3 posts tagged “wildlife”

I am so tired, I was up before 6am to go to Jimmy's Farm!

It was a mini Omlet get together. The main reason we was there was to promote the Battery Hen Welfare Trust (www.bhwt.org.uk) I got a sticker and one of those things you see on princesses, or prom queens (not a tiara) it normally says something like "Prom Queen 2006" well mine said "Battery Hen Welfare Trust" :D

I went around the farm with my family as last time I got caught up with my Omlet Buddies, and didn't spend much time with them.

We arrived at Jimmy's at about 9o'clock, and went straight into the farm shop. Last time we came (Christmas 06) by 10o'clock the que was out of the door and there wasn't much stuff left. So we went straight into the shop. We bought 2kg of Classic Essex Pig Sausage. 1.5kg of Farmhouse style sausages. 0.5kg of Pork and Apricot Sausages. 0.5KG OF Gluten Free sauasages. 0.5kg of Beer sausages. Not all of these sausages were for us, they were also for people who we'd told how lovely all Jimmy's sausages were. We also bought 2 Carrot Cakes, Vegetable Pasty (for sean) and 2 pork joints for easter dinner (my grandma had one of them and we had the other!) My Grandma Alcester, also bought me the Jimmy's Farm T-shirt. Total cost of all this: £107.90 LOL!

We had so much shopping already, that Mum and Dad took it back to the car.

This gave Sean and I the opportunity to take some photos. Jimmy had displayed lots of the newborns by the car park for the public to see.

 

Essex Pigs - they're lovely.

 

This black Highland cow also had a calf- which was suckling at the time of photo taken. They were both lovely!

 

In the background is the old barn and in the foreground is a little monkey!

After the market browse and more money leaving our pockets, we decided to visit the Nature Trail. We also went on the nature trail last Christmas, it was muddy, messy, slippy, flooded etc. So it would be interesting to see how it is in different seasons. Well only one word can describe the nature trail - beautiful! Bluebelles galore, wild garlic! Fantastic. It's a real haven. Below will be several pictures of the trail....

 

 

 

Georgeous aren't they!

Well after spending a good amount of time at Jimmy's we decided to seperate. Mum, Dad and Sean went into Ipswich shopping, whilst I stayed at the farm to socialise with my friends from the forum.

I arrived at the BHWT stall and I was stopped several times "Are you Martin?" Which was quite funny! I hadn't got a clue who these people were at first! Lol

Well the BHWT stall really has moved up in the world.

Below is a picture of the stall in December...

 

.... and here is the stall as it was today...

 

How good does it look! It's superb!

 

At that point I decided to hand Buffie my donation. £31 - It should pay for a crate which can be used to save 12 hens at each new rescue. Money well spent.

 

That's me with Jayne Cox (Hidden Egg Detective) and Sarah (Sussex Co-ordinator)!

Jimmy Doherty is a patron of the BHWT so he was only more than happy to pose for a photo! :D

 

Notice that I am taller than him! :D LOL.

So a really good day, one of the best highlights was seeing Dolly again. He was letting people stroke the sheep and I got to hold one, so Sean and I petted it. It was so cute, I wanted to take him home! :D

 

 

The top one - Left to right - Dolly - Martin - Jason the sheep - Sean

So overall a memorable day, was great so see various people and meet lots of others.

I almost came home with more bantams, Jimmy was selling off surplus Point Of Lay bantams for £3.50!!!!

Whilst at Jimmy's I was constantly noting ideas etc. The garden was never too far out of mind. I even bought some pumpkin plants which are now in the greenhouse. They were £1 for 3. I have some Pumpkin seeds but they shall be planted when I actually move up to the lottie.

 

As I wasn't here during the day to do any gardening, I was outside at 9pm in the dark, stocking up the compost heap with teabags, cardboard and fluff. I gave it a good mix, and stir up. Then I got the bantams out for a stroke, whilst they were tired and docile. It's the first time I've properly handlem them, I had to catch poach and scramble the other day because they escaped whilst we was moving the run! They are so cuddly, a ball of soft feathers. A complete cushion if you like! :D Lol.

We had another 3 egg day, 2 eggs from the big girls and Poach laid again! Good Girls. Will just go and fill in the sheet now :D LOL

Well tomorrow is Easter and I think Breakfast will be exciting Poach's eggs and of course Jimmy's sausages.

 

Thanks for dropping by,

Chat soon,

Martin x 

 

It's not been the warmest, but it's been very nice here to day. Sun was shining and blue skies up until about 3o'clock.

Been around at Grandma and Grandad's most of the day making sure that Grandad is getting all his sugar!

 

Whilst I was there I had the opportunity to check on my seeds. I've had loads of Germinations since yesterday.

6 x Iceberg ;Lettuce

7 x Brocolli

1 x Garden Pea

4 x Cauliflower

 

 

You can see some greenery in the pots above, they are all Iceberg Lettuces. With Courgettes and Brocolli to the right and French Beans, Garden Pea and Dwarf Beans to the left! There are obviously far too many seeds in that one Lettuce pot so tomorrow I shall probably try to seperate them out a bit and also give all the pots a sprinkle of water.

Also today I noticed that the plum tree in the orchard (1 tree in my back garden! LOL!) has come into full blossom and it looks beautiful. It wasn't until last year that I noticed we could eat from this tree! Every time I clean the chooks out I put some of the waste around the bottom of the tree and then put the woodchips on top. Gives it that extra boost. I hope to be making some plum jam this summer when the fruits are bearing.

 

You can see the tree there up against the wall and just behind the eglu. It's not too far for the manure to travel.

The next photo is of the blossom of that very plum tree. I am so proud of it, to be honest I don't think it would be out of place in Gardeners World Magazine!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Can you see all of those lovely plums I am going to have! Yum Yum!

Whilst giving the dry area of garden, in which the Plum Tree is located, I also noticed how well my Strawberry Plants were coming on. So it looks like I shall have a bumper crop of strawberries! I have 4 large pots, in which about 15-20 Strawberry plants are embedded! I left them with no water or protection over the winter, and to my amazement they have survived the frost and snow to come on! I only had 3 plants last year so they've multiplied by at least 5! I think that all 3 plants cost me £2.50 when I bought them as plug plants last year at a garden centre. I never knew Strawberry Plants were so hardy! I've also been told that every plant will give a better harvest than the year before. So I'm expecting a high yield! Let's just say I'm very excited.

I'd thought I'd include a picture of one of my flourishing plants for you to see!

 

I am having a good day on the veg front!

 

I had one egg today, for the first time in about 10 days, all the other days prior to today I have had 2 egg days. Of course, I shall be looking forward to 5 egg days when Scramble, Poach and Hardboiled arrive! Lol, I am very excited about that!

I've been trying to prove to my brother, Sean, that we do infact live in the country side. He does not believe me!

 If you lived 100 yards from a beef farmer, and a huge field. Woulf you say you lived in the countryside? 

If there was a free-range egg farm just down the lane, only a 2 minute walk away, would you say you lived in the countryside?

If there was nothing but farmland inbetween your town and the next, would you say you lived in the countryside?

If you lived a few moments away from a natural spring and only 150 yards away from one of the biggest rivers in the county, would you say you lived in the country?

None of these points have entered Sean's mind. So today I took him on a walk.

This country lane is not far from my house (2 minutes) it's not big enough really for a single car to get through. Does this look like the countryside?

 

Do these views look like the countryside?

The top one is the views through the bushes. Although it was foggy, you can still just about see the Town Church, St.Nicholas in the background.

 

The bottom one was taken when we were near to a field full of sheep. I stood on the metal fence, so that I was high up and was able to get a good view.

 

 

 

 

My Grandparents live a 2 minute walk away from me and I took this picture just after we popped into see them. The little lambs were struggling back up the bank after grazing next to the river as Mummy sheep had a well deserved drink of water!

 

These sheep were owned by a completly different farmer, not too far away either. Just down another country lane. LOL! These two were tucking into a sort of cereal based feed and water. I think there shack is ever so attractive and is a real feature, so I made sure that was in the picture too! I really liked these sheep, they had bald necks and huge fleeces, that were really frizzy. I wish I could have took them home, but hey, they're only down the road! Does this still not look like the countryside?

 

Now this is the most beautiful place in Alcester. It's georgeous. It looks especially good during the spring. Look at the daffodils, rapids current, willow tree, sheep in the field, you can't see it in the photo but there is also an original roman bridge in the background. Is this not the countryside?

 

Well what can I say. Sean has had to admit defeat, If I did not go no more than 1 mile from my house at any time and show him all these sites, what else could he want? I'm so greatful to be living in such a lovely place and not in a city where the nearest field, just doesn't exist.

 

The only downside to the current state of the countryside is of course pollution. There is so much fowl litter around, and it really does have an effect of the local wildlife. The first of the next 2 pictures is of a stream next to the allotments site. There were 2 ducks in this stream, 20 coke bottles, 40 carrier bags, a metal pole, empty crips and cigarette packets, a crate etc. The poor ducks have had their home spoilt by the inconsiderate people who can't be bothered to put anything in the bin. The second picture is of the bin.

 

 

Ok, I do admit that is the dog poo bin! I wouldn't put general rubbish in a dog bin. But dog poo is also a problem in the countryside, aswell as the sort of vandalism that the picture tells of also. Somebody has obviosuly lit a fire in the dog bin and it's melted down to the ground and is just a solid piece of metal!

 People allow their dogs to fowl, in the belief "It's ok, it's the country. Nobody is going to step in it." or "It'll just decompose." It won't pick it up, put it in the bin!

We can always be sure that the countryside will be a lovely place.

I hope you have enjoyed this post! It's taken me 90 minutes to compose, but it's worth it. It shall be a great reference for me.

I'm going to finish with 2 pictures. My Grandad's greenhouse, which is full of all my pots and seeds, and the last one is the gate to the Allotment site in my town, where hopefully all these lovely plants will eventually end up!

 

 

Thanks for coming here for a read! I really appreciate it!

 

Thanks again,

Martin

Last week I made a new friend. He likes me so much that he comes to my house every single day to play in the garden and adore the chooks. The other day I came downstairs to put the chickens away and he was so keen that he was down on the floor with them pecking up the grubs!!!!!

My new friend has become so keen that he practically lives here!

 

In fact he's here right now, sat on the window ledge an armstretch away! I bet you've guessed this is no ordinary friend. Infact it a very unusual one indeed. My new friend is a bird, a pigeon to be percise. He's very small, and has lots of fluffy feathers, knowing a bit about chickens if he was a chicken I would say he was about 12weeks, the fact that he is the size of a dutch bantam says it all. This young bird has not left the garden since we met about a week ago. At first I thought he was just a normal pigeon so tried to shoo him away, but he did not flinch. Then I thought he must be injured, got very close and he flew to the other side of the garden. I just left him in peace, to come back a few hours later for him to be on the fence again, odd. Presumed he must be injured but left him over night and he keeps coming back. I can guarantee if I go outside this exact pigeon will be on the fence, bedroom windowledge or satellite dish. He's such a lovely fellow that I've let him enjoy the garden at his own will. I've even put a corn sandwich out for him which he seems to like, he also likes to let the chickens dig the garden and then swoop on the leftovers. A funny little bird.

This is the best picture I have. I have only just taken it. Please excuse the Disney Land leaflet. If you look closely near to the curtain just behind the leaflet you'll see a beautiful feathered face. Who says a pigeon can't get lost?

 

Thanks for dropping by,

Martin

 

P.S School sent a bulk of work home! LOL

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Just took a few more photos, he is still in the same position as before. However he looks a bit more sleepy!!