2012 - A Resolution is a Resolution.



I intend to see every sunrise this year.



Sunrises and the weather.

Well, sunrise is easy to capture at the moment although under normal circumstances I might have laid in bed an extra hour or so on a couple of days. Then that's the whole point of this resolution. I want to live more closely to nature's patterns. If that means going to bed early to wake up early, then so be it.

Forgive my attempts at sunrise pics. I'm sure I'll have learned a bit by number 366!

In fact, a few times this week I've been laying awake listening to the howling and roaring of the wind. We've escaped lightly compared to some, but a steady 60km wind overnight in The Fens is still quite awe inspiring.

On the smallholding

A continuation of December's unseasonably warm and dry weather made for excellent digging. The brassica beds are almost ready for manuring and we even had time to create some border beds and plant some cheap bulbs - in theory it's too late to plant them, but we'll see. The bed was a delight to dig as it followed a mole run - these rarely seen creatures are the bane of the obsessive green lawn brigade, but I love them. If they get somewhere I don't want them, I'm assured a few elder twigs inserted into their run will gently move them elsewhere.

I got the shallots in too - good healthy bulbs saved from last year's crop. Some garlic has been saved as well, bulbs I uncovered beginning to shoot up as I was digging. Hopefully some netting will keep the chickens off them for a while. The girls (and boy) still have free roam over the whole garden - they are doing a sterling job scrattling around devouring all those nasty insects lurking in the soil. Not a good time to be a worm (not that they're bad atall), though there are plenty of them. It won't be long until the chooks get banished from the veg garden though. Most of them have come through moult and have beautiful plumage now, but their wings will need clipping soon as at least 4 of them have realised they can fly out of their luxurious compound.

Other jobs this week have revolved around trying to anticipate the gales. Last week the water butt was found detached from the wall and spread in pieces over the drive and the chimney lost another lump of render. This week it was the turn of the greenhouse to lose another couple of panels. I've now tightened every bolt, sealed all vulnerable joins with super strong gaffer tape, and was spurred into action to move some laurels to act as a wind break. It was also a reminder to clear the greenhouse out in preparation for a good clean in preparation for early sowings. The straw bales which worked so well for growing tomatoes last year were harbouring one of the many short-tailed field voles which Gerry is obsessed with catching. There seem to be plenty of them about.

Harvesting continues. I've never grown leeks before and, although they went in late, I have a reasonable crop. So when I retrieved some yellow label lamb chops from the freezer (hoping to produce our own this year to save on mowing the paddock) the trusty old Good Housekeeping Cookery Book offered me the delicacy of Lamb Chops with Leeks and Lentils. There is still nothing better than pulling your own produce from the ground and eating it that same day - it is hard to believe the intensity and subtlety of the flavours which are completely lost in shop bought veg. Anyway, if you have that recipe, try it. It was scrummy.

Birds

It's been a quiet time for birds a the moment, although the weather has not been conducive to seeing them. A huge female sparrowhawk has appeared on the scene this week, causing consternation at the feeders. The finch flocks seem to have dispersed back into the fields, although chaffinches and goldfinches are always around in good numbers. The swan flock at Coy Bridge is still in the region of 30 Mutes, but the 62 Whoopers that joined them a month or so ago have all moved on. Maybe they'll come back later in the winter. Likewise, no show from the hen harriers yet this year. Maybe it was the exceptional cold last year which drove them inland from the coastal marshes. Meadow Pipit numbers always swell at this time of year.The regular five birds seem to attract in other parties. One day there were 22 in the flock. A couple of flyover rooks this week are surprisingly quite an unusual sight.

Other stuff

A knock at the door on Wednesday informed me that one of the cows from the Settlement Field was again on the road. It was funny to watch the lorries poodling along following a rather bemused and stubborn Freesian cow.