Candlemas Day – 2nd February
If Candlemas Day be fair and bright,
Winter will have another flight,
If Candlemas Day be clouds and rain,
Winter has gone, and will not come again.
Category Archives: Blog
Imbolc – 1st February
1st February – Imbolc
Imbolc is a Gaelic festival marking the promise of spring. It is a celebration of the lengthening days and occurs halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. It corresponds to the Welsh ‘Mary’s Festival of the Candles’ and the Christian feast days of Saint Brigid and Candlemas.
The word Imbolc probably comes from the Old Irish Imbolc meaning ‘in the belly’ which refers to the pregnancy of ewes – as at this time of year we see new born lambs along with snowdrops and early spring bulbs.
Purification was an important part of Imbolc – with spring cleaning – and lighting of candles and fires – representing the return of warmth and the increasing power of the sun. People would visit holy wells and ask for good health whilst walking in a deosil (Gaelic sun-wise) direction around the well.
January 25th is Burns Night
25th January – Burns Night
Have you ever attended a Burns supper?
Robert Burns wrote the poem ‘Address to a Haggis’ which is what linked Burns and the haggis together forever – and Robert Burns became celebrated as the national poet of Scotland.
Burns suppers typically include haggis, Scotch whisky and the recitation of Burns poetry. They generally begin with the Selkirk Grace – so called because Burns was said to have delivered it at a dinner given by the Earl of Selkirk:
Some hae meat an canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
And sae the Lord be thankit.
After soup, everyone stands as the haggis is piped in, then comes the recital of Burns’ poem ‘the Address to a Haggis’. After a whisky toast to the haggis, the meal is served with tatties (potatoes) and neeps (swedes), followed by more toasts, speeches, songs and dancing, and concluding with Auld Lang Syne.
So why don’t we have a Shakespeare supper – to celebrate our great English poet?
Perhaps we should celebrate all our British poets along with Robert Burns on Burns Night. Drink a toast to them and eat tatties and neeps with our meat. Recite our favourite poems – and share the beauty of their words with our feast.
Squirrels in Barbara’s Back Yard
Squirrels can be a real nuisance – and they have wrecked some of my bird feeders. When we had a dog she used to chase them off. When she died, the cat took over responsibility and kept them away from the bird table. Now we are dog-less and cat-less (very sad walking down the pet food aisle in the supermarket – I try to avoid going down that aisle if I can!). So the squirrels are back. My sister bought me a little dish for Christmas – and we had some chestnuts left over from bonfire night – so I thought I would try putting out some nuts for the squirrels in the hope that they would leave my bird feeders alone!
It seems to be working – the squirrel comes to the chestnuts first – he sits and eats one, then runs off and hides one, then eats one, then buries one. And, so far, he’s left the bird feeders alone.
Today though he’s decided to bury the nuts in my rock garden – digging up the pansies in the process – so tomorrow I’ll put out a few less nuts and maybe he won’t bury so many….?
New Zealand White Rabbits – Lunar and Dandelion’s first litter
Lunar and Dandelion’s First Litter – pure New Zealand White rabbits
Lunar gave birth on 29th December – so her babies are now just 3 weeks old. I think there are nine of them but I haven’t counted them yet – it’s best not to disturb them too much when they are tiny – and mum always pops her head round to keep an eye on them!
When they are born I check as best I can that there are no dead babies – they are normally left away from the others so it’s easy to remove them. Thankfully I rarely get babies born dead – but sometimes if it’s a big litter the tiniest might not survive.
I check them once or twice a day to make sure none have got separted – if they have I gently push them back to the others so they don’t get cold.
At ten days old their eyes open and at 3 weeks they start hopping around their pen – they are so cute – this is the best part of breeding rabbits – I can watch them for ages.
And these are all pure New Zealand Whites – no black noses and toes this time!
The Story of Keri and Lily – New Zealand White Rabbits
New Zealand White Rabbits – The Story of Keri and Lily
Last Spring I was contact by a lady via Facebook who had bought two rabbits at an auction and thought one of them might be pregnant. I explained that when does reach maturity (around 6 months old) if they haven’t mated they may still think they are pregnant and make a nest – they pick up hay in their mouths and carry it to their chosen site – and sometimes they will even go as far as pulling out their fur to line the nest.
I explained that there was nothing she needed to do except ensure the doe was making her nest in a safe place – sheltered from the weather. Both does had the run of her fairly small garden with a choice of several boxes to shelter in.
Does are generally very capable mothers and will just get on with it, have all their babies at one time, in one place and feed them until they are old enough to feed themselves.
So back to the story of Keri and Lily: Shortly afterwards, the lady came back to me and asked if I knew anyone who wanted to buy her two rabbits. I had lost both my does – I had been keeping them in runs outside in the summer – during the day – and something took both of them at different times – despite the fact that I was outside with them most of the time they were out. I was devastated – and couldn’t find any NZWhites to replace them – so straight away I said I would have them. She lived Devon way but we were visiting my sister who lives in Cornwall – so we arranged to collect them on the way back.
It was a boiling hot day – and we anticipated arriving around lunchtime – so I texted to ask if she had managed to catch both the does – she hadn’t! So when we arrived both does were happily running around the garden – and were both quite grubby. I ended up chasing them around the garden until I figured out a way to trap them. Eventually we got them both into cat baskets and headed for home.
Both does settled in well but one of them had ear mites – so I had to treat both of them. I mated Keri and she gave birth to 12 babies – although one of them died. Dandelion (my buck) is 4 years old so he’s doing really well siring such a big litter. It wasn’t until the babies were around three weeks old that I noticed some of them were getting black noses – and soon they had black ears, tails and toes – obviously Keri had some Californian blood in her. I then noticed that she did have slightly grey ears – but of course I hadn’t noticed that when she was running around the garden all dusty!
By this time, I had mated Lily and she had a litter of 3 kits. And I had mated Keri again because pure NZWhites are always in high demand – I’ve never had a problem selling them. But I did now have a problem with selling rabbits that were not pure breeds – which is why I have so many rabbits available. For breeding for meat these rabbits should be excellent, despite not being pure – they have enough NZW blood in them – and both breeds are large rabbits – and they are cheaper at £15 each than buying a pure breed.
Happily I have found new homes for both Keri and Lily but still have their babies to sell.
I have also found a pure NZWhite doe – Lunar – and she has just had a litter – so I will also have some pure NZWhites available around the middle of March.
New Year in Barbara’s Back Yard
New Year in Barbara’s Back Yard
Last October, I made a wreath for Hallowe’en with crab apples and hawthorn berries and autumn leaves. When I replaced it with a Yule wreath at the beginning of December, I hung my Hallowe’en wreath near the bird table. I have just refreshed it, replacing the leaves with ivy and adding some of the holly from the Yule wreaths.
I hang the Yule wreaths up in the barn – keeping them to use next year.
Last year when I came to make new wreaths – when I took them down – I found two of them had nests in them.
If you haven’t done it already – it’s time to clear out nestboxes ready for Spring.
January is a good time to take hardwood cuttings from roses and shrubs: Cut a piece of twig from the previous year’s growth – as thick as a pencil and about six inches long. You need a straight cut at the bottom just below a node and the top should have a diagonal cut just above a node. Place each cutting in the centre of a homemade newspaper pot containing a heavily-gritted soil mix. You can cram several individual wrapped cuttings into one plant pot. By late spring unroll to see if root hairs have developed – if not leave them a while longer. Once roots have grown you can plant them out. (courtesy of Country Wisdom & Folklore diary)
It was believed to be beneficial to propogate cuttings at the time of the waning moon, as the earth is said to inhale – and the sap is encouraged to travel towards the roots. Could this be something to do with the pull/push of the moon on the earth – the same force that causes the tides…?
Sage, honey and lemon tea is good for coughs and colds. Dissolve 1 tblsp honey in half a pint of boiling water with the juice of 1 lemon. Add 2 tblsp of fresh sage – or one of dried – leave to infuse for minutes, strain and reheat.
Squirrels can be a real nuisance – I don’t mind them eating some of the bird food – but they seem to have to wreck all the feeders in the process. I have started putting some nuts out on the ground for the squirrels and so far this seems to be working. There were some sweet chestnuts left over from Bonfire Night and I’ve put those out for them. It’s quite fun watching them – they pick up a nut and eat it, then they run off with the next nut and bury it, then eat a nut, then bury a nut.
So next time we go to Grinshill, we’ll collect some more chestnuts for them.
Why do we have churches In Shropshire called St. Alkmund?
St. Alkmund’s Church in Whitchurch
St. Alkmund was a prince of the Christian Kingdom of Northumbria, – so why do we have churches in Shropshire named after him? In 889, Aethelfleda, governed Mercia (which was a massive area across the whole of central England). She was a very powerful woman and was known as the ‘Lady of the Mercians’. She believed that St. Alkmund was her ancestor, and she named the churches built at that time after him – at Aymestrey, Shrewsbury and Whitchurch – which were most likely all fortified towns on the route through Mercia from Gloucester to Chester – so the churches would therefore have had some protection from marauding Danes.
I always feel very fortunate to have been born in Britain – where women have mostly been respected and we have had some great female leaders – like Aethelfleda – and Boadicea, who was queen of the Iceni and led her people into battle against the Romans.
Today’s Treasure – Croft Ambrey Hillfort
TODAY’S TREASURE: CROFT AMBREY HILLFORT
Croft Ambrey, comprises a hillfort, a Romano-Celtic temple and a medieval warren; it was excavated between 1960 and 1966 and found to have been in use from the 6th century BC up to AD 48 by a population of 500-900 people. Finds included weapons, bone and antler artifacts, hammer stones and Iron Age pottery.
As well as the rampart banks and ditches there is a series of mounds which are the remains of a medieval rabbit warren constructed for the breeding and management of rabbits or hares which provided fresh meat and skins.
The Romano-Celtic temple was built over two phases and excavation found the remains of fire pits and stake holes. Its purpose was to house treasures to revere the gods and serve the spiritual needs of the community. Communal gatherings took place outside.
From the top there are extensive views over the Herefordshire countryside and it’s easy to see why it was an excellent place for a settlement. There are many ancient trees – oak, beech and yew – that could tell amazing stories of the ancient communities that lived there.
Standing under these primeval branches it’s easy to imagine Druidic priests collecting magical mistletoe with a golden sickle, catching it before it touched the tainted earth ready to use in spiritual rituals.
These hillfort trees could have watched prehistoric communities gathering around fires, wearing animal skins, heating food in cooking pots, gathering bracken for bedding and blackberries and hazelnuts for food – and defending the ramparts from invading Romans with bows and arrows.
Many generations of animals and birds have nested in their branches and hollows and their decaying boughs still provide a haven for invertebrates and reptiles – including common lizards and slow worms.
It is thought that Aymestrey (at the foot of the hill) was once a fortified town, along with Shrewsbury and Whitchurch – along the route through Mercia from Gloucester to Chester. In 889, Aethelfleda governed Mercia (which was then a massive area across the whole of central England) and St. Alkmund was a prince of the Christian Kingdom of Northumbria. Aethelfleda was a very powerful woman and was known as the ‘Lady of the Mercians’. She built churches in fortified towns so they would have some protection from marauding Danes and, as she believed that St. Aklmund was her ancester, she named the churches after him.
The Croft family still live at Croft Castle but the estate is managed by the National Trust.
This article is published in the January 2019 edition of the Whitchurch Gossip.
Just Another Day in Barbara’s Back Yard
Just Another Day in Barbara’s Back Yard
I was standing at the kitchen sink this morning (as I very often do!) and a sparrowhawk landed on the little table in front of the kitchen window. Amazing, it was so close. Usually you struggle to identify birds of prey circling high in the sky above you but this was so easy to identify – it was so close. Even though I stood perfectly still, I must have blinked because he was off in a flash – but the picture in my mind remains.
Daisy laid her very first egg this morning. Dorking eggs are pale – not brown – and this is probably one of the reasons that Dorkings are now a rare breed. Although the nutritional content of white and brown eggs is exactly the same – the perception is different – and consequently supermarkets only seem to sell brown eggs now.
Once Dillon learned to crow, he quickly realised he could do other things too – much to Doris’s consternation (she had obviously forgotten about Dillon the First). The Spice Girls seemed to accept it as par for the course. I can never quite figure out whether hens like to be jumped on – the ducks however do seem to enjoy it. When we first had ducks (and geese) I was told we would need a pond if we wanted fertile eggs, so we spent ages digging out a pond deep enough for the geese to swim in. The ducks and geese did love the pond – but they managed equally well on dry land.
Before I started this blog, I used to let the hens out then rush off to start work. Now I am writing a blog, I sit and watch them for a while each morning and it’s amazing how much more you notice. Doris (the oldest hen)) always comes to stand by my feet, waiting for some sunflower seeds. The Spice Girls are quite adventurous now – and less timid that the other hens. I use black plastic sheets on the vegetable patch to supress weeds – slimy creatures love to hide under it – so every so often I spread it out for the hens and ducks – the spice Girls are always the first on there picking off slugs and snails.
Doris
Dillon (cockerel) and Desmond (drake) have had a few scraps but they seem to have come to a sort of truce and, provided they keep out of each other’s way, everything’s fine. I have learned that you do need at least 2 ducks with a drake, especially if you are keeping ducks and hens together – the previous drake insisted on mating with one of the hens and I had to separate them. (Several reasons I won’t go into here – their anatomy is different and therefore damaging to the hen.)
