Guest post from Greg.

Unfortunately with Jess still under the weather (and duvet) I have the dubious pleasure of producing today's blog entry. So here are some dodgy photos from my mobile phone and some equally shoddy commentary.

It is freezing overnight causing a hard frost.



But with clear skies it soon warms up to be above freezing so today was the day to turn the compost and extract some 'good stuff' from the bottom.



Lots of worms - we are not eating them but apparently they are a good source of protein.



And using the mandoline I got for Christmas I made Potato Dauphinoise for dinner.

Dw i'n sal...

Nothing to report today as I have felt like crap all day and aside from a few brief trips outside to feed the animals, I have spent all day lying on the sofa alternately sleeping and watching crap TV. The chickens are in bed now, and in about five minutes, I will be too. Nos da.

Y tafod glas

So there I was thinking how difficult this blogging without a camera thing was going to be, as most everything I've done today is pretty uneventful, when the news comes along and gives me a story.

If we have got all these movement restrictions and controls here in the UK, WHY on earth are we allowed to import animals from a country where there is known to be bluetongue circulating???

I just finished reading an excellent book that Bridget loaned me about a man who is farming in North Wales in the 1930s -- and he says then that the government is ruining agriculture and farming -- do things never change???

Lluniau

Went to Carmarthen today to take the camera in for repair. Managed to take a few photos before dropping the camera off, but after this, no more photos until Greg comes home at the weekend with his posh mobile phone...

Had planned to take the bus to Carmarthen today, but various things happened and I ended up sitting in traffic -- I know Carmarthen has only got a population of 13,000 people, but it was like driving in New York again!

You can't really see that well in this photo, but this morning when I went out to feed the duckies I saw that Dewi had what looks like a bloody nose -- is this possible? After a while, he got fed up with me photographing him and jumped in the pond and as soon as his head went underwater, the blood was gone, and he's been fine the rest of the day. Anybody have any ideas? Bridget?

Today was another five egg day -- they are so bright and sunshiny-yellow!

I think this little one might need to go in the freezer soon as it looks like his horns are starting to grow into his head...

Spotted these little ones on the way to Carmarthen -- can't wait until we have our own little lambs!

Off to eat my lamb's heart leftovers...

Haf! (wel, bron...)

We've been having lovely summer days here the last few days -- but at night it drops down below freezing, and this morning I noticed that the frog spawn looked frozen -- does this mean they are dead?

Dug over this bed in the garden again and will be starting to plant things in it shortly -- I think it needs still MORE sand!

For supper tonight I made Stuffed Lambs Hearts -- I must admit, I got a bit nervous at the last minute as I was talking to Faith on the phone and she said that she needed to get off the phone as she couldn't bear to talk to me whilst I was eating a lamb's heart -- but they are absolutely yummy -- a bit like liver!

Today I think is the first time I have succeeded in drying a whole load of laundry outdoors since November...

And in other news, I took out the trash today. Unfortunately, I didn't set out to see how long I could go without taking it out, so I don't know precisely when I last did, but I would guess that there is about 7 weeks worth of rubbish in this bag...

Hwn a hon

Now that the roof is done, I tried to get various bits and pieces organised so that we can finish off the last remaining tasks on the shed. One thing that has been lurking for some time is this borax-based wood preservative. The doors are going to be made from untreated wood (unlike the rest of the shed which has been tanalised at the sawmill) and thus they need to be treated before being stained. I bought this ages ago and when it turned up and I saw that it was red I kind of freaked out but the woman from the shop who sold it to me said it wouldn't look red when it was on the wood -- and she was right!

Wood before:

And wood after (I imagine it will look a bit less shiny when fully dry):

Two good eggs today, plus this soft shelled egg -- is this the pullet hen's first egg?

Got a refill for the LPG for the cooker (I did warn you that if I blogged every day it would get boring):

My friend Angela gave me a jar of the marmalade she made yesterday -- and it does look like a jewel when the light is shining through it just so...

Bart dropped by with another pheasant:

And I will leave you with these last two photos that I took at sunset today while putting the chickens to bed:

My camera has been playing up again and I will shortly need to take it to the shop to be re-repaired -- so this blog will shortly be text only, and then my life will be even more boring -- so if there is anything you want to see a photo of before the camera goes away, ask now!

Dyn ni wedi gorffen y to!

It started off with a cold frost this morning...

...but with the aid of this lovely "full Bwlchyrhyd" that Greg cooked (egg from our hens, sausage from Goetre Farm shop in Llandysul, bacon from Julian Cooper in Llandeilo, bread made by Greg from flour ground at Bacheldre Watermill in Powys)...

...we were able to get the roof of the shed finished at last! Yippee!

Anifeiliaid

Now that eggs are no longer the rarity they have been of late (if I recall correctly, I think we had three today?), Greg treated us this evening with Yorkshire puddings AND pancakes filled with home-made apple sauce and real maple syrup that his parents brought back from Canada...

We went over to Llandysul this morning and looked into me getting a bicycle... Watch this space for further details. Or should I just say, watch the Talley Road!

To get there, we drove across Mynydd Llanllwni:

Bart's peacock came to visit us again today as well -- I think the chickens and the ducks were a bit confused...

And last but not least, I saw my first daffodils of the season in bloom today! Not ours I'm afraid, all the way over in Felindre -- perhaps it is warmer there?

Wyau!

Three eggs on Wednesday and, can you believe it, FIVE eggs today! Spring must be well and truly coming...

In other news, the helmet is coming along nicely...

Off to the Talley supper - being held in Llandeilo as we have no pub any more... :(

Pethau

I have been doing this blog for nearly three years now and have avoided memes up until this point; I suppose I should consider myself lucky.

I have been tagged by Willow at Contemplating Change for an archive meme...

Archive Meme Instructions: Go back through your archives and post the links to your five favourite blog posts that you’ve written. … but there is a catch:

Link 1 must be about family.
Link 2 must be about friends.
Link 3 must be about yourself, who you are… what you’re all about.
Link 4 must be about something you love.
Link 5 can be anything you choose.

I think this is a great way to circulate some of the great older posts everyone had written, return to a few great places in our memories and also learn a little something about ourselves and each other that we may not know. Post your five links and then tag five other people. At least TWO of the people you tag must be *newer acquaintances so that you get to know each other better….and don’t forget to read the archive posts and leave comments!

I tag:

1. Anna at Baking for Britain -- I've only just recently discovered this blog and haven't had the time to go back and read all the old posts but it seems quite thorough and well informed.

2. Sharon at Casaubon's Book -- same thing -- I've been reading this one for a few months now, but she is such a good writer and there is so much old stuff there I know I will never plough through it all...

3. Kyle at Green with a Gun -- because I admire his bluntness.

4. Zane at Lichenology -- because I admire his thoughtfulness.

5. Envirowoman at Living Plastic Free -- in the hopes that this will inspire her to resume posting!

Back to our normal programming tomorrow...

Haul!

Sun at long last... The sheep and I are both happy...

Have been trying to take advantage of the (temporary) dryness to get some of the garden ready for planting:

The hens think spring is coming too -- we had two big eggs plus a little bantam egg -- I think this is the first day we have had three eggs in one day since November!

The little bantam is so small that she can get through the gate at the bottom and she comes and reminds me when it's feeding time...

Another sign of spring: Bart's peacock has been making his mating call... Shall I answer?

Just made a load of sandwiches and am now off to Tafarn Cwmdu for our weekly quiz...

Mae hi'n brwr glaw ac yn wyntog iawn... :(

It was very windy and rainy today -- but it's really hard to take a photograph of rain...

...so instead, I give you wet sheep...

There is frog spawn in the pond already, which is over a month earlier than we had it last year...

So I spent most of the day indoors working on this helmet for little Julian!