Replacement Hen House

I have been thinking for some considerable time that my hen house is going to have to be replaced. The floor boards are soggy and have a disturbing 'bounce' to them when I have to go inside to get eggs and clean up. The hen house is quite old. We have had it for about 15 years and it wasn't new when it arrived. I have replaced the roofing felt (tar paper for you North American people) a couple of times. Although it has had a coating of wood preserver a couple of times and it really needed a new coat a few years ago, I've not done it.This is a hen house that has been sitting in the farmyard next door to us for a number of years. I remember when it was built, so it isn't as old as the one I am currently using. My lovely neighbours have given it to me and have said that they'll deliver it this weekend using the front end loader on the tractor

The green colour is alarming, but really don't judge it just yet. Though the boards are green and a little damp, they're not rotten. It does need some work, but I think that over all it requires the same amount of titivation that the current coop requires.Both need a good clean out and and new roofing felt nailed on securely. Easy jobs. The door on both hen houses need to be rehung. In order to rehang the door of this model, a new board has to be nailed in place so the hinge can be attached to a good, solid piece of wood. The other hen house needs a whole new hinge!

The window glass needs to be replaced. I suspect it is a standard greenhouse sized pane. It also quite obviously needs a good scrub and lathe tacked on to plug the gaps between the boards. After all of that, I predict a coat or two of exterior house paint.

This hen house is larger, has a removable dropping board AND nest boxes that allow the eggs to be harvested without having to go inside the coop!! One only has to unlatch the little hatch and grab 'em! Pure luxury!

So, if this thing shows up tomorrow, I'll have my Sunday all planned out. In the meantime, I have started tidying up the greenhouses in preparation for the new growing season.

There were only two panes of greenhouse glass to replace this year and I had two panes already on site. I think I replaced about eight last year. I'm glad the re-glazing wasn't a big job because I really hate those "W" shaped glazing clips that are used to hold the glass in place. My personal name for the glazing clips is "those bastard pinging things". I have to take my gloves off when trying to get them installed or they will ping off and fly through the air instead of securing the greenhouse glass.

On a final note: This guy was discovered crawling up the kitchen wall on Friday morning. Since I flung him outside, we have found all sorts of silvery slug trails near the kitchen door. it looks like he had been having a grand old time sliming his way around the place. Eww!

Spring Frogs and a Hedge

Last week I was prompted by a posting of a frog photo by Dean on his excellent blog Mostlymacro to go and check the pond in our front garden. Sure enough there were a couple of frogs in there laying eggs. I just knew that if there were frogs in our little garden pond, the large duck ponds up the road will be heaving with frogs. I was looking forward to getting the dog up to the ponds and see for myself.

The days are getting longer now. It isn't dark when I get home from work and I can once again, walk the dog in the evening. George came with me tonight as I made my way up into the woods with our dog Polly. The side road we turn onto to go up to the ponds has had some improvement since I was last on it. Someone is laying the hedge.
It is a skill to lay a hedge properly. One of our neighbours does this for a living and as this is the very road that leads to his house, I suspect that this could quite possibly be his handiwork. You can see that the hedge shrubs have been cut but not sliced all the way through and woven horizontally. The fact that the shrubs were not cut all the way through means that they will not die and they'll grow and make a thick and impervious hedge along that roadside. I remember being told that when the shrubs that make a hedge are cut and being laid down, they must always be laid straight across or uphill. If laid downhill, the plants will die. The frogs were very busy doing mummy and daddy things all over the place! We had to watch where we walked for fear of stepping on copulating frogs! They were in the grass, on the paths and in the road. There were frogs in the puddles as well as in the big ponds.
This water in this part of the pond has been almost completely displaced by frog spawn! George and I heard far away noises that I initially thought were geese flying north, but then we discovered that it was in fact the frogs singing! They're not the loudest frogs I've ever heard, but they do make some noise.


In the above clip you can only hear me bashing around and Polly splashing in the water. You can only hear the frogs if you turn the speakers way up. George, who is very observant, came upon what looked to be a ball of copulating frogs. A froggy orgy if you will. The faint frog calls are much easier to hear on this clip.

In nature, when there is a mass spawning of animals like this, the predators will be out in force as well. We made a couple of large pterodactyl sized herons fly off when we arrived at the ponds and I saw many prints that look like this:and this:
These are not fox paw prints. They are either badger or otter. Otters have been seen in the water near us for a number of months now. I'd love to see one!

So, spring is is here! Yipee!!

Sending Out the Love

I'm in particularly good mood.

I hope everybody is having a good day.

Longtown Poultry Auction

A sale of poultry and poultry equipment is put up for auction a couple of times each year at the Longtown Auction. There was one such auction this morning. My pal Isobel and I had made plans to attend today's auction. Isobel (Izzy) picked me up just at 9.00 this morning and she drove us the 12 miles or so to Longtown and the famous auction mart.
Izzy was glad to have a little break from the sheep as sheep farmers are in the middle of lambing season at the moment. Izzy and her husband have been up to their elbows in sheep at all hours during the past few weeks ensuring that the latest crop of lambs come into the world safely.

I have only ever been to one other poultry auction here and that was over 10 years ago. I must say that these auctions are certainly growing in popularity! It was very crowded!
All the poultry enthusiasts come down from the hills!
There are signs requiring people to wash their footwear. This is for foot and mouth disease prevention.
Here are the pens that hold larger animals (sheep and cattle) during other auctions on other days.

Izzy and I got there just before the auction was to start and we found that we couldn't get inside to view the pens very easily. I'm glad we were not there to bid on anything because in addition to the crowds viewing the stock, there was a huge queue to register for an auction number and to buy a catalogue.

There were two auction rings used today for selling. One smaller auction ring was selling caged birds (canaries, budgies etc.) and poultry supplies while the main ring was being used to auction off eggs for hatching and the hundreds of ducks, geese, pheasants, quail, peacocks, turkeys and of course chickens!

We began our visit by looking at the equipment - not so crowded in this area -
I got some ideas for nest boxes I realize that I didn't get any photos of the huge crowds. Judging by my photos of the empty livestock pens, the place looks positively deserted. The mart was actually heaving with people. We had to walk sideways (excuse me . . . .pardon me . . . . can I slip by . . . ) the entire time we were in the big hall.

Here are some examples of the fine poultry up for auction today:Buff SussexSpeckled Sussex - these were gorgeous and my photo doesn't do them justice -Maran - lay beautiful dark brown eggsBuff OrpingtonQuailGolden Pheasant

The following video clip from my camera gives you some idea of the noise levels we experienced today.



Though neither Isobel or I bought anything, it was great fun to look, people watch and foster outlandish and impractical ideas about raising more poultry than either of us need. If we bought an incubator and more wire mesh . . . .

The few chickens that I keep at the moment keep us well supplied with enough eggs for our family and a few surplus for our neighbours. I like my hybrid layers. They do a spectacular job. The three pure breed hens are nice as well and they lay beautiful dark brown designer eggs when they feel like it. In my opinion these eggs do not show up often enough to justify the hens' space in my coop. I toy with the idea of turning these less productive chickens into soup, but the thought of all that plucking and cleaning keeps the poor layers from the chopping block. A more industrious and frugal poultry owner would have done away with them a long time ago but my idleness and (if I'm honest) mild sentimentality allows them to live on.

Perhaps this summer, I will get my act together with regard to these chickens. The non-productive ones could be culled and fresh birds will be brought in. I could then justify the expense of some fancy nest boxes . . . I could get nest boxes at the next poultry auction.

Signs of Spring

These are some of the snowdrops that can be found along the roadside near our house. The daffodil spikes have started to poke through as well. The early ones may bloom at the end of next month. This winter seems to be a particularly long and dark one. I find that I have turned to thoughts of travel to get me through until the weather warms up and the ground dries out.

When I was a child, I used to go straight for the comic section of the Sunday paper when it was opened up after church. It was for me and probably still is for most Americans, the best part of any Sunday paper. Peanuts, Family Circle, Blondie, they're tops! In the UK there is no comic section in the big weekend paper. After recovering from the latest culture shock, I had to learn to find fun in another section of the paper whilst I had my morning cup of tea. I found respite in the travel section. I really can't resist it now. I will bypass the lead story, ignore the oh so worthy family section and set the real estate section straight on the recycle pile ( we are not ever moving). I go for the section with the big photograph of a sunny, sandy beach on it. Inside there are stories of glorious little cottage hotels in Cornwall with views of the sea and freshly baked everything. There are full page ads for trips down the Mekong in Vietnam and a piece about a family with small apple cheeked tots having a glorious time in a static caravan in Brittany.

I end up my journey through this week's travel section with a look at the bargains to be had in the back. I must say that the bargains are starting to look ever so slightly full priced. For the three of us to fly to Thailand (my current desired destination) it will cost about £600 each!

I have had Thailand on the brain since the middle of January. It was then that I started taking vitamin D supplements to counteract the lack of sunshine on my pale white skin. I always joke to resident (and bronzed) locals when we go for our two weeks of holiday in places that have proper sunshine that it takes a week for my skin to go from blue to white and a second week for my skin to get from white to red.

The desire to go to Thailand was not helped at all by the fact that we were sent a postcard from a Thai friend inviting us to join her on a dive trip in April. The dive trip itself was very inexpensive and the thought of being on a boat in the Andaman sea for four days is quite sustaining, it's just getting there is the thing . . . .
The summer and our holidays are still a few months off yet. So today as I get ready for work and while I'm driving up the M74, in my mind I am diving head first into a warm clear sea. I'll be floating in that easy way you can in salt water and letting the sun soak into my bones.

If anybody knows of a way we can get to Bangkok airport in July for LESS than £300 please let me know!

Tracking the Wildlife

Now that days are getting a little bit longer, it is no longer too dark to walk the dog after work. Both Polly and I really need the exercise and I was pleased to get up the road this evening and to our favourite walk by the duck ponds. Snowdrops are poking through last year's fallen leaves and one can almost feel the sap rising. I know there is always the threat of late snow at this time of year and we will certainly have more frost, but it feels that the teeth have been knocked out of winter.
The light on the hills behind the house was particularly lovely.

There is a lot of sticky red mud this time of year and the old pink wellies get called into service.

I saw loads of signs of British mammals on this walk. First there is this well used path. I can't tell if this path belongs to badgers or a foxes. Both these animals like to follow the same path when going about their daily business. This particular path comes out of the trees, across the grass, under the fence, across the road and into the next field.

After the path, the first mammal tracks I saw were the deer tracks. There look to be about four does and one big buck. I have taken photos of both doe and buck tracks so you can see for yourself how easy it is to distinguish between the doe and buck tracks. doe tracks
doe tracksa buck hoof print

I took the photos of hoof and paw prints next to my hand so that you could get a sense of scale. You can see that the hoof print of a buck is much deeper in the soft mud and has the two distinct heel marks behind the hoof.
I found badger tracks tonight. I've not seen badger tracks up there before. This is a poor specimen of a badger track, but you can see the claw marks plainly.
This is a fox print in the mud. Very similar to a dog but smaller and more delicate and quite different to the badger.
Compare it with Polly's big muddy paw print
Then there are my welly tracks.

I saw our barn owl again just as I was almost home. Even though I had the camera, I still wasn't fast enough to get footage. It's such a beautiful bird,

It was a lovely walk and I look forward to many more of them this spring.

Six Swans

Dumfries & Galloway is home to an important site for overwintering wildfowl. Loads of swans and geese from places further north like, Siberia, Iceland, Greenland, Norway etc. . . come to our coast to wait out the winter. Fields of barnacle geese and pink foot geese can be seen as I am driving around the countryside doing my job. Any inland body of water will be found with overwintering swans on it. These birds are here to eat the grass that still manages to grow in January because of our moderate temperatures.

On the road between Lockerbie and Lochmaben goes across the Annan River and there is an old humpback bridge. You know the one? It's right near the Lockerbie Cheese factory. It is a one lane bridge and when one gets up to the bridge, quite often there is a little wait at the light installed there. When all the traffic going in the opposite direction goes by, then it is your turn to go over the bridge and continue your journey. not my photo

While I was waiting at the light on Wednesday, six swans few over my car. What a sight! It made me gasp. I did not have the camera with me. Even if I had the camera with me, I don't know if I could have been fast enough to get the shot. They were flying low as if they were getting ready to land on the river and went just over the roof of my car. It was such a gift to see these majestic birds in formation and so close!

Still Walking That Dog

It started to snow just before three this afternoon. Any news that I've heard has forecast lots of snow. I thought I had better get the dog out there for her exercise before the snow started in earnest. Just as I was setting out, I saw the barn owl again. There is one, possibly two living in the barn next door to us. I wasn't fast enough with the camera. Trust me, the owl is gorgeous and looks huge from this distance.

On the way to our favourite dog walking spot I stopped by our neighbour's house and dropped off some things I had picked up for them during the week and collected a new jar of marmalade. Our lovely neighbour makes marmalade a couple of times a year and we always get a jar. It is vastly superior to shop bought marmalade.
Here is an early rhododendron blossom.

The old well behind their house.

The road up to the pond.

Frozen tracks in the snow:

There were pheasant all over the place. It seems as though there wasn't a square foot up there that didn't have a pheasant track on it.

The delicate paw prints of a fox. There were loads of fox tracks. I didn't think there were so many.

Oddly, there were no deer tracks today.
The duck pond was frozen over. Polly started to walk out onto the ice. I don't know how thick the ice is. I had visions of her going through and me having to go and get her so I called her back as soon as I noticed what she was doing. There was a confused heron flying nearby. Sorry Mr Wading Bird. You're going to have to look elsewhere for stuff to eat. The food here is under ice.

I kept thinking that in a few short weeks, winter will be over and this place will be overrun with spawning frogs and toads.

In the meantime, it is still firmly winter. It's a shame that at 3 pm it is already too dark on this bit of footage for the falling snow to be seen.


Polly and I had a nice walk in the quiet and lightly falling snow. She does this mad thing where she runs on ahead and then come back to be at full speed. You can see hints of this great trick of hers in the video. It always looks as though she is going to crash right into my legs. As she has the head of a full sized bull terrier, a full on collision would knock me flat. She always swerves at the last possible moment. The trick I have found is to pause or stop momentarily just before she gets to you as she goes right on by. If you step to one side to avoid the oncoming doggy locomotive, you run a much greater risk of collision.

I am writing this about three hours after our walk. The sun has set and the snow has stopped. There isn't nearly enough snow for a snow day but there is still the threat of more. I get the feeling that winter isn't quite done with us yet.

I Didn't Even Notice!

More than three years ago (January 30th to be precise) I began this blog with this post. Time and more than 55 thousand visitors later, I'm still here.

Even though I have not posted as often as I would like at the moment, I'm still here!

I love the fact that I've made new friends and reinforced bonds with old friends through this blog.

This is the list of jobs to be done in the garden three years ago:

• 1. post order for seeds
• 2. spread dirt pile evenly across the vegetable plot and re-cover
• 3. replace broken panes of glass in small greenhouse
• 4. move strawberry bed into the light
• 5. buy a new lawnmower
• 6. prune the rest of the roses and spray them
• 7. plant the rhubarb in a nice spot
• 8. paint the hen house
• 9. fix the broken hinge on hen house door
• 10. tidy up the greenhouses and wash the glass

I find it odd that only numbers 2, 7 and 5 were done and don't need to be done again. The other seven either haven't been done or need to be done again.

I hope that in three years time, I am still here and still blogging!

Another Trip to Arran

I know I've written about going to this island before! This time it was different. No really! I took George with me this time AND the weather was awful! The weather wasn't so bad that the ferries wouldn't run, but the stormy seas made the ferry roll a bit. While we were waiting for the ferry, George and I ate some E. Lots of E! We ate some other letters of the alphabet as well, but we focused most of our efforts on the letter E.
Once we were on the island and I had finished my work we set about seeing the sights. It was too stormy for the seals to be viewed. I'm sure they hide when I come to the island with other humans. I only ever see them when I go to Arran with just Polly for company. Again we bought soap, cheese and chocolate but we also met up with one of the islanders.

I called the day before and made arrangements to meet up with Sean Ferris a member of the Arran Subaqua Club. George and I met up with Sean in a little cafe at the end of Lamlash pier where divers, fresh from the boat and still in their dry suits are more than welcome! I was SO pleased I did this. Sean was so full of information and offers of assistance when asked about diving on the island. He had printed out a depth chart for Lamlash Bay and another section of water, just south of Lamlash Bay that has a spectacular dive associated with it. I got to keep these charts!!

Sean's enthusiasm for diving on his little island was boundless. It turns out that we have a common interest in nudibranchs! (small world huh?) Sean is also keen to see the rare and endangered basking sharks that can be found around Arran in the summer. He has said that he'll text me if any show up this year. What a guy!This is the office for the ferry across to Holy Isle. This office can be found at Lamlash Pier mere steps away from the cafe where George, Sean and I had our tea.
This is Lamlash Pier - with Holy Isle just off in the distance. I've never been there.
If one looks a little to the left while standing near the pier one will see the part of Lamlash Bay that has been designated as the no-take-zone!

I didn't take a photo of Sean for the purposes of this blog. I didn't want to confirm any growing suspicions he may have that I may be a nut job.
I did try to take some photos of this miserable looking flock of oystercatchers with their cormorant buddy and some unidentified wading bird. It was hard to get a picture with the camera I have, a lack of a tripod and sideways rain. The flash kept highlighting rain drops. Here is the best of the bunch.

I reported my meeting with Sean to the rest of our dive club in Dumfries. It has rekindled an interest in a diving weekend in Arran with members who have dived in the waters around the island in the past. Just now, the water is too cold for me, but I am really up for a diving weekend in the summer!