The first lambs.

As always the first job this morning was to go across and check the sheep. On entering the field I noticed straight away that there was something going down because one of the ewes was right over at the other end of the field on her own. Sheep very rarely venture off by themselves so when you see one away from the rest it’s a good sign something needs checking out so I went off to investigate. As I got closer I could see that she had a couple of lambs with her and this was the reason for her being away by herself. They hadn’t been born long but seemed to be doing okay, both were up and trying to suckle which is the main thing with lambs. That first drop of milk sets them up for life.



For the most part the rest of the day has been spent planting five of the new trees. It may not seem like I have been very productive taking all day to plant five trees but I like to do them well as they are going to be there for a long time. I also had to go and get some stakes for them. I was hoping to get away without staking them but in the end I decided it wasn’t worth omitting. So we got them in, staked, mulched and tidied up around them so that’s another job taken care of.

On leaving tonight I actually felt quite pleased with the way things are at the moment. I never allow myself to feel contented with the way things are, I like to look for the faults but tonight I couldn’t help feeling pleased when I stopped for a minute to look around. The only real blot on the landscape are the darn Chafer grubs which I can’t do much about until May at the earliest.

The first lambs.

As always the first job this morning was to go across and check the sheep. On entering the field I noticed straight away that there was something going down because one of the ewes was right over at the other end of the field on her own. Sheep very rarely venture off by themselves so when you see one away from the rest it’s a good sign something needs checking out so I went off to investigate. As I got closer I could see that she had a couple of lambs with her and this was the reason for her being away by herself. They hadn’t been born long but seemed to be doing okay, both were up and trying to suckle which is the main thing with lambs. That first drop of milk sets them up for life.



For the most part the rest of the day has been spent planting five of the new trees. It may not seem like I have been very productive taking all day to plant five trees but I like to do them well as they are going to be there for a long time. I also had to go and get some stakes for them. I was hoping to get away without staking them but in the end I decided it wasn’t worth omitting. So we got them in, staked, mulched and tidied up around them so that’s another job taken care of.

On leaving tonight I actually felt quite pleased with the way things are at the moment. I never allow myself to feel contented with the way things are, I like to look for the faults but tonight I couldn’t help feeling pleased when I stopped for a minute to look around. The only real blot on the landscape are the darn Chafer grubs which I can’t do much about until May at the earliest.

Overcome.

There is a very strong scent of whatever was in these barrel in a previous life, good thing I don't have to drive home from work. Looks like the head gardener has been overcome with the fumes.

Onion Planting.

I've just been planting 5 rows of Stuttgarter Stanfield onion sets. Around 30 onions per row.

Just had to go across home to fetch Tommy because some moron is shooting something - its like the flippin' wild west.

Sent from my Treo Smartphone.

32nd Video (No.1).

Here is a short thirty second video I shot during my walk from Chatsworth House to Edensor village.

I'm not sure why there is no sound but I wasn't talking so you aren't missing much.

Cute Puppy.

As it's a Friday and I don't have much else to say I am going to post Border Collie Video. This video is from 'azyouwish' channel on Youtube, if you want to go look for yourself [Here].

The trick itself isn't all that amazing compared to some that I've shown on here but the puppy is to die for!! Also wouldn't it be something to look forward to, if she is retrieving balls at 9 weeks old I reckon she will be doing loads of stuff in time.

Cute Puppy.

As it's a Friday and I don't have much else to say I am going to post Border Collie Video. This video is from 'azyouwish' channel on Youtube, if you want to go look for yourself [Here].

The trick itself isn't all that amazing compared to some that I've shown on here but the puppy is to die for!! Also wouldn't it be something to look forward to, if she is retrieving balls at 9 weeks old I reckon she will be doing loads of stuff in time.

How I passed my time on holiday.

Well it’s getting towards the end of my two week holiday and it’s been amazing the number of people who have asked me that I’ve been doing with my time so today I thought I would give you an example of what I get up to on my holidays.

Below is the list in the order in which each task was carried out today.

Had a lie in.

Took Tommy for a walk.

Socialised with neighbours.

Fed the dogs.

Had my breakfast.

Fed the sheep.

Tended to the greenhouses.

Had lunch and watched TV.

Vacuumed the whole house (except our daughters rooms).

Mended the garden gate which was not closing properly.

Put the green bin out.

Tended to the greenhouses (closed vents and checked heaters).

Took Tommy for a walk.

Cleaned out the fire and filled the bucket with coal.

Washed up the days pots.

Did some maintenance work on Vicki’s laptop.

Got things ready for dinner.

To finish off this post I will show you the remaining pictures from the last walk I did. As always the pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.

This is an old tree that I passed which I thought looked pretty neat.

 The bridge over the river Derwent at Chatsworth House.

 Chatsworth House having some work done on it at the moment.

 Something quite unexpected on the road beyond Edensor.

 The view from Calton Pastures.

How I passed my time on holiday.

Well it’s getting towards the end of my two week holiday and it’s been amazing the number of people who have asked me that I’ve been doing with my time so today I thought I would give you an example of what I get up to on my holidays.

Below is the list in the order in which each task was carried out today.

Had a lie in.

Took Tommy for a walk.

Socialised with neighbours.

Fed the dogs.

Had my breakfast.

Fed the sheep.

Tended to the greenhouses.

Had lunch and watched TV.

Vacuumed the whole house (except our daughters rooms).

Mended the garden gate which was not closing properly.

Put the green bin out.

Tended to the greenhouses (closed vents and checked heaters).

Took Tommy for a walk.

Cleaned out the fire and filled the bucket with coal.

Washed up the days pots.

Did some maintenance work on Vicki’s laptop.

Got things ready for dinner.

To finish off this post I will show you the remaining pictures from the last walk I did. As always the pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.

This is an old tree that I passed which I thought looked pretty neat.

 The bridge over the river Derwent at Chatsworth House.

 Chatsworth House having some work done on it at the moment.

 Something quite unexpected on the road beyond Edensor.

 The view from Calton Pastures.

Edensor.

As promised here are some more pictures from the walk I took last week. Today I am going to show you the village of Edensor, which is pronounced ‘Ensor’. It is set in parkland that surrounds Chatsworth House which is owned by the Devonshire family, whose stately home is only short walk away.

Originally the village of Edensor was much closer to Chatsworth House but the fouth Duke of Devonshire had it removed because he didn’t want to look out of his window and see the houses. The tenants were re-housed in the nearby estate villages of Pilsley and Beeley. It was The sixth Duke who eventually completed the dismantling of the old village and built the present one. There is just one house and garden left from the original village and it is  believed that this was spared because the tenant was an elderly man who did not want to move and the duke in an act of kindness allowed him to stay. The house that is left is behind the hill that hides the new village so I don’t think there is much chance that anyone from the big house can have their day ruined by seeing it when the curtains are drawn back on a morning.

It is thought that when the different plans for the new village were shown to the Duke he was busy with other matters (killing Pheasants no doubt) and that after quickly looking through the different designs could not make up his mind and so chose all the different styles that were on offer. The designs ranging from Norman to Jacobean, Swiss-style to Italian villas are all here at Edensor.

There are many interesting things on offer in Edensor one of which can be found in the churchyard where at the top of which can be found the grave of Kathleen Kennedy, the sister of the late President of the USA. She was married to William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, the eldest son and heir of the 10th Duke of Devonshire on May 6, 1944. Her husband was killed in action only four months later in World War 2. Only four years later his wife was killed in an air crash. In June, 1963, John F Kennedy, the President of the United States visited the grave -- five months before being assassinated

In the bottom left corner of this picture you can just see the wall of the garden of the only remaining house left from the original village of Edensor.

The view from the top of the village looking back towards the parkland.

Edensor.

As promised here are some more pictures from the walk I took last week. Today I am going to show you the village of Edensor, which is pronounced ‘Ensor’. It is set in parkland that surrounds Chatsworth House which is owned by the Devonshire family, whose stately home is only short walk away.

Originally the village of Edensor was much closer to Chatsworth House but the fouth Duke of Devonshire had it removed because he didn’t want to look out of his window and see the houses. The tenants were re-housed in the nearby estate villages of Pilsley and Beeley. It was The sixth Duke who eventually completed the dismantling of the old village and built the present one. There is just one house and garden left from the original village and it is  believed that this was spared because the tenant was an elderly man who did not want to move and the duke in an act of kindness allowed him to stay. The house that is left is behind the hill that hides the new village so I don’t think there is much chance that anyone from the big house can have their day ruined by seeing it when the curtains are drawn back on a morning.

It is thought that when the different plans for the new village were shown to the Duke he was busy with other matters (killing Pheasants no doubt) and that after quickly looking through the different designs could not make up his mind and so chose all the different styles that were on offer. The designs ranging from Norman to Jacobean, Swiss-style to Italian villas are all here at Edensor.

There are many interesting things on offer in Edensor one of which can be found in the churchyard where at the top of which can be found the grave of Kathleen Kennedy, the sister of the late President of the USA. She was married to William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, the eldest son and heir of the 10th Duke of Devonshire on May 6, 1944. Her husband was killed in action only four months later in World War 2. Only four years later his wife was killed in an air crash. In June, 1963, John F Kennedy, the President of the United States visited the grave -- five months before being assassinated

In the bottom left corner of this picture you can just see the wall of the garden of the only remaining house left from the original village of Edensor.

The view from the top of the village looking back towards the parkland.

Colourful fish.

We have seen lots of colourful fish.

Sent from my Palm Treo smartphone.

The Deep.

Today we are going to The Deep sea life centre in Hull.

Sent from my Palm Treo smartphone.

Beeley.

Today I am going to post some more pictures I took during my walk the other day. These pictures are of the Village of Beeley, you can find more info on Beeley by clicking [Here]

This is the lower lane through Beeley which follows Beeley Brook.

Here we are shortly to enter the square.

This is Chapel Hill, the chapel being the building that sticks out a little at the top of the hill, as children this is where you would find us on most Sunday mornings.

This is the view of Beeley from the main road that passes by the village, you can see the chapel again on the left hand edge of the picture.

Apart from the chapel there is also a church of England church.

Whilst passing I went and paid a visit to my grand parents from my dad's side of the family.

Tomorrow I will show you some pictures from the rest of the walk.

Beeley.

Today I am going to post some more pictures I took during my walk the other day. These pictures are of the Village of Beeley, you can find more info on Beeley by clicking [Here]

This is the lower lane through Beeley which follows Beeley Brook.

Here we are shortly to enter the square.

This is Chapel Hill, the chapel being the building that sticks out a little at the top of the hill, as children this is where you would find us on most Sunday mornings.

This is the view of Beeley from the main road that passes by the village, you can see the chapel again on the left hand edge of the picture.

Apart from the chapel there is also a church of England church.

Whilst passing I went and paid a visit to my grand parents from my dad's side of the family.

Tomorrow I will show you some pictures from the rest of the walk.

A sign of the times.

Hello everyone, I hope you’re all doing okay. I have been off walking for the past couple of days which is why I’ve not been able to visit you or leave a post on here. Anyway I came back with some pictures for you which I will post over the next few days.

The picture tonight is of a sign post, a very old sign post, apart from it being made of stone the other give away is how they have spelled road with an ‘E’ at the end, we haven’t done that for a long time. The stone is in the close proximity of a crossroads so each of the four sides of the stone are marked with directions to somewhere. It’s all very basic and informal compared to modern day standards but no doubt it served its purpose back in the days when it was erected. I wonder what they would have made of satnav? I reckon owning one back then would have got you burnt at the stake or something similar.

Here you can make out the words ‘Chesterfield Roade’.

On this side is ‘Chesterfield N: Roade’. I’m not sure what the ‘N’ is for unless it’s short for North.

On this side is ‘Bakewell Roade’. I like the pointing hand.

When I see things like this I wonder of all the things that have long since gone, what tales could that stone tell if it could only talk?

A sign of the times.

Hello everyone, I hope you’re all doing okay. I have been off walking for the past couple of days which is why I’ve not been able to visit you or leave a post on here. Anyway I came back with some pictures for you which I will post over the next few days.

The picture tonight is of a sign post, a very old sign post, apart from it being made of stone the other give away is how they have spelled road with an ‘E’ at the end, we haven’t done that for a long time. The stone is in the close proximity of a crossroads so each of the four sides of the stone are marked with directions to somewhere. It’s all very basic and informal compared to modern day standards but no doubt it served its purpose back in the days when it was erected. I wonder what they would have made of satnav? I reckon owning one back then would have got you burnt at the stake or something similar.

Here you can make out the words ‘Chesterfield Roade’.

On this side is ‘Chesterfield N: Roade’. I’m not sure what the ‘N’ is for unless it’s short for North.

On this side is ‘Bakewell Roade’. I like the pointing hand.

When I see things like this I wonder of all the things that have long since gone, what tales could that stone tell if it could only talk?

Walking.

Today is a nice day so I am out walking. The village in the picture is called Edensor and is part of the Chatsworth Estate.

Sent from my Palm Treo smartphone.

Speedy's foot stand.

Happy weekend everyone.

I’m sorry but I think perhaps I didn’t make myself very clear yesterday when I said about posting a new video. As some of you know I try and post a fun video on a Friday to get the weekend off to a good start, usually of a Border Collie. I have to confess that I don’t do it just for your satisfaction as I have so much fun from going through all those video’s picking out something I think you might like to see. Anyway I know some of you thought it was going to be another one of/by Tommy but I’m afraid Tommy is suffering from film producers block at the moment so has got Speedy to stand in for him again. You may remember Speedy and letsitsme from a few weeks ago, well this is another video from them. I’m afraid that I can’t tell you what the writing says because unlike Border Collies I don’t understand much French (assuming that's what it is) but I’m sure that when you see the video you will understand what it’s all about. I love to see the progression of the act from beginning to end. I could watch it over and, and over again – what am I talking about, I have watched it over and over again! Tommy says that he hopes I’m not going to get any bright ideas about making him do a darn fool trick like that! Tommy is a lot of things but agile isn’t one of them, getting into the car is akin to climbing Mount Everest to Tommy so I think if we attempted anything like in the video I would just end up with a face full of big black dog. Anyway take a look at this and I hope it puts as much fun in to your day as it does mine, also maybe if you have time take a look at Lets Youtube channel as I’m sure you will be amazed at what she gets up to with Speedy.

Speedy's foot stand.

Happy weekend everyone.

I’m sorry but I think perhaps I didn’t make myself very clear yesterday when I said about posting a new video. As some of you know I try and post a fun video on a Friday to get the weekend off to a good start, usually of a Border Collie. I have to confess that I don’t do it just for your satisfaction as I have so much fun from going through all those video’s picking out something I think you might like to see. Anyway I know some of you thought it was going to be another one of/by Tommy but I’m afraid Tommy is suffering from film producers block at the moment so has got Speedy to stand in for him again. You may remember Speedy and letsitsme from a few weeks ago, well this is another video from them. I’m afraid that I can’t tell you what the writing says because unlike Border Collies I don’t understand much French (assuming that's what it is) but I’m sure that when you see the video you will understand what it’s all about. I love to see the progression of the act from beginning to end. I could watch it over and, and over again – what am I talking about, I have watched it over and over again! Tommy says that he hopes I’m not going to get any bright ideas about making him do a darn fool trick like that! Tommy is a lot of things but agile isn’t one of them, getting into the car is akin to climbing Mount Everest to Tommy so I think if we attempted anything like in the video I would just end up with a face full of big black dog. Anyway take a look at this and I hope it puts as much fun in to your day as it does mine, also maybe if you have time take a look at Lets Youtube channel as I’m sure you will be amazed at what she gets up to with Speedy.

A better night.

Last night I enjoyed a better sleep so than you for all your best wishes, I think they helped. I’m sure it was something that I saw during the day that played on my mind during the night.

As you will see from my mobile blog the rest of the trees arrived from the nursery today so now I am just waiting for the boss to show me where they want planting.

Doc asked me for suggestions as to what other fruit trees he could plant. Well I’m not sure what your climate is like so you will need to do your own research as to what will grow and where. In the garden to the big house we have a peach tree on an east facing wall although south facing would be better. We have a cherry on an east facing wall but they will also grow on north facing as well. We have pears and figs on the west facing wall. We also have an apricot tree in the conservatory. They will also grow outdoors but flower very early so are susceptible to frost.

With today being the first of the month it’s time for another picture of ‘The Tree’. As you will see not a lot has changed in the past month, it’s a bit lighter and the crop in the field is a little more advanced. Someone asked me what the tree is and I can’t remember if I answered so I will tell you now that as far as I can tell the tree is an oak tree although I haven’t been close to it as I have no right to walk in the farmer field.

January

February

March

A better night.

Last night I enjoyed a better sleep so than you for all your best wishes, I think they helped. I’m sure it was something that I saw during the day that played on my mind during the night.

As you will see from my mobile blog the rest of the trees arrived from the nursery today so now I am just waiting for the boss to show me where they want planting.

Doc asked me for suggestions as to what other fruit trees he could plant. Well I’m not sure what your climate is like so you will need to do your own research as to what will grow and where. In the garden to the big house we have a peach tree on an east facing wall although south facing would be better. We have a cherry on an east facing wall but they will also grow on north facing as well. We have pears and figs on the west facing wall. We also have an apricot tree in the conservatory. They will also grow outdoors but flower very early so are susceptible to frost.

With today being the first of the month it’s time for another picture of ‘The Tree’. As you will see not a lot has changed in the past month, it’s a bit lighter and the crop in the field is a little more advanced. Someone asked me what the tree is and I can’t remember if I answered so I will tell you now that as far as I can tell the tree is an oak tree although I haven’t been close to it as I have no right to walk in the farmer field.

January

February

March