Island cat

Happy chickens...

... enjoy roaming far and wide!

Killing fields

The worker bees have started evicting the drones...

I never realised it was going to be in such huge piles of dead bodies....

Gazelles? Goats? Sheep!

I'm thrilled at the arrival of 4 gorgeous, gazelle-like Soay sheep!
It all happened somewhat accidentally - the internet is a great place for coincidental discoveries. I was, really, looking for infomation on hay (making/byuing/selling) which led me to a link of a local breeder selling Soay pet lambs, which led me to read up on this unusual breed, which made me think they'd be just perfect for here, and they'd be perfect for me, too.
I never really intended keeping any sheep, as everyone else does here anyway. But this is a wild, primitive breed, not messed about with moderns stock breeding ideas, so it's hardy and able to get on with its life without human interference. Just my kind of animal, in theory. Then we went to look at them 'for real' at a farm on Anglesey, and that did the rest for me:
I have fallen in love with these sheep!

By the way, the ram is called Elton.

Wonky beans fixed

Spent some time today switching the beans from a wonky, wind-blown bamboo-with-link-balls frame, to a couple of 3-cane tepees, that seem a lot more stable (at least for now). 

Why didn't I do that ages ago??

The new arrangement also means that I had to remove the netting that was (kind of) protecting the plants from invading chickens. The plants should be big enough now to be in real danger, but I fear a good scratching session could still uproot the lot, so what to do?

Maybe I had good idea: I put down a patchwork of old slate pieces - there are still lots of gaps so that should be OK for water but enough of a solid hard surfarce to deter any scratching. Or so I hope.

You can probably tell I'm a veg-patch beginner.... In London I had a few herbs pots, tomato plant and potatoes in grow sacks out on the patio, but never really got my head around doing it properly. Not that I'm doing anything properly now, despite having tried to ingest a lot of information about the subject over the winter. The long winter and my newbie status put me off sowing anything, so I ended up sticking in a hotch potch of plug plants in late May; whatever I could find locally, with no plan or system. Still, after a slow start everything seems to be doing really well now, and we are struggling with the quantities of chard, lettuce and calabrese, and that's only the start!
Coming from Greece, where the hot summers scortch everything from une onwards, I am still shocked at the ease and abundance of lush green growth in this country!

Too many eggs?

With 5 hens we get at least 3 eggs per day, mostly 4 (because one hen has been ill and doesn't lay). Needless to say they are delicious, but I only realised just quite how delicious they are when going on tour again recently, spending 2 weeks being served horribly bland hotel breakfast eggs.

Back home the supply of delicious eggs thanksfully never stops so I'm always desperately looking for ways to use them all up (unfortunately I'm not a cake baker/eater).
> boiled eggs for breakfast
> poached or fied eggs for lunch
> Spanish tortilla
> a Greek pita pie (a veg/cheese/egg pie in filo pastry)
> omelettes (but not my favourite)
> Chakchouka (North African style ratatouille with baked egg)
> Bernaise sauce with steak or asparagus
> chopped egg suce with capers
> take some to the neighbours, or even better, friends in London

I know there must be many more ideas out there - I'd love to har your suggestions!

Summer evenings!

Precious, glorious and never-ending (we are almost made to believe...)

Cat bird

Beehive boggle

Did a beginners' beekeeping course last week - hurray! Fascinating stuff, and have been dreaming of bees every night since.
It is also mind-boggling stuff, especially as you need to get yourself a beehive (and other bits of equipment) before you can give a colony of bees a home. But beehive is not like beehive is not like beehive: there is a confusing number of versions and options, from the minor detail to the drastically redefined. Reading more and more and more about it all has been a major distraction and obsession for the last few days.

One thing I know: I would like to keep bees as kindly and naturally as possible. But then there is nothing natural about keeping bees in a wooden box (quote from the weekend course) - indeed. Surely though, there must be different degrees of intervention...?!

'Modern beekeeping' has changed little for over 150 years, so there is a lot of "it's always done that way" attitudes around. And those who dare to have differing opinions are often just as opinionated. Apparently, if you ask two beekeepers the same question you'll get three contradicting answers.
So how on earth is a beginner to draw their own conclusions and make their own informed decisions? Yes, you have to start somewhere and make it up while you going along, but then this brings us back to the question of the bee hive...

Glorious spring day

Rain doesn't matter when you get glorious days like this - worth waiting for through a whole week of rain (which rarely happens, even during this awful last winter).

And yes, you an just about see our house in this landscape too!