Hay Time

This weather may be remembered as the only time we have had no panic to get the hay in......talk about leisurely

Hay what ya  looking at  !

And not a cloud in sight!

The Keder polytunnel

How the Keder polytunnel was constructed:                                                                                   

Laying the foundation for the "hugle" beds

Sheep's wool on the ground

A great way to discard of old fleeces from our sheep

Large chunks of alder added to the wool and compost

The mounds are high-3 ft high

Leaf compost laid on top

More compost is added

Many hands..........

The edges of the bubble wrap slide into the metal tubes

Rod about to tighten the cover

It's finished

Et voila!

Swales on the Fell

A long established method of preventing flooding and encouraging water seepage into the water table is the making of long deep channels called swales---whether Swaledale in Yorkshire is named after these I hope to find out!

  Malcolm (our nearest farming neighbour ) and his digger are a great team . After the trenches came the alder posts

and then the birds sitting on their  new perches!

Ingleborough

                            On a clear day Ingleborough in the Yorkshire dales looks an enticing climb
                            Ingleton, the village nearby has a heated outside swimming pool near
                            the river and a swim or a climb up the peak what could be better than a
                            wonderful  Italian pizza from Pepe's .
                                          

Apricot Greenhouse

More Inventions: a new style of greenhouse for the apricot tree after the gales destroyed the glass-lean-to. A glimpse of the damaged apricot greenhouse can be seen in the previous post about the fallen  windmill .

From this

Bending the frame

To this : the wooden frame has been bent and Keder Greenhouse polytunnel plastic stretched across
Rod is pinned to the roof by a telegraph pole !!!!!!!!!!!!

Windmill Disaster

Our windmill fell down. It wasn't even particularly windy that day....The wooden fence must have ever so slightly broken it's fall because there is no damage other than a slight limp! We looked at the bolts at the base plate and some had sheared off. Rod was able to replace 3 bolts but one is still in the concrete! Just to be on the safe side he's attached a metal anchor arm from the tower to the ground--another Rod Invention!

         

Anchor bolts

It's up and behind are trampoline jumpers!

Please sign the petition urging Owen Patterson agriculture minister to vote to protect our bees sign the petition

Wood Wasp below  Bumble Bee above