Flock of Yellowhammers.

Just click on the photos to make them bigger!

 

Shrooms......

Out walking with Trojan across the fields earlier in the week we found mushrooms popping up all over the place.

I do not know how to identify them so have no idea if they were safe to eat so left them be, Trojan didn't think they smelt too appetising either!!

None the less...they were great photo material!!



This one is upside down but I left it this way
because I thought it looked cool!!



They are such delicate things to emerge from
such solid ground.



Trojan had a good look at them but
wasn't overly impressed!



With this one you can see it hasn't long come
up and see how heavy the earth is.



I'm kind of fond of this
quirky picture.



Trojan having a good old sniff,
didn't try to eat it though.

So what do you thing to my 'shroom' shots?? I rather enjoyed playing about with the camera...Trojan never minds how long I take either as it means he has more time to explore!!

Can any of you identify mushrooms?? Do you know if these would have been palatable or poisonous?? Maybe you know a good book you could recommend to me as I would love to know which ones I could pick fresh from the fields.

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Tree Surgeon.

Well I am not a tree surgeon but I did recognise that the trees on the bee plot especially needed a really good pruning.

The fruit this year in a lot of cases was small and bitter tasting. Also as they had been left to there own devices they had got so tall I couldn't reach a lot of the fruit and had also ended up being a little more bush like as opposed to tree like.

These are just two of the trees that
needed some serious attention.



Can you see the difference? All the trees here
have now been pruned if not overly well
and I hope that next year we will have
some lovely sweet fruit.




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Decisions, decisions?!?!?!?!

Today was a much nicer day than yesterday for which I was really happy about as although I loved having a cosy lazy day yesterday I was a bit headachy by the end of it and relished the fact that I got to take a lovely long walk over the fields with Trojan and the neighbours with their dog Sonny.

Trojan, Sonny, Eva and Benjamin.

Then after dinner I went up the allotment and finally managed to get the shed on the bee plot completed, this has been a work in progress over the last couple of weeks just spending an hour here and there on it.

Slats put on the roof to further strengthen and support the felt, rafters put up inside for extra roof support, a good coat of creocote to preserve the wood and the windows sealed to hold the glass firmly in place.

The shed is still a work in progress here.

As you can see from the photo above I have also laid some slabs at the front to have a solid surface to walk out onto. They aren't totally level but it adds to the ambience of the plot...at least that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!!

So you may wonder what all this has to do with decisions...well, as well as everything listed above I also got guttering put up both side of the shed, I'm not sure if you can tell from the photo but this shed is over 10ft long and at present I have one water butt set up at the back...but of course I have guttering on both side so should I get another water butt?? This is how it's set up at the minute.

This water butt is going to fill up pretty fast!!

That really isn't the decision I need help with though, originally I was just going to have one but when I think about it now having another water butt is a no brainer as I will be able to collect a lot of water from this shed and will fill two in no time at all....the decision I need help with is should I buy another one or should I take one from my much smaller shed on my other plot??

This does however have water in that has been collected already. Should I just get another?? I don't think you can ever collect too much water!!

So what do you think?? I am probably going more with get another but would love other peoples opinions too!!

Oh...here is a photo of the shed finished...looks a little different to when we first put it up here

The finished shed in all it's glory!!

And here is the now lovely tidy interior...

Tidy, well organised shed.

I got this all sorted today and also found some inhabitants...a family of mice which to be honest I don't particularly want in here but it isn't always easy to get rid of them. They were lovely little things, a family of 5 and had very glossy coats but I am sure that is probably from the beeswax they have consumed so I have put all wax in a sealed box and mouse proofed the drawers...fingers crossed this works but only time will tell. Pity I didn't get any photos of them but I was too busy trying to 'shoo' them out so never thought to grab the camera...no doubt I will come across them again though as I have noticed a couple of places where they can get access so this will need to be sorted out soon.

And just to finish off here is another feature that was added to the bee plot a while ago,

wind chime frame.

This wind chime frame is centrally placed just behind the pond. It makes lovely melodical sounds on a breezy day!!.

It's going to be a ramble!!!

The post that is...and did you really expect anything else from me after such a long silence??? Again!!!

Well I have been incredibly busy trying to get on top of things...and then relaxing and cooking and working and cleaning and improving...inn fact October was a very busy and productive month!!

The allotment certainly resembles more of an allotment now than it does a pasture and there are crops growing nicely for the winter.

I finally got all the potatoes out of the ground, half or the plot had had a winter dig in preparation for the colder months and most of the trees have had a real good pruning.

Still a few trees to prune but I ma waiting for the green bins to be emptied this week before I can finish those and at that point I will be able to get the last bit of winter digging/weeding done too!!

Last weekend the weather changed and the temperatures dropped phenomenally...can't complain though after all the lovely weather we had in October...and so warm.... there were times when I was still just working in a t-shirt!

Right now I am sat on the sofa and outside it's cold and wet....this is a plus...it gives me time to sit and relax and let all of you know what I have been doing...and even though it's raining I am happy with where I am right now as regards work done an yet to be done on the plot. I have even managed to get the garlic and broad beans in on time this year...Yay me!!!!

Another one of my work colleagues is pregnant and I have something in the pipeline for that which I will share with you on completion...and now the colder and darker days are here it is time to get out my knitting and finish those jumpers I started last year...one is for a friend and I would really like to get it to her before Christmas...Laura if you're reading this, don't worry I haven't forgotten!!

Trojan is as adorable as ever and is currently laid flat out and occasionally snoring in front of the T.V. but don't worry, it's not on....I don't like him to watch too much hehehe!!

As for the hubby and the boys they are bickering about WOW...the joys of computer games..lol

Of course on top of all that I have been playing a lot with the dehydrator and coming up with some delicious...and a couple of gross goodies. I do have a cook book for it but most of the time I have just been winging it with creativity and seeing what happens!!

I'm quite surprised.... this isn't as much of a ramble as I expected..... and I now seem to be running out of things to say. I do have plenty of photos to share but thought I would do that over the next week so as not to inundate you with too much after such a long silence and I am sure you will all appreciate more pictures and a lot less words over the next week after this!!

So I guess that's me...now I have time to catch up with you all.

Have a great weekend!!
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