Back From Verona.

We have just returned from Verona after a very interesting sight seeing tour. There are lots of interesting things to see, far more than you can see in one day. The weather has been great, hot and sunny all day so it was a good excuse to try some Italian ice cream. After dinner were are taking a moonlight cruise to Garda which is across the lake from where we are staying.

Dolomite Mountains.

Yesterday we went for a drive to the Italian Dolomites. It was a nice drive up through the various villages with some magnificent view of both the valleys and peaks. The road eventually came to an end at 2500 meters with clouds coming and going on the chilled wind. There was a cable car ride to the top of the mountain but they warned us that because of the wind they might stop the car running at any moment which would have left us with a lengthy walk back down to the coach so we didn't dare risk it as no one was equipped for a high mountain trek. So instead we had a light lunch and checked out some of the gift shops. Today we are going to Verona which I know little about except that it has some connection to William Shakespeare.

Switzerland and Italy

Having traveled through the UK and France on Saturday today we are going to be traveling through Switzerland to Lake Garda in Italy which is where we will be staying until Friday morning. It has been a long journey but when viewed as an adventure is a worthwhile one.

Hamilton tops tight second practice

Hamilton tops tight second practice

Busy Week.

This week is going to be a busy week in the garden as I have one of the hardest and most difficult jobs of the year to do - trimming the two big hedges in the memorial gardens. Lots of climbing up and down the tower with the hedge cutter getting heavier and heavier not to mention all the bits of conifer down the shirt and in other unmentionable places but it's got to be done so best do it with a happy heart. I will try to remember to take a picture later. I also have someone coming to repair and service my tractor and as usual there is all the grass to cut.

Thank you for the comments on our own garden although I can't take any credit for the way it looks as it's mostly Vicki's work apart from the hedge cutting and lawn mowing. It may seem strange but I have no enthusiasm when it comes to working in my own garden.

Captain Shagrat asked if the cottage is ours. Well it belongs to the estate and we get to live here as part payment  for the work I do. Other properties like this on the estate rent out for around £650 a month so I see it as been worth slightly more to me as they also pay some of the other utility charges that go with the property. Of course the true value is much more because if I even lose my job here we will be both jobless and homeless. We do have our own property but without a job we wouldn't be able to afford to live in it so I'm just going to have to be a good boy and also hope people keep coming to shoot the birds and the farmer keeps on growing good crops so as to pay for my upkeep.

Feeding The Pigs On Churn Estates.

In a previous post I showed how to feed the sheep on Churn Estates map so this time I'm going to show how to feed the pigs. There is a little more to this job as you need to mill the barley and feed that as well as pellets. So as you will see from the video the first job is to load up the mill at the pig farm with barley. You can either harvest this or when you first start the game there is a small supply at the arable farm which they don't mind you having - just don't fill your tractor with diesel while you're there! This is where I start the video.

After tipping your load at the pig farm walk over to the mill and press the 'R' key on your computer keyboard and in around 20 seconds the barley will be ready for feeding. Drive under the milled barley silo and when you get the sign in the bottom right corner press 'R' to load the feeder on the front of the loader tractor.

You then drive in to the pigs field and go to the yellow feed trough and when you are over the trough with the feeder you will get the TIP sign in the bottom right corner so you then press 'Q' on your keyboard to empty the feeder in to the trough.

When this is done go back to the yard and fill the feeder from the next silo which will have pellets in it, these are the same pellets I used to feed the sheep with. Then do the same with these as you did with the barley except you put the pellets in the brown trough. Once this is done return to the yard and pick up the water tanker and reverse up to the blue tank, when you get close enough the water tanker will automatically fill with water. You then take this to the pigs field, reverse up to the blue trough and when you get the tip sign press 'Q' and the trough should fill with water. All that remains now is to return to the yard closing the gates behind you, although strictly speaking you aren't done yet as there is another paddock and a barn with more pigs that are hungry for food and water. 

The Garden (August).

Here is this months picture of the garden plus the previous ones.

January

February

March

May

June

July

August

Feeding Sheep On Churn Estates.

Today I am going to show you the feeding process on the Churn Estates farm. This particular video shows me feeding sheep out on the hill. Feeding the pigs back at the farm is similar except they have to have Barley and pellets where as the sheep just need pellets and both need water of course. For feeding you need the hopper for the front loader on the tractor, I think there is a version for a telehandler too if you prefer, the one I have came with the farm. I filled the hopper with pellets from the pig farm but there is a sheep yard close to the sheep field which also has a pellet silo. The water tanker is part of a pack from the LS-UK Modteam, (Download Here) you can fill it from the tank at the pig farm as I did or you can also reverse in to a water supply like a pond for example. To empty in to the water troughs just press the 'Q' as with most other unloading tasks. You may notice there is a feeder in the field with the sheep, later in the year this can be used for feeding your bales of hay or whatever you choose to feed.

Anyway I hope you enjoy the video and maybe find it useful and if you want to ask anything just leave me a comment and I will get back to you.

Tippy's Top Tip (Rounding up the walls).

As today is the second anniversary of Tippy's passing.

I am going to remember her with another of 'Tippy's Top Tips' which used to be a feature of my blogs. This tip I think is both interesting and useful. 

Below are two pictures taken of two separate Tayberry plants, the pictures were taken within a couple of minutes of each other (the time it took to walk from one to the other). The difference between the two plants being that one is grown against a north facing wall and the other against an east facing wall. The north facing wall gets very little direct sunlight. In the summer it may get a little at each end of the day, in the winter none at all. The east facing wall gets full sun all morning but none in the afternoon. By looking closely at the pictures it's easy to see what difference this makes to the plants, the one on the east facing wall is in advance of the other by at least three weeks.

North Facing Wall

East Facing Wall

The growth difference of the two walls can be put to use in both providing the right growing environment for different plants, for instance you would have a hard time getting peaches from a north facing wall but a south facing wall would suit them well. In this instance I am using the two different walls to increase the length of the cropping season which it more or less doubles. This will work with many plants, but not all because some like sun and even more sun whereas others are not do fussy.

Dig the lawn.

Today didn't start very well. First job as usual was to go and check the sheep and there I discovered a dead lamb. I called the farmer who came and took it away.

After this I went to my work in the garden and there found the dogs digging up the lawn. A right old mess they made of it too.

So I go to work expecting to get plenty of weeding done and find I have all this stuff to sort out first.

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