New Addition

During this week Alistair's sheep were scanned to see how many were in lamb. Several ewes are having triplets so he will have a very busy lambing time. Whilst the scanner was here we had Gladys the goat scanned also. She is 80-90 days pregnant so round about February March time we will have a kid born.

At long last we have a date to demolish the old house. The demolition squad will be arriving on the first working day in January and they tell us that we can give the builders a start date of February 1st. All the builders quotes are finally in and we have a meeting with one of them tomorrow.

The electricians have rewired the outbuildings so we have light and sockets now in most areas of the farm. The chickens are gradually increasing their egg production, probably because we have put a time switch on the lighting circuit to give them a longer day.

The recent cold weather has meant that we have had difficulty with water supply as all the main pipes and taps have been frozen. Another area to improve and modify.

Presently our time at Redlands is very limited as Geoff's dad is very poorly and we cannot leave him on his own for very long, the dark nights aren't helping either.

Billy Goats Gruff!!

Since our last blog things have been all go. Geoff's dad is very unwell and we have been through dialysis training as well as many trips backwards and forwards to the hospital in Northampton. He is home a the moment but requiring a great deal of nursing.

Mum and Dad Yeomans celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary last Thursday. Chris organised a family get together for them. They even had a card from the queen. Mum enjoyed the company but we couldn't get her to understand why she was having a party. Dad also enjoyed it and appreciated the effort we had made to ensure that the day was a little special.

We have fetched Millie home today, she hadn't forgotten us and went mad when she saw us. We haven't introduced her to Lassie yet as it was getting dark when we arrived home so will try re socialising them tomorrow. Lass will be going to be trained in a couple of weeks.

Things have finally progressed with the house. At long last we have planning permission, only eight weeks late, naturally there are a few conditions before we can start e.g. the council want a landscaping plan and reassurance that we will be protecting the conker tree in accordance with their regulations. The architect says this is a formality and not a problem. The new build has gone out for tender and some local builders have been asked to give us a quote. We are waiting a date for demolition of the existing one but have to have an asbestos survey carried out first.

The electrician will soon be starting the second phase of the electrical installation around the farm buildings. More trenches to be dug as we don't want overhead cables, can just imagine what would happen if the tractor loader caught one of the leads!!

The big barn which is being converted into workshops is having new windows fitted and they are being installed tomorrow. So all of a sudden things are beginning to happen.

We are continuing to add to the stock. We have had a Saddleback boar with the pigs and one of them will be having piglets early January. Just have to hope the weather won't be too cold.

For a long time Geoff has fancied having some goats and we have now purchased a male and a female. The Billy is white and the Nanny is brown and white. They love company and follow us everywhere. They have been named Bill and Gladys. We think Gladys is pregnant but no idea when the kids will arrive. Alistair's friend Emma took the photos and has kindly allowed me to use them. Love the one of Gladys looking through the wall.

Still waiting

We are becoming more and more frustrated with the planners as we are still waiting for permission. They do not seem at all concerned that they are nearly eight weeks over time. Geoff tried to chase it up last week and was told that there were some alterations to be done to the planners report, then it has to go back to the senior officer so we could be looking at the end of next week. We won't hold our breath. We have carried on with arrangements so that we can forge ahead once we have the piece of paper.

Even though we are at a standstill with the house we have been doing other jobs and now have the chicken house completed. We have installed 23 lovely chickens which are just coming into lay. They are a mixture of black, brown and grey birds.

Geoff has been busy repairing doors and along with Alistair discussing the next phase of rewiring in the out buildings. The electrician has been and done a site survey and preparing a quote for us.

The next couple of weeks will be devoted to getting the bees prepared for the winter. The most important job is to treat them for the verroae mite. If the mite is left it can destroy colonies of bees therefore it is really important to treat them. We also put a mouse guard on the entrance and give them some candy to ensure they have enough food to get through the winter. We had one colony which was rather small and had managed to lose its queen. When we looked in the hive today they were all dead, they were too small a colony to stand up to the wasps.

Now there has been some rain the grass is growing well and the sheep are beginning to look in much better condition. We are hoping to start lambing at the end of February.

Millie has settled well and still away being trained. She is quite a handful we believe as she keeps trying to chase pheasants. The other dogs went for their annual check up and inoculations last week and we took Lass to be weighed. The vet was thrilled with how good a condition she is in now. We have been taking her round the sheep to help her get used to them. It is amazing to see how much natural instincts she has.

Hopefully when I complete the next blog I will be able to say that we have planning permission.

The Waiting Game

We had hoped that we would have heard about the planning permission by now, but still we wait. The planning officer visited the site this week to look at the view from the public footpath to see what visual impact the house would have for anyone using the path. Whatever will they think of next to deliberate over? Nevertheless the architect is confident it will be approved and trying to get on with building regulations as they are going to change at the beginning of November and this could cause more delay as the building officers will have to become familiar with the new regulations.

Meanwhile we have got the electricity moved from the house into the main barn and the telephone line has been disconnected, which means that there is nothing holding up demolition. As soon as the permission is through we are hoping to get straight onto the rebuild.

Geoff has been busy setting up a woodworking workshop and now made nest boxes to go into the chicken house. Just perches to go and we can get some chickens in residence.

Millie has gone away for her training and settling in well. Lass is missing her and becoming very affectionate. When Millie returns she will go to be trained.

Rain! Rain! Rain!

Last week we set off for Belguim to visit a factory called Danilith which is about an hours drive from Bruges. We had an appointment to go round the factory to see them building a house in sections. The company are trying to get into the English market. The advantage of this method of building a house is that within three weeks we would have a watertight shell. We decided we would have a short break and look round Bruges. The minute we came out of the channel tunnel the rain started and continued to pour down. The rain continued all through the next day but of course improved for the day we booked in to visit the factory.

Bruges was very quaint with lots of narrow cobbled streets which were full of chocolate and lace shops. We were rather amazed at some of the chocolate 'sculpture' which was on display in the shop windows. We found some lovely restaurants and sampled the local beers.

The factory was very interesting. We were allowed onto the shop floor right next to the machinery, health and safety was far from the Belgians minds and we couldn't help but comment on what it would be like if we were in this country. Our visit has certainly given us a lot to think about.

Whilst we were away the electrician was busy at Redlands. E-on are coming next week to disconnect the electricity from the house and supply the new meter boxes. We have also managed to organise BT coming and disconnecting the phone line, so at long last we are beginning to feel that we are making some progress.

Planners!!

The planning officer has realised that she cannot be delegated to make the decision on the planning for the house because it is in open countryside and therefore has to got to the committee. Yet another delay as it will be September before it can be brought up. The conservation officer came out earlier in the week to do a site survey. She has no objection apart from us preserving the Horse Chestnut tree which we were hoping to do anyway. The Highways have replied and state that they do not have any objections either. Hopefully the councillors will agree and we can get on with the project. Mum's memory gets worse and we need to be able to care for her 24/7.

Geoff has nearly finished laying the floor in the barn we are going to use as a workshop. Next step is for the electrician to come and prepare connections ready for e-on to remove the connection from the house.

Harvest is still continuing. It is rather stop and go this season. In between the stoppages the ground is being prepared for next years crop. It has been really hard owing to the dry conditions.

The sheepdogs are full of life. We are waiting for Millie to go to be trained, it is hard to believe she was so poorly as a puppy as she is so lively now. Lassie (see picture) is the noisy one and tends to be more shy than Millie and will go once Millie has returned home.

We have made arrangements to go to Belgium and visit the factory where they build houses in sections. The company are trying to get into the British market and the advantage of a house being built in this way is that it is very eco friendly and we can have a watertight shell within three weeks of beginning construction. Most of the houses in Belguim are built this way. We felt it was worth going and having a look before we make a decision.

Work!

After a hectic week we are both wondering how we ever had time to work full time. Harvest has started but very frustrating as the humidity means that the rape, which needs harvesting before the wheat, is too damp. There has been so little rain that the fields which have been harvested are so dry that it is impossible to get the plough into the ground. Various attempts have been made but none very successful.

Geoff is continuing to prepare his workshop. He has got all the floor joists in place now and we have started to lay the flooring. We are still preparing the hen house and the new chickens are due round about the middle of the month.

We took the collies to be assessed by a sheepdog trainer earlier in the week. He was impressed with them both and thinks they will both become good dogs. Millie is going to be trained first as she tends to be a bit more willful than Lassie. She will be going in about a fortnight and probably be gone between 6 and 8 weeks. Once she returns then Lass will go. They have been little devils this week. They have managed to find a way out of the garden. Each time we block up a gap they seem to find an alternative route.

We are still waiting for the planning to come through. Why do these councils have to take so long. We need to get on as Mum and Dad need 24 hour care. Hopefully we will hear very soon.