Renovating an old farmhouse and living on the Pennines
Discussion
Please do put a barn owl box up, they need all the help they can get and your area is obviously very suitable habitat. Barn owls are brilliant to watch when they hunt too.
Contact the Hawk & Owl trust and they may even send someone out to tell you where/how to site it. They sometimes even provide boxes and expertise for installing them. Worth checking anyway.
Contact the Hawk & Owl trust and they may even send someone out to tell you where/how to site it. They sometimes even provide boxes and expertise for installing them. Worth checking anyway.
Thanks all 
I pondered over it a few months ago, but the barn owl (which we rarely see as it lives a few fields away on someone else's land) has it's own house anyhow. It's the one I explored a few pages back.
I don't think it's a good idea to bring another owl into their territory, but don't know for sure.
It's Tawneys that live here by us and I think they've cleaned out the homes of the other birds in the same tree they all nest in at least twice. There was a lot of noise and I went out to look, the owl took off when it saw me (which is a sure sign it has food) with the blackbird in hot pursuit and even a Blue tit following that too. It was quite comical watching those two chase an owl, but they were so mad. A great shame too, but that's nature. Other families have had more success hidden away in more secluded spots.
I have a feeling the Tawneys are nesting right now in the Sycamore as their habits have changed a lot. When they rear young and they're ready to go they purposely drive them away so they have to find their own hunting ground, if they can't find anywhere they sadly die.
Both those types of owl need totally different nesting boxes btw, it's maybe something i'll look into when i've got less urgent things to do.
Japveesix said:
Please do put a barn owl box up, they need all the help they can get and your area is obviously very suitable habitat. Barn owls are brilliant to watch when they hunt too.
Contact the Hawk & Owl trust and they may even send someone out to tell you where/how to site it. They sometimes even provide boxes and expertise for installing them. Worth checking anyway.
It's a case of DIY as all the info is available online.Contact the Hawk & Owl trust and they may even send someone out to tell you where/how to site it. They sometimes even provide boxes and expertise for installing them. Worth checking anyway.
I pondered over it a few months ago, but the barn owl (which we rarely see as it lives a few fields away on someone else's land) has it's own house anyhow. It's the one I explored a few pages back.
I don't think it's a good idea to bring another owl into their territory, but don't know for sure.
It's Tawneys that live here by us and I think they've cleaned out the homes of the other birds in the same tree they all nest in at least twice. There was a lot of noise and I went out to look, the owl took off when it saw me (which is a sure sign it has food) with the blackbird in hot pursuit and even a Blue tit following that too. It was quite comical watching those two chase an owl, but they were so mad. A great shame too, but that's nature. Other families have had more success hidden away in more secluded spots.
I have a feeling the Tawneys are nesting right now in the Sycamore as their habits have changed a lot. When they rear young and they're ready to go they purposely drive them away so they have to find their own hunting ground, if they can't find anywhere they sadly die.
Both those types of owl need totally different nesting boxes btw, it's maybe something i'll look into when i've got less urgent things to do.
'Vicarious', I like that, you can come again. I'm terrible at maths, but better at English and it's always interested me. I like new words and unbelievably I never knew what it properly meant until I just looked it up.
Should you force your body to get up and go to work at a certain time, or just get up when you've had enough sleep, go to work and stop when you've had enough? I've always preferred the latter, If I was supposed to pop out of bed in a morning i'd sleep in a toaster.
I've been getting into the habit of falling asleep in my chair and waking when it gets light, it helps with the carpal tunnel.
Sleeping in a bed is a modern thing and overrated anyhow
Even at my age it still surprises me it's light so early Midsummer. Then I realise I've got to go out to open the Polytunnel as it'll get too hot before I've gone to bed and woken up again! I think it's quite a special time of day, it's just my body says it would rather be resting.
I remember in my yoof partying hard and still being up when the sun came up too, they were good times.
I got this pic of a Tomato plant with beads of water on it early doors:
Note: I haven't been any more specific than 'beads of water' as I have no idea what was going on there, but it was about 12'c.
I think this low overnight temp might be causing the yellow ends on the courgettes. It could be lack of certain minerals too, but not iron or manganese, we have plenty of that.
As is customary in the UK lets talk about the weather - and how it effects plants.
When choosing plants you have to consider soil and weather. Soil can be worked around, weather also to some degree, but you'll always have plants which can only grow outside to brighten the place up.
Whilst we get plenty of rain in Winter and cold spells like anywhere else in the UK, the one thing we do get too much of is wind, that's the one stand out condition that makes you choose a certain type of plant and does narrow the choice down a lot.
The weather has been dry apart from a good half hour soaking yesterday evening and once maybe 3 weeks ago it hasn't rained properly here for 2 or 3 months, just the odd light shower.
Because it's windy and we've had reasonable amount of sun it really does dry the soil out and many plants just fail. We've drained a few IBCs so far this year and they hold 1000ltrs each.
The wind just constantly bashes the plants around and dries the leaves out if they aren't up to living out here.
As far as common plants are concerned French lavender does well, it's looking a bit too dry for heather, anything coniferous will probably go brown. The apples trees are looking sick, that's down to wind, but possibly a soil issue too (caused by me) which i'll either investigate or let them grow through in the hope for better next year.
I'm expecting Alpines to do well here so will have a go at those in the future, they do seem quite expensive though.
I knew it would be difficult growing stuff here which is why I built the Polytunnel and went big. It was put up as soon as it was not really for growing, but general storage until a workshop is built. I have however found some room in there to grow and also had a go with stuff outside.
As noted above the outside veg is suffering from the winds, how it will end I don't know. I think coldframes or cloches may be a solution in the future for things which like it outside, but don't want so much wind or heat.
One surprising thing is that so far the Polytunnel has exceeded expectations. The reason for this is actually the wind! I did spec it with double doors which face West and a single facing East. Most of the Summer winds come from the South or West so it gets plenty in through the double doors. This is having the effect of removing stale and hot air as it blows through. It doesn't have enough energy once it's through the door to worry the plants, just a gentle breeze which is just what you want. The downside is (at the moment) I have to be here to regulate it and of course there is still chance for us to get plenty of still, hot weather, but we'll see.
Toms swelling and waiting to ripen now:
Lettuce will grow between or behind tomato plants just fine.
Courgettes are the nearest, with cucumbers waiting to be moved so they can crawl up some nets. Also in there are beans, spinach and strawberries.
Rabbit proofing the yard and paddock carry on. This post had rotted off and the gate blew down in the Winter storms:
Wood rots when it's in constant contact with Oxygen and water and can't get dry. That's why wooden posts always snap off at ground level. Despite looking a bit dishevelled the gate has survived because of it's simple design, it's only wet when it rains and dries out in between.
I plucked this from my post collection, lit a fire and charred the end:
It's the oldest and best way of preventing posts from rotting at the bottom.
Slopped a bit of Creo on to blend it in, made a bit of a cap out of some flashband, some mesh on the gate and we're back up and running for a few years.
The top band was already crooked, don't blame me for that!
After being dicked around for 8 weeks, the remanufactured brake master cylinder (BMC) finally arrived (magically after i'd requested it and my money back a few days previous). So it was bolted on to Benford and I attempted to pressure bleed off the system.
As a sidenote and reminder these brake systems use hydraulic oil and not normal brake fluid. There are slave cylinders actually inside the front and rear axles which operate on a set of slotted discs immersed in fluid, nothing like a normal dry friction brake disc at all. I was worried someone had put brake fluid through the system and ruined the seals, it would be one heck of a job separating the axles and getting those out, then finding new seals.
So anyhow I pressured it up and it rewarded me by spewing oil out of one of the hollow chassis members.
Well aren't we f*****g blessed thinks I as I slackened off a brake pipe, pulled it out of the box section where it was hiding to find it in two pieces and one half blocked solid:
It was a non-automotive size too at 5mm ('normal' is 5/16ths) so got some ordered off Ebay.
All fitted, bled off and woohoo, we have very good working brakes at last
It's been so long with just the engine and handbrake to slow and stop it I'm going to have to retrain myself to use a footbrake.
I have become quite deft at operating it like this, but had nearly killed or badly injured myself learning it. I took no pictures, didn't tell anyone and don't want to talk about it either as it made my blood run cold, but it was a hard lesson in Physics. Basically a dumper with no load can be stopped with a handbrake, however when going down a slope with 3T in the front it won't.
I have a localish connection now with a guy who has an 8 wheeler tipper with grab. He sells various hardcores, soils etc and his stuff is utter rubbish! He is however cheap and will deliver up here reliably, the latter of which is a blessing in itself. Getting a parcel off Ebay or whatever delivered up here is a blessing.
His services may come in handy in the future.
I ordered 12T of recycled s
te and here it is:
It's supposed to be crushed brick, stone, concrete etc with no dust for some of the field drains i've formed (to put round a perforated pipe), but it's got dust in and also:
Glass
Golfballs
Pool balls
Pens
Batteries
Bits of wood
Gloves
Plumbing fittings
Shotgun cartridges
And god only knows what else. This isn't Kew gardens, it's an underground drain in a field in the middle of no-where so it'll have to do.
Loaded up Benford and off we went to fill some trenches:
The sprung and damped seat seized solid with rust years ago so bombing across a bumpy field means you have to hang on tight to the wheel, a bit of dust might have blown in my eye too as I smiled and realised i'm quite enjoying my life here
On that note this chapter should end, but it doesn't. That's because it's easy to point out that of course I am enjoying it, i've been here just less than a year. It could well grind us down bit by bit in the future. Hopefully not and to counteract this we have to shape the place to suit us, the views and the weather. If all goes to plan this will mean building shelters, a workshop, shed, Summer house and extend the existing house with a better bathroom and more user friendly staircase.
The field which drops steeply away from the front of the house will eventually have a pond and become an Arboretum. Probably the sheep will go to be replaced with Alpacas.
This is the dream anyhow!
If you didn't know there is a PH Euromillion syndicate then take a look at the thread in The Lounge and maybe join in. It only grinds into action when it's rolled over so we get a decent cut if we ever win, it's currently active.
I always throw my £2.50 in, heck I could use the money!
Should you force your body to get up and go to work at a certain time, or just get up when you've had enough sleep, go to work and stop when you've had enough? I've always preferred the latter, If I was supposed to pop out of bed in a morning i'd sleep in a toaster.
I've been getting into the habit of falling asleep in my chair and waking when it gets light, it helps with the carpal tunnel.
Sleeping in a bed is a modern thing and overrated anyhow
Even at my age it still surprises me it's light so early Midsummer. Then I realise I've got to go out to open the Polytunnel as it'll get too hot before I've gone to bed and woken up again! I think it's quite a special time of day, it's just my body says it would rather be resting.
I remember in my yoof partying hard and still being up when the sun came up too, they were good times.
I got this pic of a Tomato plant with beads of water on it early doors:
Note: I haven't been any more specific than 'beads of water' as I have no idea what was going on there, but it was about 12'c.
I think this low overnight temp might be causing the yellow ends on the courgettes. It could be lack of certain minerals too, but not iron or manganese, we have plenty of that.
As is customary in the UK lets talk about the weather - and how it effects plants.
When choosing plants you have to consider soil and weather. Soil can be worked around, weather also to some degree, but you'll always have plants which can only grow outside to brighten the place up.
Whilst we get plenty of rain in Winter and cold spells like anywhere else in the UK, the one thing we do get too much of is wind, that's the one stand out condition that makes you choose a certain type of plant and does narrow the choice down a lot.
The weather has been dry apart from a good half hour soaking yesterday evening and once maybe 3 weeks ago it hasn't rained properly here for 2 or 3 months, just the odd light shower.
Because it's windy and we've had reasonable amount of sun it really does dry the soil out and many plants just fail. We've drained a few IBCs so far this year and they hold 1000ltrs each.
The wind just constantly bashes the plants around and dries the leaves out if they aren't up to living out here.
As far as common plants are concerned French lavender does well, it's looking a bit too dry for heather, anything coniferous will probably go brown. The apples trees are looking sick, that's down to wind, but possibly a soil issue too (caused by me) which i'll either investigate or let them grow through in the hope for better next year.
I'm expecting Alpines to do well here so will have a go at those in the future, they do seem quite expensive though.
I knew it would be difficult growing stuff here which is why I built the Polytunnel and went big. It was put up as soon as it was not really for growing, but general storage until a workshop is built. I have however found some room in there to grow and also had a go with stuff outside.
As noted above the outside veg is suffering from the winds, how it will end I don't know. I think coldframes or cloches may be a solution in the future for things which like it outside, but don't want so much wind or heat.
One surprising thing is that so far the Polytunnel has exceeded expectations. The reason for this is actually the wind! I did spec it with double doors which face West and a single facing East. Most of the Summer winds come from the South or West so it gets plenty in through the double doors. This is having the effect of removing stale and hot air as it blows through. It doesn't have enough energy once it's through the door to worry the plants, just a gentle breeze which is just what you want. The downside is (at the moment) I have to be here to regulate it and of course there is still chance for us to get plenty of still, hot weather, but we'll see.
Toms swelling and waiting to ripen now:
Lettuce will grow between or behind tomato plants just fine.
Courgettes are the nearest, with cucumbers waiting to be moved so they can crawl up some nets. Also in there are beans, spinach and strawberries.
Rabbit proofing the yard and paddock carry on. This post had rotted off and the gate blew down in the Winter storms:
Wood rots when it's in constant contact with Oxygen and water and can't get dry. That's why wooden posts always snap off at ground level. Despite looking a bit dishevelled the gate has survived because of it's simple design, it's only wet when it rains and dries out in between.
I plucked this from my post collection, lit a fire and charred the end:
It's the oldest and best way of preventing posts from rotting at the bottom.
Slopped a bit of Creo on to blend it in, made a bit of a cap out of some flashband, some mesh on the gate and we're back up and running for a few years.
The top band was already crooked, don't blame me for that!
After being dicked around for 8 weeks, the remanufactured brake master cylinder (BMC) finally arrived (magically after i'd requested it and my money back a few days previous). So it was bolted on to Benford and I attempted to pressure bleed off the system.
As a sidenote and reminder these brake systems use hydraulic oil and not normal brake fluid. There are slave cylinders actually inside the front and rear axles which operate on a set of slotted discs immersed in fluid, nothing like a normal dry friction brake disc at all. I was worried someone had put brake fluid through the system and ruined the seals, it would be one heck of a job separating the axles and getting those out, then finding new seals.
So anyhow I pressured it up and it rewarded me by spewing oil out of one of the hollow chassis members.
Well aren't we f*****g blessed thinks I as I slackened off a brake pipe, pulled it out of the box section where it was hiding to find it in two pieces and one half blocked solid:
It was a non-automotive size too at 5mm ('normal' is 5/16ths) so got some ordered off Ebay.
All fitted, bled off and woohoo, we have very good working brakes at last
It's been so long with just the engine and handbrake to slow and stop it I'm going to have to retrain myself to use a footbrake.
I have become quite deft at operating it like this, but had nearly killed or badly injured myself learning it. I took no pictures, didn't tell anyone and don't want to talk about it either as it made my blood run cold, but it was a hard lesson in Physics. Basically a dumper with no load can be stopped with a handbrake, however when going down a slope with 3T in the front it won't.
I have a localish connection now with a guy who has an 8 wheeler tipper with grab. He sells various hardcores, soils etc and his stuff is utter rubbish! He is however cheap and will deliver up here reliably, the latter of which is a blessing in itself. Getting a parcel off Ebay or whatever delivered up here is a blessing.
His services may come in handy in the future.
I ordered 12T of recycled s
te and here it is:It's supposed to be crushed brick, stone, concrete etc with no dust for some of the field drains i've formed (to put round a perforated pipe), but it's got dust in and also:
Glass
Golfballs
Pool balls
Pens
Batteries
Bits of wood
Gloves
Plumbing fittings
Shotgun cartridges
And god only knows what else. This isn't Kew gardens, it's an underground drain in a field in the middle of no-where so it'll have to do.
Loaded up Benford and off we went to fill some trenches:
The sprung and damped seat seized solid with rust years ago so bombing across a bumpy field means you have to hang on tight to the wheel, a bit of dust might have blown in my eye too as I smiled and realised i'm quite enjoying my life here
On that note this chapter should end, but it doesn't. That's because it's easy to point out that of course I am enjoying it, i've been here just less than a year. It could well grind us down bit by bit in the future. Hopefully not and to counteract this we have to shape the place to suit us, the views and the weather. If all goes to plan this will mean building shelters, a workshop, shed, Summer house and extend the existing house with a better bathroom and more user friendly staircase.
The field which drops steeply away from the front of the house will eventually have a pond and become an Arboretum. Probably the sheep will go to be replaced with Alpacas.
This is the dream anyhow!
If you didn't know there is a PH Euromillion syndicate then take a look at the thread in The Lounge and maybe join in. It only grinds into action when it's rolled over so we get a decent cut if we ever win, it's currently active.
I always throw my £2.50 in, heck I could use the money!
Evoluzione said:
I got this pic of a Tomato plant with beads of water on it early doors:
Note: I haven't been any more specific than 'beads of water' as I have no idea what was going on there, but it was about 12'c.
Tomatoes exude water like that when they're taking up too much. It's fine, it means they have plenty of water at the roots, basically. Years ago we used to grow some in a hydroponic bed and they'd always do that, because they effectively had an infinite water supply.Note: I haven't been any more specific than 'beads of water' as I have no idea what was going on there, but it was about 12'c.
Evoluzione said:
'Vicarious', I like that, you can come again. I'm terrible at maths, but better at English and it's always interested me. I like new words and unbelievably I never knew what it properly meant until I just looked it up.
Should you force your body to get up and go to work at a certain time, or just get up when you've had enough sleep, go to work and stop when you've had enough? I've always preferred the latter, If I was supposed to pop out of bed in a morning i'd sleep in a toaster.
I've been getting into the habit of falling asleep in my chair and waking when it gets light, it helps with the carpal tunnel.
Sleeping in a bed is a modern thing and overrated anyhow
Even at my age it still surprises me it's light so early Midsummer. Then I realise I've got to go out to open the Polytunnel as it'll get too hot before I've gone to bed and woken up again! I think it's quite a special time of day, it's just my body says it would rather be resting.
I remember in my yoof partying hard and still being up when the sun came up too, they were good times.
I got this pic of a Tomato plant with beads of water on it early doors:
Note: I haven't been any more specific than 'beads of water' as I have no idea what was going on there, but it was about 12'c.
I think this low overnight temp might be causing the yellow ends on the courgettes. It could be lack of certain minerals too, but not iron or manganese, we have plenty of that.
As is customary in the UK lets talk about the weather - and how it effects plants.
When choosing plants you have to consider soil and weather. Soil can be worked around, weather also to some degree, but you'll always have plants which can only grow outside to brighten the place up.
Whilst we get plenty of rain in Winter and cold spells like anywhere else in the UK, the one thing we do get too much of is wind, that's the one stand out condition that makes you choose a certain type of plant and does narrow the choice down a lot.
The weather has been dry apart from a good half hour soaking yesterday evening and once maybe 3 weeks ago it hasn't rained properly here for 2 or 3 months, just the odd light shower.
Because it's windy and we've had reasonable amount of sun it really does dry the soil out and many plants just fail. We've drained a few IBCs so far this year and they hold 1000ltrs each.
The wind just constantly bashes the plants around and dries the leaves out if they aren't up to living out here.
As far as common plants are concerned French lavender does well, it's looking a bit too dry for heather, anything coniferous will probably go brown. The apples trees are looking sick, that's down to wind, but possibly a soil issue too (caused by me) which i'll either investigate or let them grow through in the hope for better next year.
I'm expecting Alpines to do well here so will have a go at those in the future, they do seem quite expensive though.
I knew it would be difficult growing stuff here which is why I built the Polytunnel and went big. It was put up as soon as it was not really for growing, but general storage until a workshop is built. I have however found some room in there to grow and also had a go with stuff outside.
As noted above the outside veg is suffering from the winds, how it will end I don't know. I think coldframes or cloches may be a solution in the future for things which like it outside, but don't want so much wind or heat.
One surprising thing is that so far the Polytunnel has exceeded expectations. The reason for this is actually the wind! I did spec it with double doors which face West and a single facing East. Most of the Summer winds come from the South or West so it gets plenty in through the double doors. This is having the effect of removing stale and hot air as it blows through. It doesn't have enough energy once it's through the door to worry the plants, just a gentle breeze which is just what you want. The downside is (at the moment) I have to be here to regulate it and of course there is still chance for us to get plenty of still, hot weather, but we'll see.
Toms swelling and waiting to ripen now:
Lettuce will grow between or behind tomato plants just fine.
Courgettes are the nearest, with cucumbers waiting to be moved so they can crawl up some nets. Also in there are beans, spinach and strawberries.
Rabbit proofing the yard and paddock carry on. This post had rotted off and the gate blew down in the Winter storms:
Wood rots when it's in constant contact with Oxygen and water and can't get dry. That's why wooden posts always snap off at ground level. Despite looking a bit dishevelled the gate has survived because of it's simple design, it's only wet when it rains and dries out in between.
I plucked this from my post collection, lit a fire and charred the end:
It's the oldest and best way of preventing posts from rotting at the bottom.
Slopped a bit of Creo on to blend it in, made a bit of a cap out of some flashband, some mesh on the gate and we're back up and running for a few years.
The top band was already crooked, don't blame me for that!
After being dicked around for 8 weeks, the remanufactured brake master cylinder (BMC) finally arrived (magically after i'd requested it and my money back a few days previous). So it was bolted on to Benford and I attempted to pressure bleed off the system.
As a sidenote and reminder these brake systems use hydraulic oil and not normal brake fluid. There are slave cylinders actually inside the front and rear axles which operate on a set of slotted discs immersed in fluid, nothing like a normal dry friction brake disc at all. I was worried someone had put brake fluid through the system and ruined the seals, it would be one heck of a job separating the axles and getting those out, then finding new seals.
So anyhow I pressured it up and it rewarded me by spewing oil out of one of the hollow chassis members.
Well aren't we f*****g blessed thinks I as I slackened off a brake pipe, pulled it out of the box section where it was hiding to find it in two pieces and one half blocked solid:
It was a non-automotive size too at 5mm ('normal' is 5/16ths) so got some ordered off Ebay.
All fitted, bled off and woohoo, we have very good working brakes at last
It's been so long with just the engine and handbrake to slow and stop it I'm going to have to retrain myself to use a footbrake.
I have become quite deft at operating it like this, but had nearly killed or badly injured myself learning it. I took no pictures, didn't tell anyone and don't want to talk about it either as it made my blood run cold, but it was a hard lesson in Physics. Basically a dumper with no load can be stopped with a handbrake, however when going down a slope with 3T in the front it won't.
I have a localish connection now with a guy who has an 8 wheeler tipper with grab. He sells various hardcores, soils etc and his stuff is utter rubbish! He is however cheap and will deliver up here reliably, the latter of which is a blessing in itself. Getting a parcel off Ebay or whatever delivered up here is a blessing.
His services may come in handy in the future.
I ordered 12T of recycled ste and here it is:
It's supposed to be crushed brick, stone, concrete etc with no dust for some of the field drains i've formed (to put round a perforated pipe), but it's got dust in and also:
Glass
Golfballs
Pool balls
Pens
Batteries
Bits of wood
Gloves
Plumbing fittings
Shotgun cartridges
And god only knows what else. This isn't Kew gardens, it's an underground drain in a field in the middle of no-where so it'll have to do.
Loaded up Benford and off we went to fill some trenches:
The sprung and damped seat seized solid with rust years ago so bombing across a bumpy field means you have to hang on tight to the wheel, a bit of dust might have blown in my eye too as I smiled and realised i'm quite enjoying my life here
On that note this chapter should end, but it doesn't. That's because it's easy to point out that of course I am enjoying it, i've been here just less than a year. It could well grind us down bit by bit in the future. Hopefully not and to counteract this we have to shape the place to suit us, the views and the weather. If all goes to plan this will mean building shelters, a workshop, shed, Summer house and extend the existing house with a better bathroom and more user friendly staircase.
The field which drops steeply away from the front of the house will eventually have a pond and become an Arboretum. Probably the sheep will go to be replaced with Alpacas.
This is the dream anyhow!
If you didn't know there is a PH Euromillion syndicate then take a look at the thread in The Lounge and maybe join in. It only grinds into action when it's rolled over so we get a decent cut if we ever win, it's currently active.
I always throw my £2.50 in, heck I could use the money!
Great write up, thanks.Should you force your body to get up and go to work at a certain time, or just get up when you've had enough sleep, go to work and stop when you've had enough? I've always preferred the latter, If I was supposed to pop out of bed in a morning i'd sleep in a toaster.
I've been getting into the habit of falling asleep in my chair and waking when it gets light, it helps with the carpal tunnel.
Sleeping in a bed is a modern thing and overrated anyhow
Even at my age it still surprises me it's light so early Midsummer. Then I realise I've got to go out to open the Polytunnel as it'll get too hot before I've gone to bed and woken up again! I think it's quite a special time of day, it's just my body says it would rather be resting.
I remember in my yoof partying hard and still being up when the sun came up too, they were good times.
I got this pic of a Tomato plant with beads of water on it early doors:
Note: I haven't been any more specific than 'beads of water' as I have no idea what was going on there, but it was about 12'c.
I think this low overnight temp might be causing the yellow ends on the courgettes. It could be lack of certain minerals too, but not iron or manganese, we have plenty of that.
As is customary in the UK lets talk about the weather - and how it effects plants.
When choosing plants you have to consider soil and weather. Soil can be worked around, weather also to some degree, but you'll always have plants which can only grow outside to brighten the place up.
Whilst we get plenty of rain in Winter and cold spells like anywhere else in the UK, the one thing we do get too much of is wind, that's the one stand out condition that makes you choose a certain type of plant and does narrow the choice down a lot.
The weather has been dry apart from a good half hour soaking yesterday evening and once maybe 3 weeks ago it hasn't rained properly here for 2 or 3 months, just the odd light shower.
Because it's windy and we've had reasonable amount of sun it really does dry the soil out and many plants just fail. We've drained a few IBCs so far this year and they hold 1000ltrs each.
The wind just constantly bashes the plants around and dries the leaves out if they aren't up to living out here.
As far as common plants are concerned French lavender does well, it's looking a bit too dry for heather, anything coniferous will probably go brown. The apples trees are looking sick, that's down to wind, but possibly a soil issue too (caused by me) which i'll either investigate or let them grow through in the hope for better next year.
I'm expecting Alpines to do well here so will have a go at those in the future, they do seem quite expensive though.
I knew it would be difficult growing stuff here which is why I built the Polytunnel and went big. It was put up as soon as it was not really for growing, but general storage until a workshop is built. I have however found some room in there to grow and also had a go with stuff outside.
As noted above the outside veg is suffering from the winds, how it will end I don't know. I think coldframes or cloches may be a solution in the future for things which like it outside, but don't want so much wind or heat.
One surprising thing is that so far the Polytunnel has exceeded expectations. The reason for this is actually the wind! I did spec it with double doors which face West and a single facing East. Most of the Summer winds come from the South or West so it gets plenty in through the double doors. This is having the effect of removing stale and hot air as it blows through. It doesn't have enough energy once it's through the door to worry the plants, just a gentle breeze which is just what you want. The downside is (at the moment) I have to be here to regulate it and of course there is still chance for us to get plenty of still, hot weather, but we'll see.
Toms swelling and waiting to ripen now:
Lettuce will grow between or behind tomato plants just fine.
Courgettes are the nearest, with cucumbers waiting to be moved so they can crawl up some nets. Also in there are beans, spinach and strawberries.
Rabbit proofing the yard and paddock carry on. This post had rotted off and the gate blew down in the Winter storms:
Wood rots when it's in constant contact with Oxygen and water and can't get dry. That's why wooden posts always snap off at ground level. Despite looking a bit dishevelled the gate has survived because of it's simple design, it's only wet when it rains and dries out in between.
I plucked this from my post collection, lit a fire and charred the end:
It's the oldest and best way of preventing posts from rotting at the bottom.
Slopped a bit of Creo on to blend it in, made a bit of a cap out of some flashband, some mesh on the gate and we're back up and running for a few years.
The top band was already crooked, don't blame me for that!
After being dicked around for 8 weeks, the remanufactured brake master cylinder (BMC) finally arrived (magically after i'd requested it and my money back a few days previous). So it was bolted on to Benford and I attempted to pressure bleed off the system.
As a sidenote and reminder these brake systems use hydraulic oil and not normal brake fluid. There are slave cylinders actually inside the front and rear axles which operate on a set of slotted discs immersed in fluid, nothing like a normal dry friction brake disc at all. I was worried someone had put brake fluid through the system and ruined the seals, it would be one heck of a job separating the axles and getting those out, then finding new seals.
So anyhow I pressured it up and it rewarded me by spewing oil out of one of the hollow chassis members.
Well aren't we f*****g blessed thinks I as I slackened off a brake pipe, pulled it out of the box section where it was hiding to find it in two pieces and one half blocked solid:
It was a non-automotive size too at 5mm ('normal' is 5/16ths) so got some ordered off Ebay.
All fitted, bled off and woohoo, we have very good working brakes at last
It's been so long with just the engine and handbrake to slow and stop it I'm going to have to retrain myself to use a footbrake.
I have become quite deft at operating it like this, but had nearly killed or badly injured myself learning it. I took no pictures, didn't tell anyone and don't want to talk about it either as it made my blood run cold, but it was a hard lesson in Physics. Basically a dumper with no load can be stopped with a handbrake, however when going down a slope with 3T in the front it won't.
I have a localish connection now with a guy who has an 8 wheeler tipper with grab. He sells various hardcores, soils etc and his stuff is utter rubbish! He is however cheap and will deliver up here reliably, the latter of which is a blessing in itself. Getting a parcel off Ebay or whatever delivered up here is a blessing.
His services may come in handy in the future.
I ordered 12T of recycled s
te and here it is:It's supposed to be crushed brick, stone, concrete etc with no dust for some of the field drains i've formed (to put round a perforated pipe), but it's got dust in and also:
Glass
Golfballs
Pool balls
Pens
Batteries
Bits of wood
Gloves
Plumbing fittings
Shotgun cartridges
And god only knows what else. This isn't Kew gardens, it's an underground drain in a field in the middle of no-where so it'll have to do.
Loaded up Benford and off we went to fill some trenches:
The sprung and damped seat seized solid with rust years ago so bombing across a bumpy field means you have to hang on tight to the wheel, a bit of dust might have blown in my eye too as I smiled and realised i'm quite enjoying my life here
On that note this chapter should end, but it doesn't. That's because it's easy to point out that of course I am enjoying it, i've been here just less than a year. It could well grind us down bit by bit in the future. Hopefully not and to counteract this we have to shape the place to suit us, the views and the weather. If all goes to plan this will mean building shelters, a workshop, shed, Summer house and extend the existing house with a better bathroom and more user friendly staircase.
The field which drops steeply away from the front of the house will eventually have a pond and become an Arboretum. Probably the sheep will go to be replaced with Alpacas.
This is the dream anyhow!
If you didn't know there is a PH Euromillion syndicate then take a look at the thread in The Lounge and maybe join in. It only grinds into action when it's rolled over so we get a decent cut if we ever win, it's currently active.
I always throw my £2.50 in, heck I could use the money!
r3g said:
Ref the winds. I used to do a lot of farm work in the past and those in exposed areas like yours often had lines of leylandi planted in strategic places which once established serve as fantastic wind-breaks and unlike most other tree/hedge types, don't make a din when it's windy.
Perhaps the only valid and useful use for Leylandii !!As others have said: great update, thanks!
mikeiow said:
Perhaps the only valid and useful use for Leylandii !!
As others have said: great update, thanks!
No, you can't plant laylandi there, it'd look about as fitting as when they plonk those irange baratt homes in the gap between the roundabout and the motorway: sAs others have said: great update, thanks!
te.Op, since i was already posting, i'll add myself to the long list of people who love this thread, but have nothing much to contribute. It's the forum equivalent of an andrew camerata youtube video, interesting, but sortnof soothing st the same time. Thanks for sharing your various adventures (and hurdles!) With us
r3g said:
Ref the winds. I used to do a lot of farm work in the past and those in exposed areas like yours often had lines of leylandi planted in strategic places which once established serve as fantastic wind-breaks and unlike most other tree/hedge types, don't make a din when it's windy.
Agreed, we have a 50 metre row of them which are a godsend when the wind picks up. 
The long hot Summer of 2022
Sorry, but what is a 'TTAYBR thread'?
Sorry for long silence, I told a braggard of a rich property developer what I thought of him, got grassed up and a months ban
I took to posting up elsewhere and am finding it hard to get back into the swing of things here now as everything is months behind.
It's difficult finding time to write in Summer and Autumn too as the weather is so good I'm forced to take advantage of it, but today it is decidedly showery. Anyhow, moving swiftly on I'll title the posts so you can fill your boots with whatever floats your boats and skip what you don't need.
Weather/drought/water/fields etc
The very steep slope behind the house has been dry for months, we've lost a few plants to it (mainly heather) as they weren't established enough. This is that the roots didn't go down far enough to get the moisture. The forecast says rain so you think 'ok i'll leave it'. It never comes so you get the hose out ready, forecast says rain again and it doesn't come again. Plants get fed up and die. Putting water on dried out soil does nothing, it just runs off. Poke your finger in after watering and it's tinder dry underneath.
The farmed fields below us are green, probably as they're clay and low down so get and retain water, the ones further away here were cut for hay which is why they're looking so good, the ones nearer are for forest and rewilding so haven't been touched. The brown does not necessarily mean dry ground, it's just the dry stems and seed heads of the grass (uncut hay).
This was a few weeks ago now, pre-rain.
Some of our fields there in the centre not looking bad:
Everytime I've been past the local reservoirs this summer i've taken pics thinking 'Well we probably won't see them as bad as this for a while', but then it never rained of course, so i've got loads of pics of half empty reservoirs and will now have to go do them all again and the levelsare even lower.
The engineers were inspecting the highest one recently, my man-on-the-moors (local Gamekeeper) says they're worried about some large cracks which have appeared. Presumably these are in the now exposed clay basin. I'll see if I can get access and some pics.
These were from maybe 6 weeks ago now:
If you've ever wondered what those chains are dangling off the towers now you know - they're for opening and closing the outlet lids:
Water used to lap against that wall on the other side:
That was water all the way across, from left to right, the green growth shows how long it's been exposed.
The Met office forecast is laughingly inaccurate here, it's been wrong more often than not this Summer. It'll state rain, 80%, showers, persistent, storms, lightening the whole lot the next day and it'll be lovely, warm and sunny.
Our borehole has been fine, as have many other peoples spring fed properties (of which there are many).
Our superseded spring supply has been nowt but a drip for months so bad timing for getting my garden watering system started. There are 3 IBCs up there now, 2 still awaiting covers to hide them, prevent UV damage and algae build up:
It's still very much in the testing stage and i've created some weird unfathomable effect whereby I seem to have defied physics and have one water level much higher than another despite them being connected with no one way valves or anything like that.
One time I drained one by using it and it didn't draw from the one next to it so started to collapse quite alarmingly instead.
I've fixed the lower catchment tanks temporarily by plastic welding the cracks in the broken tank, throwing out the rusted through supports and replacing them with some old sleepers and some Creo' slopped on for good measure.
Looking a bit neater now:
Must get that solar panel secured before the Winter winds arrive and turn it into a kite.
There is only 600L hence it being temporary, however there is room for two IBCs at 1000L ea in the future, then we'll go into Summer with 5000L on tap and more (for watering can use only) on ground level.
This Summer I've occasionally been taking an IBC down to the stream to fill it up to water the plants. During the two hottest periods the potted courgettes needed watering 4 times a day. They'll go in the ground next year.
I've been using my old car transporting trailer to do this, park it up by the stream and leave the solar pump running for 4hrs to fill the tank. Before I knew it was 4hrs I went back up to the house and kept going out to look at the level using the binoculars.
The heat was so intense some days the sheep were all searching for shade. As I'd tidied all the pumping paraphernalia up, hitched up Terry and was just about to pull away I noticed something moving in my mirrors. A sheep had managed to crawl into the foot gap under the front of the trailer! I went back and looked at it, no movement. When the trailer arrives it has no weight on it, after 4hrs it's got a ton on so sits lower, was it trapped?
I gave it a prod and it dragged itself out and ran off. That would have been one heck of a mess if I hadn't noticed and driven away.
Household water filtration
It took many months to get prices in and educate myself on this. We had so many quotes of wildly different specs and prices it was all a blur. I finally realised they were probably all over-specifying to either make money and/or make the water cleaner than a Nuns butt cheek.
I asked some pertinent questions of one local guy (who wanted ££ thousands and a yearly service contract) and the shutters went up, I got multiple excuses as to why he couldn't do the job, but did glean from him who was to be trusted and who wasn't. I narrowed it down to two and there wasn't much between them.
I approached one that was happy to talk, had a discussion over spec, price and they sent someone out to do a survey, then the job we'd agreed between us.
As i'd thought they were over specifying I questioned, then removed several £k worth of equipment & time and they came out and did the job.
I figured we didn't need UV as there is no bacteria present. We didn't need the ionising to 'mop up anything left' as it was not only a step too far, but also has the side effect of softening the water (it's already very soft) so can make it feel slimy.
There is two ways of looking at this, you overdo it, overspend and are happy with the result or you take a risk by taking off some equipment with a plan to add it on afterwards if it doesn't clean well enough.
We're still in the testing stage, but so far and a couple of months down the line the gamble seems to have paid off and everything which had brown staining cleaned off it has stayed clean. The metallic taste and whiff of sulphur if left stood has gone. It would be interesting to have another water test done to see precisely where we're at, but it's more £££ to just back up what we're seeing and tasting.
And there it is:
Not the most tidy of installs, but the positioning of it made it difficult. The tall blue tank is full of graded 'media', sand, charcoal, whatever and does the first filter. Whatever makes it through goes to one woven polypropylene coarse filter then onto a fine one.
The first filter has a programmable reverse flow (known as backwash) which cleans it out once a week. The other two have replaceable cartridges, when they're clogged the water pressure in the house indicates it's time to change them.
During the heatwave we are at a bit of risk here if the moors go up in flames and I do have some old pics of the fire brigade and helicopter parked on the top road above us when there was a moor fire. After speaking to him gamekeepers are on red alert too. I don't bother watching the news much these days, but as the temps hit record levels I was sat watching those terrible fires both here in the UK and abroad on the TV.
The sun had just gone down when I caught a bright orange glow out of the corner of my eye on the horizon of the heather covered moors
I went out for a look and was relieved to find it was harvest, super, blood moon all rolled into one and what a beautiful sight it was too.
Sorry, but what is a 'TTAYBR thread'?
Sorry for long silence, I told a braggard of a rich property developer what I thought of him, got grassed up and a months ban
I took to posting up elsewhere and am finding it hard to get back into the swing of things here now as everything is months behind.
It's difficult finding time to write in Summer and Autumn too as the weather is so good I'm forced to take advantage of it, but today it is decidedly showery. Anyhow, moving swiftly on I'll title the posts so you can fill your boots with whatever floats your boats and skip what you don't need.
Weather/drought/water/fields etc
The very steep slope behind the house has been dry for months, we've lost a few plants to it (mainly heather) as they weren't established enough. This is that the roots didn't go down far enough to get the moisture. The forecast says rain so you think 'ok i'll leave it'. It never comes so you get the hose out ready, forecast says rain again and it doesn't come again. Plants get fed up and die. Putting water on dried out soil does nothing, it just runs off. Poke your finger in after watering and it's tinder dry underneath.
The farmed fields below us are green, probably as they're clay and low down so get and retain water, the ones further away here were cut for hay which is why they're looking so good, the ones nearer are for forest and rewilding so haven't been touched. The brown does not necessarily mean dry ground, it's just the dry stems and seed heads of the grass (uncut hay).
This was a few weeks ago now, pre-rain.
Some of our fields there in the centre not looking bad:
Everytime I've been past the local reservoirs this summer i've taken pics thinking 'Well we probably won't see them as bad as this for a while', but then it never rained of course, so i've got loads of pics of half empty reservoirs and will now have to go do them all again and the levelsare even lower.
The engineers were inspecting the highest one recently, my man-on-the-moors (local Gamekeeper) says they're worried about some large cracks which have appeared. Presumably these are in the now exposed clay basin. I'll see if I can get access and some pics.
These were from maybe 6 weeks ago now:
If you've ever wondered what those chains are dangling off the towers now you know - they're for opening and closing the outlet lids:
Water used to lap against that wall on the other side:
That was water all the way across, from left to right, the green growth shows how long it's been exposed.
The Met office forecast is laughingly inaccurate here, it's been wrong more often than not this Summer. It'll state rain, 80%, showers, persistent, storms, lightening the whole lot the next day and it'll be lovely, warm and sunny.
Our borehole has been fine, as have many other peoples spring fed properties (of which there are many).
Our superseded spring supply has been nowt but a drip for months so bad timing for getting my garden watering system started. There are 3 IBCs up there now, 2 still awaiting covers to hide them, prevent UV damage and algae build up:
It's still very much in the testing stage and i've created some weird unfathomable effect whereby I seem to have defied physics and have one water level much higher than another despite them being connected with no one way valves or anything like that.
One time I drained one by using it and it didn't draw from the one next to it so started to collapse quite alarmingly instead.
I've fixed the lower catchment tanks temporarily by plastic welding the cracks in the broken tank, throwing out the rusted through supports and replacing them with some old sleepers and some Creo' slopped on for good measure.
Looking a bit neater now:
Must get that solar panel secured before the Winter winds arrive and turn it into a kite.
There is only 600L hence it being temporary, however there is room for two IBCs at 1000L ea in the future, then we'll go into Summer with 5000L on tap and more (for watering can use only) on ground level.
This Summer I've occasionally been taking an IBC down to the stream to fill it up to water the plants. During the two hottest periods the potted courgettes needed watering 4 times a day. They'll go in the ground next year.
I've been using my old car transporting trailer to do this, park it up by the stream and leave the solar pump running for 4hrs to fill the tank. Before I knew it was 4hrs I went back up to the house and kept going out to look at the level using the binoculars.
The heat was so intense some days the sheep were all searching for shade. As I'd tidied all the pumping paraphernalia up, hitched up Terry and was just about to pull away I noticed something moving in my mirrors. A sheep had managed to crawl into the foot gap under the front of the trailer! I went back and looked at it, no movement. When the trailer arrives it has no weight on it, after 4hrs it's got a ton on so sits lower, was it trapped?
I gave it a prod and it dragged itself out and ran off. That would have been one heck of a mess if I hadn't noticed and driven away.
Household water filtration
It took many months to get prices in and educate myself on this. We had so many quotes of wildly different specs and prices it was all a blur. I finally realised they were probably all over-specifying to either make money and/or make the water cleaner than a Nuns butt cheek.
I asked some pertinent questions of one local guy (who wanted ££ thousands and a yearly service contract) and the shutters went up, I got multiple excuses as to why he couldn't do the job, but did glean from him who was to be trusted and who wasn't. I narrowed it down to two and there wasn't much between them.
I approached one that was happy to talk, had a discussion over spec, price and they sent someone out to do a survey, then the job we'd agreed between us.
As i'd thought they were over specifying I questioned, then removed several £k worth of equipment & time and they came out and did the job.
I figured we didn't need UV as there is no bacteria present. We didn't need the ionising to 'mop up anything left' as it was not only a step too far, but also has the side effect of softening the water (it's already very soft) so can make it feel slimy.
There is two ways of looking at this, you overdo it, overspend and are happy with the result or you take a risk by taking off some equipment with a plan to add it on afterwards if it doesn't clean well enough.
We're still in the testing stage, but so far and a couple of months down the line the gamble seems to have paid off and everything which had brown staining cleaned off it has stayed clean. The metallic taste and whiff of sulphur if left stood has gone. It would be interesting to have another water test done to see precisely where we're at, but it's more £££ to just back up what we're seeing and tasting.
And there it is:
Not the most tidy of installs, but the positioning of it made it difficult. The tall blue tank is full of graded 'media', sand, charcoal, whatever and does the first filter. Whatever makes it through goes to one woven polypropylene coarse filter then onto a fine one.
The first filter has a programmable reverse flow (known as backwash) which cleans it out once a week. The other two have replaceable cartridges, when they're clogged the water pressure in the house indicates it's time to change them.
During the heatwave we are at a bit of risk here if the moors go up in flames and I do have some old pics of the fire brigade and helicopter parked on the top road above us when there was a moor fire. After speaking to him gamekeepers are on red alert too. I don't bother watching the news much these days, but as the temps hit record levels I was sat watching those terrible fires both here in the UK and abroad on the TV.
The sun had just gone down when I caught a bright orange glow out of the corner of my eye on the horizon of the heather covered moors
I went out for a look and was relieved to find it was harvest, super, blood moon all rolled into one and what a beautiful sight it was too.
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