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Moving on to the Land

Been a busy week. Mainly moving a lot of stuff on to the land to clear up space at home. Bees and Chickens are high on the list.

Priority though was the bees. I wanted to get them settled first so I can expand my colonies this year with having more space. So I purchased some concrete slabs and placed them in my selected spot. Moved the hives up two at a time and placed them where I wanted them to go making sure the bees were sealed in tight.

Bee Hives Mar 2016

Bees were out and about two days later and they seem to be fine.

Hive 1 Bees Mar 2016

Next thing I set up was my compost heap.

Compost

Already dumping stuff up there.

Started on building my chicken run. Will finish it over the weekend and start on the next one.

Building Chicken Run

Things are pretty hectic at the moment and taking advantage of the weather. If it isn’t raining I’m fiddling with something.

Somewhere to call a home.

Although not really a home as such but I’ve finally got my land sorted out. I’m now the proud owner of five acres of woodlands in the middle of Cheshire. It’ll be my little home from home.

woods

It may not look like much but I’ve got plans for it. It’s a bit out of the way and not readily visible from the road which is a big plus. I’ve driven past it hundreds of times on my way to Wales and never even noticed it. So it should be off most peoples maps which suits me fine.

I’ve started moving some of the stuff I have in the back garden to here and although I will keep a few things here for convenience most of it will be going.

I’m making plans already. First, I’ll be moving the bees. Nice new home and also splitting the hives to increase the number of hives I have. They won’t disturb anyone up there if they swarm and there will be more for them to forage out in the country. Right next to fields with crops.

Next up is moving the chickens and procuring a rooster. I’ve just ordered a large cage and keeping them in that. Long term plan is to have a few of those cages with different livestock in. Considering ducks and something else, not sure yet but nothing that needs registration. Don’t want the Stasi up there.

I’ll also build up the fruit and veg areas. A few raised beds dotted around the place for the veg and a few open areas for the fruit. Already got a few that I can move up now but want to expand and grow a lot more. Just ordered two big polytunnel cages that were going half price.

Just bought a chainsaw and all the safety gear to remove some of the trees that are clearly going to be in my way. Seems a lot of cash for something I won’t be using all that much but such is life. I may use it more later when I get settled.

In the meantime I’m measuring it all up so I can plan where everything is going. Kids are having great fun running around finding hidey holes and dirt. So far my plan to use them as slaves and lug a few things around is failing miserably.

I’ve even driven down one of the ditches, two days in and stuck in a hole so that I needed towed out. The paths need a bit of work. The land has not been looked after for a long time. I’m now looking for a cheap JCB as part of my plans. Can do a lot with a JCB including not getting stuck in ditches.

I’ll post some pics as it progresses so you can see what is going on. First up, the bees will be getting moved. Found a great spot and putting down some paving slabs now. Weather ain’t too good though which is making the path worse and putting a dent in my plans for spending time there due to the kids but there is no rush.

Progress on the Land Purchase

Surveys have come back and everything was OK although there was a question about access to fresh water which was news to me.

Seems that there is a water source on the piece of land next to mine that a third party has access to. It seems that the solicitors mixed up the documentation and the water source was assumed to be on my bit. A quick phone call to identify where the location was and it was solved but it took too long to modify the forms and although we would have managed to finish in time for this weekend it was not to be so no such luck.

Exchange is taking place next week when we get back from our Easter break.

Building the future from scratch.

Although it isn’t my land yet I went up there over the weekend to have a look around and consider where I wanted to put things.

I took the kids with me as the intent is to let them get involved and I wanted to see what they thought. They loved it with plans to build rabbit hutches and flower beds and they were even picking spots they likes for a wooden den. The eldest even was looking for a spot for a horse which I put her straight on.

While they were looking around I was looking around as well and I found several big chestnut trees with a large amount of opened chestnuts on the floor. Thinking they would be excited like I would have been at their age I shouted them over and pointed them out. What are those? they asked. My flabber was gasted.

When I was a kid chestnuts, or the more common name, conkers were prized and very much sought after. The kids equivalent of gold and worth much more than sweets. Kids even risked life and limb to get hold of good conkers. Yet they had no idea what they were.

I see I have a long way to go before the kids are truly one with nature.

On the plus side I understand the searches are due back next week. The longest wait is nearly over and then we should be into exchanging contracts.