Me on Monday: Gratitude

It's a long time since I have participated in Me on Monday which was originally created by the lovely Sian who sadly no longer blogs. Does anyone know how she and her family are? I am finding that little things matter a lot at the moment. Imagine my elation to succeed at obtaining a Click and Collect slot by staying up to midnight and sitting on an online queue until the slots suddenly appeared. It did take two midnight attempts before I got one though. Farmer Husband didn't seem so overjoyed when I immediately woke him to tell him the exciting news!

Such happenings are soon trivialised when you are again faced with the terrible news of the daily deaths. It has become more of a reality as two acquaintances have now lost a parent. One lost her mum after she fell at home, was admitted to hospital and contracted the virus. The other her dad who was admitted after catching Covid in his care home. Sad days.

How lucky I am to have this fantastic outlook above to bring consolation at such times.

Look at the beautiful blossom on this Katy apple tree planted the year our oldest daughter was born.

 

The bees are constantly at work on the blossom so fingers crossed for a good crop. 

I have one bit of cheering news to tell you. Yesterday we heard the cuckoo calling. He was calling on and off all day. This is particularly special because we have not heard him for several years. Could this be because of the  peace and quiet without constant planes taking off? 

Bluebells Emerging

Who would have thought that after all the rain we had all winter we would be wanting some more? The warm dry spell we have been having has given the opportunity to get a lot of field work done including planting Spring barley and the seed potatoes. The ground had become very dry and those crops needed a good soaking to start growing. The last 48 hours of rain have been perfect and we will now be happy with some more sunshine!

Yesterday I snatched a walk between showers and decided to head for the bluebell wood. All was very fresh and moist in the woods. I wish you could hear the birds singing against a background of quiet. We normally have a fairly constant noise of airplanes from the airport but all is currently silent which is one benefit of the current situation.

You can see that a lot of the wood is becoming dominated by wild garlic which is pretty in itself but I would rather have bluebells. Poppy as always was my companion. I don't let her off her lead in the woods because she gets rather excited by all the smells and tends to run further away from me than I like. I don't approve of her chasing deer which can be hiding amongst the trees.

I found a few bluebells out as I climbed out of the wood. I shall have to make another trip here.

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There's a few violets too. Such a gorgeous colour and so delicate too.

I will bring you back for another visit soon.

Easter Sunday Walk

Easter Sunday is normally like for many a busy family day for us. This year we had a quiet Sunday lunch just for the two of us thinking of all our family doing a similar thing in their own homes. The weather was beautiful and we even had our meal outside. 

Later in the afternoon we took a quiet walk around the farm. Some of the trees are beginning to green up and some daffodils are hanging on.

A lot of the hens were out making the most of the sunshine.

Most of the sheep are now out in the fields with their lambs, always a lovely sight to see.

Our skies are remarkably clear at the moment. There is less pollution without all of the transport and no vapour trails from aircraft. It is also remarkably quiet. No hum from the airport and no planes arriving or departing.

We have one field which is left undisturbed at this time of year. No grazing until late summer and no fertiliser. This gives wild flowers the chance to flourish. Cowslips are particularly found of this kind of environment.

The quarry still has a lot of primroses out which make a wonderful display.

Then it was back to the farm for a cuppa and a bit of Simnel cake. A smaller version of my normal cake and with a lack of chicks which I hadn't even thought of in my frantic supermarket dashes so Snowdog had to stand in as a lamb!

Tulip Time

I particularly enjoy tulip time. I love daffodils but enjoy the variety of colours and shapes of tulip flowers. We normally buy quite a few new bulbs each year to go in various containers. This is always one of my favourite shows. This old trough is situated in our yard as you drive in.

I love the mix of the tulips and the wallflowers against the contrast of the wall.

Last summer we spent a day at the Dorset Steam Fair. This may seem a bizarre place to buy bulbs but there was a stall there with the most amazing array of different bulbs. We bought quite a few which luckily the lady looked after for us until we were ready to go home. She was based in Wimbourne and I would definitely search her out if I visited the fair again.

We consequently have quite a range.

I am quite a fan of these double ones.

Another great thing about tulips is how they change throughout the day. They open up in the bright sunshine and then close as the light fades.

Tulips don't seem to naturalise as easily as daffodils with the exception of some of the more common varieties. These red ones amongst the daffs come back every year.

Which is your favourite?

Happy Easter

I would like to send you all my best wishes for this Easter weekend. Take comfort in the signs of Spring in nature that there will be an end to this time of great distress.

Take good care of yourselves.

Full on Lambing

I thought I would start with a picture of the fabulous view from one of our fields where the ewes and new lambs are enjoying the grass. I thought I would give you all a chance to soak up a bit of our glorious countryside during these grim times.

Lambing is in full swing. We have had a busy week but are now over half way through. The weather has been kind to us so the mums are outside pretty quickly. They obviously still need to be checked and sometimes need a little attention. This lamb needed an injection and has actually ended up back in the shed now where it can be watched more closely.

There is always time for a little smile at the interesting positions taken for a bit of a snooze.

This ewe has recently delivered but by tomorrow will be moved into a bigger pen ready to go outside.

We are missing all our normal visitors to the lambing shed. Meanwhile Poppy waits patiently for me to finish. I have been asked if she has a license. She is having trouble with the theory test!

Food Production

It is an incredibly busy time on the farm at the moment particularly because everything has coincided. Firstly we have the normal routine job of egg collecting and packing the eggs from 32 thousand hens. Secondly lambing is full on. Thirdly the current Covid 19 crisis has changed people's shopping habits. We sell eggs and potatoes (when in season) from the farm. We have a regular group of customers but this has changed recently. Everyone has been buying more just in case. This meant that the potatoes which we had already nearly sold out of for this winter went very quickly. A lot of people are coming for trays of eggs because they can't get them elsewhere.  We have also had to develop a self service system wherever possible to achieve social distancing. Fourthly the change to dry weather has meant a flurry of field work. 

The potato ground is being prepared. Firstly it has been ploughed. 

Meanwhile Spring barley has been planted and the winter crops have been rolled and also sprayed.

Preparing the potato ground for planting is a lengthy job. Ridges are made, then a bed formed.

The stones are removed with a stone separator.

Hopefully tomorrow planting will start to get ready for a new crop in late summer, all being well.