Tales of PGK

[pgkevet]

Ive googled it. Disappointingly its something to do with eating food.

 

 

A communal dish (his wife was a dish..but don't think she'd have been up for that!)

 

Yeah, Steamboat...a way of cooking your own delicacies in a ring of boiling water using various spears and baskets... and then spooning up the soup as it happens and changes.. let alone all the side sauces and fresh extras in little bowls. It really is a great way to dine - a long slow tasty meal with bags of chatty time!

[pgkevet]

Sorry for my absence :-)

 

..this one is definately 'down on the farm'...I've been here a week generally trying to get things sorted before we move everything down. Down? Perhaps that should be 'up' since it's Carshalton to Llanfyllin..

 

The first couple fodays were steeped in panic. What had i done? How the heck was I going to cope with this acreage? But then the next few days i;ve woken up tp glorious views, total peaceand feel that there's no better place to be. Until the nagging little voice warns me about winter - but she only stayed for a couple fo days before going back to the old house.

 

That left me with the dog and a couple of mates who are helping out redecorating. Yeah, that little voice wants it tarted up before she moves.

 

The decorating is moving on fine. there's not that much to do; well there wasn't before the bedroom ceiling fell off but we put that down to trivia.

 

The panic has subsided now. I've started cutting back the grass and brush over the new areas for the orchard, fruit cages and beds and today's job is to build an incinerator and start hacking at the odd acre of brambles. I'm going to have to get a better edge on Jones' machete. It looked sharp out of the packet but by the time i have that slicked up on my wet wheel it'll cut a falling pubic hair that brushes the blade.

 

Rebel (the dog) just loves the place but he won't go out solo. I think he just wants company and misses the other dog who is with wifey. He is also a townie dog and hasnlt come to grips with ttally black nights. The poor sod woke me up this morning at 4 am and I had to kip on the sofa. Which shows i must still be a soft touch - or an idiot.

 

We went for a long walk right now and I gave him a chewie afterwards and the stupid dog started trying to find somewhere safe to bury it. 54 Acres and he's not happy. It's been reburied at least four times now and he has a sore nose. At least he'll be knackered.

 

Tree related stuff: I've got a dead big beggar up a slope above the yard in the middle of other large one's and heavy undergrowth. I reckon if it did fall it would come my way rather then towards the road since it's got more mass this side anyway and that's the downslope. In any event the road is probably just outside target zone and the barn this side might just be. No way am i parking the car on that side of the yard.

 

It's definately outside my abilities to sort so i suppose it's going to be a case of asking around locally. My tree recognition isn't so hot on leafless stuff but I reckon it's probably an old ash tree.

 

Which really brings me towards an end here. I do need to cut some stakes for the new fruit trees I'm going to espalier and for the fruit cage. I resent the idea of paying for stakes with all this hedgerow and woodland. there's no chestnut or larch here (yet) and my best stake options are ash, hazel or silver birch. I'm figuring that whatever i cut will only get 3 mths seasoning before I have to use it so i'm planning on soaking the ends in borax before using them. Does that make sense?

 

Oh, and it turns out borrowing sheep to munch down one of my fields is very, very easy..just ask the first farmer you see. A shame no-one here keeps pigs becaise wifey will only let me have my own if they stay as pets forever. I really don't want to be treating geriatric arthritic pigs in twenty years....

 

..time to shake the sloe gin mix..

[pgkevet]

What couold be a better view from a window? And the early suns makes the first autumn colours really shine...

[MattyF]

Very nice!

[tommer9]

Looks lovely. Great afternoon reading PGK.

Looking forward to the next installments.

[pgkevet]

Even with the machete slicked up to super-sharp it's hard going trying to cope with brambles with netttles growing through them. The previous owner left me some kiddie tools.. a ride-on mower, a land clearer and a real ef-off sized husky strimmer.

 

The ride-on sceams surrender whenever i go near it. To be fair i don't suppose it was ever designed for 115kg rider trying to force it through matted grass clumps. It has done stirling work but the brambles would be silly. I've already had to tow it out of boggy ground with my 200SX and 50 yards of three-strand poly and we all know that if i keep working it to the burning smell of rubber belts slipping then it's life will be limited. I think it's going to get retired to being the wife's toy to prune the lawn and carve some pathways through the meadows between hay cuts.

 

The husky strimmer came with a flair head I've discovered and new flais ordered. if that doesn't sort the brambles then it will be time to get serious.

 

I'm still dickering over tractor prices. Remember this is Wales and i do want a cab on top and with this acreage and soem hilsl then a complete toy size one isn't going to work.

 

It's my perennial problem of being taller than most - bad enough with special order chainsaw trousers and boots - finding a comfy tractor goes with a bigger price. So far the TYM 433 and a 50HP New holland both fit and it's down to delivery times, price and whether it's possible to get a good second user job. Brambles watch out!

 

My dog Rebel is still being a fruit loop. We came back from town and there was a pheasant by the back gate. Rebel got out, looked at it and strolled the other way.

 

I got him a cow's thigh bone in the butcher's shop. His first bone. He looked stunned at that and couldn't figure out what to do. Did i mention he was a bit retarded?

 

So after kneeling on the floor and pretend chewing the thing for him he's finally got the general idea. To date he's rolled it around the floor and collected all the fluff and decorating debris on it - so it does have it's uses.

 

Some more pics and one reason why i wanted some land:

[pgkevet]

Let's call this one 'I'm knackered'

 

Most folk think that's a rude word but bright country arborists recognise that the correct meaning comes from the knackers yard - the place where animals unfit for consumption are processed and rendered. I'm about fit for turning into cheap lard after chopping at the brambles and blackthorn and terracing a small patch for my greenhouse...

 

I popped back to the local agri machine chappy to see what the score was. It had been ten days since he said he would think about my needs for a day or two. This was the conversation:

 

Agri: "Ah, it's you. I hadn't forgotten about you. I'm still thinking about it."

 

Me : "Yes you did. If you hadn't forgotten about me then you'ld have the answers."

 

(I should add that Agri is a friendly chuckling chappy and we were having a laugh rather than being rude.)

 

Agri: "Well you don't want a new one do you?"

 

Me : "Look, I need a blasted tractor and one that I fit in and I'd be happier spending the money locally so long as you can match prices. And any way I shall expect you to mend the cursed thing when I break it - don't worry about old or new just find me the right sort of tractor and stuff and give me a price - the new holland or the tym that I fit in"

 

Agri: "Okay. I'll think about that"

 

Me : "No No No. Remember I'm one of those strange folk from the south and a townie. We're the sort that ring up about kit and expect a demo the next morning. We're used to salesmen that actually sell stuff. I'll give you 2 days since this is the sticks and you're a village-ie"

 

Agri: "I'll get right on to that. Now where did I put your number?"

 

Me : "Well last week it was on your hand. Have you washed yet?"

 

Agri: "That's right I wrote it in the book after"

 

Me : "Would it help if I email you my details and the list of kit needs?"

 

Agri: "Ah, now email. I've heard of that. We don't have that here. That works on computers doesn't it? We don't use those."

 

Me : "Have you got a spare slate I can scratch it on for you?"

 

My only other news is that I have sheep on my farm. I'm not farming livestock but I have one field that is steep and thickly tufted and impossible to mow. I couldn't find any pigs to borrow but it turns out that borrowing sheep is quite easy in Wales: you just ask if anyone has a spare hundred or so and a flock turns up herded by a teenager on an ATV....

[pgkevet]

..just walking my dally and going past one of my fields..full of sheep i borrowed to save me mowing..and there were two escapees. Dalmatian hurtled after them with me shouting at him..still not sure i trust him not to chew one up. Next thing i see is Dalmatian running back towards me across the bridge - with two sheep chasing him!!

[pgkevet]

I've neglected this spot with sorting out my new farm. I hope you like this one:

 

Here in the depths of Wales on Cwm farm there is no light pollution and on clear nights you can see the spread of the milky way clearly. Quiet nights are only punctuated by the hooting of owls and the ocassional rustle in the undergrowth.

 

There's a lot of owls and it occured to me that i might be able to study them and work out a form of hoot translation.

 

To that end i started observing the owls and their behavior. That meant a thorough inspection of the woodland near the house and just as well I did because there was a huge dead tree that might just have made it to the barn if it had given way down the slope above.

 

Now no way was this aged retiree and chainsaw tyro going to have a go at a 50 foot dead tree as his first felling so I made some enquiries and an Arb called Barry and his groundie duly quoted and turned up.

 

Barry was cheerfully Welsh and got the gear out and checked. He asked me what i wanted done with the tree after and, being the piddle-taker I am, I jovially suggested he slice it neatly into 12 in lengths and stack it down in the far barn!

 

Barry did the climbing and groundie all the real work and to my astonishment after they had dismantled the thing they started slicing it up - neatly into 12 in lengths.

 

"Wow" I said "I didn't seriously thing you'ld do that!"

 

"No trouble" He said and they chopped up the branches and ringed the whole thing up and struggled to pick each 2 foot diameter main ring into the truck and got it all down to the barn.

 

That was definately worth a tip! Those guys sweated hard over that and apologised for leaving the last ring 'cos they were too knackered to move it.

 

With the worry about that cherry tree falling on the house gone I was able to get back to owl sounds and the next night finally had my program fired up and ready for the big test!

 

9pm and the owl started his calls, the mike picked up the sounds and fed it into my PC and with hardly a pause the words scrolled across the screen...

 

 

"Where's my effing tree?"

[Guss109]

:laugh1:Lol good one:laugh1: