Baldbloke

I’ve heard of Foxglove trees but such exotica probably doesn’t tend to survive up here [emoji3]

Our single Whitebeam always cheers me up. Not a great photo but shows up well against the darker Beech, Sycamore and Lime behind

An Ash tree in our garden this evening. At this rate the Walnut won’t be offering a leaf until after mid-summer.

Just realised I still have that shirt from 1985[emoji3]

And there was me tapping away[emoji3]

Still bloody cold up here in the NE of Scotland yet the bees are busy on the Sycamore pollen.

The Gambia in about 1985. My son couldn’t help himself tormenting the little ones. The big fuc*** was about more than 3.5 foot across his jaw, 12 to 14 foot long and probably weighed a couple of tons. 4 foot was close enough for me. A small friendly python that found its way into our compound.

I had no near neighbours until the farmer adjoining me decided to apply for a house build 50 metres from the front of my house. I made a point of objecting by amongst other things siting that I was damned if I was going to have to adapt chainsaw and other noisy pastimes through having a neighbour imposed on me. It turned out that they ignored all my valid objections. Took it to the Ombudsman and it cost over 40 K to slightly mitigate the breaches in vehicular access onto the main road. Luckily my neighbours a noisy bastard too🤣

Got another 120 square metres of concrete harl to remove of a rear wall of the house first as well as a reroof of a steading, so unless it becomes a real problem it might have to wait a bit.

That’s a good suggestion. There’s been a couple of pikeys called around in the past to try and fleece me[emoji3] I do realise the first job is going to be to ensure there’s an open concrete ditch to hold the sides of the roadway and to ensure the water is off it too.[emoji1303]

Coil fitted, gapped and fresh fuel. Now starts on the button[emoji1303] There’s a bit of wiring to sort as well. Also there’s a wrongly ordered belt to change as the one that’s fitted for powering the hydrostatic axle is too long for the idlers to tension. All the other belts are correct and new. A missing E clip holding a rear wheel on was replaced with a large circlip, oil and filter changed and electro magnetic clutch that needed taken off for the belt refit was tested while awaiting new belt. Although there’s some bits of the deck that have rubbed on things and could do with some paint the entire machine is built like a tank and is corrosion free. Pretty good compared to the smaller ride ons. I think the previous owner took it apart and realised how tricky it is to order the correct parts, and to remember how to refit everything correctly. The coincidental failure of the coil and lack of spark must have been the last straw.

At present there’s quite a bit of inheritance tax you can offset if it remains as an agricultural unit. You’d be amazed how much of a pond can be made by a good operator with an excavator in a day. There’s nothing the taxman can do about a pond unless you diversify and start charging visitors to fish. You may need planning permission if you enlarge the existing pond. I’ve done a few ponds for private trout fishing and gotten away with it, but none of them impacted on neighbours. The one in my garden now features on OS maps[emoji3]

Cemetery on outskirts of Keith[emoji849]

Many coarse fish will spawn in still water but trout need running water to do so. So if the pond is merely fed by ditches too small to run up it’ll either have to be Triploid Rainbows and replacement if they get taken, or a coarse fishery[emoji1303] You’d be able to take some water to irrigate, but if you take out too much in the summer it’ll raise the remaining water temperature too high as well as leaving the fish more vulnerable to predation. Also ensure there’s deep areas or you’ll have frozen and then rotten fish fingers come the spring[emoji1303]

There’s a pond in The Gambia, West Africa, which is infested with the buggers. The locals encourage tourists in to stroke the more placid one’s in order to fleece them. One or two of them would be 12 to 14 foot long and a good 3 foot wide and probably weigh more than a ton. They get that size by scoffing monkeys as there’s not enough fish in the pond. So although I’ve watched others touching them and even one idiot on the back of another, I’ve always had a healthy respect for the buggers.

Do you state a need for some fertiliser after taking hay, and is that for 2 cuts?

Can’t remember the model, but bought a 50cc ish saw in 2006 and it did well until the handle became detached at the bottom end. Made up an ally plate and all ok. Sold it 10 years later for about 2/3rds it’s original price. Good little saw but plastics definitely not up to Husky or Stihl standards. Ignore the extra micro bar + chains that I bought as a mistake.

I wouldn’t say mines the best as the grass is old although the lower pasture has a good clover content. I was asking £60/acre which was apparently too much.

Good point. Yes, private supply and troughs in both fields.

You may have house insurance issues with trees being so close to the property. Edit: Apologies, didn’t read all the other mentions over insurance implications.

My tenant was unhappy at my request for £60/acre this year, along with needing to see his insurance for his stock, and has now taken a huff and removed his sheep. My ground isn’t the best, but I’m hearing of folk charging double that for not much better. Usual period is the growing season from May until October, but I’ve always let this chap overwinter some of his stock. I really just let it out to keep the growth down, but it would be good to hear what others consider grass lets are worth on better than marginal with good shelter from hedges. This since what I was getting wasn’t actually covering my annual 3rd party insurance premium, which seems a little daft.

My tenant has had a dozen on our two small fields totalling 5 acres, and that was right through the winter, with some supplementary feed. Now there’s an additional 7 tups/rams in the top paddock, and the grass is struggling to beat them with this cold spring/summer. So I’d suggest your ground might hold more but you’ll have to count on buying in or keeping hay back for the winter months.I only allow sheep as they’re not hard on fences and keep the weeds down[emoji1303]

Very good. I have a land rover bumper and heavy duty winch which I was going to sell but am now considering retrofitting to my Ifor Williams as the bed is high and everything I buy seems to be wanked out and needs dragging up with a Come Along. I’m sure I can weld up a frame to replace the bumper and use that.[emoji1303]

12 years ago a pot holed farm track on the estate I worked on was quoted 40 k for much the same length of track so given inflation I reckon you’re about spot on with your limited paperwork.

Briggs and Stratton 15 HP Vanguard engine, presently without spark. The cylinder lies horizontally on this one. Actually posted on ‘What’s on your bench’ about the lack of spark to see if my assumption that the coil must be knackered in spite of an electrical test suggesting it’s ok. New coil arriving on Saturday so will update these posts if there’s life after new coil.