Hwn a hon

For those of you who wonder how my post manages to get to me without a house number or a street name, this is the sign at the end of our lane:


Friends of ours brought their granddaughter around to visit and she got to hold Big Boy!

Torri gwair...

Good thing I cleaned out behind the shed yesterday as the hedge-trimming guy came today -- exactly one year to the day since he came last year!

Mae'r coeden wedi mynd!

So this is the lovely shed we have inherited -- which, as you can see, is not highly useful or structural. We want to take it down and build a bigger and better shed on this spot. So the first thing we had to do was clear out all the plant life -- brambles, nettles, non-native pine trees, etc -- behind it. Now I didn't bother to take a before photo, as I was sure I had already posted one somewhere on this blog, but damned if I can find it! Anyhow, here are the after photos:




Two plants we are going to save when we demolish the shed are the dog rose and this ivy:


Unless somebody can give me a compelling reason to keep it, I think this privet is going to go...

Corynod

Last night the spiders were out and left signs of their visit everywhere. Must reread Charlotte's Web...

Mae tri cyw merch ac un cyw bachgen gyda ni!

Bridget came round yesterday and sexed the chicks for us (and taught me what to look for, so hopefully I will be able to figure it out for myself next time!)

This one is a girl:


And the one on the left here is a girl and the one on the right is a boy:


There is a third chick in the run with these two -- who is also a girl -- but they refused to all be in the same photo so eventually I gave up!

In other news, we have been digging new beds for the strawberries which have become a bit overgrown.




I have picked the two apples off the tree, and will do something tasty with them (and some other apples I have sitting around) tomorrow...


This cat has been seen around here more and more lately. Can't figure out who it belongs to, but Shiva (far right of photo) has been very actively defending the house...

Mae'r oen yn blasus iawn

Okay, this is going to be a very long post because I know I have been bad and not posted anything for ages! Lots has been going on here, so I'll just wade right in, in no particular order...

Bart from across the road brought these round one morning along with a fresh trout that he'd just caught that night. It seems to be the time of year for mushrooms -- the farmer down the road has got a field full of them as well -- why aren't they growing in our field???


These chick photos are all very old, and all the chicks are much bigger now, so I'm only posting the particularly cute ones. The old chick is now I think about 7 weeks old, and the three little ones are about three weeks and no longer cute!








The tomatoes are growing well, and although we don't have enough to can for winter, I do eat lovely fresh tomatoes every day which makes me very happy...


The runner beans and French beans are also out of control -- we have frozen several batches but really need to freeze more as they just keep growing!


In case you were wondering what the title of this post refers to, we have taken two of our lambs to be slaughtered. I was quite sad after I came back from taking them there, but the next time I saw them, they just looked like every other lamb carcass I have ever seen, and I can tell you that the meat is delicious.




Gratuitous photo of the cat...


I also made my first batch of cheese -- it's just a fresh white curd cheese -- fairly mild and bland -- but it was quite easy, and has inspired me to be more adventurous next time!






The eggs in the waterglass are piling up...


This is a load of rubbish that we have dug up out of the ground that I took to the tip...


We had a rainy day a few weeks ago and Greg did a superb job of tidying the not-airing cupboard -- how long will it stay this tidy???


The blackberries are also ripening now, so if you're in the area and want to come pick some, please do...


And lastly, this has nothing to do with the farm, but I am having a bit of a problem with my car. She is going for her MOT on Monday, and I need to replace the faulty hazard light switch. I've got a new switch, and am following the instructions in my Haynes Manual for the removal and refitting of facia-mounted pushbutton switches. It's all going fine until I get to the instruction that says, "unscrew the two ventilation nozzle/switch trim panel securing nuts." What I have got are not nice nuts but these metal clippy things as shown below that I can't seem to budge. Anybody seen this before??? All help much appreciated...


I promise to try to post more frequently in future as I really hate having this many photos to deal with all at once! :)