Thursday 5/11/26  On our way to the mill we saw a Kestrel fly into a tree, there were several flying around over the fields today, they are probably the ones that nested in the owl box across the river back in June.

It was fairly cold today so Eddie lit the woodburner in the railway wagon and I brought more logs in. We had cuttings and rotten wood to burn outside, so we had a fire in the incinerator, which was appropriate as it was the 5th of November, bonfire night.

There were three large bags of building lime in the shed for brickwork repairs, but they had all split and lime was coming out over the shed floor, so Eddie brought the Gator over and we loaded the bags in the back, I swept the floor and shovelled the loose lime into a sack, ready for it all to be taken to The Maltings.

This cleared a large space under the workbench in the shed, so we re-arranged things to make the bird food and workmate benches more accessible. I put the harrow and wheelbarrows back so they are easier to get out.

We needed more suet balls for the birds, so I brought two tubs today, we emptied them into our container and filled all the feeders. A blue tit was eating peanuts later and a swan was in the river most of the day. Cosmos are still flowering in the garden.

Our next open days will be in be September 2027, so I made a laminated re-usable sign for our notice board on the Nar Valley Way so walkers can see when the open days will be. The dates will be added nearer the time, when known.

We crossed our bridge with the sign and stapler, I started putting up the new sign but the stapler ran out, so we had to go back to refill it. We also brought loppers to cut a tree and brambles near the bridge, cards to refill the box, a cloth to dry the inside of the card box and a screwdriver to remove old staples, Eddie removed 59 of them from the notice board and gate frame. The swan was still in the river beside us.

We burnt the cuttings and brambles in the incinerator, then came back and took the bags of lime to The Maltings. I cut Beryl’s lawns again, it was getting dark by the time I finished, I needed the headlights on the mower to cut a dark area under some trees.

Graham Bartlett

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