Daydream fund challenge part 4

pile-o-stone

DaftyDuck wrote: »

pile-o-stone. Welcome! Given I have just come out of our river, wet and muddy, greetings. I do like your gabions. I might be tempted to tidy the vegetation on the other bank slightly... amazing how much protection a bit of foliage gives a bank, and how much it slows the current down. You might be able to flare the wire outwards slightly at the base of the next one: it will deter undermining. Mind you, they do look pretty strong and robust as they are.

I have a few fallen willow across our (slightly larger) river, and I need to cut them and pull them out with the tractor before the next rains. We do flood magnificently, but part of my land is designed to do so.... just maybe not so much next time!

So, do I put this morning's sodden, muddy, cold outfit back on, or just start again in my dry, warm clothes? Dry, I think, and hope not to fall in as much!

Thanks DD! I only own one side of the bank (my land ends at the centre of the stream), so I can't do too much on the other bank. I do however trim back any tree branches that grow across the stream - they're great for dumping in the bottom of the raised beds.

I chuckled at your clothing dilemma. I work from home and often take a break by popping outside and adding a few rocks in the gabions. I often think 'oh I'll only be dropping some stones in so I don't need to change', then end up muddying another pair of jeans. The wash basket is full of them at the mo

p.s. with the gabions, once they're complete I'll be sitting another large raised bed on top (which pretty much sit half on the gabion and half on the soil) and also a potting shed, so that should further stabilize them - though as you say they're pretty robust already.

alfie_1

sorry just a quick pop in


hiya POS


dave ... if dog seriously need a new home let me know and I can garantee a brill country home [details if so ] xx

DaftyDuck

I chose dry clothes. I did not fall in, so good choice. Some trees still across the river, but they belong to the other side. We shall see if they deal with them, now it is tidier.

Regrettably, at the weekend, we had to put one of the donkeys to sleep. Elderly and wonky she may have been, but I thought it would be a good few years before that happened. Rest of the pack is pining LOUDLY, as donkeys do. Luckily the neighbours are distant, tolerant, and also away. Sad, though, for all of us.

alfie_1

so sad dafty....
but I always say better for any animal to have had a good life and be loved while it lasts ... compared to many that never get that luxury ... xx


for anybody who has FBook look up..... Mavis Davis and Chums
its a guy that does a daily diary / pics of his smallholding in devon ... hilarious !!

Davesnave

Hi P-o-S, We have a seasonal stream at the edge of our land, but we own the other bank for a distance of about 50m. The neighbouring farmer has 150m where the situation's reversed. This is what's shown on all the title documentation and RPA mapping, but it's not necessarily understood by the other guy, so I tread carefully!
Currently, I'm thinning the overhanging trees before the primroses come out, because I don't want to stomp over those. So far, the neighbour's said nothing, so hopefully I can get more light in and help the better trees to flourish before discussing the potentially thorny issue of the large, dead wych elm, which will cost one of us £hundreds to cut down and remove.

Sorry about your donkey, Dafty. Inevitable when you are in 'end of life care.' A good life, though. :A


Alfie, thanks for the offer. I'll PM when I know more, but matters are still fluid at present. She's a good dog and well trained, so it's reassuring to know there could be a suitable place for her. You're a star! :A

Harrod do the metal deep beds:
https://www.harrodhorticultural.com/4-in-1-modular-metal-raised-bed-pid10033.html

Me, I like to build my own from wood, preservative and all. At my age I need all the preservative I can get!

choille

The raised beds from Harrods - wriggly tin. Goodness.

I made mine from pressure treated wood but my garden is so overgrown & neglected it'll take me to find them under all the weeds. I should get some seaweed and just chuck it on them & hope it suffocates the grass & chickweed & docks...................

Davesnave

Not enjoying Storm Brendan much, but I don't suppose I'd be any happier if they'd called it Belinda. Now I believe we have Storm Anonymous bearing down....

Had the discussion with our neighbour who thinks he owns our stream-side far bank on Saturday. He found me down there out of the wind, reducing the branches that rob us of light . I explained he'd been reading the boundary mapping wrongly, and he conceded that might be why he'd also been 'having problems' with another landowner whose land adjoins a stream which wanders in and out of his western boundary.

He's a reasonable guy, so he said he'd go and look at his title deeds and then get back to me. I already have his title plan, our title plan, another neighbour's title plan, the barn conversions' common areas plan and the RPA mapping, all of which tell the same story, so that's fine. Only the RPA map colours the stream blue, so matters are not as obvious as it might seem.

I pointed out that if he wants to claim all the hedge, it will come with the very large and very dead Wych elm that'll cost £hundreds to remove! :rotfl:

I imagine we'll end up sharing the hedge, cutting our own side, as was the intention when the boundaries were set up. That's OK too. There's enough light now without the overhang to make a big difference to what we might grow there.:D

No news on the dog yet alfie. The owner is out of immediate danger, but no longer able to make decisions, and those who have to decide stuff are still coming to terms with it. Been there, know how they feel.

choille

Some hooley last night. Lost power for a while. Amazed it came back on so quickly but OH decided to empty the stove as it has an electric pump and was scared that we would overheat the back boiler - the whole place filled with smoke.

It's gone unreally calm now. Sky grey - is it snow or rain up there I wonder?

pile-o-stone

choille wrote: »

Some hooley last night. Lost power for a while. Amazed it came back on so quickly but OH decided to empty the stove as it has an electric pump and was scared that we would overheat the back boiler - the whole place filled with smoke.

It's gone unreally calm now. Sky grey - is it snow or rain up there I wonder?

You should have a heat dump radiator above the woodburner so that hot water can circulate when the power goes off, protecting you from this worry.

We used to have a boiler stove and our overheat radiator had been turned off at the valve (I found out afterwards that these rads should not have adjustable valves for exactly this reason). The power went off while we were out and the back boiler cracked and flooded the kitchen.

I'd really urge you to get a HETAS approved fitter in to make your stove safe. you should be able to tun off your electricity and still run your stove with zero worry.

choille

We had a sorry time with a plumber from hell and he really caused us an awful lot of expense and a lot of repair work - still not got everything sorted as yet.