Finally we have a crowd of daffodils flowering at Holt Farm Holiday Cottages and up the access track from the council road we have primroses in bloom on the hedge bank.
Down below the track in the old orchard we have a profusion of wild flowers with dandelions, celandines and sorrel all in flower.
I have been enjoying the sunny days (although the wind has been cold)and spring cleaning around the farm. I have been tidying up the fallen limbs and branches from the trees damaged by the winter winds.This job needs doing before the grass grows and covers up the timber.We shed store it in old potato boxes and then cut it up ready for the woodburners next winter.The wood needs to be removed so that it does not damage any hay making machinery once the grass is ready to mow and preserve as hay or silage to feed the animals next winter.Even though the winter feels as if it has just ended the farming cycle makes us plan for next winter.
Another pressing job has been fencing repairs on our boundaries. With a hard winter and delayed spring the sheep have been keen to expand their diet by raiding our pastures. I have been replacing some wire netting fences which are in steep sided dingles. A dingle has a stream in the bottom of the gulley and the sides usually have some smaller trees such as hazel, willow and blackthorn growing up the steep sides. Often it is not possible to get machinery close enough to push the stakes and posts into the ground. The alternative to mechanisation is to get the oldest member of staff to do the work by hand! It is physically demanding as all the materials and tools have to be lugged down the steep slopes which can be very slippery on our clay soils when the weather is damp.
The holiday cottages have been very busy and the guests have certainly enjoyed the sunny days. Our Australian based family have enjoyed meeting with their U.K. based relations and climbing the field behind the cottages to the top of the ridge and looking to the Black Mountains, the Malvern Hills and Clee Hills. On a clear day it is possible to see the waters of the Severn estuary glinting in the sun. Quite a contrast to Bondi beach, but I felt quite jealous when I talked to them about the booking back in the bleak winter days and they were having marvellous sunny days.
