I'm now starting to put the nicer stuff up onto Deviantart, the latest is up this morning.
Looks like it's going to be a complete write off this year, I'm having major problems spending enough time outside to get the patch turned and ready thanks to the fun last year with the bee sting. I am going to make an effort to get the ponds dug for the ducks but those are "one time" actions which don't require that I spend regular time outside.
The treatment is back up an running again, week six has happened (fifth increment thanks to a iffy reaction) so we'll see how things go.
The flock is being extended....
They're Indian runners, three and a bit weeks old, picked up today from near Bridgewater. Currently housed in an ark on the lawn with a fenced off area to roam when we can monitor them. Once they're at a decent size we'll be introducing them to the main flock. Which we're going to be moving to larger quarters soon.
Plumbers start, complete bathroom replacement, so two weeks of bathroom related chaos. Photos to follow as things happen.
With apologies to all the dog owners I know who are responsible and deal with the mess their pets make, and all those who I don't know who do the same. This is not aimed at you.
Dear Sir/Madam,
Thank you so much for bringing your pet down our road in the last 24 hours, it is very like a country lane, even though it's stuck between two housing estates. Once the leaves are fully out it'll be difficult to tell that you're in the middle of a small town of 10,000 people or so.
I understand that dogs do need to relieve themselves and that nappies are not an option and that training can only go so far outside of the home. Many owners have understood the concept of "it's my pet, therefore it is my responsibility to leave the public spaces as I found them".
Apparently you have not.
Even this is not always a massive problem if said pet manages to perform it's required bodily function somewhere which doesn't impact on pedestrians and any local residents.
This is apparently also too difficult for you,
Your animal relieved it's bowels outside my front door, right where someone coming out the door puts their feet and where someone unlocking the door will also stand. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for making me late for work because I had to clean the carpet before going to work.
I mentioned above that Coombe Lane is much like a country lane, there is in fact livestock in the area, so if I find out who you are I would very much like to deliver a similar present from my pets to you. This will consist of a couple of gallons of water laced with fish shit, a pile of shredded paper with lovebird crap and a nice full black sack of straw with a high proportion of duck shit, I'm sure you will enjoy cleaning this and the addition (supplied for free) smell of ammonial from the duck shit.
Farewell, and may your dog bite you on the arse as a reminder when you don't clean up after it.
So, what's been happening at chez rodent? The ducks have settled in and are laying well, the khaki hasn't started laying again so we're just expecting her to be part of the flock from this point on. We're not going to get away with crispy duck while the kids are around. The local deli is interested in lots more eggs so I'm going to be looking at increasing the capacity of the sleeping quarters and getting more ducks in the spring.
The apple harvest happened, however thanks to be buggering up my neck it couldn't be processed so we got a new small chest freezer (4 cu.ft) which is now solid with apples until I'm sorted enough to work on them.
On the bee front the hive has been sold on to another keeper and another chunk of kit has been sold to another up and coming keeper. The rest of the kit should sell as the season kicks off and the weather (hopefully) warms up a bit.
On the sting front I'm now undergoing venom immunotherapy at Southmead in Bristol, so that's 16 weekly jabs of increasing potency and then three years of monthly jabs. Going 'ok' at the moment though I'm getting more severe reactions than they'd expect at this point (jab 4). The current one is itching like hell at the moment and something like 2" x 2", and it's not even a full sting yet, so there is a risk that it's all going to go wahoonie shaped on me.
Oh and as a final note, I have a Wii :)
Only relevant for the UK readers, http://www.lovefilm.com/d934fhxcc/visitor/sign_up_1.html
The plum tree is giving ripe plums now, not best quality but certainly good enough to be frozen ready for making into something interesting over the next few months. More courgettes, though I think they're coming to an end, the beans are also coming to a halt. The corn while looking ok isn't ripe yet. The way things are looking I suspect we're going to be stuck with unripe cobs again. So more nibbles for the lovebirds, I might skip doing that crop again next year.
Plans for next year (assuming I can cope with being in the garden), tomatoes to be grown under cover to prevent excessive rain causing blight problems. Wicker / Bamboo frames for the beans which can be moved. Actually get round to properly framing up the patches with blockwork and sort out proper walkways around them.
The fruit is coming in from the apple/pear & plums trees, assuming more sun it should be a good crop.
Looks like they're settled, when K locked them up tonight they were settled down together, duck+drake in one box and duck and the campbell in the other. So I think the potential problems with pecking orders and the like are sorted.
Pure luck on those ones, I popped out the back while the sun was shining (rare this year) :) read more
on New photos