2nd 2 weeks

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The tractor has arrived. We have a brand new New Holland. I am not very mechanical, all I know is it’s blue!!! Lol. We’ve used it to move caravans, and it is so much easier than pushing them by hand. The children think it is great riding on the tractor.

The beginning of July was clod here. We had to put the heating on. Something Never heard of in our family ever. We even lit the aga.

The weather finally set nice and we have been making hay. We actually cut about all 30 acres but only baled about 18. The rest was so full of thistles. All thistles and no grass. We have managed to put up 1000 square bales. Not bad considering we have no experience, and the land has had no management for 3 years and had totally gone to pot. I’ve discovered muscles I didn’t know I had. We managed to do this in 7 days.

The ducklings have arrived. They are Khaki Cambells. I ordered 12 thinking some may die but they are so strong and robust. They are all doing fine. Aren’t baby’s time wasters? I have to keep going in and checking them!! We put them in Charlotte’s (3) paddling pool. She only got it a couple of weeks ago for her birthday but she thinks it’s great the ducks are living in it. We separated half of it off to start with but today they have been let into all of it. (8’x5’)

I started making some cakes to sell with the eggs. Light fruitcake and sultana cake are the most popular with chocolate and ginger coming in well behind. I’ll have to do another batch tomorrow.

We have ordered 12 weeners. Large white crosses. They were supposed to be delivered this week but we’ve had to put this on hold because of foot and mouth. We had already agreed our neighbour could rent a paddock for 24 Jersey calves and they are coming this week. The new legislation due to f&m says you cannot move livestock on or off within 21 days of a previous livestock movement.

To get the pigs here we are having a man deliver them for us, as we don’t have a trailer yet. The pigs have to be visited by the vet within 24 hours before being transported. The truck then has to go to a sanitation site to be disinfected and sealed. He collects the pigs and delivers to us. He must then wash out the trailer and return to the sanitation plant with the relevant paperwork and be disinfected again. All this we have to pay for. £20 disinfect ion (about $30).

I spent quite a lot of time finding a vegetable shop that may have end of day surplices. I have found a small shop, only a mile away who has so far given me 2 sacks a day (Once I found them I could hardly tell them we haven’t got the pigs yet) This should help with their feeding as we haven’t got a vegetable garden yet.

We bought a Rhode Island Red cockerel from the man we got the ducklings from, and separated the 7 best chickens to be with him. We’ve named him Rooster Cogburn (only animals not going to be dinner are getting names here) the new passion palace hen house arrived today and when we’ve finished joining the electric fence to the new chicken paddock Cogburn and his wives will be moving in.

Well that's us in the UK for another couple of weeks. Greetings to you all

God bless you

Alison

-- Anonymous, July 30, 2001

Answers

Yummy! Fruitcake! I'd buy some if I were anywhere nearby!

You can always put the scraps into compost until you get the pigs. The chickens might like to take a crack at them too.

-- Anonymous, July 30, 2001


The light fruitcake and Dundee cake was about all that I lived on during one visit to England. Boy, it was good. I was in such a state of high excitement being there that I had almost no appetite at all, but i remember those vividly.

I've forgotten where about you said that you were located. Do you expect that you'll be able to do late garden crops, such as cabbages and whatnot? I've planted a lot that I figure will feed my small livestock going on into winter. Another trip to the UK we went the first week of December to London and I was very surprised when I got there to find that there were still ROSES blooming in little protected pockets here and there, and green stuff, and only found one tiny little pock in the dirt of the path at Highgate Cemetary that had ice in it. It was much milder than we had at home (I came back to a raging snow storm at infamous O'Hare Airport and temperatures around 20 F), and while I expected that, I guess I wasn't prepared for HOW much milder the winter would be. At least in London it was. I saw a Monkey Puzzle Tree growing there and that surprised me too.

-- Anonymous, July 31, 2001


We live in North Devon. Our farm was in one of the exclusion zones for the foot and mouth. The farmer renting the land volenteered his flock of sheep just after Easter. We are hoping to get some winter veg in, although I'm not sure what yet.

Alison

-- Anonymous, August 04, 2001


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