Category Archives: Country Living
Things that sting (getting started in bee keeping Ukranian style)
My ‘Ukranian’ bee-keeping finally worked. Put an empty hive with some honeycomb above a queen excluder and full framed brood box in open space in woods at start of summer. Now have active healthy colony. At the end of … Continue reading
The case for working with your hands NYT
Check out this Country Living Link Reminds me of the (rather woolly) 70′s philosophical mainstay – “Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance” and not just because that is the authors thing. It seems what is really under discussion is … Continue reading
Doing too much, so have a cup of tea.
My dear friend Annabel gave me a right ear bending the other day about over doing things. If three hours hard exercise a week for a middle aged man adds the same to life expectancy as a smoker of the … Continue reading
The Joys of Septic Tanks
When we first moved in over two decades ago, we could not locate the septic tank, a hunt through a jungle of brambles in search of sleeping beauty eventually found a stinking bog where foul waste from the ablutions of … Continue reading
Dear Deer
I have a problem, deer. I have twelve acres of orchards, garden and kitchen garden, and we are surrounded by thousands of acres of moorland, forest (well what passes for forest here) and sheep/cattle grazing. Apart from the odd walkers … Continue reading
The Joys of Narrow Country Lanes
For a crowded Island, where we live is remote. So when our septic tank looked like it needed emptying it proved a challenge to find someone with a truck small enough to get to us. Seven and a half ton … Continue reading
Recycling scrap wood
We collect waste timber made (doors, window frames and windows, fascia boards and the like) once a fortnight for our wood burning range, supplying all our hot water, heating and cooking. Zero carbon footprint as it is all ‘old wood’. … Continue reading
Seeding & Planting
A late start in the small greenhouse. This year & last (2010/11) we have cut back on kitchen garden & cottage garden seed planting. Now, middle of June, its not too late to get a mass of late summer flowers, … Continue reading
Little Gardeners!
One oftern hears of gardeners suffering vandalism and as organic gardeners we suffer more than our fair share. Badgers each year assist us in digging our potatoes, deer prune our orchard trees (not when or where it is needed) and … Continue reading