Mallard Family in the Garden

At the end of June we had a family of Mallard ducks arrive in the garden. The female must have laid her eggs somewhere in one of my flower beds because suddenly one day there she was strutting around the garden with four baby ducklings. Unfortunately one has since died. We do not have a pond so I have put our a cat litter tray for them near the bird feeder. They are doing very well and I am now putting our special duck food instead of bird food. Hopefully they will be big enough to fly away soon as my garden is looking a trashed mess as they like to take short cuts through the flower beds and I feel very guilty if I disturb them with any weeding I want to do. Mind you they aren't too distressed by the lawnmower. My neighbour opposite has a lake, so I guess that is where the mother originated.

Hemlock Weed along the Stream

Since the exceptional wet spring of 2014 the poisonous weed Hemlock Water Droplet has taken over our stream to such an extent that we are now having to dig it out. It is also known as 'Dead Man's Fingers' because of the 5 roots which look like parsnips. It is extremely poisonous to animals and man. It is very hard work to dig up so we are spending an hour each weekend working our way up the stream. It can be killed by 'Round-up' in the spring when it is small before it flowers, so I will look out for what is left in 2016 to spray. We are taking it away to make a heap and will burn it in the autumn.

New Indian Runner Ducks

Two weeks ago we bought three Indian Runner ducks from the agricultural market at Wheddon Cross when they had a poultry & duck sale, along with farm bric-a-brac. Unfortunately very few ducks were sexed so we have taken a chance when buying these three and just hope they are not all drakes. I am not sure what colour they will be when they are fully grown, as their downy baby feathers are a chocolate brown, but the new feathers underneath could be brown or black. We'll have to wait. At the moment they are in a small run and kept in the old chicken shed at night until they are big enough to go on the main pond and join our other ducks.

My Summer Project

This year I am planning to work my way along the back of the Old Dog Kennels and Duck house and around the walls at the end of the Medieval Barn pointing all the stonework. I have finished pointing the Kennels and am now working on the walls at the end of the Barn. I am pointing up the areas of stonework that are not contaminated with Ivy. The plan is to make as much of the stonework stable before I start taking down the stones and removing the Ivy. Work is going quite well, but I think it will take me all summer.

Orchids in the Bog Field

We have a five acre field which is very wet and we can't cultivate it, so we allow a farmer to graze his sheep on it during the winter which really helps maintain it and encourage the wild flowers. This June while walking around the field I noticed a group of wild orchids which I have never seen before and are obviously very happy multiplying in the field. I 'googled' wild orchids and found information about the orchid growing in our field and apparently it is one of several Dactylorhiza orchids, known as the ‘spotted orchids’. In the UK it is locally common in southern England and it favours marshy ground.

The Plough

This year we have decided to plough up the three acre field as the grass in this field is not very good for making hay as it is the thick grassed variety. However we don't have a plough! I investigated the cost of a contractor to plough the field in the autumn, but because it is such a small area is would be expensive. So we decided to buy an old three furrow plough which Rob collected from Okehampton and brought back for Derek (my brother) to repair and update as he would be doing the ploughing. We were also given an old plough for spare parts.

Cottage Kitchen Wall

After removing a very large and overgrown Forsythia shrub which was growing in the corner and over one of the cottage kitchen windows, we now have to do repairs to the wall and painting. The plan is to finish this by Easter and I have purchased an interesting Hydrangea to go in the corner, one with green and cream leaves, so I hope it settles into it's new home.