Long time no chat... basically no time !
We are still really busy, but loving every moment . The weather so far this year has been rubbish, and growing anything has been a challenge, but thank goodness for the poly tunnel.At least the plants are growing well there. We have managed to squeeze in a couple of extra beds and a 1000litre water butt, and still we could do with just a little more room. Maybe the solution is for me to be a more tidy gardener... not much chance of that I'm afraid.
Our 20 new fruit trees have survived the odd weather, but there is little sign of any fruit setting, whether this is because of the strange weather or because the trees are young, who knows. We have also started planting a small wooded area in one of our fields. We seem to be collecting trees from our friends, and have found potted trees on the doorstep on more than one occasion. It seems like we are becoming a tree rescue centre. Its great to have the space to be able to do this, and we might just have added to the beauty of the property.
So far our collection of stray trees numbers about 18, including several alders, an oak tree and some sort of maple that a friend dug out of the side of a local road, in case it got run over.I am hoping to plant a lot of willow cuttings in the autumn, hoping to grow them into a growing field shelter.... we shall see how that goes.
James Pond has been giving David a few headaches. The water seemed to be quite murky,and despite us adding a large bucket of oxygenating weed, was not improving. David saw an advert in the newspaper for some magic solution to pond problems. He duly sent off his £10, and a very small sachet of a rather unassuming powder arrived in the post. He followed the instructions, and added the magic solution to the pond ( while I watched, snickering in the background ) and within 2 weeks, the water is so much clearer and the plants even look a little more healthy. Well that will teach me for being such a cynic.
Our six Badger faced sheep have been hand clipped to remove their fleeces. A friend did this for us, it looked like real hard work, and took ages, but at least the sheep were not stressed by rough handling or loud noises. They looked a little moth eaten once they had been sheared and David thought that they might feel a little embarrassed, so he went off to the farm shop, bought his own pair of hand shears and spent another 5 hours, tidying them up and giving them a brush with the dog brush. Never mind the sheep feeling embarrassed, I would have felt a right fool if the local farmers could have seen the two of us running a poofs parlour for the sheep. I did suggest painting each sheep's hooves a different colour to help with identification, but David did not feel that was necessary. Spoil sport.. They are no longer wild and we can move them around the fields with a bit of bribery, in the form of sheep pellets.This certainly takes a lot less bother than me trying to round them up like Lassie while David issues instructions from the side lines. Once the sheep were sheared, we had to find something to do with the fleeces, which are a bit smelly to say the least. My skin itches just at the thought of wool, so I definitely did not want anything to do with the fleeces. We managed to pass the fleeces on to someone who was looking to use them for insulation for their house ( very efficient, Eco friendly etc, but I still don't fancy it my self ), and the loose, really smelly bits from around their bottoms was used as a mulch around the base of some of the new fruit trees. Every time I walk past the trees with these furry bits at their base, I think that the trees look like they have pubes.... yuk.
Our two en suite bed and breakfast rooms are now finished, the are really lovely, and I quite fancy the idea of staying as my own guest. I have just about learnt to get the cooked breakfast items all ready and on the plate at the same time, and I'm now looking at advertising options. Its difficult to decide on how much money to spend on advertising when you have a small range of products/ services to sell. In case you would like to have a look, our web site, which was designed by our very own Mar3k is www.llaingof.co.uk. We also have a really catchy logo, designed by a friend Chris , from Wild Eyebrow Designs. I am lucky to have the help of two clever men ( and David of course, who is the most clever of all and has done a wonderful job all round )
I shall post some recent photos and endeavour to give you more news, in between dealing with the flood of gooseberries we have. So far I have picked and processed about 10kg, and I think there must be just as many waiting to be picked. My poor fingers each have at least one thorn in them, goose berry bushes don't make it easy for you to get to their fruit.
