Happy New Year!

Oh, my goodness, what happened to December?!  I know, it's getting to be a bit of a habit starting each entry with 'where did the time fly to', but I honestly don't know where December went.  Stupidly busy at work as you can imagine with the amount of food and stuff people think is essential to buy for Christmas - I don't think anyone in Oswestry will have starved!  Ben was busy, busy, busy too trying to find space in the warehouse for the huge deliveries.  All that has, thankfully, calmed down now and things are at last getting back to normal and the Easter stuff is on the shelves in good time so we don't need to panic about that which is, of course, a relief (you know I think I'm just too cynical for this game!).

We had a good Christmas - quiet and quick.  I actually did quite well for time off with the way my normal days work and had a three-day weekend just before, three days over Christmas itself and then four days over New Year, so I can't really complain.  We did our usual family tour the weekend before which was good if a little rushed.  Laura came for a few days over Christmas before travelling around seeing family and friends and then calling in overnight on her way back to Scotland yesterday.  As I said, Ben was busy with lots of hours at M&S, but finishes there on Saturday.  Best news though is that he has a job starting at the end of February working for the company who did our bat survey when we first moved here.  Ben had met the chap at a volunteering day a few weeks ago and then on Christmas Eve he knocked on the door completely out of the blue to ask if Ben wanted some work as his assistant doing bat/newt surveys - fantastic.  I think Ben was beginning to think he'd have to find any old job for money and do lots of volunteering to gain experience.  Now he'll be able to kill two birds with one stone (oops, probably not a good choice of phrase given the job we're talking about).

Our main project at the moment is hedge-laying.  We've started on the neighbour's hedge which was part of the deal for having a bit of their field.  It's going quite well I think and we're getting better at it.  We have done several sessions and got about 20m done which is about a third of the total.  It's quite good fun, but you certainly know you've done it after with aching shoulders and arms.  There are some gaps of course, but once this is done we need to plant a hedge across the field and so we'll get extra plants and put them in the gaps protected by some of the brushwood and, come the Spring, you won't recognise it.

Spot Bob!
There are some fairly large trees in this hedge, some of which are
staying and some not.  As there's a telephone wire across the path
we have to be a bit careful and this is Bob climbing up to lop off some
branches to make it easier to fell.

So, now our 'carpark' bit looks exposed and open, the far end of the field is opening up and over the last two days the bit right next to our house has undergone a transformation!  The land the other side of the bridleway is still owned by the quarry although it is no longer worked.  There is a wooded slope which opens onto a flat piece which is covered in wild flowers in the Spring including lots of orchids.  In the last year or so the small saplings have started to take over and it's not as pretty as it used to be - that's what happens when land is just left to its own devices.  

Sorry, this is a bit dark, but it was getting a bit late in the day.

A good way to maintain the limestone grassland is to graze sheep on the land for part of the year and grants are available to do that.  So the quarry are going to fence part of it so a local farmer can bring his sheep there for a few weeks every now and then.  Before the fence can be put up though some of the trees need felling and space needs clearing and so for the last couple of days a couple of men have been here with their chainsaw and digger and have made a huge difference.  We knew about this a couple of months ago as the quarry manager told us what they were planning.  I must admit when I saw them with their digger I was a bit worried and then when Bob told me on the way home from work today that they had cleared loads of trees I was dreading it, but it actually looks tonnes better.  We have a view down the valley from that corner now and it will be much lighter.  It will be quite nice to have sheep there now and then.  Bob has been chatting to the blokes doing the work (and making them coffee of course) and they are quite happy for us to help ourselves to any wood we want - they even left a pile cut up right next to the fence for us!  So, all in all, our world's opening up!