Just wanted to pop in and say hello now that I've joined up !
I live on a redundant (though not for long hopefully) farm in rural Lanarkshire. Me, hubby, 3 kids and a huge german shepherd - we're doing what we can to live sustainably, leaving as little impact on our environment as possible and I'm really into my local wildlife, and looking forward to getting involved in the forum.
We have a varied landscape with open grassland, wooded areas and a huge pond and wet area. My main boasts on the wildlife front at the moment are we have a resident heron, wild mallards with ducklings in the pond and an otter living just at the side of it. We have a huge range of birds from wrens to buzzards (big, proper scottish ones - no offence) and most things in between. I'll just have to brush up on my photography skills before I can share bird photos !
I look forward to hearing from you all.
Karen x
The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
Hello Karen
I joined only yesterday afternoon so am another newbie. Your farm sounds and looks gorgeous. Although you say it is currently redundant, do you have plans to turn it back into a working farm or are you considering other alternatives?
Squirrel
The necessity of bird-watching is a really good reason for avoiding all forms of housework.
The dust will still be there tomorrow - the birds may not be!
Hello Karen,
Welcome your redundant farm sounds like heaven, look forward to hearing more about it.
Meerkat
Hi Squirrel,
I'm working towards getting it up and running as an educational farm. When I was young my dad did farm it, I can remember helping out and oh, the stories I could (and will) share, but with the big downturn in farming he was forced to look at alternatives and converted the steading into a small retirement home. This ran for 20 years, but closed a couple of years ago. We have 130 acres, but most of this is planted with mixed trees - only really got about 3 or 4 acres of useable land. My dream is to have a BIG kitchen garden, rare breed pigs (we had a couple a few years ago and really got the bug!) and chickens to start with and eventually move on to having a farm shop and education centre - selling our produce and teaching people all about rare breeds, country crafts etc.
It's going to take a wee while though, lack of time is a problem as my kids are only 6, 4 and 4 months so take up huge amounts of time ! Lack of cash too is something that gets in the way (doesn't it always?) I'm a VERY impatient person so it drives me mad - but I'm working away at it, albeit slowly, I'll get there eventually.
Karen
Hi Meerkat,
I'm hoping to get out and about with the camera for more piccies and will no doubt bore everyone to tears with stories ! So you might just regret saying that ! LOL!
That sounds very much like a long term undertaking but it should be fantastic when completed. Know what you mean about being impatient - I've always been "I want and I want NOW"... Life doesn't always work out like that, though. But I am sure you will succeed as you seem very committed to the project and know exactly what your end-aim is.
Good luck with it and I look forward to reading about how it progresses.
Welcome, from the Osprey Bloggers! We mostly follow the antics of the birds @ Loch Garten, but the rest of the site is almost as interesting, and I'm sure you'll get lots out of it. Good Luck with all your plans for the farm, which looks beautiful.
Thanks Linda,
I'm still reading on the main site @ the mo - but will be checking out the ospreys VERY soon ! Such beautiful birds.
Hi Karen and Welcome! im a newbie here too but seems like a great friendly place to spend time at!
Your home sounds wonderful and idylic, but also sounds like hard work and alot of committment, good on you!
www.bevbarkerphotos.com
www.k9imageworld.com
Hello Happy Hippy!
I joined last Friday too and loving it here so far!
Your farm looks great & I'm sure you'll be successful in carrying out your plans eventually! Determination & persistence usually pays off!
Look forward to following your progress!
"All weeds are flowers, once you get to know them" (Eeyore)
My photos on Flickr