New steps in the spring

Spent some of the weekend getting a few Dahlias set up so as to be able to get some cuttings taken latter on in the spring they aren't any special variety just a few i grew from seed last year and i liked the look of, I wanted to get them done as we are going off on a winter break for 10 days to i hope warm sunny weather and while i was on with the dahlias i chitted up 4 Maris Bard potatoes that i will plant in a barrel in the greenhouse when i get back so as to get an earlier crop.


Kevin has been here most of the week putting in some new steps up the garden, it was one of them jobs that i seemed to never have the time to get round to so i bit the bullet and called in our local handyman/ landscaper, OH! wouldn't it be nice to have a level site, i think he was a bit suprised at how much rock and stone he had to dig out just for a few steps. ( i wasn't when i set up my veg patch which is now at the top of the steps i had to remove 5 skip loads of stone then i had to cart in even more soil and compost to fill and improve the plot ) A couple of hydrangea cuttings which had started coming in to leaf i have brought inside so as to not let them get checked if we get another cold snap.

On the Farm our first sheep lambed triplets then one had a single they are some pure bred Texels that we keep so as to breed our own Rams to use on our commercial breeding ewes they are inside at the moment but should be fit to go outside in a couple of days if the weather is OK. Our stock bulls started fighting quite a bit this week so we had to separate them i guess they were just trying to decide who is number one and as they have not had much work to do they are improving in condition and can fell spring in the air.

On the football front well what happens when the best home record meets the best away record in the league?
United beat Doncaster 1/0 of course. Our promotion push continues.

Getting a few things sorted

Have been getting a few things sorted recently that have been needing doing for quite a while.
Managed to get a lot of painting done on the house windows it's a bit of a fiddly job but when its done and you can think that's that for another 4/5 years it is quite satisfying. Plus i have just about completed edging the house drive with random local stone, ( it's taken me 5 weekends so far) which is a bit harder to use than your standard concrete kerb-stones but i think it's a bit more pleasing and a damm sight cheaper.
I got the chance of about 30 bulk bags of bark chippings at a bargain price (almost free ) so I have been heaping them up in a corner and will give them until about May 2009 to break down into a good mulch before i start to use them, their is more than i need but i guess they will all go in about 4 years and I will probably sell some on also. With the ground been drying and the weather fairly mild i took the chance to divide some red hot pokers on saturday that were getting a bit to congested for their own good each plant split into about 6 new plants so we should have a decent show come summer. Last night (Sunday) must have been about the coldest night of the winter so far everything was frozen this morning when i went to work at the farm all the water troughs were iced up and took an age to defrost , the auto scrapers were solid to, so an easy Sunday mornings work took till lunchtime still when the sun did get up it was a glorious day and I was able to have a good look round the garden in the afternoon, didn't do much work but just stood back and planned how to set up every thing for summer.

They said it wouldn't happen

They said it wouldn't happen but with last nights 2/1 win against Huddersfield United created a new club record of 10 straight home wins with a superb game from Chris Lumsden and goals from Danny Livesey and Danny Graham

Super Tuesday Super Week

Yep its been a good week you know the sort where every thing goes to plan and no unexpected problems crop up, the first few crocus are showing up starting to bring a dash of colour to the front lawn when i drive of to work in the morning's. Got a load of sharp sand delivered to fill the barrels I got to grow carrots in so it can settle before I sow the seed. This is the first time of trying to grow some showy long carrots in barrels, they might hopefully turn out to be the best carrots I have ever grown they will certainly be the most expensive I've ever grown.

Have been following with interest the election in the USA cant say i have any clear favourite but the style and razzmatazz is quite interesting to watch if i was pushed John McCain would get my support (for what that's worth) and he seems to be getting by with the least money of all the contenders which must prove cash can't beat straight talking.

Watched the England /Switzerland match on Wednesday with interest to see how our new manager set about things and must say i have been quietly impressed with his style i like his way of setting out a clear agenda as to how he expects every one to behave when representing England, get them to feel proud and they will be proud to play for their country not as it has seemed in some games where the commitment was OK but the passion and desire to win seemed bit lacking with one or two members of the team. A 2/1 win over Switzerland was a start but their is still a bit to go to beat the very best but we do have some great players so maybe just maybe this time we might win something.

With the sunny weather midweek it gave me and Simon my son in law a chance to do some wall gapping we do have quite a few miles of walls on the farm to maintain and winter weather tends to bring a few gaps down so it always handy to get some sorted out on a decent winters day so as not to have to many to do in the spring when we are usually quite pushed with other jobs like lambing and calving, i find it quite a pleasant job to do when you are well away from the phone and it's quite and peaceful over looking the lake with the mountains in the distance (see photo I took above) it gives you time to think.

Just when you think winters slipping quietly by

Just when you think winters slipping quietly by in roars february with howling gales and driving snow, I had to go to Inverness midweek and on the way home their was a trail of wagons flipped over onto their sides, makes me think that having a couple of pains of glass blown out of my greenhouse that I got of lightly, as it's not heated and has only got a couple of well rooted hydrangea cuttings inside it is hardly a crisis, their all so seems a lot of branches lying around that i have been tidying up now the wind has dropped. I took the chance to prune back some clematis that had become a bit stragley i have let them go a bit so as to get established, but decided that this year they needed a good tidying up, and I spread around some farm muck on the plot where the peas and beans will be growing this season. On the farm we have collected up all the scrap that has been accumulating over the years as it seems to be worth a bit, there was full wagon load , it is my plan to level out the ground were it was heaped next to the silo pit and make a site for parking trailers etc out of the way as they have always been parked on the big bale pad and tend to get in the way. Tuesday evening was spent watching United away to Oldham a long way to go to see them lose 2 -0 even the mascot looks fed up, fortunately we bounced back with a win today Sat 2- 1 against Walsall.

Special mention for United youth who won 2-0 against Southend in the F A Youth Cup 5th round, next round we play the Villa. February 14th United 0 Villa 2 pity but their we have it good luck Aston Villa.