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DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.
Th-th-th-thousandth post


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DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.
sunny side up



first time I never expect to be good but goddamn did it feel like I sucked at this, I hosed up multiple times and it's only by luck it's all up in one piece with no extra holes in the roof



on the next panel after this I barely fit through the gap in the roof to affix it in place, and then after I drilled and hammered it home I found I had built myself into the roof. not a great feeling cause my weight was right at the end and to a corner I was unreasonably afeart the whole thing would topple over with me stuck in it




after that I just cracked on with it and then went past my allotted time to do the back wall. pretty happy with how it looks, some bits were a real pain to do with no skill, no experience and no ladder

now then- I worked too late so I need to go get my bed set up and tea cooked before it's too dark, my battery is low low low and I forgot a charger and I already drained the little one that was here so the next update might be sometime tomorrow when I get home, more soon

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.
spent batteries



evening meal was this- duck in sauce was very nice but the mash was exceptional



didn't need it for warmth but enjoyed it anyway, slept fairly well



Breakfast was this which was better than I thought it would be and certainly better than the MoD equivalent (shredded cardboard) but was still a big ol' workout for the jaw



Half dozen handfuls of these were absolutely wonderful as a second breakfast though




Chilled out for a little while, had planned to do a little light clearance by the pond but I pushed pretty hard yesterday so... I didn't.



Got packed up and bailed out to find my third breakfast which was far less healthy than the other two but at least I got it in before elevenses. Next up will be pond digging or brushcutter super service or wood splitting or water collection system creation depending on situation but there will be more, soon

Dead Goon
Dec 13, 2002

No Obvious Flaws



Looking good, Dan :thumbsup:

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.

Dead Goon posted:

Looking good, Dan :thumbsup:

thanks, I like to work out :biglips:



enough of that, I need to get my mind out of the gutter and back to designing my gutter

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.
H2O gotta flow




just a quick mission today



A variety of waters for a variety of needs



Apple tree certainly liked it




Have been putting off this pruning/clearance job awhile and I'm glad it's done with for now- all poplar shooting up from what I cut down last winter, and it was swamping the lavender and other bits I had growing in there, so I had to be careful what I chopped too which is triple the chore imo



somehow it all stayed on the barrow, which I assure you is under there somewhere, and a great help in loving off all this bullshit plant matter into a hedgerow at great speed



I'm really liking having all this extra light in the office



Really like getting back to the car to find our little friend waiting- more, soon!

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.
a drought no doubt



hi



brought in the water, watered the things- even the wasps are friendly to a bringer of water. there's been no significant rainfall in weeks, and none forecast for another fortnight.



then I scored a kilo of primo, though not without paying the blood price



Witnessed a hornet pluck a bee from some thistle and eat it- will chuck some video up later



heavy flareup right now, really getting my poo poo kicked in but some stuff can't be put off- there will be more, soon

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.







this isn't an official farm update but I went to someone else's acres for my eldest lad's sixteenth birthday and they had some wildlife there I thought you might want to see

Lackmaster
Mar 1, 2011
Whoa the biodiversity in the five acres has really taken off. Well done.

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.

Lackmaster posted:

Whoa the biodiversity in the five acres has really taken off. Well done.

they wouldn't even turn off the electric fences after I asked politely

how am I meant to make proper friends otherwise?

tigers are loving awesome qtiyd



today was meant to be farm but last night was hell so today got moved and I did housework and such but this is essential prep work here and if I get some goddamn sleep I can at least water the plants and pick the fruits tomorrow



firelighters mark whatever the gently caress we are on now, full batch production of the last model but a bit smaller and a few other improvements





this is probably easier with an oven where you can still read what the lower temperatures on the dial are but eventually I got them liquid without boiling it or having it go weird or whatever bad thing happens when it gets too hot (maybe it's fire)



wicks got bent before insertion so I could prop them against the side easier and work fast to stuff all 24 in while it was not so hot the wick melted entirely but still liquid enough to weld the wick into it

hot



size is just how I wanted so I get a double stack going in the tinderbox, think I could have done with a bit more sawdust/shavings in the top layer or maybe another thin bit of sheet but I need to do some burn tests to see if they meet the 5 minutes of good flame test first

I don't know why I love doing this poo poo so much, but I do

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.
more water caravans than fallout 1



right, now where are we at? I'm here, and you are over there. Grand.



the drought continues to be literally drier than the Sahara is right now, so I watered plants, cleaned and refilled animal waterer, and left bird feeders empty for a UV bath





half the size, burns even longer, scientists can't explain this one weird trick



a kilo in the container, maybe a half kilo inside me, 40 minutes easy picking- one day I would like to manage 2 kilos in an hour (and eat a kilo, union rules) and I think this might be the year



and then I hosed off home because I'm still getting the absolute poo poo kicked out of me but morale is excellent and there will be more soon

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.
thinging the do's




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJy0Zo2n_co

yo



heatwave and drought continues apace




Having a clear container makes for an algae growing machine, lessons learned for the future



last week having the trailcam in front of the watering station filled the memory card, 177 videos in less than 24 hours, with many of those minute long vids having multiple visitors



But despite the drought, the plants are doing pretty well still- there's a lot of dry grass above but lots of low, mid and high level shade at various times of day to help, the only parts that are dried out are where I had to mow for paths, PS murder all lawns



So despite the drought the water table and hence the fruit is doing good, and with the hot sun production is in full swing, fat ol' juicy berries everywhere



scouted out the water container for my rain harvesting stuff- quite a habitat inside so there's no way in hell I can just tip it out, and instead I'm hoping to keep filling it and slowly have all this stuff emerge at the top and slither down into the pond/get scraped out by muggins here



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-3tEGi_Gek

Wanted to work more but it's too hot and I have other errands too so I went and had a look at neighbors pond and then buggered off- more heatwave then thunderstorms and flash flooding ahead but there will be more soon

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.
living on the hedge



few little projects on the go, awaiting parts and awaiting the kids going back into education so I have a little more time for it/postin' about it



started to rain when we got there, but the cat told us it wouldn't be long, and they were right. had to do some diplomacy so I was glad for its august appearance over proceedings




good insect numbers but wish I was seeing cinnabar around after the deluges of the last few years- they might just be a bit late this year



I never seem to catch them in baby stage- every year, all of a sudden, acorns!



We were late getting there and I was getting the poo poo kicked out of me regards me/cfs it was better late and pained than never, so first up was sausage and dip session



Well this has been here at least since the start of the thread, and I would say maybe upwards of a decade total. Had big hopes of finding a whole zoo underneath but the weight had mushed the clay into a impermeable layer



the only residents were spiders that were very pretty but hard to get a shot of, let alone focus- these slugs had been composting these leaves under the cap for a long time it seems, they were rapidly rehoused




The original plan said dont empty but with about 200 litres of pond inside and with all the weight at the bottom and a flexible top it was really hard to move, so we gave up after a metre and let out maybe a third of the water through the surprisingly still functional tap then shoved it all the way to the office in one rush- just needed to get the momentum going



Original plan was also to do some repairs and general carpentry but after a late start we had a lengthy and unexpected visit from the land owner and hence another diplomacy was due and by the time that was done with we just didn't have daylight to play with



So obviously after that extended diplomacy it was time to symbolically flameroast some gammon- 10/10 juicy as all heck, wish I had some pineapple




good campin' was had then a drat fine sleep was also had



Being there as everything wakes up, to see the angle of the sun cut down through the treeline and to feel the morning dew coat you much like it does the ground is a drat good way to start a day



Even better when I realised my morning walk was accompanied by a friend



Holy gently caress the porrage pot thing was so terrible, looked like that poo poo they ate on the ship in the matrix only fuckin' worse

still ate it all though



The blackberrying was still good but had a notably higher proportion of over ripe ones that look amazing then disintegrate on contact, scored another key tho



We decided to bail out after that and see if we could make it to mcdonal before breakfast closed, we didn't make it but cheeseburgers for second breakfast ain't bad imo and also there's more, soon

Maugrim
Feb 16, 2011

I eat your face
Love the latest developments in habitability. Hope landowner diplomacy is not too difficult, you said they are an in-law iirc? I don't know if they are paying you to look after it but I can't imagine anyone can complain about the job you're doing.

Sometimes I daydream about buying a plot of land like this just to have my own patch of woodland to hang out in.

If an adjacent plot came up for sale and you had the money would you want to buy it up and have a bigger combined plot to rewild or is the current land already enough work?

Doctor_Fruitbat
Jun 2, 2013


I too have gone overboard picking blackberries, the first lot went in a crumble and the second lot are frozen. I'll probably go for a third pass as well!

Maugrim
Feb 16, 2011

I eat your face
Saw an article this morning about how all the fruit is ripening stupidly early and all the trees are going into false autumn because of the heatwave/drought stress. Some bountiful harvests right now but scary implications :ohdear:

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.

Maugrim posted:

Love the latest developments in habitability. Hope landowner diplomacy is not too difficult, you said they are an in-law iirc? I don't know if they are paying you to look after it but I can't imagine anyone can complain about the job you're doing.

It's my father in-law who bought it aye, and no he doesn't pay me- he would largely left it to go naturally which would have turned it into half bramble/blackthorn and half poplar/oak woodland

as for the last bit lol he's my father in-law

Maugrim posted:

Sometimes I daydream about buying a plot of land like this just to have my own patch of woodland to hang out in.

If an adjacent plot came up for sale and you had the money would you want to buy it up and have a bigger combined plot to rewild or is the current land already enough work?

Given the option and unlimited funds I could happily take on a bit more, especially that big ol' lake but there wouldn't be all that much more intense work to take on- other than a pond being dug in, my patch was largely left to the wilds circa '98, the neighbor did works on planting/access for a few years

very unlikely though, unless I win the lottery, and I haven't played since I was too young to legally be playing the lottery

Maugrim posted:

Saw an article this morning about how all the fruit is ripening stupidly early and all the trees are going into false autumn because of the heatwave/drought stress. Some bountiful harvests right now but scary implications :ohdear:

That was something else the father in law pointed out, was the drought has never been that bad in thirty plus years he's been gardening/allotmenting, he wasn't too surprised to see the pond dry but he was pretty shocked when he saw the depth of the hole and that the clay was bone dry there too- with that said the lake nearby was definitely doing a lot better than other years I have seen and we couldn't figure that out

it is scary but it's also a grand motivator when wielding a shovel


Doctor_Fruitbat posted:

I too have gone overboard picking blackberries, the first lot went in a crumble and the second lot are frozen. I'll probably go for a third pass as well!

I put a kilo of fruits into jars with strong boozes for a soak and heavily recommend this approach, I think I'm going with wine for the rest because I don't need more jam yet but jam is also very good if you don't have jam and all of it makes for great gifts

I definitely did enough picking because earlier when I rubbed my eyes I saw blackberries and normally that stuff only used to happen with too much video games when I was a much smaller desperatedan

Maugrim
Feb 16, 2011

I eat your face

DesperateDan posted:

It's my father in-law who bought it aye, and no he doesn't pay me- he would largely left it to go naturally which would have turned it into half bramble/blackthorn and half poplar/oak woodland

Huh, is he a wilding enthusiast as well or did he just buy it on a whim and then realise it was too much work or what

What advantages does what you're doing have over leaving it completely to its own devices - I presume nicer to be in/wander in and a wider variety of habitats for better biodiversity? And lots more fruit for everyone of course :)

I read that you need permission from the council to set up a caravan on even privately owned land - was that an issue for you or was it already there & permissions sorted

Sorry this is a bunch of questions, I get suddenly intensely interested in stuff and today the topic of choice is rewilding!

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.

Maugrim posted:

Huh, is he a wilding enthusiast as well or did he just buy it on a whim and then realise it was too much work or what

What advantages does what you're doing have over leaving it completely to its own devices - I presume nicer to be in/wander in and a wider variety of habitats for better biodiversity? And lots more fruit for everyone of course :)

He bought it to allow it to go wild, I think he did have some plans for a few other bits to kick-start it like another pond/tree planting and it never happened- there's a story there for a day in the future perhaps but for now there's careful diplomacy

If you were to look at satellite images of the land around the acres, apart from the neighboring plot there's not much but woodland or grazing pastures or housing- the meadows and ponds/lakes provide habitats that just aren't around in any quantity otherwise for miles, much less with a very limited set of human visitors.


Maugrim posted:

I read that you need permission from the council to set up a caravan on even privately owned land - was that an issue for you or was it already there & permissions sorted

No permission required for my current caravan setup, the council would be involved if I tried to live in it 24/7- as it stands I could stay in it for x nights a year legally (something like 40 or so but not more than a few nights consecutively and not upon the feast of Saint Crispin's or while being in possession of a swine hoglet or whatever weird byelaws) and it's just treated as any other farm building.

Regards getting permission, it seems it would be easier/more likely to get granted if I apply to build a permanent home than a caravan pitch largely because councils are crawling with anti GRT racism and the legislative powers to discriminate

Maugrim posted:

Sorry this is a bunch of questions, I get suddenly intensely interested in stuff and today the topic of choice is rewilding!

No worries, could talk shop all day long :)

Maugrim
Feb 16, 2011

I eat your face
That's awesome, thanks, and yeah it's 42 camping days max per year - the laws in this country are really loving weird! :psyduck:

Unrelated, but I feel like it's in keeping with the thread - there's a famous rewilding project near my mum (Knepp castle) and I was wondering how it was faring in the drought, googling which brought me to this lovely article about the beavers they've introduced there this year. :3: Those little guys are so industrious and I hope they're allowed back into the wild soon. Seems like it will do wonders for our drought and flood resilience, but I can imagine people having conniptions about how it might change the landscape.

Catzilla
May 12, 2003

"Untie the queen"


Maugrim posted:

Huh, is he a wilding enthusiast as well or did he just buy it on a whim and then realise it was too much work or what

What advantages does what you're doing have over leaving it completely to its own devices - I presume nicer to be in/wander in and a wider variety of habitats for better biodiversity? And lots more fruit for everyone of course :)

I read that you need permission from the council to set up a caravan on even privately owned land - was that an issue for you or was it already there & permissions sorted

Sorry this is a bunch of questions, I get suddenly intensely interested in stuff and today the topic of choice is rewilding!

There is a little more to rewilding than simply leaving it to it's own devices. If you did nothing, it would simply scrub over in time and become a dense thicket of thorn and bramble. Whilst that is pretty good habitat for some things, its not great for others. What you are looking to do when rewilding (at least on the scale that Dan is at) is to replicate what animals would be doing. So you would be looking to cut meadows a few times a year and clear scrub in the winter months. Larger animals such as cows and horses will trample scrub and tend to supress young growth so it doesn't entirely take over. Ideally, when you cut you should also remove any cuttings (or burn them) as leaving them would enrich the soil more and you find the bramble (and more vigorous species) will overtake anything else!

One of the sites I help to manage currently have some exmoor ponies (they are pretty hardy and good at keeping scrub down), about 30 cows (and we are getting some Highlands which I'm pretty excited about) and some sheep. I ought to start posting some pictures of them, but I don't want to take the spotlight from the great stuff that Dan is doing!

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.

Catzilla posted:

What you are looking to do when rewilding (at least on the scale that Dan is at) is to replicate what animals would be doing.

That's a really good and succinct way of phrasing it amongst a whole bunch of other great explaination thanks- never really looked at it quite like that but it sums it up well

Catzilla posted:

One of the sites I help to manage currently have some exmoor ponies (they are pretty hardy and good at keeping scrub down), about 30 cows (and we are getting some Highlands which I'm pretty excited about) and some sheep. I ought to start posting some pictures of them, but I don't want to take the spotlight from the great stuff that Dan is doing!

It sounds great and you should feel free to post about it here or do a thread on it so I can lurk in it :)

I haven't planned much past some chickens for livestock but would love to get some more experience around cows as they both frighten and interest me

Catzilla
May 12, 2003

"Untie the queen"


Ok so I got some pictures of the animals I currently have on the site!


The Exmoor ponies (or the bastard ponies when your trying to count them and one of them is up that hill somewhere in the background)



Jakobs Sheep, they are very friendly, always come up to you! (although I don't trust the one at the back with the straight horns :devil:)



The cows, not sure what breed, I think they're a mix. They're pretty chill and tend to leave you alone.



A few more pictures taken from around the site!

rojay
Sep 2, 2000

Would you ask the goat sheep in the 2nd picture to return my soul? I think I need it.

Thanks.

spookygonk
Apr 3, 2005
Does not give a damn

Have been trying to visualise how big 5 acres actually is. Out of interest how much of it are you working on or are able to access?

Decoy Badger
May 16, 2009
Five acres is equivalent to a 100m x 200m rectangle, or a bit less than three football pitches.

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.

Catzilla posted:

Ok so I got some pictures of the animals I currently have on the site!

Those are fantastic pics- love the views out over the hills- is much done in the way of path/meadow cutting or are the animals taking care of most of it?

spookygonk posted:

Have been trying to visualise how big 5 acres actually is. Out of interest how much of it are you working on or are able to access?

As said it's about 100x200M in area, that's a bit squished so probably more like 85x however many more metres longer that is

About a third is fairly accessible, and another third or so is passable slowly in boots and ripstop clothes through bramble/other scrub (pictures below), and the final third is so thickly overgrown you aren't moving through it without cutting it- the two roadside edges and the northern field have a lot of this



traditional seasonal tribal gathering





every day is a good day to set things on fire but they aren't all as pretty as this



split the wood, sear the meat, think about how folks have been doing this around here for ten or twelve or fourteen thousand years at least as I repeatedly smack the axe into crisp little logs and watch the splinters splay out



pond was still dry despite some rains, but I was commended on my hole digging by an expert



Passable by wading through- bits like this rarely get pictured because I'm rarely bothered to go through them- I might take a patch or two of bramble here with a cutter come autumntime but there are lots of bits to cut and only so many chances before winter draws up



Some things just smashed through by a panting barrel of meat on legs (or the dog following him)



Fruit is still fruity and I'm still waiting on these apples to ripen off very impatiently



So that was the day and the day was good and next up I guess I dig some more pond or put in a gutter system to the roof, I don't know which but I do know there will be more, soon

Loki Kunti
Mar 31, 2010
Still loving this thread!

It's been a big inspiration to do more and more gardening (after we had some space to ourselves).

Part of our garden just now:

rojay
Sep 2, 2000

That's beautiful. You should post that in the gardening thread: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3085672&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=488 I have learned a great deal there.

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.

Loki Kunti posted:

Still loving this thread!

It's been a big inspiration to do more and more gardening (after we had some space to ourselves).

Part of our garden just now:


Looks fantastic- that some buddleia at the back there? Got some in my front garden I really need to clone over to the farm



college induction



This thing was going pretty good apart from the talentless ape doing the soldering work



Unfortunately it got blown up but I'm a lot more motivated to not wire poo poo up wrong while tired and also bypassing fuses now I guess





hi



Wasn't meant to be here today but my eldest did really well on his exams and got into the college he wanted and as a result I was nearby while he was off doing admin stuff



solar system is still running well, still can't wait to see what a difference taking some of the tree cover will make but having a ventilator fan going in the caravan most of the time has already been worth the effort/cost



Sloes and hawse coming along nicely



A handful of fresh blooms among the bramble- not unusual behaviour but with the other fruits a lot more ripened off than normal for this time of year the contrast seems a lot more stark



Sparrowhawk took a pigeon, couldn't get a shot without risking disturbing it so didn't



Less than an hour spent but it was just what I needed, and as always my dear and constant reader, there will be more, soon.

Mzuri
Jun 5, 2004

Who's the boss?
Dudes is lost.
Don't think coz I'm iced out,
I'm cooled off.
Congratulations on the kid's college acceptance 🙂

Any plans on using the sloe for something? I've only ever used it for making schnapps (after freezing the fruit).

Loki Kunti
Mar 31, 2010

DesperateDan posted:

Looks fantastic- that some buddleia at the back there? Got some in my front garden I really need to clone over to the farm

Yes, a dark violet buddleia (also called "butterfly lilac" here - a fitting name (even if it's not a lilac at all)).



Even some "Hummingbird hawk-moth" (Macroglossum stellatarum) Wiki have visited - a butterfly looking like hummingbird:


(Sorry for the bad image quality.)

Next year, I will sow some Galium verum (lady's bedstraw or yellow bedstraw) as I learned this is the food for the caterpillars of the hawk-moth above (and it's a native plant around here).

Other than the buddleias which have been taken over marginal spaces here and are considered quite invasive. But they stay in my garden. :)

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.

Mzuri posted:

Congratulations on the kid's college acceptance 🙂

Any plans on using the sloe for something? I've only ever used it for making schnapps (after freezing the fruit).

Thanks- he worked hard for it and it's such a relief for it to pay off

I have used sloes a few times in gin but even when I was a regular drinker I was never big on gin- did mean to try it with vodka at some point and might this year but I already have a few kilos of fruit in a few litres of booze





Loki Kunti posted:

Yes, a dark violet buddleia (also called "butterfly lilac" here - a fitting name (even if it's not a lilac at all)).



Even some "Hummingbird hawk-moth" (Macroglossum stellatarum) Wiki have visited - a butterfly looking like hummingbird:


(Sorry for the bad image quality.)
Next year, I will sow some Galium verum (lady's bedstraw or yellow bedstraw) as I learned this is the food for the caterpillars of the hawk-moth above (and it's a native plant around here).

Other than the buddleias which have been taken over marginal spaces here and are considered quite invasive. But they stay in my garden. :)

Those were some lovely pics and info thanks- will look into some seeds as well as trying to clone mine off

A lot of stuff gets considered invasive or not like a binary system but I think it's much more a spectrum going from "this thing doesn't want to live in the best of conditions" to "a single dessicated shred of this plant will happily reproduce and take over hectares per year" with a lot of room in-between

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.
dig for victory




hey some work actually gets done this time



found in the middle of a pathway, guess the badgers/foxes hit another buried rubbish vein- this expired October 1990 and it belongs in a museum so I put it in the museum



We begin- amount of images and posting is often inverse to the amount of work done



the peaty top layer looks like it would make good compost



lad the younger said it looks like a messed up teddy bear head and I can't unsee it now.



From another angle so you can see the blocks forming up on the bank- we started trying to dump more of the peaty stuff at one end so we can sow wildflowers on it and the clay for comparison- the uneven section will be left uneven for habitat creation



Fairly wrecked now but glad some more pond got dug because apparently some rains will be due- not sure if it will raise the water table enough to start filling and wreck digging but my understanding of such things is still in the frowning at a textbook stage. Something I am in full possession of the facts and logic of is that there will be more, soon

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.
block by block fighting





autumn fell



these still aren't ready, but they look rather nice



Victory requires infrastructure, infrastructure requires logistics, logistics requires sweat, blood and forethought



ponds got water again



and the grounds got acorns



We discovered some buried bricks and intend on proper excavation, but that's another day



Nearly got my pieces ready for the next offensive, there will be more, soon!

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.
blocked



this thing is now about 2 hours work with a soldering iron away from completion- probably about 20 mins if I wasn't absolutely poo poo with one



doing other poo poo today though



not like I hoped though



really glad I didn't bring much poo poo with me today, because a road traffic accident has taken out my car access and I had to hike back and forth with heavy poo poo up and down the hill again and that, dear and constant reader, that I did not miss one loving bit



Still not ready at all, very impatient tbh



It's deeper, but I want more



Well, the access thing is going to potentially suck but not much I can do about that right now- everything is now in place for the next project or two bar me and my tools, so that can only mean that there will be more, soon.

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.
scraping by



ey ooop



this seed has chilli powder mixed in to keep squirrels away, and this robin wants the hot stuff



not so well right now but was determined to at least tidy up and mark the area I need levelled for the poo poo-ton of water project- can't leave it marked up with pegs and string because the badgers will have it all away, so I elected to start digging even though conditions made it stoopid



They are already wanted for questioning under suspicion of the vicious murder of this raspberry emplacement



three barrows of very very very dry topsoil removed in a shape that has aspirations of a rectangular nature



Once I get it vaguely levelled out some more the concrete blocks will be mortared in a bit and made level, then the pallets will be joined up and go atop the blocks, then the poo poo-ton of water container can be installed



These were ready, maybe another two dozen await



Imminent jobs list is currently-

-service heavy duty brushcutter, do a brushcuttin'
-poo poo-ton of water project
-split firewood

hopefully the next week or two will be a bit less hectic/lovely health-wise and I can get it all knocked out in style before the leaves have all fallen and it's chainsaw season once again- more, soon!

DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.
got a nasty cold, don't recommend, can only eat shin cup extra spicy noodles and make complaints, hoping to resume service soon, please find enclosed, badger badger badger badger

https://twitter.com/TheFiveAcres/status/1574330820180967424?t=OdEOfU9C94tTJRyUtoWwJQ&s=19,

AKZ
Nov 5, 2009

DesperateDan posted:

please find enclosed, badger badger badger badger

I very much appreciate these badgers :respek:

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DesperateDan
Dec 10, 2005

Where's my cow?

Is that my cow?

No it isn't, but it still tramples my bloody lavender.

AKZ posted:

I very much appreciate these badgers :respek:

https://twitter.com/TheFiveAcres/status/1575811166127153153?s=20&t=blhcCKUasanvid6Yo3tP5g

then have some more

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