Little Catch-ups

It's October, and it was 14°C (57°F) in our conservatory today. Brrr, a little chilly to start the day.

Although it's October, we haven't been woken by gunshots! That's a nice change. This time of year is waterfowl hunting season in Maine. Here in the U.K. there are still traditional estate hunts and sporting lodges, a bit like private hunting reserves. Deer aren't actually fenced in, but are strategically coerced into browsing on sporting estates through their manipulative land management practices, such as supplemental winter feeding.

Hunting wild mammals with hounds was outlawed in 2004. The compromise has been to allow trail hunting where an artificial scent, rather than a live one, is followed. Lots of controversy there.

As far as our habitat goes, we had some electrical work done last week, as we make preparations for the installation of heat pumps, scheduled for the end of this month (fingers crossed it isn't typical U.K.-delayed. C'mon, prove us wrong!).

We heard an emptying-of-water-sound in the ceiling just before the crew arrived (yes, it had rained all night), so have had to investigate further. A roof leak, obviously, so that needs a repair team. In the meanwhile, we've placed an empty tote bin in the rafters to catch the offending water.

Very pleasing has been the installation of infra-red heaters in our bathroom this week. Bliss! Now climbing out of the shower cubicle won't be such a shock. And Dale can program when it's on and off, and what temperature is appropriate, with Wi-Fi smart home automation. That's extra fun for him to dabble with.

Poop Hole

No, I didn't mean to write peep hole. I meant poop hole! This post is about a badger's latrine that Dale found along the public footpath near our house. They dig a hole to poop in, a dung pit, which they don't cover up afterward as a cat might. 

If you look closer you will see how meticulous the nocturnal badger is about toilet habits, keeping its living area clean and sanitary by having a separate designated toilet area. Brilliant.

Forest Garden

Llanfyllin has a forest garden on the floodplain of the River Cain that was started in 2014. It's a food producing garden of perennials that incorporates all levels of plants: trees, shrubs, wildflowers and herbs in an attempt to emulate a bountiful natural woodland. In other words, it's a multilayered foraging garden (forest-gardens)

The fruit and herb produce from this garden are freely available to all residents to harvest. 

We have a wide variety of heritage apple trees grafted by Tom the Apple Man in Welshpool, as well as raspberries, sloe berries (blackthorn or Prunus spinosa), quinces, pears, herbs, and medlars, which are new to me. 

Medlars (Mespilus germanica) look a bit like a cross between a rose hip and and an apple, and apparently need to undergo a process of 'rotting' before becoming edible. They are a rare and ancient fruit, popular in medieval times, and mentioned in some Shakespeare plays.

We came home with quite the bounty!

Now for some baking to warm up the house ...

Nature's Arch

We've seen a lot of rainbows from our house (yes, it's because we have a lot of rain showers followed by sunshine).

The latest arch of light had intense, deep color, was a perfect bow, and was doubled, too!

As you can see, our locust tree's fall cloak is beginning to show