Thursday 3/4/25  We often see a Kingfisher flying along the river just above the water on our way to the mill, its been near the fishing shelter for the last few weeks, when we disturb it we see it fly off down river. Its always too quick for me to get a photo.

When we used the seed spreader recently, seed was seeping through when the feed was turned off, so today we took it to the mill and adjusted the control cable, then tested it with silver sand, which has fixed the problem. Unfortunately while loading the spreader into the Gator truck to take it back to the maltings, the plastic control lever snapped off, so Eddie made an aluminium replacement which we need to fix to the control mechanism with Araldite which Eddie will bring next time.

The weather was warm, dry and sunny so we sat outside with a cup of coffee and saw Pied and Grey wagtails on our walkway and in the river. We noticed Anemones and other plants on the river bank are flowering well and Daffodils are still in bloom. A Cygnet was in the river at the bottom of the bank.

We thought we had fixed the shed door but it had dropped again and was hard to open so Eddie levered the outer edge up and I refitted the top hinge post screws. We fitted wood strips on the door frame to make it more secure.

We haven’t had any rain recently so we filled buckets of water and a watering can and took them to the newly seeded areas of the meadow and watered them, we also watered the Oak saplings there. We checked our bridge repairs from last week, the sealant I used to fix the lifting floor has worked.

We filled the bird feeders and emptied the mouldy Nyger seed out, Finches don’t eat Nyger in winter as there's plenty of Thistle and Teasel seeds for them, but they will start eating Nyger soon so I took the feeder apart, cleaned it and refilled it with fresh seed.

We checked the oil and topped up the radiator in the Gator. We will have the water wheel turning at our open days but I chocked the wheel when the feed pipe fell down with a piece of wood which then got stuck under the weight of the wheel, so today I got the ladder and managed to lever the wheel up and pull the wood out, as the wheel is now locked with a padlock and chain.

Emma walked down to join us in the afternoon and we discussed changes to the bird hide project and the open days where there'll be VE & VJ Day anniversary posters, pictures celebrating 10 years working at the mill and information about mill workers.

Monday 7/4/25  The Annual Parish Meeting was held at the Community Centre. Village organisations are invited to send a report of their years activity which is read out at the public meeting and eventually published in the minutes. We submitted a report for the bone mill based on the December end of year report.

Thursday 10/4/25 I brought a sack of peanuts and Emma gave us a sack of bird seed which we took to the mill along with more Bistort plants which I brought and a selection of biscuits which Beryl gave us.

I switched on the nest box cameras and saw that Jackdaws have put nesting materials in the Barn Owl box and a Great Tit appeared at the hole of the small bird box, we saw it on the outside of the box.

Anne Marie joined us for the first time this year and has given us lots of things including oil, wood treatment, Polyfilla, paint and several other things which will all be useful. I sorted out everything and put it on the shelves in the shed. The light switch in the shed was broken so I found the spare switches and replaced the broken cover.

Anne Marie planted the Montbretia and Bistort that Eddie and I brought on top of the river bank and put in Geraniums and Iris which she brought today around the trees, then watered all the gardens. Tulips and Lupins are coming up in the garden next to the wall. A Cygnet was in the river at the bottom of the bank again.

Eddie packed out the shed padlock hasp with a wooden spacer he made, it now fits better after we adjusted the door hinges last week. Eddie brought Araldite today and glued the new lever he made last week to the flow control of the seed spreader, this has worked well so we put it back together.

We haven’t cut the grass this year, so Eddie got Barry’s mower going and cut the grass between the wagon and the river as well as in front of the buildings. We need plenty of display boards for the open days so I took the old board from the last open days outside and took off the laminates so it can be re-used.

Eddie sorted out the new bird food and filled all the feeders and I topped up their water. While sitting outside for lunch we saw a Goldfinch in the Cherry tree, a Muntjac in the field opposite, a Little Egret flew up from the river and a Blue Tit was eating peanuts.

Eddie and I watered the new areas on the wildflower meadow again as they were very dry, seedlings are now coming up there, we also watered the Oak saplings again. Canes were loose and coming out of the insect hotel we made, so I cut more thin canes and added them which holds them all tightly in place. We had a last cup of tea outside and saw a Pied Wagtail on the trench wall before coming back.

Graham Bartlett  

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