Tidying Up

Keeping An Eye Out
Having decided we wanted to spend a few hours at lotty first thing yesterday morning we set off with a flask of coffee for me and John and a bag of things for the Blur to play with. As we got through the main gates we noticed Geoff the teacher stood at the top of the lane. We drove up and stopped to tell him we'd be down in a minute to see him. He told us he was having a look around because he'd heard some strange noises and he thought it might be from a fox, to which John said yeah theres a fox right there. It was walking up the lane towards the car. Once it got a bit closer and realised we were there it quickly ran away. The blur made a point of coming down to the school plot with me in the hope she would see it again. On our way back we saw chicken George (I have just found out that his name is really Pete.) He told us that he'd just seen a fox walk past and we told him that John was still in lotty looking after the chickens in case it came into our plot. Having been back in for a few minutes I glanced over and noticed the fox walking along our fence. The chickens noticed too and one of them started to make a rather loud clucking noise. Slightly later on we heard the same sort of noise from them again and John said they must have see the fox, but I told him one of the girls had just laid an egg and was announcing the fact to the world.

Work To Do
Our main reason for spending the morning at lotty was that we had some tidying up to do. As always John started by lighting a fire while I emptied the Charlton Heston shed and took things out to put on the fire as and when I found them. The Blur spent her time between talking to me in the shed and poking the fire with a pole, and as it turned out she really hadnt needed a bag full of stuff to keep her amused. We had three black bags of shredded paper in the shed and as I went to pick them up I found out that the bottoms of two had been eaten away. I told John that Henry Mouseowski had been in finding things to build his home out of. As id seen the mouse I had only assumed it was him until after moving more things out I discovered evidence of a rat having been there. He doesnt seem to have touched anything other than the paper and a sheet of white insulating stuff, but I very quickly found a bin to keep all of the chicken food in. Talking about it at home John said we'll have to put some traps down, which I did protest about for a bit but I can understand why its necessary to use them and will have to try and get some.
When John had lit the fire he got started on emptying the hut so that could have a sweep through too. We have so much stuff in there and looking at it outside I kept wondering how we got it all in there and how John was going to fit it all back in. But he did manage it and it looked lovely when it was finished.

Stolen Peas
Around Christmas time we planted a few seeds and put them into greenhouse two. I didnt check on them every day because I didnt want to be disappointed when there was nothing there. But I had a peek in at the beginning of the week and to my surprise there were peas that must have started to shoot a few days ago. It was very exciting and gave me some hope for the other seeds. Two days later I went back in to see how they were doing only to find that they were no longer there and in the soil it looked like some one had just poked their finger into it. I know this is a sign of a mouses work so I was none too pleased with Henry and his family. I usually dont have a problem with the mouse as he usually just takes a small amount of chicken food and has a little sleep in the coop, but I think we may now have to take measures to stop him.

Alis Adventure
The most amusing thing to have happened at lotty yesterday was Alis little climbing adventure. Whilst I was starting on the shed I turned round and noticed Ali on the ladder half way up the pear tree. We watched as she tried to work out what to do, and realising the only way was up she slowly ascended the ladder and sat under the Blurs seat. I was slightly concerned she wouldnt be able to get back down but John assured me that she was a bird and although it may not be quite flying she would be capable of fluttering herself down. The Blur stayed and watched then came back to report that Ali had just walked down the tree trunk which is at an angle. I was relieved that none of us had had to go up and rescue her.

The buildings of lotty look alot better now and for some reason I found myself wiping my feet before I went into the hut. The only time we had to amuse the Blur haad been when John gave her a tennis ball and she decided she'd like to play fetch with it and John and I took a few turns at throwing it as far down lotty as we could. Thank you John and Blur for a lovely morning at lotty.

Brrrrrrrr

Weeding Through Frozen Ground

As we were up early on Sunday morning we thought it would be a good idea to get on and do some work at lotty before John went back to work on Monday. Knowing it would be cold we put on plenty of clothes and took a flask of coffee, and planned on lighting a fire with all the wood we'd chopped down the previous day. We were going to light the fire at the bottom of lotty where we'd had our fires in the summer but at the last minute John decided to light it in our little fire place by the shed. The wood we were using was not quite dry but we figured if we could get a little bit of a fire going it would soon dry out. John started with a bit of cardboard and straw the added a few of the smaller twigs, and once that was going he added the bigger logs.

Being as cold as I was I thought getting on with something would warm me up a bit, so I took a cushion from the hut and sat by our old sweetcorn patch to get on with the weeding. The sweetcorn did very well there last year so we have decided to put some of our strawberry plants there in the hope they'll do just as well. After finishing half of the weeding John came over and told me to go and stand by the fire to warm up, which I happily did.

After my little break I finished the weeding and went back over to the fire which was unbelievably hot by this point so I plonked myself on the cushion in front of it. Within a few seconds I was lovely and toasty again and I was warm enough to roll my trouser legs up and get a bit of heat on my legs. I even took off my boots to warm my feet, though not realising just how hot the fire was when I put my hands on the bottom of my sock they burnt my feet.

Back over to the strawberry patch I grabbed a spade and started to turn over the soil which meant all of the chickens coming to join me for an easy meal. Its not easy digging with the chickens around as they tend to stand on top of where iv just stuck the spade in and I have to keep nudging them away. Penny was slightly put out when I was digging a bit too close to where she was standing and she slipped into the hole.

When John had finished building the fire he came over and asked if I was ready to plant some strawberries. We laid the pots where we wanted them, with enough space in between each one to allow for the runners which the plants will produce once they have fruited. Walking away from the plantings I turned round to see the chickens had already discovered the plants and I had a bit of a rant at them. Not wanting to lose them to the girls, John and I surrounded the area with glass and then laid a few panes on top to act as a sort of cloche.

We have had a very productive week at lotty and im hoping all of our hard work will pay off in the spring and summer. The blur being away all week meant John and I were able to spend some lovely days alone together at lotty. After going back for the first time yesterday and seeing all the strawberry plants the Blur is looking forward to doing the taste test on the with John in the summer.

Under The Pear Tree

Like A Tractor

Its been so cold at lotty lately that in the mornings we've had to smash the ice out of the chickens bowls and then smash the ice on the top of the water butts to fill them back up. Invariably they are frozen over again by the time we arrive in the afternoon so were having to remember to check the water in the coop before we put the girls to bed for the night.

We decided to take a stroll to lotty yesterday afternoon and the first thing I did as it was the first of the month was to have a look trough our seeds and see if there were any due to be planted. To my surprise there were six lots of tomatoes which could all be potted up. We have a bale of straw in the greenhouse at the moment and it was lovely and warm to sit on whilst I was in there. With all the strawberry plants we picked up from the school in there, greenhouse one is looking lovely and full like it had been in the summer. All of the new plantings have gone down to greenhouse two and although were hard pressed to find more space in there we still have alot more to go in as the next few weeks go by.

Whilst I was planting John dug over some more of our empty patches and spread a bit of blood fish and bone over them. When id finished I went to see if I could help John, as by this point he'd started to pick up the twigs from his pruning and rake up the leaves from under the pear tree. Together we raked the leaves up to the compost heap, it doesnt sound like too hard a job but its a big tree. I offered to help chicken John with his digging the other day and he pretty much laughed so John told him I was like a tractor. After watching me raking for a minute the subject of me being like a tractor came up again. Not that I mind, though I could do with a real tractor some days.

Seed Shopping

We went for a little drive to Trowell this afternoon as we'd been told there was a garden centre there that was already selling seed potatoes. We picked up two bags and had a look at the other ranges of seeds which compared to anywhere else we've been lately was massive. With all the shelves of seeds it took a while to find any shallots, but we managed to buy a few other seeds on our hunt for them. The only thing that was missing were garlic sets.

Seed potatoes are not really meant to be planted at this time of year, but as were doing this first lot in bags they'll be fine. Using some old chicken food and compost bags as containers, John filled the bags with soil from the ground and I popped the potatoes in. We put all of the bags into greenhouse one and then thought the best idea would be to stand them on the bale of straw for some extra warmth. John then filled a bucket with water and tomato feed and sloshed a bit into each bag.

The chickens have been enjoying having the straw in the greenhouse and have taken to scratching at it, which amused John when one of the girls seemed to throw straw at Rita. The robins have been popping in regularly and the last two days we've been able to watch them taking food from the bird table. Im glad we built the bird table as otherwise we may not have seen the robins so much as they are chased away by the chickens.

After finishing our planting John set about adding ash from our fire and some water from the big tank behind the hut which we hope is full of goodness for our plants. At the moment there is nothing we can plant outside but we are putting alot into the preparation of the soil. I hope what we've done over the last few days will really benefit everything in the summer, especially the strawberries. John mentioned strawberry jam this afternoon and I can wait until we have enough to make some. Although we've got plenty of jars from everything we made last year I think we'll be needing quite a few more as we all love strawberry jam. It will be great if we get a few more gooseberries this year too as id like to try a few recipes with them.

After our night time walk id like say thank you to John for the special few minutes we spent together there.