Another local walk

 

This was a short walk but one we'd not done before because it meant walking through two farmyards, and didn't want to do this during Lockdown (though others had).  This little stream is at the edge of our land (we have a strip of woodland bordering the paddock).

Happy lambs guzzling!

The white is our house through the trees.  That huge tall pine is ours.  Hope it never falls over!!

Wild Violets flowering on a sunny bank.  We passed lots of them on our walk.

After we had passed through the first farmyard, and had a natter with the neighbours, this white farm was where we were headed.

One of the routes we could have chosen (there are 3 on this particular walk) goes around the mynydd.  Saving that one for a couple of weeks' time.

Looking across the woodland, now showing signs of leaves being unfurled.  Oak and Ash are neck and neck this year.

More Violets - there was a long strip of them here.

Down what seemed to be a sheep path rather than the bridleway it was marked on the map, and into a dingle with another stream to cross.

We reached the double hedges and the grassy lane looked more like an ancient hollow-way.  Not one to walk in the summer as it was a mass of young Nettles, but the banks were covered in Ground Ivy and buzzing with bees.

Another view of the mynydd.

Through the farmyard and up along the farm drive to the lane.

Masses of lovely Daffodils were still in bloom.

Greater Stitchwort.

The first Bluebells.

We got back to find Keith planing a piece of old oak he had dug out from his useful bit of wood in one of the stable stalls.  He and Tam have marked out the template for the new arm and it will be used for this.

We made the most of the late afternoon sunshine and began to lay out the poles for the polytunnel.  Unfortunately we had lost the instructions in our move - I knew exactly where it was when we were packing, but then sold the chest of drawers it was in to the newcomers and it has disappeared from view since then.  Fortunately Tam worked out how it went together from looking up a picture on her phone . . .

Yesterday we carried it up to its final position in the paddock and put the cover on it, so now there are young Tomato plants up there and Tam has sown lots more vegetable seeds.  I did some heavy duty gardening with a Mattock, and dug and fertilised the soil there with a sack of farm yard manure.  Then I got my three pots of Rhubarb in.  I will see if I can beg some well rotted horse manure from the lady with the bay horse in the field opposite.  The other soft fruit will go in up there too.

Today I have been busy baking cakes, two to take to a friend of ours as a thanks for looking after some of our boxes of stock.  One Lemon Drizzle and one Carrot Cake with walnuts and preserved ginger strips.