Sorting out the drainage in the lower field and other gubbins. An apprentice digger driver writes.

[craig]

Managed to get out to the dentist using dubious means so it's one job off the list.
Courier delivering the oil for the digger says he can't get here today due to getting stuck elsewhere

This was on the road out:

View attachment 68059
And then this on the way back:

View attachment 68060

Artic had got a wheel off the road and got stuck, most truckers know not to go that way even in decent weather.

I've had some geese I got given hanging for 10 days in the Polytunnel as it's been cold, I'm not an expert by any means, but it feels about right to me. Haven't posted a pic of them all hanging in there as it's not the jolliest of sights! I don't think i've eaten Goose since I was a kid and we had one for Christmas, I seem to remember my mum didn't make a great job of it and it was really greasy. Certainly never prepped one, so did some research online, sharpened up a knife and got busy.
As you know they're big, known as the B-52s of the bird world by some so unsurprisingly a lot of breast meat there:

View attachment 68064

At a good inch thick there is a meal for two in just one.
I put the carcass on the snow in a field with the trailcam on it, it'll be interesting to see if anything comes for a meal in the night. Problem is the lens could get frosted up, but we'll see.

How was the goose? I hope it wasn't a Canadian their usually tough .

 

[LKSF]

How was the goose? I hope it wasn't a Canadian their usually tough .

I'm just researching that now as I know it can be a problem, they can live to a ripe old age! I sliced a piece off one and fried it as a test and it was like steak in texture, chicken crossed with Venison to taste. I didn't think that was as old as the next one I attacked.
I'm reading about how to tell the age and cook them. Some people fry them like steak and slice really thin to eat to get round it, others dice them and slow cook for hours in a stew.

This was Pheasant breast with cheese, mushrooms, tomato pesto then wrapped in bacon (or use Parma ham) to keep it moist as it's very lean so dry, worked out really well:

Currently got 30 odd brace of pheasant hanging in the shed, took 30 just before Christmas, at current prices that's £600 worth, even more than a digger driver can earn in an hour and have just been offered more. Won't need to buy any chicken breast or steak for months at this rate

 

[diggerjones]

I'd just slow cook it, in a stew or casserole. Amazing how dark the meat is. What type of goose is it

 

[V8Druid]

I'd just slow cook it, in a stew or casserole. Amazing how dark the meat is. What type of goose is it

a deceased one

 

[Stroppymonkey]

I'm just researching that now as I know it can be a problem, they can live to a ripe old age! I sliced a piece off one and fried it as a test and it was like steak in texture, chicken crossed with Venison to taste. I didn't think that was as old as the next one I attacked.
I'm reading about how to tell the age and cook them. Some people fry them like steak and slice really thin to eat to get round it, others dice them and slow cook for hours in a stew.

This was Pheasant breast with cheese, mushrooms, tomato pesto then wrapped in bacon (or use Parma ham) to keep it moist as it's very lean so dry, worked out really well:

View attachment 68065

Currently got 30 odd brace of pheasant hanging in the shed, took 30 just before Christmas, at current prices that's £600 worth, even more than a digger driver can earn in an hour and have just been offered more. Won't need to buy any chicken breast or steak for months at this rate

One of my jobs for the family when I first passed my driving test was to drive the Sherpa box van down to south Devon and pick up 200 brace of pheasant from a distant cousins shoot. If I was particularly unlucky I used to get to help pluck them as well.
30 years later I still dislike game and won’t eat it due to it being a daily ingredient for most of my first 18 years.

 

[LKSF]

One of my jobs for the family when I first passed my driving test was to drive the Sherpa box van down to south Devon and pick up 200 brace of pheasant from a distant cousins shoot. If I was particularly unlucky I used to get to help pluck them as well.
30 years later I still dislike game and won’t eat it due to it being a daily ingredient for most of my first 18 years.

Yes i'd be pretty sick of them too at that rate. I was just a couple of years too young to sample the works Sherpa back in the day, but remember being told there was a recall to do something to the steering and when it came back it was terrible. I remember the guy whose van it was being on holiday and someone else jumping behind the wheel. He couldn't believe the amount of work you had to put in just to keep it going in a straight line, it needed constant correction and the first half a turn of the wheel had little effect
Many of us have foodstuffs we won't touch due to childhood memories!

The last few years has been a big learning curve for me and food (and drink lol), some of which i've mentioned on here a few times and could still write about it at length.
One topic is that of eating more seasonally like we used to. Another is to disguise whatever is cheap and good for you. Pheasant into curries or burgers for instance.

Getting back to pheasants, and indeed geese, when they're free you can just pull out the best bits quickly and discard the rest. With Pheasant there is a gruesome method which I haven't used, it involves standing on the wings and ripping it open to get to the breast meat, very quick.
We did initially try to pluck and use the whole bird, but like most realised you've got to be pretty desperate to do that again. It takes too long by hand and the meat on it isn't great beyond the breasts and maybe legs at a push.
You can buy plucking devices too.

 

[TiltyShaun]

Yes i'd be pretty sick of them too at that rate. I was just a couple of years too young to sample the works Sherpa back in the day, but remember being told there was a recall to do something to the steering and when it came back it was terrible. I remember the guy whose van it was being on holiday and someone else jumping behind the wheel. He couldn't believe the amount of work you had to put in just to keep it going in a straight line, it needed constant correction and the first half a turn of the wheel had little effect
Many of us have foodstuffs we won't touch due to childhood memories!

The last few years has been a big learning curve for me and food (and drink lol), some of which i've mentioned on here a few times and could still write about it at length.
One topic is that of eating more seasonally like we used to. Another is to disguise whatever is cheap and good for you. Pheasant into curries or burgers for instance.

Getting back to pheasants, and indeed geese, when they're free you can just pull out the best bits quickly and discard the rest. With Pheasant there is a gruesome method which I haven't used, it involves standing on the wings and ripping it open to get to the breast meat, very quick.
We did initially try to pluck and use the whole bird, but like most realised you've got to be pretty desperate to do that again. It takes too long by hand and the meat on the bird isn't great beyond the breasts and maybe legs at a push.
You can buy plucking devices too.

We reared some day old chickens for meat. Had 10 ready all at the same time. Soon got fed up plucking them and never bothered again. Grass fed beef is much easier!!

 

[V8Druid]

Many of us have foodstuffs we won't touch due to childhood memories!

welsh cakes and mince pies ... wouldn't care if I never saw another one of either

 

[Stroppymonkey]

Yes i'd be pretty sick of them too at that rate. I was just a couple of years too young to sample the works Sherpa back in the day, but remember being told there was a recall to do something to the steering and when it came back it was terrible. I remember the guy whose van it was being on holiday and someone else jumping behind the wheel. He couldn't believe the amount of work you had to put in just to keep it going in a straight line, it needed constant correction and the first half a turn of the wheel had little effect
Many of us have foodstuffs we won't touch due to childhood memories!

The last few years has been a big learning curve for me and food (and drink lol), some of which i've mentioned on here a few times and could still write about it at length.
One topic is that of eating more seasonally like we used to. Another is to disguise whatever is cheap and good for you. Pheasant into curries or burgers for instance.

Getting back to pheasants, and indeed geese, when they're free you can just pull out the best bits quickly and discard the rest. With Pheasant there is a gruesome method which I haven't used, it involves standing on the wings and ripping it open to get to the breast meat, very quick.
We did initially try to pluck and use the whole bird, but like most realised you've got to be pretty desperate to do that again. It takes too long by hand and the meat on it isn't great beyond the breasts and maybe legs at a push.
You can buy plucking devices too.

God I had forgotten about the steering …. Usually had a fair bit of lag!
Kids these days with power steering don’t know they are born . Think the last thing I had that was manual was Austin Maestro van. Sure my first 1994 3.5T transit was power steering

 

[LKSF]

Marcescence, when trees don't lose their dead leaves in Winter. Nobody knows for sure why this happens.

On Monday the 24th Feb the Curlews and Lapwings returned to us to mate, nest, lay eggs and rear the young. It's a good day as it means Winter is coming to an end. I've been wanting to make note of the date for a while so I can see how close it is every year, but either forgot or logged it somewhere I forgot a year on
Best day of the year? Birthday? Christmas? Not a chance, it's the end of March when the clocks shift and Spring starts. Stick your normal celebrations wherever. Christmas is a load of over commercialised **** as are birthdays which are glossing over the fact you're a year closer to dying!

I was never into Apps, but since living here I've discovered the Merlin app which is great for IDing birds which it listens to, It's taught me a lot about bird sounds which I knew very little about.
Want to ID a plant? Plantnet App.

Last Winter (2024/25) was very wet n windy, It actually blew so hard and for so long that it drove rain through the 1/2 metre walls into the room I was starting to renovate. It sounds unfortunate, but it wasn't, i'd rather know now than later about those kind of things. No point in doing the work and finishing a room off to have water come in. At least now I can accommodate for it.
By putting the guttering inside the bedroom.
This one has been much less so, the only stand out event was the snow which fell fairly heavily and stayed for 10 days before it began to melt.

Harry and his thick, luxurious Winter coat coped, but I don't think he was overly impressed, you can kind of see it in his eyes:

Kidda was somewhere in between 'couldn't give a s**t' and 'f**k I love this mofo!'
You can see how hard the crust froze.



The post got as far as 1/4 a mile from us before being dumped:

Accessible by JCB digger, Terry and foot only.


The 350ML is good at some things, but off-roader it is not, it couldn't even get me across the yard without getting stuck. Terry pissed all over it before shearing off his propshaft when I drove it down a road. I could feel the tranny snatching, but ignored it until there was a big bang and a shot of smoke out the back.

Apparently the UJs aren't for life like they are on most cars, they seize up and break on this thing. A replacement prop is worth more than the car, but as many of us on here know it's got to be done and er, 'better the devil you know' etc. Or FFS more expense.


Where the rabbits get through was made even more painfully more obvious by the snow.

After 10 days in we were running out of some things so a very kind neighbour took K to the supermarket for supplies in the RR. No way would I let him down the track so he dropped her and the supplies off at the top and we sledged them down.

And then we went, well sledging of course:

Something I haven't done since I was a kid, but grabbed the dog and off we went! As he's a bit of a rescue he just craves human interaction, he doesn't care whatever tf he's on as long as he's getting a hug. Sledge? Not bothered. Speed? Not bothered. Scenery? Likewise. 'Can you hold and hug me all the way down?' Yep, i'm onboard.

Motley crew of local sheeps, hard as nails. It's not uncommon to walk the dog after a hard frost and see bits of green grass where they slept and frost on their backs.

Pheasant burgers were very good:

Pheasant and Goose sausages were fowl:

That's a lot of expensive dog food!

 

[Monkeybusiness]

Lovely looking spot! What’s ’Terry’? Just needs a UJ unless it’s chewed the other end of the prop surely?

 

[LKSF]

Having some carcass around and lots of snow meant I could set the camera up and see what starving animals came. Foxes are so clever, it could smell my scent and see the camera, it knew it was a trap (even though only a camera trap) and wouldn't come near even though hungry. That's some self control that is, i've seen them do similar before.
As the snow was here for so long I started to worry that the raptors wouldn't be able to hunt and need some food. Our Kes had tucked into some I left out before the heavy fall:

A week or two after the snow had gone I walked over to some old dilapidated farmhouse with disused out buildings and found these:

Starved to death
How long it'll be before they're replaced I don't know, I think a lot around the area have died. Haven't seen any out hunting here since the snow.
I wish I'd realised it was so serious and made the journey across there to leave some food. It wouldn't have been easy through the snow, but if it happens again like this i'll do it.

 

[LKSF]

Lovely looking spot! What’s ’Terry’? Just needs a UJ unless it’s chewed the other end of the prop surely?

Terrano Terry, featured in a few earlier posts. The prop has sheared off, you can see part of it still attached to the box above right.

 

[Monkeybusiness]

Terrano Terry, featured in a few earlier posts. The prop has sheared off, you can see part of it still attached to the box above right.

Is the other half toast, or has it just eaten the UJ cups and popped apart?

 

[LKSF]

Is the other half toast, or has it just eaten the UJ cups and popped apart?

I'll have to have a re-visit and check, I wasn't going crawling under there with the weather at that time, just held my camera under for a shot.
I think I know what you mean, but the bit that's sheared you can see in the pic is bolted on and would be classed as part of the whole assembly (I would have thought mated and balanced with it too), so unable to source it on it's own. Everyone is selling complete props, not components of and it may be matched.
I suppose If I could actually get that bit on it's own and it was out of balance it may not matter given it's for field use, but don't know if I can.

 

[Monkeybusiness]

I'll have to have a re-visit and check, I wasn't going crawling under there with the weather at that time, just held my camera under for a shot.
I think I know what you mean, but the bit that's sheared you can see in the pic is bolted on and would be classed as part of the whole assembly (I would have thought mated and balanced with it too), so unable to source it on it's own. Everyone is selling complete props, not components of and it may be matched.
I suppose If I could actually get that bit on it's own and it was out of balance it may not matter given it's for field use, but don't know if I can.

You should be able to source the ‘spider’ - worst case you can get the prop repaired. Firow are worth getting in touch with, they make these to any size/spec and are way way cheaper than OEM.

 

[LKSF]

You should be able to source the ‘spider’ - worst case you can get the prop repaired. Firow are worth getting in touch with, they make these to any size/spec and are way way cheaper than OEM.

I can get a used one for about £70 - £80. I think that'll be the cheapest option even with one or two new UJs too if needed.

 

[LKSF]

View attachment 34013

Wildlife Ponds

I never realised I hadn't mentioned these until now so a bit of catching up to do.
As you can see by the above earlier post and a few more we aren't short of clay, hills, hollows and rain so it seemed like a good idea to support the local wildlife by digging some ponds. There are two types, wildlife ponds and fish ponds, one is definitely not the other. You can't have a wildlife pond with fish in it as they eat everything, so it's then a fish pond.
I did ponder over creating a fishing lake for about 30 seconds, but it's too big a project, I hear they can be a nice little money maker though.

I did some research as that is what I do, I found there are even some well written government guides about creating them. The plan was to dig a few, all different. Then whatever rocks up can chose which it wants to use so you have more diversity.
Each one is in a low boggy piece of land, near flowing water so they can be topped up if necessary. Although we've had two wet Summers since digging them, so haven't been put to the test, especially ponds 1 & 2 as they're near a small waterway which will probably dry up too in a long dry spell (3 will have no such issues).
This is not what I want, but apparently it's not a bad thing when they do dry up, as it creates environments for even more creatures and plants.

I'd seen a few frogs and a toad around and figured they'd need a hand as there aren't any reliable pieces of standing water around, i'm guessing they're all born more by luck than judgement. Frogs are an important part of the food chain, being a meal for some, but also eating slugs to keep their population down. Dragonflies use ponds to hunt and eat midge larvae and we have no shortage of those here.

Before pond one was born my fantastically accurate diggering skills had created a low point in a ditch which collected water. The frogs found it straight away and filled it with spawn, sadly it dried up and we lost them all, I vowed to do better so next year a much improved version saw tadpoles grow legs before a newt moved in and hoovered most of them up.

In year 3 I think birds ate most, but overall I have seen one or two small frogs hopping around so must have done some good. Every year I improve on last years failures.
This is the thing with creating habitats (at this unprofessional level!), you never know who is going to use them to eat who. Ducks are the biggest problem now, I think i'll put some mesh over the small ponds with spawn in to stop them hoovering everything up, they can use the big pond (3).

Pond 1 A few months after digging. I got some flags for free so chucked them down as a temporary 'viewing platform'(!). Could do with a bench there maybe. The pond is about 5ft by 4.

It's next to pond 2. As you can see many different levels and lots of shallow which is apparently what is best.

Just after being dug there and partially filled. As you can see it's got an island on there so I can grow things the sheep can't get to. They eat everything green.

I bought some pond snails, then found it had some already in there! They must have hitched a lift on some pond plants I begged. I also got given (in my ignorance) some invasive non-native pond weed stuff which i'm having to pull out.

This fella came and settled on me as I was finishing off his new hunting ground, there are quite a few around of different types.

Down there by the digger is pond 3.
The green fields are ours, top and bottom aren't. You can see how much i've improved them (from the earlier pics) for grazing and ground nesters. The shot was taken late Summer after they'd flown when it had just been topped. It then grows to get some grass for Winter grazing, the sheep leave clumps and tufts of what they don't want which leaves patchy, scruffy fields with soft boggy bits come Spring which is what the ground nesters want.

The land was a mess after all the work so I hired a rotavator. We had just two short dry periods in the whole of 2024 when the ground started to dry out, I missed the first as wasn't ready and hit it on the second. It wasn't forecast to rain for a few days, but the day before the Met office changed their minds and sure enough it pissed it down when I was halfway through. I could see it coming the day before, but couldn't work late as we were going out.
The machine clogged up and I had to leave the job part finished, you can see the growth still stood up the other side of the pond.

This will be the big year for that ^ pond as it settles in and stuff starts to grow. Only ducks visit it right now as it's just a muddy puddle.


These however are ponds 1 & 2 in their 3rd year since created. I was amazed to find today about 50 frogs had found them, I counted 25 in the small pond alone:

It was like some teenage house party, too many people turning up, groaning, bad behaviour, sex etc.

The island has wildflowers on it which re-seed every year.

 

[6feetdown]

Wildlife Ponds

I never realised I hadn't mentioned these until now so a bit of catching up to do.
As you can see by the above earlier post and a few more we aren't short of clay, hills, hollows and rain so it seemed like a good idea to support the local wildlife by digging some ponds. There are two types, wildlife ponds and fish ponds, one is definitely not the other. You can't have a wildlife pond with fish in it as they eat everything, so it's then a fish pond.
I did ponder over creating a fishing lake for about 30 seconds, but it's too big a project, I hear they can be a nice little money maker though.

I did some research as that is what I do, I found there are even some well written government guides about creating them. The plan was to dig a few, all different. Then whatever rocks up can chose which it wants to use so you have more diversity.
Each one is in a low boggy piece of land, near flowing water so they can be topped up if necessary. Although we've had two wet Summers since digging them, so haven't been put to the test, especially ponds 1 & 2 as they're near a small waterway which will probably dry up too in a long dry spell (3 will have no such issues).
This is not what I want, but apparently it's not a bad thing when they do dry up, as it creates environments for even more creatures and plants.

View attachment 70083

I'd seen a few frogs and a toad around and figured they'd need a hand as there aren't any reliable pieces of standing water around, i'm guessing they're all born more by luck than judgement. Frogs are an important part of the food chain, being a meal for some, but also eating slugs to keep their population down. Dragonflies use ponds to hunt and eat midge larvae and we have no shortage of those here.

Before pond one was born my fantastically accurate diggering skills had created a low point in a ditch which collected water. The frogs found it straight away and filled it with spawn, sadly it dried up and we lost them all, I vowed to do better so next year a much improved version saw tadpoles grow legs before a newt moved in and hoovered most of them up.
View attachment 70082

In year 3 I think birds ate most, but overall I have seen one or two small frogs hopping around so must have done some good. Every year I improve on last years failures.
This is the thing with creating habitats (at this unprofessional level!), you never know who is going to use them to eat who. Ducks are the biggest problem now, I think i'll put some mesh over the small ponds with spawn in to stop them hoovering everything up, they can use the big pond (3).

Pond 1 A few months after digging. I got some flags for free so chucked them down as a temporary 'viewing platform'(!). Could do with a bench there maybe. The pond is about 5ft by 4.

View attachment 70068

It's next to pond 2. As you can see many different levels and lots of shallow which is apparently what is best.View attachment 70071
Just after being dug there and partially filled. As you can see it's got an island on there so I can grow things the sheep can't get to. They eat everything green.
View attachment 70069

I bought some pond snails, then found it had some already in there! They must have hitched a lift on some pond plants I begged. I also got given (in my ignorance) some invasive non-native pond weed stuff which i'm having to pull out.

This fella came and settled on me as I was finishing off his new hunting ground, there are quite a few around of different types.
View attachment 70070

Down there by the digger is pond 3.
The green fields are ours, top and bottom aren't. You can see how much i've improved them (from the earlier pics) for grazing and ground nesters. The shot was taken late Summer after they'd flown when it had just been topped. It then grows to get some grass for Winter grazing, the sheep leave clumps and tufts of what they don't want which leaves patchy, scruffy fields with soft boggy bits come Spring which is what the ground nesters want.
View attachment 70077


The land was a mess after all the work so I hired a rotavator. We had just two short dry periods in the whole of 2024 when the ground started to dry out, I missed the first as wasn't ready and hit it on the second. It wasn't forecast to rain for a few days, but the day before the Met office changed their minds and sure enough it pissed it down when I was halfway through. I could see it coming the day before, but couldn't work late as we were going out.
The machine clogged up and I had to leave the job part finished, you can see the growth still stood up the other side of the pond.
View attachment 70078
This will be the big year for that ^ pond as it settles in and stuff starts to grow. Only ducks visit it right now as it's just a muddy puddle.


These however are ponds 1 & 2 in their 3rd year since created. I was amazed to find today about 50 frogs had found them, I counted 25 in the small pond alone:

View attachment 70073
View attachment 70072View attachment 70074


The island has wildflowers on it which re-seed every year.

Good work

 

[Monkeybusiness]

I’ve had a run on wildlife pond creation - did 4 the last week of Feb. I’d almost do it for free - it’s definitely my favourite sort of work.