2015 goals and dreams...whatever the weather...

"Little-big tree", the small but perfectly formed baby oak

With work looming and both Woody and I feeling well recovered after the new years "do" we set about our last couple of days grafting on the land before we went back to the office

Stone wall, log pile and the new fence posts

There were huge branches that had been felled by Ian several weeks earlier that we had been avoiding dealing with because they were just so huge and we did not have a working chain saw.  

There was no putting it off any longer we had to try and move them and create a workable space.  Rather than trying to tackle the branches as a whole we just chipped away with cutters at the smaller outer twigs, then the smaller branches until we could work with a hand saw on the bigger stuff.  Little by little, and it took two days, we finished clearing the boundary ready for Ian to come back once the weather and ground improved.

We work up on the land in most weather conditions, it is beautiful when the sun is shining with views of the forest and river.  There are often buzzards hunting or playing overhead waiting for you to disturb a mouse or vole for them to pick up for lunch.

Lovely frosty mornings

Fence posts waiting for the gate and wire

It is not always quite so idyllic and we have been stranded up there in pouring all-day rain, sudden and violent hail storms, wind too dangerous to work near the trees or so biting that we end up with terrible wind burn and look like we have spent the afternoon slapping each others faces.  

The pony paddock...i think

Being so high up sometimes all we get is a cloak of fog, so depressing and clinging that everything is wet with dew, logs slip out of your grasp and you loose all sense of scale of the field you are working in.  All you want to do is start a fire but that is almost impossible with everything dripping but what a huge relief when it does finally roar into life!

One of the log piles

The more time we spend up there the more we will learn about the conditions and best places to grow and replant new trees and hedges.  We were given a beautiful big Quince tree by my dad but are waiting to figure out the best location to plant it, we must do that this year.  Our main goals for the next few months are;

• Secure the top boundary fence, paint and re-hang all the gates - by end February
• Re-connect the water and re site the trough - by end February
• Fence off the pony paddock and top triangle - by April
• Re-lay the bottom hedge and part of the middle hedge - before growing season.
• Finish any major tree pruning - before growing season

There are other goals like planning where to plant, what repairs are needed on the cow shed or can we get planning for a dry store/stables etc. but we can start daydreaming about the fun stuff once the priority goals are achieved.

We have booked a weeks work with Ian in February, keep your fingers crossed for some good weather!