On a bright morning in March 2025, Hugo the tiny Ouessant wanted cuddles from Tony. Tony was dressed in his usual outfit of black jeans and checked shirt whilst Hugo had chosen a rather flattering outfit from the “Spring 2025 Collection for Discerning Ovines”. He looked handsome, bedecked as he was with strands of hay and tantalising hints of moss.
Hugo, ready for his close up
George and his little helper, James, worked hard chopping logs over several weekends. With seven large sycamores to work through this was no small task and will continue over the coming years. George had bought a new, larger chainsaw and wielded a freshly sharpened axe. His son James made do with his toy chainsaw and piece of wood ‘axe’. The wood will keep us going for years and, hopefully, save money on fuel costs which have got ridiculously high in recent times. We have a wood burner in the dining room (which also serves as a sitting room over winter) and we’re planning to add a small wood burner to the new shed so that Annie can stay warm over the winter months whilst she writes her children’s books, safely cocooned from distractions such as delivery drivers, cattery customers and toddlers needing drinks every few minutes.
James and his home-made ‘axe‘
Time for a break
Compost woes struck this spring time. Annie and Hannah bought, and were given, many packets of seed to sow. Dividing them up in their usual fashion, Annie took the flower seeds and Hannah the vegetables. Unfortunately, the compost from our local large DIY chain proved to be appalling stuff and most of the seedlings died after a few weeks. The compost sprouted numerous toadstools which overpowered the seedlings as they first grew tall and then collapsed into heaps of black slime. The same fate befell the plug plants with Annie raising just two out of a total of twenty. What a colossal waste of time and money given that expensive heat had been used to coax the seedlings along and the plugs had been sheltered from adverse weather the whole time.
Very disappointing results
Hannah and George vaccinated the sheep and James helped entice them in with a few scoops of coarse mix. They graze alongside our elderly Highland pony, Nelly, for most of the year and we’re very pleased that this cross species grazing means far fewer worms, if any, for both sheep and pony. Worm counts this spring have been extremely low and we’ve not needed to use any wormers.
Everybody inside please!
Ready for the sharps bin
We’re not normally fans of the humble wood pigeon since we are blessed with huge numbers of them and they cause a lot of mess, but we did rescue this youngster who’d got trapped behind the greenhouse. He was slightly dazed but unharmed and flew away enthusiastically seconds after this photo was taken.
Another frequent garden visitor whom we’re always happy to see trundling along when it gets dark.
Some Spring garden highlights.
Pansies grown from plugs
A splendid Brunnera donated two years ago by Annie’s Mum Joan from her own garden
Red flowered Pulmonaria with Angel, the small white Pekin bantam, alongside for added glamour!
And the last word must go to George’s ever growing log stores!
Logs from last year showing their silvery grey tones compared to this year’s freshly cut heap
Foxglove Farm 