seven sleepy trees

June 17 2014

I am happy to report
that Flynn has now recovered totally after his compost- raiding episode. He lay
still for a day but in the evening he tried to get up and discovered to his
total joy that his legs were working normally. He was surprised at first but
soon started his normal boisterous bouncing.

There is not much else
joyful around. As we approach the shortest day it grows dark by 5pm,and the days
are dull and wet. It is not really cold but we light a fire to keep the
dampness at bay and light the stove every second day to heat the water. The
goats are giving a significant amount of milk so we are still using the milking
machine once a day. They spend almost all day in the shed eating hay and
waiting for spring.

We are at last putting
up the stockyards but progress is slow due to the unfortunate weather. I have planted
the sugar maples down the main drive. I brought the trees two years ago as tiny
bare rooted seedlings. They have been nursed through two summers in pots but
are now large enough to risk planting. (I just hope I have got the right trees
because all the leaves are off for winter and they might have got confused with
other trees.) They are going to get a big surprise when they wake up in spring.

I have put rabbit
guards round them but they will need lots of care and commitment for several
years before they are established. I have to be prepared to water them in
summer for 3 to 4 years and to guard them from raiding life stock and careless
parkers. Growing to maturity is quite a challenge for trees round here. I doubt
I will be around to see them as mature specimens but there is no point dwelling
on that!