A Year in Stempster

 The walk this morning was not the most fun we've had! The strong wind was blowing hail into our faces on the walk back up the hill to our house, making me pull my wooly hat over one side of my face, turning me into a cartoon pirate character! As we left the house, however, we were treated to a murmuration. The starlings were teaching the jackdaws how to move in clouds. The littler starlings would try their acrobatics first, then the jackdaws would follow in their path, which continued for some time. It was happening over at Bailie Farm, too, a little further away. The clouds of birds became invisible until they turned when the shape they formed grew darker. Once they had finished their display, a sparrowhawk flew briskly from the wood, clearly determining that the coast was clear. The crows do not like the sparrowhawk. Then, after the hail, when we got home, we were treated to a beautiful sunlight, casting a rose gold glow onto the turbines, and causing a rainbow over the house.

 We were going to have our Story Day today but it seemed a shame to spend our last good weather day inside so, instead, I did something I've been putting off for some time. My potting shed is my goal for next year. There is a greenhouse in the Kitchen Garden, but this is really Dad's, and I don't like to use it too much. Besides, it's only small and gets very full through the year. Eventually, I'd like a polytunnel in the orchard, but that'll be a long time in coming, so I've been saving up for a potting shed where I can work in the Kitchen Garden when we're having April showers. I also really like the classic designs of potting sheds, and I have great plans for decorating it! First job, though, was the thankless task of clearing the wood pile and bits and bobs from where the potting shed is destined to go! This wood pile has been a feature since before we moved in, and some of the wood was rotten beyond recognition, some had screws and nails at weird an...

  The BBC usually refuse to accept that snow exists, so often it's a surprise when we wake up to a snowy scene. Given that they are forecasting multiple snow showers, coupled with high winds over the coming days, it must be going to be fairly deep! Stempster is made up of lots of roofs, all going in interesting directions. The result is an exciting looking building, but also that there are multiple slopes around the house. This means that, if the snow is too deep, an avalanche is deposited from the roof onto the floor, causing an alarming sound as it slides down. Any plants that are in the way of the avalanche are squashed beyond recognition. So, in the event that the BBC actually admits to a snowstorm on the way, the wisest thing to do is move any pots of plants away from a roof slope. While this is easy for small pots like the 15cm jobs for the Meditation Garden, a wooden raised trough full of compost is a different matter. As soon as we tried to move it, one of the legs split an...

Christmas Eve. The first day of the school holidays. Perhaps some of my colleagues would enjoy a lie-in this morning, but Orlando made sure I got up not long past my normal time. His insistent barking told me that I had quail and chickens to see to, who didn't understand the luxuries of holidays, and I (somewhat begrudgingly) got up and brushed my teeth ready to go downstairs. I switched on the many Christmas lights, a job I love doing, and made up some more antibiotic solution for my male quail who has an abcess. Orlando, and Jess, waited as patiently as they could before I grabbed my head torch and went out into the darkness. My routine is simple. On a day I'm not driving, I go to the garage to get more chicken food and quail food before going through to the kitchen garden to see to the quail first, telling Orlando to drop the log he's inevitably collected from the log store before I open the gate. Otherwise, he collects all our fuel in a pile in the orchard. The quail we...