A regular week

Little Ilvija will be one year old
tomorrow

We've had a trickle of visitors this last week, which is how we like it. Enough to buy the food for the alpacas, without being inundated and means we can still do what we need to on the farm. One set of visitors were friends of ours from up north. I used to stay with them often in Tartu, but this time they came to visit us. The idea had been to set up a tent but the weather was not great and forecast for some rain overnight. Rather than having to take a tent down in the wet, they opted to stay in our greenhouse, which worked well. At least they didn't get wet. The cat was put in the cat box and was quite content to stay there until about 6 in the morning. I was a bit worried that she would disturb them.

An everlasting pea. What a wonderful
colour for a wild plant

Not sure what happened to some photos, they
seemed to get lost in the ether somewhere as
this turned up along with a batch of photos I 
emailed to myself. Need a better system
obviously. This picture shows the disaster I
had the other day with the strawberries. How
can a third of a pan of strawberries make
this much mess?

I'm enjoying the slower pace of work at the moment and I actually got a full weekend off too. Normally I'm playing catch up at the weekends for the time I take off in the week, but this week I got the work done, mainly during the day and a little at night. It does help that during the summer we technically have fewer hours anyway and also technically I'm down to part-time. It did mean that I managed to get quite a bit done in the garden. I found asparagus, brassicas of varying kinds, a bed of strawberries and flowers amongst the weeds. I had a humungous pile of weeds by the time I'd finished but at least I had the satisfaction of being able to see what I've done. There was also a good shower to wash away any soil and settle the plants left in place. 

If you blow this picture up you can see the colourful
plants at the back of the pond. All natural. 

A wild geranium

We also went for a walk in the forest. We went to a special spot where there are cranberries (not ready yet of course) and for the first time I saw sundew plants up there. Maybe they have been there all along but I don't ever remember seeing them before. What makes it so special is the smell. It is worth clambering over the logs through the swamp to get there. It isn't the smell of pine but something very sweet and reminds me of my godmother's place up in the Lake District. I just wish I knew where it was coming from. I have tried to identify the plants but nothing makes that smell when crushed, so no idea what it is. I sometimes catch the drift of it on the breeze in the main part of the farm. It always makes me stop and inhale deeply. We didn't find many mushrooms, as maybe it was a bit cool the other night, but we found enough for a lamb and mushroom pie. I'm sure there will be many more coming through over the next few days with the rain we've had this last week.

The carnivorous sundew plant.

 

I'm quite proud of this picture. I think
the lichen on the tree, really offset this
forest bug - and that is really it's name,
kind of apt for a bug found in the forest.

Yes Brencis! You might actually be a daddy this
next year.

Turbjørn is still causing us some concern and is back on some pain medication. His neck seems to slip in and out of alignment. He's been quite good for Ian as he massages his neck. He just stands there and let's him do it. This is not normal for Turbjørn because he is one of our most nervous alpacas and usually won't let anyone near. He's also the grumpy one and all the other alpacas quickly learn to avoid him. We have the physio coming back out tomorrow and we'll probably have to organise an x-ray before we decide what to do. An operation is simply too expensive and probably not a good option for Turbjørn due to him being so nervy anyway. He could probably do with a neck brace while his joints stabilise, but that is a challenge in itself. At least there is some good news with the mating season as some of the females seem to be pregnant. It is easy to tell with the gentler ones, because when they turn round and tell the male he's not wanted by spitting at him it is a good indication they are pregnant. The more feisty ones are not so easy to know - they haven't read all the alpaca books apparently.

Pineapple weed. The tops make nice little snacks

Cabbage thistles make very
statuesque looking plants, but they
do seed themselves everywhere.

Well as we carry on in our very private bubble it is hard to believe that there is a crisis out there. Then again I can read about it in the news and on my Facebook newsfeed, so what I am struggling to believe is that there are still people who think that Covid19 is a hoax. I understand to some extent that some people are not taking it seriously enough, if you haven't seen the results then it all seems a bit far off,  although don't they pay attention to the news? The signs are not good in the news I'm reading. It seems that people have low levels of immunity only a few months after mild symptoms and so it is possible that people can become re-infected. It could even be worse the second time around. What that does mean is that this could rumble on for quite a long time, clogging up the health service, until people really do take it seriously. 

Common cow-wheat so my app says. It 
is similar in flower shape to wood cow-wheat
which grows profusely on our land. 
They are both parasitic plants.

When I looked this up on the app, it said black
sooty mould and yet it looked so yellow and fluffy.
Then I blew the picture up to see it more closely
and sure enough, it looks pretty slimy underneath
and starting to go black.

So is there any good news to come out of this? Children under 15 it seems are largely immune and so maybe they can go back to school in September. That will of course be a relief to some, maybe many, parents, although I do know some who have enjoyed their time at home with the kids. Outdoor learning would be much better and healthier under normal circumstances and making that more available would be fantastic. Maybe less time in schools for some so that there is room to move around more freely. Outdoors is also good for all of us, so maybe people are beginning to realise that somehow moving a work environment out of the office, at least some of the time might be good. Less air conditioning and more natural airflow. I look forward to seeing how workplaces, cities and homes can be designed for the better in the future, more people friendly, less polluted and more nature friendly. Just maybe, we can make changes for the better - if we take this seriously enough.

Four-banded longhorn beetle on 
meadowsweet

My app says muscina but that could be one
of 27 species. Interesting against the rue 
flowers though

Jakobs and George have been play fighting a lot
just lately and Jakobs and Josefs had blood on them.
There was no sign of injury, no limping or torn ears, 
so no idea what happened. George will probably need
his teeth looking at though.

Veronica keeps plodding on. Considering her legs
are collapsing at the front, they don't seem to bother
her. Her condition is still quite good overall. She is
getting on and is 17 years old now.

Alpacas down! These really, really like to sunbathe