Ash die back – Minister’s response

having read about the spread of Ash Die Back disease, I was anxious to find out what our government is doing to prevent its spread here in Northern Ireland, and so I wrote to the department of the environment. To my surprise, I received a reply that does seem to...

Cottage of the week

Another cottage and I’m still within walking distance of home. This one is a lavish two bedroom affair, with integral cow shed, and original shutters still on the windows. It looks down over a sloping meadow to the back. given that its on a road (albeit a small...

Any old iron

One of the more endearing traditions on old country farms is the liberal application of scrap metal to hedgerows and woodlands, and ours is no exception. Everything from piles of tin baths to the old cast iron wash tub – and a vast amount of one of the most evil...

A new toy

As a result of some lucky trading, we were able to pass on the truly massive stove that came our way, but which was way too big for the room, and get ourselves a shiny new Stanley stove for the living room. The gas bottle stove has gone back into the truck where it...

Autumn sunshine

Evacuated tube solar collector Someone told me last week that they wouldn’t have solar water heating because ‘It doesn’t work in Northern Ireland’. Funny that, I said, because every time the sun comes out it heats our water to 40 degrees, at...

Pass it on

Something that many of the readers of this blog, and of the blogs that I follow have in common is that we are to some degree, trying to derive a living from the land – usually fairly small bits of it too. Agriculture has grown from humble roots to the massive...

Today’s property offering

This is today’s offering, and one that tempts me to become the founder member of ‘Occupy Ballyroney’. It’s an empty four(ish) bedroom farmhouse, that also used to double as the village shop. It’s been empty for some years now, and someone...
Another empty cottage

Another empty cottage

The countryside around us is full of empty cottages and farmsteads, some of which have had modern bungalows built next to them, but many of which (like this one), simply lie empty. This one  is up beyond us, totally hidden from view in the fields, and has no...

Days like this are worth waiting for

We may have had the wettest winter for 100 years but days like this are worth waiting for. Perfectly frosty and clear, no noise except for the hens helping me to muck out the stables, and the smell of woodsmoke. It doesn’t get a lot better than that. Suddenly...

Want to join in?

If you fancy rolling up your sleeves and coming to be part of a new smallholding, then we want to hear from you. We’re going to register as Wwoof hosts, but if anyone wants to come and spend time under the usual Wwoof agreement, ie – we house and feed you...

Falling off the woody wagon

I feel like a smoker who is trying to give up and who has fallen off the wagon.  Although our range isn’t really suited to wood, and is 50+ years old, a few alterations and it has burned pretty well, with one slight snag – the quantities that it consumes....