the daydream fund challenge thread

soupdragon10

Actually stood in the soon to be chicken shelter today - mammoth bramble clearing to good effect :j and my DD had great delight in setting fire to them.

Will post some before and after pics as soon as I work out how to do pics

Would agree with the Octagon 20 as being a first rate incubator. I had the old model and hatched out a number of broods of Buff Orpington chicks (this was a fair few years ago). Still have the incubator, but can't find the cradle anywhere so will have to look out for one.

alfie_1

iv had my day at the V&A in london and inm now knackered !! alas the costume dept i wanted to see was shut till 2012....:mad:
but i had a good nose around the cinese/japanese/oriental depts and it was stunning.

my dad looked after my labs tday and little jacks went to a friend with her lab [the one i bred and look after when they go away] they are such good mates and play all day. bit too much for my dad to cope with!!he is 83!!

tmorow my van has to go back to the garage as a MOUSE? has chomped through some wires.... found a stash of nut kernals by the battery,,,cheeky b****rs !!:D

and tomorow im going to start clearing the big shed out, its to the rafters with furniture etc, have to either have a garage sale or auction it.... always wary of the fact im isolated here tho and dont want nosey parkers !! will have to see whats in there 1st...

its bitter cold here, frost this morning but the awful wind has gone so could be worse

alfie_1

soupdragon10 wrote: »

Actually stood in the soon to be chicken shelter today - mammoth bramble clearing to good effect :j and my DD had great delight in setting fire to them.

Will post some before and after pics as soon as I work out how to do pics

Would agree with the Octagon 20 as being a first rate incubator. I had the old model and hatched out a number of broods of Buff Orpington chicks (this was a fair few years ago). Still have the incubator, but can't find the cradle anywhere so will have to look out for one.

re pics... davesnave [i think] rescued me with this one ...recomended TinyPic free image hosting and even i could do it !!

soupdragon10

Thanks Alfie - I think I can use a link from my bt digital vault, but can't remember how I did this on another forum.

Sounds like you had a great day at the V&A - used to love going in there, and would sneak away from the Natural History Museum when we were on biology trips to go round there cos I liked it more. Good old days when I could hop on a bus to get there for an afternoon.

Davesnave

soupdragon10 wrote: »

Thanks Alfie - I think I can use a link from my bt digital vault, but can't remember how I did this on another forum.

It's easy (and free) to build up an on-line album using Photobucket, which is what I did last year for this thread. The link to my albums is here and it's obvious which one relates to the smallholding:

http://s894.photobucket.com/albums/ac150/Davesnave/

I'm not sure what to do now. Choille does a blog, but I think I prefer just a picture album. However, there's only so many pictures one can take of the land, or sheep! I suppose I'll start a new album for this year, but put a bit less in it, as the basics are already covered.
Hopefully, there'll be something new to see.

Thanks CTC and lir for the recommendation re incubators. We aren't ready yet, but I've made a note.

lostinrates

Rain ths week.....as the diggers come into my garden. I should have predicted that. Still, yesterdays clean cold but springlike sun goes a long way to boosting spirits.

I painted some yard wall with tester pots.....and as a result have finally decided nt to bother trying to match the brink. My attempt at painting roughly brick sized bits of colours on the wall in dfferent shades of terracotta...just to see if it would work saw DH pronounce on his return from a dog walk ''That's fantastic...it looks like a toy house''. Hmmm. I'm still feeling aubergine would work well in a yard thats better in winter but baking in summer but my family think I've lost it. Its really bugging me, because its a job I could gt on with alone with no professionals and it would make things look better even if not be more structurally sound.

Lotus-eater

Lotus-eater wrote: »

I always think brassicas should be grown hard, don't sow them inside, they don't like it.
Sow them outside, but not yet.

soupdragon10 wrote: »

Don't think the poor things would stand a chance with our super slugs - it's the only reason I try to start everything inside as far as I can, does give them a fighting chance poor things.

If I manage to get the raised beds ready in time this may be possible as I hope to deter slugs using as many means as I can.

Just don't start them in a greenhouse, do them in modules, but outside in a slug free place.

RAS

lostinrates wrote: »

There is a fair bit dead and a lot of lichen...should I be doing something about the lichen? ... ...

Now, I have to think about the bigger even more neglected tree in the back garden soon....

edit: re back tree...its nver been a shaped tree...its just a big old apple tree, where side bracnches i the way have been taken of, but its v. tall. I can't really see how to go at it at all!

Lichen is fine - just proves that you do not have much pollution around you.

Pruning - Have not actually done much of this in a couple of decades but have looked at lots of trees on the plots that I would like to have a go at. Took some verticals out of a friend's trees last year and there is another one that needs attention.

Basically, this year identify a few upright stems close to the centre of the tree and take them out close to a good side shoot that is near horizontal. Cut the stub back afterwards. Then take out a bit of small stuff lower down to reduce the sail effect, style depending on whether it is a tip or spur bearer.

rhiwfield

Ouch, -8C this morning :eek: and i hadn't covered the garage spuds that were chitting, so its fingers crossed they're ok.

RAS, most of the way through Meat- a benign extravagance, Fairlie certainly doesnt mind slaughtering a few sacred cows! Its fairly heavy stuff, so it looks as if it will need a second read at least.

Rummer, well done on starting, its often the hardest bit, seems like everyone is getting energised as days lengthen

Got the first seeds in yesterday, some sweet peppers, and san marzano toms as they were slowest to mature last year. Will start tom sowing in earnest in a couple of weeks as we want to preserve more for next winter. With the blight resistant varieties we bought we'll really expand the outdoor production.

Skip diving this morning, some big light diffusers and a massive sheet of almost new black polythene. Should help with early sowings and moisture retention later in year.

lostinrates

rhiwfield wrote: »

Ouch, -8C this morning :eek: .

cold here too...no idea whtt but the troughs were surprisingly thick with ice. Funnily doesn't seem as bad as yesterday, which was technically warmer I'm sure. Yesterday was a rugs off day for the horses, but today I wouldn't dream of it and yet its still less raw. Its all to do with that sunshine I'm sure!

The thick frost.....first for a while it seems, shows its damper out there, but also makes me feel better about the mud the machinery is making today.

I fell over this morning so I'm sitting looking at fruit trees again and getting sweats about the choices. Its so hard!