Back to Work

Today was lovely here, 12C in the sunshine but frosty in the shade so I was able to get back to work on some of the outdoor things. First up was cleaning out the alpacas. Thankfully this did not take as long as I feared. Having been ill, I’d not cleaned the paddock for 4 days and as expected I had 2 full barrow loads to add to the manure heap. Best of all was that it took me less than an hour. I think I was just so overjoyed at not just being out and about again but also having finally sent off my tax form – it was quite a weight off my mind.

The afternoon was spent giving the tractor a quick service prior to use as it’s been in the barn for a month. I’ve been loaned a bale spike and had decided to move some of the old (two years at least to my knowledge) to more convenient places. Two bales have been moved closer to where I’m composting the old straw with the alpaca muck while another two are now closer to the orchard where I’m going to use them as a mulch. Any good straw in the bale nearest the hen house will be used in there when I clean them out next week. The remaining 20 will be moved and used over the coming 6 months when I should have a fresh supply after my wheat is harvested. Hopefully by then I will have a small rectangular baler as it will make moving it around much simpler for me. Not only do the big round bales require getting the tractor out, but finding somewhere level to place the round bales close to where I need them is also difficult and I wouldn’t want to be in the path of one of the round bales if it starts rolling down a slope.

I’ve also started putting a circle of muck round each of the fruit trees I’ve planted. The thought is that by the time the muck has broken down into the ground the trees will have had a bit of time to root and this will be a good bit of encouragement.

A couple of general pictures: The first is the wheat field that is still showing growth. It looks a lot greener close up than this evening sunlight picture shows. I did notice the deer in the field a couple of days ago, so I may take a walk out to where they were and see if they’ve done much damage. Near the farm the wheat is looking good, it’s not been nibbled by deer or slugs.

The second is Mr L and the Lacey Ladies having an evening root around in the leaves and fallen apples for anything tasty.

The evening sky was a wonderful sky blue and pink tonight which I’m hoping bodes well for a bright day tomorrow, as I would like to finish around the trees