The Journey: Not a lot and yet...

Boys! Remember social distancing

It has been one of those times when work of the more routine kind takes precedence and that's not quite so interesting to write about or not appropriate to. One thing I can say is that things are ticking along slowly but in the right direction and we finally got a paper published in a journal related to the project. So that was a bonus. You can see it if you are interested in what I'm working towards at the moment (link here).

We've had a mixed bag of weather over the last two weeks.
Snow, wind, rain, sunshine. Warm days, cold days. I guess
it's just typical spring weather really.

This is my reminder to get off the computer for a few
minutes, however, this one is not so applicable in today's
environment. It's not normally applicable to me anyway,
but more so now.

One of the reasons for not posting last week was that I was trying to prepare for a pre-defence of my PhD. Basically that is like an oral mock exam in preparation for the final defence. I had to prepare a 25 minute presentation and then discuss my results with an opponent. I already knew what kind of questions would be discussed, but I only had two days notice - which is normal. The review of my written thesis was quite encouraging and most of the comments seemed very fair. It means I have a bit of work to do to improve my thesis but nothing horrendous.

A crane

It won't be long before the oak tree will disappear amongst
the foliage.

Preparing though was a nightmare, partly because there were some urgent work tasks to do the week before. To be honest I only finished with an hour to spare and then I needed to prepare myself and the room for the presentation, which of course under the current circumstances, was online. I had to go back to the apartment to make sure that I had a good signal on my phone, as that is how I access the internet, so I went earlier in the morning rather than leaving that until the last minute. I also quickly trimmed my hair, as you do! After all that I still had half an hour and so I decided to spend that time listening to some music and calming myself down. Stressed or what! Fortunately by the time the presentation came around, I had calmed down and felt quite peaceful about the situation.

These were only little trees when we got the land

A view from Vanessa's crew's paddock

It was the weirdest presentation I have ever done. I had half an hour of talking to my computer and trying to remember to look at the camera. During the presentation I could not hear anyone or see anyone, only my own slides. There were several times during the presentation I made a mental note that something wasn't quite as smooth a transition from one topic to another as it could be, which was a bit distracting, but I mainly managed to get through without too many slip ups and within a good time. Phew! The discussion at the end was pleasant and I was able to genuinely thank the opponent for some very constructive comments that I felt would be helpful in preparing for the final defence. This was supposed to be the toughest part of the processes and so I was glad it went as well as it did. It was also nice to see my colleagues had joined me too.

Vanessa doesn't look amused. Just like her mother

We often call her Silly Silla, mainly because she sits out
on her own, whether it is rain or shine.

As I mentioned before we moved out to the land and have been here about a month already. It has been a bit chilly at nights but nothing too bad and just the one heater is enough in the morning to warm things through now. At least in a caravan there isn't so much to heat. At the coldest points we used a fan heater though. Of course it has been quiet as we haven't had any visitors, until this week. Three cars, each containing two people turned up at once. We weren't happy. They had had a test and been declared free of Covid19 and so felt it was fine to travel about as long as they obeyed the rules of only two per car and 2m distance. They obviously were not aware that does not mean they can still catch it or carry the virus on their clothes etc. Please people! Stay home! Stay safe!

Vanessa's crew have seen something

It's just Sofie

Slēgts means closed

Unfortunately Google is still showing we are open, despite sending them an email to say we are closed. Not helpful that we can't just change the information ourselves. It wasn't a comfortable experience to have people drive on and expect to be shown around and so we decided to actually block off our roadway. Hopefully no one will be daft enough to drive on but it does mean that we now have to stop at the entrance to unhook the string and sign whenever we take a trip into the village.

Just coming back from my presentation to see Ian in the field
with his camera and computer. He was comparing the views
to some taken in 2009.

Ian's had a harrowing time 😃 He has been out with the
tractor and chain harrow to remove the dead grass and
flatten the molehills

It has been a fairly hectic time work wise but I have at least managed to get out and do some work in the garden. Several beds are now looking a lot tidier. Some Jerusalem artichokes have been dug up for the chickens and some for ourselves. Most of the strawberry beds have been weeded and old hay put on them to keep them mulched. Asparagus beds have been sorted and my herb beds. I even planted one row of potatoes into the alpaca manure that Ian has laid out over the winter.

No not giant molehills but dispersed manure heaps and silage
heaps, ready for planting up squashes next month

Levelling the base

Ian has continued to work on the new greenhouse so that there are two beds with plenty of well rotted manure in and he is gradually sorting out the landscaping so that we can open the doors wide. It doesn't help that we have an undulating land where very little of the ground is flat. He's doing all of this while the polycarbonate is off so that it is easier to work. It also means the beds get some soaking from the rain we've been having. It is better they get rainwater on to soak the dried out manure. As usual, spring has been a bit dry and windy at times, but we've also had some showers, so all is good and the grass is growing well.

Preparing the base of the beds

Wood edging in and a layer of dried grass harrowed up from
the fields

Some well rotted manure and the next layer will be rotted
wood chippings for a mulch but that will come later when
these have sunk a little

The girls are out. Mari is talking to the new girls and
introducing herself no doubt. Although they have met
before a while ago. I guess you could say our alpacas have
been in isolation since October when they were only allowed
out in their paddocks. Anyway girls, social isolation is not
being relaxed just yet. Another week or two.

Of course with the grass growing well the animals are itching to get out to eat it. It would be lovely to do that but too early and it wouldn't be good for the grass. The wet and windy weather we have had though did loosen some of the gates, enough for first Tellus to get out one day onto the field on his own - we can only surmise it swung shut after him, because we don't think he's quite that clever to get through a gate and close it behind him. He is clever, but not that clever. He's the one that backs into other animals so they can't spit in his face when he tries to muscle in on someone or get in through a door that someone is blocking. The girls also managed to get through their gate and it was a bit harder trying to get them back in, they sure didn't want to be parted from that bit of green grass.

Boo! Surprised you! Mr. Tellus at least on the right side of the
fence here.

At least here Herkules is cushed (sat upright) and not on his
side, but he's reluctant to get up from this.

It would be especially lovely to get Herkules out onto the grass as he is really struggling at the moment. One day we found him collapsed and he couldn't get up. There are few times he seemed to struggle to get up and yet once up, he doesn't seem so bad. We are not quite sure what is wrong with him, we did try and get some blood tests done, but the results were a bit weird - not weird in telling us something was wrong, but weird in the way that suggests the blood sample wasn't a good one, for whatever reason. We will have to make sure it is done again and see what they say this time. Ian will also see if he can get some slides done himself. The advantage of haematology training, albeit a rather long time ago.

Brencis gazing wistfully at the grass on the other side of the
fence.

The storks are back visiting our pond

Because it is so long ago since I last blogged, April 1st came and went. My chickens decided to play a trick on me. I had just finished giving some of them a good telling off because they hadn't been producing many eggs and went around to the back of the ark to put in their evening food when I found three eggs in the corner of their ark, just not in the nesting box. A little April fool prank I think

Smiley George. He's a clever chap, like
his mother and father

A grumpy looking cat and I'm the grumpy owner. She is
becoming a pest. She even tried to eat a squashed year
old egg and mouldy seeds today. It's a wonder she isn't sick