February routines

February is well upon us, and it has been a mainly grey and damp month.  But today the sun is shining and we should have a good week ahead, if the forecast is to be believed.  The fields are sodden from so much rain and it will be good to have some drier weather so they can recover a bit. 

Winter maintenance on the cottages is going well.  Toechtamhor kitchen living room has had a fresh coat of paint. New hot water cylinders for the Treshnish cottages which are highly insulated compared to the old ones, and faster to heat up.  Windows are ordered for East bedroom and Middle. All the chimneys have been swept - we can't do them ourselves any more as we aren't certified chimney sweeps.  

Sheep feeding is a way of life now.   The Herdwicks are queuing at the gate waiting for Farmer in the mornings, and the sheep on the hill above Toechtamhor come running when they hear the quad bike, even if they have already been fed that day.   

The Greylag geese have returned.  30+ in the fields just now.  

RM has renewed some sections of fencing for us.  Down below the house, in the Haunn field and built a new fence around the Shepherd's Hut.  We had to do a lot of new fencing in the first few years of being year, and it is horrifying to now be renewing them!!  A bit like the cottage windows really - you naively think when you replace a window that it will be forever.. but no! 

The young hens we got last May have disgraced themselves by scratching up so much of the garden round the farmhouse, leaving a soggy muddy mess where grass once grew.  We have banished them to join the others down the track towards Haunn now.  I miss seeing them round the yard, but it will be good to let the grass repair. 

The veg garden has survived the storms so we are still enjoying the kales and cabbages. 

Oystercatchers are always a joy to see at Calgary, and usually there is a solitary Great northern diver bobbing about just offshore.