Midsummer in October!

Summer morning in October!

As usual, it was practically dark when we finished!  BUT, we did get a lot of jobs done!  Not least planting the shrubs bought at Stone House Cottage garden:

• Ledum groenlandicum
• Heptacodium jasminoides
• Vibernum plicatum Mariessii

Fernery Path

Oh and for good measure; a Rhododendrum Princess Alice.  I defy you to spot the first 2 in this photo!  The smallest PTC Prunus died and so that was duly removed and its very healthy clematis moved to the tool shed balcony.  Patching the remaining square of turf was the challenge as we stole minute bits by edging elsewhere.  The summerhouse was painted with wood preserve as were all the finials around the Hen Pen.  (We won't mention Chris on the summerhouse roof and a borrowed and brand new shiny steps when he spilled the paint!!! However, it involved hot soapy water, much scrubbing and a pressure washer!!)  We have the greenhouse to do next week.  Wallflowers were also planted and Chris went round with his blower leaving everything looking pretty tidy. 

Paul, Ian & Al (after their roast pork!)

Unbelievably, we had lunch al fresco today - 

difficult to realise it's actually October!

WINNING EGGS

Lulu - teacher's pet!

 We thought the girls deserved some recognition for laying their winning eggs so, they now have new egg box labels and, their prize card is pinned inside the egg sales box at the end of the drive.  Today's eggs sold out within 10 minutes of being put out!

New label

Comments from the Coop

Egg sales point!

All five hens are laying.  Poppy laid her first china white egg the day after arriving and Tosca laid her first egg yesterday.   Tosca and Poppy appear to be settling well and behaviour continues to improve amongst older hens. At present, the older 3 are roosting in the Hennery House leaving the other house for the new ones.  The atmosphere in the Hen Pen is quite tranquil - unlike the days of Bluebelle's dictatorship.  I figure that if all 5 are laying, there can't be too much wrong.  There is some queueing for the 2 nest boxes and occasionally eggs are found on the floor of the House for Hens.  Do 5 hens need more than 2 nest boxes???  We feel a price increase will be due when all the half dozen boxes have sold.  Next time, we'll order the size containing  4 eggs - avoiding hassle with change.

SUCCESSES at STOKE BLISS!

Competing at Stoke Bliss Agricultural Improvement Society Annual Competitions this year turned out to be surprisingly successful!  Successes included -

Prize Cards

• Best Foliage Plant                                          1ST
• Saucer of 4 hens eggs                                   2nd
• Picture in any medium                                    2nd
• Agricultural Photography                                3rd
• Meadow Hay                                                   3rd
• Jar of Wild Crab Apple & Scilly Mint Jelly       Highly commended
• Sporting Photography (GRB)                        Highly Commended

Our very own prize winning hay!

Of course the very best prize was a 3rd in Meadow Hay!!!  I bet no one ever guessed that I didn't have a rick full of baled hay and that the truth is I don't even have enough to bale at all!  What a buzz!  It was noticed that the 2nd prize winner failed to exhibit the correct and stipulated weight of 5 kgs of hay and some of us wondered why this failure to follow competition rules hadn't meant disqualification but hey! (pun intended) I was too thrilled to win a prize at all!  Thanks to Maureen who supplied the perfectly sized bag!

The next (and almost as exciting) was a 2nd for the eggs!  That really was a nice surprise after all the work put in on chickens!  The Begonia which had spent a year under the greenhouse staging scooped a first and although is quite a good specimen it had received no attention whatsoever - unlike the chickens!!  Greg has to take credit for the Highly Commended sporting photography shot as I was struggling for any material at all for this category.  I was pleased with 2nd in the Picture in any medium as I loved the shot so much.  It was a frosty/misty naked oak tree printed on canvas

Oak tree printed on canvas

Greg's 3 Legged Race!

Winning Eggs Before..

...Winning Eggs after!

Watching the skill of the older competing ploughmen in the vintage classes is always a joy and we met Keith Willimas who farms in Kings Caple all around the Hehirs boathouse!!! As always after watching the ploughing competitions, it was into the barn for an excellent and hearty roast pork lunch.  

Begonia grown from a cutting

Ploughing a straight furrow!

More ploughing photos can be seen at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/reorder?uname=peartree.pam&aid=5655994357752422177

Tosca & Poppy Move In

Tosca and Poppy

A trip to Newland Poultry yesterday meant that Tosca and Poppy have now come to live at PTC.  They are replacements for Bluebelle and Priscilla R.I.P..  Tosca is a Black Rock hybrid and Poppy a Coral hybrid As soon as it was dark, we put them in to roost with Black Betty, Lulu and Amelia and hoped for the best.  This morning the House for Hens look like a cell in the Maze Prison!  However when the door was opened, the 3 older residents came rushing out with the new girls refusing to budge.  Obviously, it all looked too scary for words and after 20 minutes they had to be tempted to the bottom of the ladder with corn.  After a few minor skirmishes where the referee had to wave a red card at Lulu of all least likely culprits, they seemed to settle down.  Poppy flew up to the House for Hens several times and was seen pecking and scratching up all the newspaper.  As soon as the nest box was pointed out, she laid her very first china white egg - on her very first day!  She can't have been too traumatised by events.  More photos can be found at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/100788191989823327785/NewArrivals2292011

Conifer Pruning Between (& During!) the Showers

Chief Pruner

This weekend, it was time for conifers to have their annual haircut. Now! There are always 2 important roles as far as this job is concerned!  Wielding the pole cutters and holding the ladder!  Guess who's job it is to hold the ladder and get absolutely showered in conifer cuttings which go down ones neck every single time no matter what precautions are taken!  Not that I was the only one to suffer! Chris; clad in climbing harness and a T shirt, was marooned at the very top for 10 minutes whilst the heavens opened!  Torrents of glacial rain fell and, minutes later, it was back to blue skies and warm sunshine!

O.I.C. Ladder Security!

Too Much Hen-Pecking!

Poorly Priscilla

Sad news from The Hen Pen.

We've had to say good bye to 2 hens in a single week.  Bluebelle for constantly attacking the others who, being all smaller, were unable to defend themselves from her persistent and vicious attacks. For poor Priscilla, it was because of injuries sustained.  Bluebelle the Bruiser had stopped laying,  grown spurs and was generally behaving like a psychopathic cockerel  and serial killer. It's rather quieter with just the 3 but they are  much happier and more settled.  We hope to pay another visit to Sarah at Newland Grange in order to increase our flock as soon as we are able.  Of course; egg production is temporarily down!  

With winter in mind; last weekend we moved tons and tons of new wood chips into the Hen Pen - 46 wheelbarrows to be exact!  Chris and I had 4 wheelbarrows on the go, he did all the filling and used the biggest barrow!  The idea is that when the winter rains eventually arrive, the girls' quarters won't look like the Somme.

LADY in LAVENDER

The remains of the shortbread!

As Stockton Bury had run out of Lavender meaning a dearth of that sweetly scented shortbread, it was time to put the Treasure recipe for Neil's legendary Lavender shortbread to the test.   Picking the flower heads was easy enough.  Plucking all the tiny flower heads of each head was another matter entirely.  Two and half hours later, there was just enough to fill a single decent sized jam jar.  I doubled up on the stated amount of Lavender and the results were really delicious. Even before I could reach for the camera, half the jar had been eaten!  Given that this was the Lavender brought by Chris and grown from self set rescued seedlings, I'm hoping he'll approve!

The ingredients!

Yep! He did approve!