Quail project....

We decided suddenly that keeping some sort of domestic birds was a good idea, but ruled out the usual domestic chickens as our daughter has a severe phobia of them! Even the sight of on chicken causes her to have a panic attack!

But having seen quails on Youtube, she said that we could try them if caged.

So, the first priority was a vermin proof structure: two half-telegraph poles made a strong frame, and then we put a steel mesh on the floor to prevent foxes from burrowing in. Metal sides were added, with their sides well dug in, and cemented too - no chance of getting in that way, foxes or rats!
Finally, a sturdy roof was added because quail like a dry dusty environment, not too soggy.

Getting young birds was not too hard...'Preloved' web site had many local people and equipment to view - although you have to be careful about your choice of young birds or fertile eggs. It was quite easy for us to build up a starter flock!

And from there we rapidly had about 30 birds in the cage. We had some interesting encounters with other local quail owners, swapping male quails. Driving them home, flapping around in the box, was an interesting experience for our bird phobic daughter!

They were a delight to watch and feed (they particularly liked half cucumbers of which we had an excess at the time!)

We rapidly collected a big bowlful of the small but beautifully marked eggs, and enjoyed quail eggs on toast. The flavour was normally eggy, but the health benefits are reputed to be enormous!

We had to terminate this brief but delightful project when neither Elaine or I could safely walk down to feed them, and Paul, the main protagonist went back to Nottingham to build a new life for himself!

However, the legacy of the project is a dry, secure fowl house that could be adapted to chickens with 10 minutes work with an angle grinder, just by cutting a chicken door in the front, et voila!

Salmon leaping

This blog post is pretty much to showcase a rare sight that we caught on camera locally...

It features a salmon leaping at Cenarth near here in the Teifi river!

Many people have tried to get a record on film, but few have been as lucky (or skillful?) as we were.

The little village of Cenarth (pronounced with a hard "C as in kennel) is perhaps 5 miles from here, along the Teifi valley towards Cardigan. There is a narrow bridge there, and some picturesque falls to the right hand (upstream) side.

The salmon come up from the sea (downstream, of course) to mate and lay their eggs, and right in their way are the lovely falls. So they have to leap up them!

If you stand at the observation point, opposite the old water mill, you will (eventually), at the right time of year, see a leaping fish. But catching it on camera is another thing. The other critical factor is the flow of water over the falls, it has to be just right. So be there in mid October, after moderate rainfall, and your chances will be good!

We have seen salmon and trout (sewin or sea trout) every year, but never enough to be bored by the spectacle.

By the way...if there is no-one in the hut to take your £3 parking fee, it probably means there will be no fishy activity. If, however you fancy your chances anyway, drive back over the bridge, turn right towards Abercych and park in the public parking on the right hand side, you will get a short walk and save £3 to boot!

The PATIO

'New' patio

When our extension was done, we realized that it made a perfectly sheltered area to use as a morning or evening patio. OK, by evening, the sun is behind the hill but the walls keep any breezes off and they have heated up during the day anyway. And there are always patio heaters and barbeques that get nice and hot!
 It is easily accessible from the "boot room" via double patio doors, which makes it great for gatherings of all sorts.

Old paving (re-laid) meeting the new patio

 Paul (our son) is a very experienced landscaper and he laid the slabs very well, with exactly the correct fall and no wobbles. He even managed to lay intriguing steps to the flower garden, which lead the eye carefully up to the flowers. A straight set of steps would have been much easier, but far less inviting!

Flower garden patio (Winter 2013)

The Flower Garden!

When we arrived here, the Veg Garden was a steep slope and completely impractical. I even found Elaine having to lie on her side to weed it!

So we decided to convert it to a more practical space, that we could use as a flower garden. So in rolled my son Paul on a borrowed digger. His only brief was..

Go from here the left hand side gap, to the right, but keep it roughly level, and save the topsoil.

It took him 3 days, but the results are great!




It's now a nice lazy and safe walk to the top, where there is a viewpoint bench, and you can have a lovely morning coffee or breakfast on the patio en route, and all the beds have their topsoil back.

And when weeding the stones are put on the nearest path to gradually replace the bark.

Last year we planted grasses and a couple of striking trees, as recommended by gardener Luke, a good friend.

We managed to grow enough flowers for our daughters' wedding last year, and even considering setting up a flower selling business until my illness.

So it is now a most useful and useable space.

End!

Our daughter's wedding bouquet

GALACTIC

Well used to making our own compost, we got the three free bins from the county council and realized we would need much more capacity to the job properly!

Fortunately, having a sloping site and a brother who is a biologist and enthusiastic builder here, we're opportunities not to be missed, so Peter built GALACTIC. Acronym for
Gravity Assisted Linear Accelerator for Compost Treatment In Carmarthenshire!

AND IT WORKS really well; here's how...

Raw green stuff is piled up on the uphill side, which gives a chance for soil to be washed or shaken out. (Soil on weeds slows the process down hugely and must be avoided!)

The first compartment (Galactic One, of course) is then loosely filled and the end boards put on! It can be piled as high as you like so long that the lawn mowings do not get compressed too much. If it is getting a bit soggy, add bunched up newspaper, ashes etc, even sawdust is good. If you want an instant activator, a bucket or sprinkle of pee is ideal, an won't make any smell!
Cover with polythene to stop it getting rain soaked.

Then wait

After a week the pile will be heating up nicely and a stick pushed in will come out steaming. (Note: If it gets to over 70 degrees C, all the weed seeds will cook and die)

Now wait another week, until the original pile is greatly lower than before.

Now get in with your fork and lightly move the contents of 1 into 2. It will fluff up a bit as you do it but that is what you want! Once done, 2 will not be overful.

Leave it another week, then refill 1 again.

Repeat these steps with all the summer and spring green waste, until 3 is full too.

Then leave 3 to overwinter after which it will be lovely brown stuff - Ready for use!

When we had any problems, they were due to heavy rain soaking in, hence the curved tin sheets on it now.
Or,  too much soil going in.

We found that galactic could take all green stuff throughout the year including lawn clippings, and reduce them all to compost. Admittedly, if there was a surfeit of cut grass, from the ride on, for example, it went into the the bottom pond on the right hand side to make grass snake habitation.

Straw bale pool

Last year we made a highly successful pool from straw bales

It took quite a few bales plus a roll of inexpensive polythene, but the water from our well was never going to achieve swimming depth, so we bought £300 quids worth of water from DWR CYMRU. Which was the biggest cost, but well, it was worth it. As these pictures show. The water came in an 8 wheel tanker?!

And gave enough depth for child swims and adult paddles! Great fun for all!

Grandchildren enjoying the pool!

We used borrowed lorry ratchet straps around the whole structure to prevent the bales from collapsing, and hold in the weight of the water.

Every one had a great time!

Fish or not?

The other day our gardener, the indefatigable Terry reported seeing a sleek heron striding away from the pond!

I am very keen on bird life and I greeted his news with delight! But it raised a question and an answer in my mind!

The answer was that the herons presence was probably why we haven't ever spotted any of the 5 grass carp that we released into the pond last year!

The question is...

Was it a good idea to stock the herons larder at all?

The pond had extensive grass growth from the banks, which amongst other problems threatened to block the outflow pipe which ultimately would cause the back of the pond to collapse! So, we bought the fish as the recommended way to control grass growth!There has been no evidence that the grass has been reduced at all. But I have reservations that maybe the low level pond life like dragon fly larvae might have already suffered too...?

Opinions welcomed, either respond on this blog, or tweet me, @Fron_Rafel with your view!

By the way, the fish were not inexpensive.