Summer Visitors

On The Land

The willows have made the most of the the warm wet spring and summer and loads of them are sprouting out of their tubes, they are loving the wet ground in our Boatlake field. My vegetable patch has also had some fast growth, mostly weeds, I’m overrun with teasels (think triffids), however the pollinators are making the most of the tiny purple flowers on the large spiky teasel heads. I have managed to keep some nastersians and potatoes weed free but the rest is a different kind of re-wilding…

More Trees

As soon as the third lock down ended Mum and Eric came to stay and brought with them 75 saplings from their garden and even better helped plant them!! They fully deserved their bed and board as it’s such hard work especially in your seventies! Thank you Barbara and Eric – the central patch of trees in Lay Field will be named the Septuagenarian Grove in your honour….

Sheep Shearing

By early June Neil’s ewes needed a hair cut and to do this the lambs have to be separated from their mothers for a short while – it’s quite an ordeal to pen them up with lots of bleating – Ollie watched, but was not a helpful sheepdog. Rick ‘Head of the Flock’ from the Big Sheep sheared and the wool is taken to South Molton for processing, but at 50 pence per kilo, it’s hardly worth the petrol and effort. Last year at 30p/kilo many farmers were putting fleeces on the compost heap. As we try to move away from petrocarbon plastics and synthetic fibres we should be celebrating wool for being 100% natural, biodegradable, flame resistant, insulating, useful for bedding, padding, loft insulation, packaging, spinning and knitting… what’s not to like?

Busy Bees and Butterflies

The lovely Cathy from the Bumblebee Conservation Trust visited us to see if we have a corner of our land suitable for Culm Grass which is a rare habitat of purple moor grass and rushes which grows on specific geology, the pollinators love it, it holds a lot of water, is great for carbon sequesition and it used to be very common in North Devon but now its only found in a few spots mostly cared for by the National Trust. Environmental groups are looking to increase its cover to help support the conductivity for insects across the area and we’d love to help. We are going to test a small damp patch in Down Under to see if it takes – fingers crossed!

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Friends

We enjoyed showing off our home to many friends and family this summer. With Marcus leaving Uni this year and most of his engineering and doctor mates staying on it was lovely to meet some of them when they came to visit and try out our newly fixed and carpeted barn. They shared their sleeping quarters with a few bats and noisy pigeons but made the most of our coastline views, surfing and walks. Some even said they’d like to come again and they’d be very welcome!

Shavena came and enjoyed many top quality surfing sessions with her own personal instructor. Belinda, Alexandra and Gregory had a sunny weekend and walked to Westward Ho! and back.

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Spot the bird – this gorgeous thrush was feasting on the ants living in the brick work of the wall.