A clamber through the wood

Brambles

Another storm, but this time, today, with sunshine.  It does feel as if we have not seen sunshine for many many days.  Today the wind is from the north, and the sea is a vibrant turquoise with white horses and rolling waves breaking on the rocks below the house. I am grateful that we have new double glazed doors on the front of the house, it would be freezing without them protecting us from the wind. 

It has been a hard winter for the sheep this winter. Usually our ewe hoggs thrive over their first winter enjoying the feed they get each morning.  But this winter they are not looking as good as they usually do. Farmer is dreaming of being able to keep them in next winter, so that they don't have to weather the wind and the seemingly perpetual rain.  I can't remember what the percentage of energy it is that out wintered animals use just keeping warm, but it is considerable.

Every morning they wait for the sound of the Farmer's quad bike.  Today at least their backs are drying after the sleet and snow of the last few days.

Farmer has to check every clump of brambles in the field at the moment to make sure none of the hoggs have got stuck in them.   Over the last few years of more strict conservation management grazing times we have seen the brambles increase, because of the timing of when the cows can graze particular fields. I might be partially to blame too, as I might ask that the cows be kept out of certain areas because of the wild flowers, which means the brambles get more out of hand.  

More sunshine than showers in September

Earlier in the week Farmer came tearing into the house to get me to bring my camera to photograph something quite special. For the full story click here. It was a really exciting start to the week. 

Down below the house there are the ewe lambs, 93 of them at the last count. This time last week there were 43 cast ewes too, but yesterday they went to market in Oban.  On Friday 60 wedder (male, castrated) lambs, in another field altogether until tomorrow night, will go to Fort William, for we are going to go and see how we get on there. 

This beautiful lily is one we inherited from the previous owner of Treshnish. We have always called it 'Lady Jean's nerine'! There are only 3 flowers this autumn, the others have been suffocated by the ever flourishing comfrey.

Some plants are flowering for the second time, others still developing. The blue heads of the Devils bit scabious are beginning to turn now, some have been almost peeled by the flocks of small birds that seem to flit from patch to patch of seed heads.  We walked the dogs yesterday afternoon and heard them before we could see them but neither Farmer nor I had binoculars and without them couldn't identify them.

Oxford Ragwort (I think), below, flowering freshly in the natural regeneration next to the Haunn field.

The landscape is really changing colour now, the bracken has turned.  Some of the fields are still quite green and in some the grass is really quite long. It is different every year but the same thing will happen as soon as the first real gale comes along, the salt laden winds will burn off the green grass, leaving not as palatable grass behind it.

Farmer has finished off mowing the bracken.  It just keeps the field better, and means the grass grows a bit more before the end of the growing season.

This is an area too rocky and steep to be mown. It cannot be treated chemically because it is too close to a water course.  The only option left is to swipe it with a scythe, but no one has had time this summer.  

Looking down onto the shore, you can see the rushes growing in the damper parts of the ground beside the rocks.

Walter helps himself to the many sweet brambles we pass on the way round.

We have hardly had any rowan berries this autumn, despite them flowering abundantly in the spring.  There is a strong rowan tree beside the Ensay Burn where you cross the humpback bridge going towards Torloisk and it is usually dripping with berries, but not this year.  It is our benchmark for how the rowans are doing, I suppose because we watched it for 7 years driving Daughter over the hill to get the school car to Ulva primary school.  There is hardly a berry on it.

The night before last (23/24 September) we had a cloudy sighting of the Aurora Borealis.. the Milky Way was so clear before the cloud obscured it.  More photos here.

No calves yet

Something on the formatting on Blogger tonight is acting up so I might end up doing all the writing here if I cant fix it.  It is jumping all over the place.  So apologies for the mess on this posting.  You will have to guess which photograph goes with which words.

Farmer is getting used to the new daily routine now that the cattle shed is full.  The cows seem happy to be indoors.  The other night when we had raging winds it was good to think that they were indoors, and had there been a calving problem Farmer wouldnt have had to go and look in the dark for them.  Mind you, we did have a power cut so he would have been in the dark - but dry at least.  He has started going up to check on them before he turns in, as we expect the first calf any day now.  An appointment for the bull to be examined again has been made so hopefully we will know more then.  

Farmer still managed to find some time to do some baking despite spending alot of time this week with his animals.  This time he made a fruit cake.  It was delicious and didnt last long! 

Work has been continuing well with the cottages. Studio is beginning to look really good.  It was really nice to show it to two of our regular guests who were staying at Haunn last weekend - they have booked 7 out of 8 of the cottages later in the summer for their wedding party and wanted to remind themselves of what it was like inside!  They will use Studio for the wedding feast should it is too wet for the 'marquee'.  

A minor set back, for us, in that the new bedroom window is too small and too high, but the ever helpful builder has ordered a new one, and is going to take this one out and replace it all at the right height before Studio is let at the end of March.  It is only annoying as otherwise Studio would have been finished weeks before then. 

We have completed the first step of Shian's new kitchen - changing the cooker and fridge/freezer positions, putting up some new shelving and installing a new ceramic hob cooker. Relatively small changes but it looks great, and was all ready for guests who arrived yesterday afternoon for a week's holiday.  Next winter will see the bigger phase 2 - which is going to be lovely, sunny and warm. (thats a hint)!  

The Neils are busy working away in Duill bathroom.  The Mermaid panels are installed as is the new bath, and our first guests arrive on Thursday!  So only the shower, the loo and the basin to finish then.  Easy!  

John, our architect, is coming over to see us on Thursday next week, when we will be looking at plans for our eco-camping/glamping project, which will open in April 2014. This is a really exciting project for us, not just because it is on a fabulous site with great views - but it will be low-impact in every way.  It will be appropriate in scale so as not to impinge on the balance already here (both in human and wildlife terms!); it will enable us to re-use/upcycle materials we already have in stock; utilise local & natural building materials; create an interesting new wildlife habitat and finally have a turf roof!  Watch this space!

We have some tups with bad eyes. This is a highly infectious infection so Farmer has seperated them from the others and brought them in to the wee shelter in the Stack Yard so that he can treat them more easily.   Farmer has been ordering some additional 'cake' for the sheep as we are going to scan this year - in a week or so's time.  I will blog about it soon!  The price of animal feed has gone through the roof, and it is worrying to think what the prices will be for our lambs next year.  We are still looking around for a new bull and they are alot of money. 

 

 

There have been some great skies. I guess because of the storms. Windy and wild at times. Rough seas. Dark grey skies. The neighbours tups found good shelter down in the lowest bit of the field to the left of the track down to the bridge onto Treshnish.  And then these perfect still moments with pale puffy clouds catching the sunrise light glowing over Coll or the dying sunset light on the Treshnish Islands.

Wood chip arrived for the boiler.  Always good to know we have a full load in store when the weather is unpredictable!

Farmer, accompanied by Jan and Cap, checking the hoggs - their favourite pastime is to get stuck in brambles at this time of year.  Nice little green shots to entice them into the throttling briars. And it takes a fright at best to get them out or a sharp penknife to cut the briars away from their wool at worst.

 

 

 

I can't do anything to make this display any better, and dont really like publishing it like this.  Hopefully it will be better next time.