockerels soon as the poor younger hens are suffering from their advances. As for the older hens – they have become complete hussies since Ant died and follow poor Dec around constantly. All of them fawning in front of him, begging for food and chasing any younger hen away who might compete for his attention. He almost seems eager to escape them at times.

Sadie

Sadie has been very unsettled by the wind and barks at anything and everything and is driving us nuts. As usual the cats do not seem perturbed at all – except to throw Sadie a dirty look when she disturbs their siesta with another bout of barking.

So what have I been doing this last month? Well I have joined a couple of online writing groups. These groups pay you a few pence here and there (if you are lucky) when you post articles, and more if people click the like button. One of the sites InfoBarrel is a little more high brow than the other and the articles I have written there are mainly about the sites to be seen on Orkney. Bubblews is much less formal and people write anything from what they had for breakfast to in depth articles on the meaning of life. Very different from each other but they have certainly helped to pass the time during this winter. I am not sure how much time I will be able to devote to them once the garden gets going though.

If you would like to see what I have been up to then :-

Here is a link to my InfoBarrel stuff - http://www.infobarrel.com/Users/MEPark

And here is one for Bubblews - http://www.bubblews.com/account/143832-mepark

Another Year over on North Wald, Self Catering on Orkney.

I have been remarkably remiss lately in updating this blog. Partly due to being unwell. Partly due to weather constraints limiting my activities and partly because we went away for Christmas.

First a huge thank you to Grahame for looking after our ducks and hens whilst we were making merry with our children and grandchildren down south.

That was one very scary ferry trip across the Pentland Firth on the way down. I cannot claim to have any sort of sea legs, in any way at all (even though Dad was in the Navy!), and that trip just proved it. I did not feel ill, I was just terrified. It was a little rough and I ended up shutting my eyes, and just waiting until it was over, as I couldn’t bear to see the sea heaving away out of the windows. 

The rest of the journey down was great with only a little rain as we hit Perth. Thankfully no snow or ice to delay us at all. After a great Christmas with family and friends, from near and far, we had a lovely journey back, on a day that was more like a summer day than a winter one.  We even got to see seals sun bathing at Gills Bay. 

The trip back on the Pentalina was a lot smoother than the previous one, for which I was incredibly grateful. Poor Sadie had been quite ill on the way down, but she fared much better on the return trip. The cats are still talking to us and managed to survive with out us for a week. In fact Lily was up to her usual tricks and brought a mouse into the bedroom, to play with, in the middle of the night last night. Thank you so much for that Lily. We retrieved it, still alive, from behind the washing basket this morning and returned it to the outside. 

We had worried there would be a mountain of dead rodents to deal with when we got back but there was not one, anywhere. Phewww!!!

Seals at Gills Bay

The young chicks seem to have doubled in size in just a week. I can’t believe how big they are. Some of the slightly older ones have developed further and ones I had hoped were hens now seem to be Cockerels. More for the freezer I suppose.

Ant is still being bullied by one and all but is getting by on his lonesome. The polytunnel has survived more gales and all being well I will start thinking about sowing a few seeds soon. The ground is pretty waterlogged but we did manage to extract a few veg from the mud today. The little hen house is swimming in water I really wish I could deter the hens from using it.

So I am sitting here relaxing now and looking forward to another year at North Wald. I looked back over the list I made last year about what I had learned here and I decided to repost it with updates after each one.

1. Never buy cheap wellies. - The better ones I got for Christmas last year are still going strong so that message holds true. 
2. Make sure you find all the duck eggs before they brood them. - We never got to raise any ducks this year as the few that hatched died very young
3.  Don’t mollycoddle any subsequent ducklings (they become to demanding). - We never got the chance to test that this year
4.  Never put poultry litter on the compost heap in a gale. - Nope still didn’t learn that one strangely enough
5. Duck when going in the lean to shed. - That was a lesson well learned
6.  Watch your fingers when shutting said shed door. - As was that one
7. Don’t feed the ducks unlimited amounts of food without taking out a mortgage first. - This lesson was understood but a certain husband is notorious for giving out extra rations!
8. Don’t use the hammer with slippy gloves on (unless intentionally trying to maim the husband). - or anything else for that matter
9. Don’t stand on a waterlogged veg bed without a nearby tractor ready to pull you out. - Nope missed that lesson
10. Saws are for wood not finger nails. - Managed to remember that
11.  It is impossible to find a small leak in a caravan roof. - But lots of tarry paint helps
12.  Chickens have sharp beaks and can run very fast. - They certainly do and can!
13. Mother ducks are very aggressive and are stronger than they look. - And occasionally very stupid.
14. Don’t name your animals. - Have to admit I still do this a lot.
15.  You can’t be miserable when watching ducklings. - But can be very sad when they all die because of stupid mothers
16. Roosters really do look after their hens. - And fight with each other
17. Weeding is therapeutic (weather allowing). - And infuriating when they are all back a week later
18.  Eating your own produce is so fulfilling. - It certainly is
19. Truly Free Range (pastured) eggs taste superb. - And still do
20. Orkney is so beautiful. - And always will be.

New lessons for 2013

1. Never let four day old remnants of ducks innards drip on your face, unless you really fancy two weeks in bed.
2. Hens are stubborn and have a memory longer than a week.
3. Polytunnels are very noisy to be inside during a gale.
4. It is no mean feat to manipulate the hoop of a polytunnel especially in a gale.
5. Little rodents have loud voices, especially at three in the morning.
6. Chickens eat daffodils.
7. Sheep can be as daft as chickens and ducks when trying to escape from you.
8. I wear out right hand gloves at an alarming rate
9. Mulching is a great way to deal with a bed you don’t have time to dig.

I am sure there are many more things I could add to this list as I seem to be learning new lessons every day, but I think that will do for the moment.

So finally I just want to wish all of you a Happy and Prosperous New Year. May it bring you all your heart desires and much, much, more.

A New Guest?

A Runaway Ram who came for a visit.

Our Guest

We had a short visit from an escapee this morning.

One of Neighbour’s tups  decided to check out the accommodation available in the caravan. We knew some sheep had been moved this morning as we had taken Sadie in so she wasn't tempted to help out in any way. I am sure the Farmer would not have appreciated her joining in.

Once we thought he was sufficiently far enough away we carried on with the task in hand, which was to move the cage, with the five chicks, from the porch to the hen house. Just as we rounded the corner of the building, with the cage swinging precariously between us, Hubby called out to me to look up and ahead. I was busy, gingerly watching my feet, afraid of snagging my foot in a tussock of grass again, or catching the cage on my wellies, and falling flat on my face and having a cage full of chicks and chicken poop landing right on top of me.

There he was, in the small yard area at the back of the caravan,  feet planted firmly down and facing us, just daring us to get closer. Not wishing to add to my current collection of bruises I promptly packed Hubby off to let the Farmer know he was minus a tup. I must admit he didn't move much (the tup) except for turning around a bit, we just stared each other out for a while.  Hubby thinks he must have thought he was in a pen of some sort.

He is now safely ensconced back home and none the worse for his little adventure -  I hope.

Animal farm.

Ducks

The weather has been so wet this week and I have been so involved in getting the new web site running I have not had much chance to do anything outside. One thing I did do was to put my wellies on and squelch my way into the garden. I had to try and do something about the water that was constantly streaming through the hedge and turning the back grass into a complete bog. 

The ducks are loving every minute of it but are slowly destroying the lawn as they dig for worms and bugs in the mud. The chickens are not so keen and although they paddled through the water at feeding time they prefer to avoid it.

So I grabbed a spade and dug a trench along the side of the hedge to try and divert the water to the gravel and away from the grass. This was not easy as it was difficult to lever the clumps of mud away from the sodden ground but I eventually got it done. It does seem to have made a difference as the grass is slowly beginning to drain, even though more rain keeps falling all the time.

It has created a small stream running down the gravelled area but at least this seems to be soaking away. No matter how much drains away the level of water in the back garden does not seem to be receding. I think that a new drain into the ditch at the side is needed. I am not even sure how to set about this but if I don’t do it soon I think I will lose all my winter veg.

Sheep

It was a lovely day today, we even watched a female Hen Harrier hunting in the field out front.

We also had our first experience of rolling a sheep! It had got stuck on it’s back in the field and was unable to right itself. The Postie was worried and told us about it so we took a walk up to see if we could help.

I managed to fall flat on my face in the process. I simply caught my foot in a tussock of grass and before I knew it I was stretched out with my face in the mud. I can’t remember the last time I fell over but I am sure it won’t be my last.

Good job Hubby was there to haul me to my feet. He was very good and managed to sound genuinely concerned. Not a titter crossed his lips. I was just relieved that there was no one else around to see. I am sure that the sheep will tell no one, as one of them was already in the same predicament.

and Chickens

We finally decided today to see if we could get the hens into the new hen house. Earlier in the week I had been trying to gradually tempt the hens closer and closer to the door of the new hen house, and even inside with a few handfuls of food scattered about. On day one the little chicks refused to leave the bushes. On day two I got them as far as the car. Day three they came onto the main drive. Day four onto the grass nearby the new hen house. This was going great!

Then this morning I determined that with Hubby’s help we would get them all inside. Not that easy. What else did I expect? I shouted the hens and most of them turned up – not the little chicks though. With me inside calling, and Hubby and Sadie outside herding, we shepherded most of them in, while managing to keep the ducks out.

We swiftly locked them in and closed off all the other hen houses so the remaining hens couldn't get back in. Raymond hung around for ages but try as we might we could not tempt him inside. Bridie was the same. The little chicks and their mum were firmly ensconced in the bushes and nothing was going to tempt them out. We tried again, twice, during the day and the only thing we achieved was to let one back out, for a short while.

We then decided that the only way was to let them back in the roosts and catch them at night. This also was not as easy as it sounded.

The first one was Bridie, she was relatively easy as she was in the coal bunker. All we had to do was block the door open the lid and scoop her up. Done. Into the hen house with her!

Next was one of the old girls. One of the Vorweks had managed to avoid us this morning. We looked everywhere but couldn't find her. Eventually we found her perched high on the wall in the lean too house. We tried to put a towel over her but she fought free. I then tried to catch her in Hubby’s fishing net (well it might as well get some use). She managed to evade us and got out the door through Hubby’s legs. Finally with Hubby shining a torch in her eyes, to dazzle her, I managed to catch her in the net. Done. Into the hen house with her!

Next Raymond. He was on the perch in the little hen house and after a game of Ring around the Roses we caught him. Done. Into the hen house with him!

A little Polish Hen was next. Boy could she move fast but we did it. Done. Into the hen house with her!

Finally the mother and her chicks. We decided to take the mother first which was not too difficult as she was so desperate to protect her chicks she didn't move fast at all. Done. Into the hen house with her! Now the chicks. Well, if I thought the Polish hens moved fast, it was nothing compared to the chicks. It was crazy! We dashed back and forward, throwing towels, swishing a kids fishing net about and looking like complete idiots.  One done. Two done. Three done. Into the hen house with them!!!

I am not sure now if that is all the hens or not. Tomorrow will tell. I suspect that there may be one little polish hen still at large but if so she must have been in the bushes.

I will keep them inside for the next couple of weeks, to get accustomed to their new surroundings. Barn eggs, not free range, for a while. Meanwhile I will gut out and close off all the other hen houses with the exception of the Peedie house where the ducks go at night. Hopefully this means I can now keep them locked in on a morning until they have laid and before I let them out to forage. This should increase our chances of getting the eggs and mean less hens sitting on nests in the bushes.

We live in hope.

Autumn Storms

The Storms have arrived here with a vengeance.



The wind howled around, and the rain hammered on the windows, all night. 

I knew there would be some standing water this morning but didn't expect it to be quite so bad as Christmas last year. The yard was under a good few inches of water and parts of the garden are submerged almost entirely. We had even cleared out the drains in anticipation of a winter deluge. The small drain we cut across the entrance last year was still working so things could have been worse. Even parts of the polytunnel are flooded although the patch at the back has held through yet another gale. Hooray for that at least. 

The poor hens in the roost have a small river running through the entrance way. Six refused to leave and had to be fed inside. I was worried about a few leaks in the new hen house I am setting up but it is far dryer than the roost is right now. I just wish I had got them in there before now.

Sadly Ginger has lost all her three chicks. One didn't cross the road fast enough and was run over by a marauding duck eager for food. The other two seemed to be doing well but, being a young and inexperience mother, she left them exposed far too long in the bad weather today and they succumbed before we noticed. We did try to rescue them and warm them through but it was too late.

The five chicks we are rearing inside (I know - I'm soft) have been relegated to the porch. They provided far too much competition for Hubby when he is strumming away on his guitar and they can out sing anybody.  They also outgrew the box they were in.  I provided them with a large cage to run about in but, naturally,  they prefer to pile on top of each other in the last two inches of the cage. They did not dare venture from there for the best part of 24 hours. It was only when I moved the food and water a little closer that they plucked up (sorry) the courage to move away from the light. I can’t believe how fast they are growing compared with the ones outside. They will be fully feathered in no time if they continue to grow at this rate.

More rain due tonight I think – fingers crossed it is not too bad. God job Hubby has left his boots in the porch, he will probably need them to get out in the morning.