Just in from taking the spangle a walk/swim in between bouts of serious rain, the flabs took one look outside and decided NO WAY pal. While spangle was doing his otter impression in the burn (river is far to high and fast) I was checking for any new timber that might have been washed up, not a lot of new stuff but some of the big heavy stuff that I thought was wedged on the bottom of the stream/river beds had freed off and floated up to a point I could drag them at least partially onto the bank. I've got almost a winter's worth waiting to be cut up and moved to the steading for storage.
One of our neighbours was walking their lab the other side of the burn and we got chatting, hte upshot is I can have as many self seeded damson seedling as I want if and when I get the field so I may end up with a damson copse instead of just a couple.
The good news, happy, love and peace, be kind to people thread.
I just want to be totally clear, but: BnM, this isn't you having forgotten your login, right?dkm57 wrote: Fri Aug 21, 2020 10:44 am Just in from taking the spangle a walk/swim in between bouts of serious rain, the flabs took one look outside and decided NO WAY pal. While spangle was doing his otter impression in the burn (river is far to high and fast) I was checking for any new timber that might have been washed up, not a lot of new stuff but some of the big heavy stuff that I thought was wedged on the bottom of the stream/river beds had freed off and floated up to a point I could drag them at least partially onto the bank. I've got almost a winter's worth waiting to be cut up and moved to the steading for storage.
One of our neighbours was walking their lab the other side of the burn and we got chatting, hte upshot is I can have as many self seeded damson seedling as I want if and when I get the field so I may end up with a damson copse instead of just a couple.
I pay my mortgage off in the next 2 months and have a big policy maturing 
Life is good, house paid off, decent amount of savings and I can theoretically retire in about 4 years.
Also have a great little savings pot for my girl so when she goes to Uni she will be well catered for.
Life is good, house paid off, decent amount of savings and I can theoretically retire in about 4 years.
Also have a great little savings pot for my girl so when she goes to Uni she will be well catered for.
Just got round to identifying the bird we saw the other day it was Meadow Pipit so another to add to the list.notfatcat wrote: Fri Aug 21, 2020 10:11 amdkm57 wrote: Thu Aug 20, 2020 5:10 pmI've started doing a weekly garden return for the BTO so the sun lounge is set up with a camera with a long telephoto lens and a pair of binoculars a desk and recording sheets I think we're in the high twenties in terms of different species, that's not counting all the species in the surrounding fields and water courses which I think would double that number. We had a reed warbler turn up in the yard yesterday.Un Pilier wrote: Thu Aug 20, 2020 3:54 pm
ExcellentSounds like a great spot.
On the bird ID thing, the RSPB site is quite a useful resource - it’s easy to search by family, there are distribution maps and the birdsong recordings can be quite helpful. There are some species where call is critical to distinguish between one species and another.
I'm hoping to buy the field in front of us and start planting and managing it to provide more shelter and food for everything. We do have some Roe deer passing through regularly and expect to see more of them through the winter so I'll try to create a sheltered glade for them to rest and feel safe in.
Some young Golfinches making a first appearance today
Cheers. I'd resigned myself to starting next month regardless so pretty happy I've saved a few grand.