Thursday 24/10/24  We saw a Great White Egret flying at The Maltings, then it flew up from the fishing lake as we went past. At the mill, the water feed pipe used to turn the water wheel had fallen down in front of the wheel, which had turned half a revolution.

The wheel and pipe were locked together to prevent the wheel turning, there must have been a lot of weight on the water wheel to make it turn and pull the pipe out, we don't know what caused it. We chocked the wheel with pieces of wood to prevent it turning again. We'll put the pipe back when its ready to be welded in place.

Eddie broke up some wooden carpet grippers to use for kindling. We walked around the site and saw that two of the new Oak trees are growing well in the wildflower meadow but one is not, so Eddie will get advice about how to bring it back to life. There were lots of toadstools growing in the meadow. We were unsure whether to cut down Teasels in the Cornfield flower area, but Eddie shook one and seeds came out, so we’ll leave them for Goldfinches to eat the seeds. 

We filled all the bird feeders and while eating lunch outside we saw a Great Tit and Blue Tit eating peanuts again. We noticed there were lots of cobwebs in the Great Tit nest box when viewed on the nest camera screen, so I got the ladder and cleaned them out, which will give a better view when they start using the nest box again. 

While I was up the ladder I saw the Swan family fly along the river and land beside the mill, they swam up the weir beside the water wheel. Another Swan was on the entrance track near the mill, Eddie and I got very close and it just carried on preening itself, it hissed when we got too close, so we retreated.

Now is the time to protect our outdoor furniture before winter, so Eddie rubbed down part of the bench seat and I painted it with water based wood treatment from our Green Grant, we’ll see what it looks like next week and if successful we’ll treat the whole bench and the other outdoor furniture.

Saturday 26/10/24  Eddie and I did some community work by clearing Narborough Church yard of nettles and brambles and cutting overhanging branches, we also cut back Ivy and nettles on the footpath beside the Church. We planned to repaint the bench seats again but they were too wet, so we’ll paint them in Spring or Summer.

Thursday 31/10/24  We got another puncture on the Gator truck on the way to the mill, so I transferred the wood I brought today back into my Jeep and went to the mill in it, Eddie followed on the mower.

Eddie put the wood away in the new wood store which used to be the greenhouse. We looked at the bench seat we started to treat last week, it didn’t look any different to the untreated part and we’ve left it a bit late as we need warm dry weather for the treatment to take.

Eddie cut the grass on the large lawn and around the wagon and I used Barry’s mower to cut the edges by the river bank, but it kept cutting out. Eddie cleaned the air filter and put fuel additive in the tank which cured the problem, but when he was using it the starter cord broke and recoiled into the mower. He tried to repair it but couldn’t get the cover off, so we’ll repair it another time. I strimmed around the edges and features.

I cut half of the slope in the wildflower meadow very short so we could re-seed it, ideally seeds are sown into bare soil, so cutting grass short is the next best thing. I raked the cuttings off, mixed the wildflower seeds thoroughly and spread them by hand. Eddie hooked up the roller to the mower and I rolled the seed in. We will spread seed on the other half of the slope in spring as this should give Marigolds a better chance, as they didn’t flower last season.

Eddie filled up the bird food and while eating lunch at our outside table again we saw a Robin on one of the bench seats and a Coal Tit, Blue Tit and Great Tit eating from the feeders. A pair of Swans flew over the mill several times.

I cut the rest of the wildflower meadow on the high setting as it needs cutting through winter to keep grasses and weeds under control. When we got back to The Maltings Eddie saw a Heron fly up and land on the river bank.

There is a comprehensive article about the bone mill in the November issue of KL Magazine, keep an eye out for the free magazine in shops around Kings Lynn and Swaffham, they should be available in the next few days. You can also read the article on the magazine website, its on page 112. I have also added it to our website.

Graham Bartlett  

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