A New Year!

My first post of the year and over a month since I last posted!  The New Year is in full swing with the Christmas and New Year festivities a distant memory and we are forging ahead with our goals for 2016.

The weather was horrendous throughout December, I spent Christmas day morning haying the horses in torrential sideways rain before returning to the steamy warmth of home dripping wet to my socks and pants to a well earned Eggs Benedict Royal and a couple of bottles of fizz!

Fingers crossed we hope to complete
on this little house this spring!

We are now going through the purchase of our little house to be nearer transport links and closer to the land.  It is going to be a downsize after living in a large 4 bed for the last two and a half years so we will be kept busy with trips to the tip and some decisions about what we take with us.  All being well we hope this purchase gives us more security in the long term with the option to be able to add further value to the land in the near future.  

This winter has really highlighted the fact that we need to improve/replace the leaky sheds and plant more hedging to give shelter from the winds and rain.  The area is full of natural springs and we are struggling with the current wet weather.

 A year ago, what a contrast to this January.

This time last year we were just starting on the fencing project, felling trees and chopping logs most weekends.  The ground was firm, dry and easy to work on, this year we are living in a mud bath trying to corral horses in sheltered areas....much to their annoyance when they would much rather plan their great escapes into the woods or into the top triangle where the haylage is stored to break into the bales and stuff themselves silly.  Oh well at least some of us are having fun!

Over the next few months we will be taking holly cuttings, experimenting with a couple of different ways of reproducing them and seeing what gets the best results.  The new plants will go towards bolstering the bottom hedge line giving more shelter and strength to the boundary, this in time will be laid.  The list for the next month is;

• Holly cuttings
• Fence along the Beehive woods
• Clear rubbish from rock pile and fire pit area.
• Corral fencing 
• Pray for dryer weather!