What did I see the other night as I returned home from the office? A farmer, three vehicles and the return of the cows! Can you spot them there in the field down the track to the house? Yippee!
Now, as an ex-farmers wife - I guess maybe its a bit daft getting so excited by the return of the cows, but I love living next door to a herd of cows. I miss farming and when the cows arrive I'm in giddy heaven. They are just so lovely! And, best of all - I can spy them out of my living room window over the tomatoes and the indoor flock of birds.........and don't look at the shonky fence I put in a while back, its still a bit wibbly. But it does the job and the 'garden' is now (mostly) a chicken free zone. They can explore in other areas so if they start moaning about being excluded don't listen to them!
Can you see the willow hedge coming along there (in between the washing line, windows and cows?). Unfortunately these are not aesthetically framed pictures - more a running snapshot of cows rampaging around this morning! I'm just so happy to see them I don't mind my photos being a bit daft. The tomato in question there is Marmande - a good one for sauce. The hedge is one year and two months old - going quite well, over 5ft already - all from hard wood cuttings. Perfect - soon it will help with the shelter. Thankfully my living room is upstairs, so it won't ever spoil our view! Therefore I'll still see the cows!
More cows and more tomatoes - these are tumbling tom - already flowering - and doing well - about 1 1/2 ft (45 cm). Not too shoddy for a windowsill in the frozen north in late May. Well I don't think so! I've two window boxes of these planted - I hope they do well - they are cerainly flowering well!
More hedge and a veiw of the neighbours and a dead hebe in the midst of the willow hedge. I've got to think what I'll put in that space. Always with the bad, a bit of good. A new planting to be found!
There we go - cows home in the field for the next six months - hedge up and going, tomatoes now have a view of Hoy and a herd of cows - how much more stimulation can they get to grow!
Love your view of the cows! We get to see ours out the kitchen and bedroom windows lol
ReplyDeleteI love the photos, they actually transmit the excitement you feel.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm dead hebe - I have one of those.
what a magical view you have! i can appreciate your excitement about the cows ... i quite enjoy views of sheep myself although there are definitely no sheep in my neighbourhood ... sad to say. i laughed when you talked about your chicken free zone ... glad you got those chickens sorted.
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ReplyDeleteGlad you all like photos and view - it is nice and being upstairs, with 13 windows we can view it all way around?
JTs - farmed on west coast (colonsay) for ages - I'm not a huge fan of sheep close up - we had over 500 of them - working in a shed on a sunny day with lots of them - bit pongy. But, they are cute at a distance!
I'm far from on top of the chicken siutation - but we're getting there - sometimes they stay in their summer house - then I let them out for a wander for a good couple hours at night - then they go back into bed - but I know they are upto something!!!
Cheri thank you! Its been a hard winter for hebes - I can't beleive I've killed (indirectly) the only living thing in this garden when I arrived!! x
Dreamer - downstairs in this house is very dark and no views to anywhere really (unless from the sunny room) glad you see cows from your house too.
I enjoyed seeing your view! Despite my Dutch - apparently, dairy farming roots, I'm not much for cows, however, I do remember working in the fields, picking peas, as a youth and making friends with the farmers cow. We spoke often when I worked her way. :) Jenni
ReplyDeleteThe hedge is coming on amazingly well, bulking up really nicely.
ReplyDeleteYou are very lucky to have such a wonderful view. I love all things farm and wish that I had such a view from my living room.
ReplyDeleteWoo hoo yay! What a great view! Are you growing your tumbling toms inside...?
ReplyDeleteAnne thank you! Its a willow hedge from 20cm hard wood cuttings last year - like the blog I did about planting a hedge this year! Even I'm impressed - it would be larger if we lived in a less exposed place.
ReplyDeleteMrs Bok - People grow tomatoes outside? I'm joking, I know elsewhere they can, unfortunately up here we can't grow crops like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, sweetcorn, basil, runner beans, etc even courgettes and squash outdoors here are a bit dodgy here due to the wind - so without a greenhouse they are being grown on my living room windowsill. Otherwise they'd be very dead from the wind!
FBKW - thank you - I know I'm lucky even if I moan on about the wind - my lovely hens say Hi to you. I'm a bit quiet in blog land lately as I'm finishing up my study! Next month I hope to catch up with everyone properly. Nice to see you. x
ReplyDeleteJenni - cows are very good to talk too! I talk to these regularily when mowing the grass they find the noise of the mower interesting. I think secretly they are thinking - why on earth aren't you just eating that grass...............
ReplyDeleteIt's always good to see the cows (Coos - Swedish is full of immediately recognisable words for a Scot, or Orcadian - hus, mus, etc. The old Viking legacy in Scotland, for sure) back on the fields after their indoor winter captivity. They play and frolic so, at first - so I'm sure they, too, are happy to be out again. In Sweden, our neighbours had to keep their milking herd in for over six months of the year cos of the snow and ice, low temps and the simple fact that even when the weather was good enough (about now) to let them out, there was no grass as the snow cover was only just clearing. So the coos had to be kept in for a bit longer while some regeneration occurred on the land! Must be so frustrating for them all!
ReplyDeleteHurrah for the Return of the Cows! Now you just have to catch them standing on two legs... I planted my Marmande toms out yesterday, thinking of you. They - and the two Ferline and two Olivade - are the only "prima donna" toms I am growing outside, the rest "can be grown as a cordon but tend to crop better as a bush". Now that's my kind of tomato...
ReplyDeleteI love seeing the coos come back too! It feels like summer is here again.... except for the bl**dy weather!! You can almost see my house in those pictures!! I'll have to work out the trajectory for my wave to you...... great blog.... you write so well!
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