Part 1: I Ran

Karla looking a little red around the eyes and
losing fleece from around her nose. Likely due to
stress from the insects. I've used my magic cream
and the fleece is starting to regrow. I think the 
pink around the eyes is probably sorted with the
fly repellent that seems to be working.

We have a root cellar where we like to store jars of food that have been processed over the summer and to keep water cooler in the heat. This year some wasps took up residence in the doorway. Normally we are pretty quick to sort out a wasps nest but we were wondering what to do about this one as we were also aware that wasps have pretty much disappeared from our land after the ground nesting types were dug up, probably by the pine marten or a badger. We decided on trying to relocate the nest and give them a chance to build somewhere else. 

It looked promising but didn't amount to anything over us.

This bit of meadow has been left again this year because
it is so pretty.

We kitted up for the job. Ian had on his mosquito net, thick gloves and winter coat, I had a waterproof coat on that I could pull the hood up tight. You have to bear in mind that even at 10 o'clock at night the temperature was still up in the mid 20s.  We had a bucket with a lid and Ian scraped the nest into the bucket while I held the lid ready to place it over the top as quickly as possible. It worked remarkably well and no wasps attacked. Next I carried the bucket down into the field a good way from where we spend most of the time. I put the bucket on the ground and lifted the lid. The wasps started to come out of the nest and so I beat a hasty retreat, in fact I ran. 

This is as far as Ian has got with a new haystore. Too many 
other things to do.

Freddie showing off his whiskery moustache. They do pull
some funny faces.

Not sure when was the last time I legged it, I think it was when the fox was chasing our chickens or maybe when an alpaca was on the loose before we found out we don't need to run. I'm sure I wouldn't have won any prizes for speed but at least I managed to exit the area without any damage. And the wasps? Some at least came back to the root cellar and so I've sprayed those ones as they were starting to re-build the nest. A bit sad about that, but we need the root cellar. I did go back to the bucket and gave it a gentle kick and the wasps started swarming out, so they were still in there. I've not been back to check but we have had a some rain since then.

Meet Hecktor, the newest addition to our farm.

Karla exploring

It seems so recent since I started working in the garden and already produce needs to be sorted. I've made up jars of strawberries, gooseberries and white currants to go on porridge in the mornings over winter. Harvesting these also means pruning and weeding of the bushes at the same time, so takes a while. I've harvested garlic and put that in the barn to store and I've harvested the onions, so some have gone on benches in the greenhouse and some have gone in the what should be an alpaca house but gets used for storing hay. Ian fixed some battening to what will be the feeder so I could hang the onions up. 

A glorious sunrise

This is self-heal but with a difference. Normally they have
purple flowers on our land but these are white. There
 is a whole patch of them. It must be a mutation or 
something because I haven't sown them.

It has been very hot again with record temperatures for the night-time. We've managed okay by staying out of the caravan until late (one of the reasons for not blogging) and having fans on most of the day, one of which stays on all or at least most of the night too. It works. The two heavily pregnant alpacas and the nursing one have struggled though. They are not interested in the paddling pool that Ian put out for them they just stop inside in the shade and away from some of the large horseflies. 

Mainly small to medium horseflies but not the
very large ones.

We have seen a diversity of insect life this year and mainly infestations of one thing or another. We've had Colorado beetles and their larvae eating my potatoes, Clover Hay moth which infests hay (not sure what the damage will be yet), little slugs everywhere, cabbage beetles demolishing my cabbages, and stinkbugs also everywhere sticking holes in leaves and fruit. Fortunately the aphids are now being sorted by the ladybirds and probably the heat. Crickets and grasshoppers are doing a sterling job of keeping down some of the insects that have intentions of demolishing my crops. Then there are the flies that bother the alpacas and us, such as the dark large horse flies, little horse flies and deer flies. The deer flies are like an insect stealth bomber that goes for your shoulders and will go through clothing if they are not insect proof - not pleasant. Fortunately it's been too dry for many mosquitoes and maybe the dragonflies and swallows are also keeping them in check.

Fascinating creatures but would rather they
would go away.

Although I'm on holiday I still have dribs and drabs of work, with two articles and one book chapter that needs some attention. They are still a work in progress.

Fortunately the fleece is pretty thick now and it means it is
difficult for the insects to really get in. They like the 
brown spots though.

A bedstraw hawk moth

A backswimmer. Most of them are just brown, so again an
unusual find.

I thought this was funny of GT with his tail
wrapped around some pineapple weed.