I made preserved lemons today for the first time with all the lemons left over from Christmas. Basically you sterilize a large jar, and then slice as many spare lemons as you have vertically into six to eight pieces each. Put a layer of salt into the jar and then put in the lemons a […]
I had an interesting (well perhaps) thought the other day. It was related to what in the tech line I would carry about with me if (for example) I was going away on a two day trip – business or pleasure – and how this has changed over the years. So 1992 – I am […]
I was reading more on Pine Martens the other night. One fact I didn’t know is that although they eat red squirrels, their presence deters the spread of greys because they are better at catching them than they are the reds. Another fact I didn’t know is that they have distinctive faeces which are black […]
There is a huge buzzard lives in the vicinity – we often see it swoop over the path when we are walking around the Donich circular. I always remember the old adage that if you are not sure whether you have seen a buzzard or an eagle – you have seen a buzzard. Today it […]
For my birthday I am taken to the Loch Fyne Oyster bar which is just in the next valley (what are these sea loch valleys called in mainland Scotland? In Shetland they call them ‘voes’). I have never been to the actual restaurant before – although I have sampled the oysters and prawns when the […]
This morning is clear and crisp which makes a nice change after the near constant rain since we moved in. The mountains behind the village are white with snow although there is nothing on the ground down here. We have been told that the winters here are warm and wet – with the lack of […]
We have…. Badgers. Or one badger at least. We bated the camera trap with a load of peanuts and sure enough at about 9:30pm (must have been just after we turned the kitchen lights out) he came through the fence and had a good snuffle about. When he saw that the nuts were in the […]
Disappointments. The camera worked brilliantly – we could see little voles running about getting a few of the nuts, the wind moving the trees etc. All until about 1:30am when the picture mysteriously cut out. Two hours later it started recording again, but by then the cages had been torn out of the ground, the […]
So following on from the mysterious disappearing suet ball, we have decided to fit a couple of Webcams. One of them we will attach to our potting shed which is right next to the bird feeding area, and the other will go on the side of the summerhouse which is right next to the pond […]
We just acquired some suet balls which we thought the birds would like. According to the RSPB it is better to put them on the ground rather than hang them from the feeder, so we duly put them inside the cages in case the cats took an interest. The next day we found the cage […]
