After all the worrying about family travelling up to Skye for Christmas, my dad, Andy and Mary finally arrived safely by Christmas Eve. Consequently my heart finally re-located itself in my chest, after spending a much of its time in my throat over the past few days! Temperatures have remained below freezing for days now, but the scenery is stunning and we’ve certainly had a white Christmas to remember!
Andy, Mary and Kevin in the glen
Because of the continuous sub-zero conditions, the gradual build up of crystalline ice formations in the surrounding landscape has been spectacular. It’s as though the whole glen is bursting into flower with millions of
I remember years ago when the boys were small, one of the big worries coming up to Christmas was whether their immune systems would fight off all of the inevitable vicious viruses which seemed to target all primary schools at this time of year! I always breathed a sigh of relief if we got to the end of term in a healthy condition, with limited prospects of anyone spending the big day feeling rotten! Here on Skye however, the weather is the worry, when like this year, we have family coming to stay. My dad was supposed to arrive yesterday, but after a forecast of blizzards and gales, we persuaded him to postpone his journey north. All being well, conditions will improve by Tuesday and Wednesday when both he and the newest Mr. and Mrs. Delaney are planning to travel to Garybuie.
Perch with a view
One good thing about the snow however, is the stunning scenery in the glen. Puff the Muscovy is still enjoying putting her newly grown flight feathers to the test, and the handrail on the wee bridge is her latest viewing perch. And what a view! Although Huff has surprised us by taking flight recently, maybe he thinks that the handrail requires more of a precise landing technique than he can accomplish, being such a big lad! Much to the surprise of Puff however, was the very precise landing technique of another Garybuie resident…
Surprise companion!
Despite the weather,
New duck dwelling
Kevin managed to complete the up-graded duck house at the weekend. Armed with his new angle-grinding toy, (an exciting moment I can tell you!), he removed some of the corrugated roofing from ’Piggy Palace’ in the adjacent field and re-used it on the new ducky dwelling. And very smart it looks too! It’s certainly been a very useful shelter over the last few years, starting out as a pig house, evolving into a seasonal chicken coop and finally home to the ARs. We introduced the ducks to their new home yesterday evening which confused them considerably, but hopefully they’ll soon learn where to return to. It’s certainly the most luxurious home they’ve had – and the easiest to clean!
The ARS can be forgiven for looking a bit bewildered, as a couple of days ago they found themselves involuntarily confined to the paddling pool! MacRae and the Cherry Bs have finally discovered the gap under the fence leading to a wider world, immediately declaring the drainage ditch a strictly ‘no mixed bathing’ facility it would seem!
Ditch discovery
Since then however, MacRae and his girls spend most of their time dabbling in the field and being fairly civilized about sharing all bathing facilities – most of the time! They’ve also been exceptionally good at learning the location of their new temporary home and are probably the easiest of our garden inhabitants to usher indoors of an evening.
On the subject of evening behaviour, I forgot to mention at an earlier date the bedtime routine of one of the Wick Chicks. After all three had successfully accepted Snowball’s coop as their home, one of the birds has decided that it’s not for her and prefers the bench in the utility room! So now, every evening we have to pick her off the bench and put her into the coop! Maybe she just likes a cuddle as we’re always rewarded by a lovely, crooning chicken song when we pick her up! In poultry books, birds are generally classed as either show, or utility breeds. Kevin reckons that our Wick Chick is just confirming that she’s well aware of her identity and obviously, a utility breed needs a utility room! There’s no denying the logic!
Going back to ducky events, we had a pretty major one this week. Huff took to the air!!! I think that maybe he was just as surprised as we were! Kevin came in to say that he could have sworn that he saw Biggles and Huff flying down the adjacent field towards the phone box. We both went out to look for them and managed to find Biggles back in tha garden, but no Huff. After searching for ten minutes, suddenly a familiar head popped up next to the fence in the field on the opposite side of the road. He had a look about him which suggested that he wasn’t quite sure how to accomplish his flying feat a second time, so Kevin climbed over the fence with a rescue in mind. Kevin’s purposeful approach was obviously just the right kind of encouragement, as the daring drake performed an almost vertical take-off over the fence, across the road, over the garden and into the field! It was quite a sight – and sound for that matter. We’ve not seen him do it since, but maybe he’s seen me lurking with my camera and is shy! Interestingly, any literature we have on Muscovies says that only females and juveniles fly, as the males are too heavy! Don’t you just love to prove a theory wrong!
Perfect perch
One duck who isn’t shy however is Puff, as yesterday she followed Biggles’ example and flew onto the roof of the wee building outside the kitchen window. Presumably Biggles must have told her that it’s a good spot for observing human behaviour! We clipped her wings when she first arrived after a worrying aeronautical display when we thought we might lose her before we got to know her. However, she’s had a moult recently and obviously her flight feathers have re-grown. It’s a joy to watch her cautiously re-discovering her powers of flight. Hopefully she’ll manage to have a few aerial adventures before any springtime broodiness sets in.
Actually, it’s great to watch all three Muscovies and their antics as they are such characters! As I’ve said previously, Huff is a different bird since we moved them into the garden and wags his tail so much, it must ache by bedtime! They’ve obviously been observing the ARs who are regular visitors to the kitchen door for potential treats, and are now never far away themselves if they hear the door open! Whichever window they appear at, they just know that we can’t resist giving them attention of some kind…
On checking the calendar, it seems that I’ve been neglecting my blogging duties this last week. Unfortunately, festive preparations seem to have got in the way of some of our more routine activities. However, the tree is now decorated, the Christmas cards are made, (although admittedly not all written yet!) and as you can see, Hamie seems to be completely unruffled by all the fuss. An un-fussed puss? We also ventured off the island to Inverness for our Christmas shopping expedition. Our neighbours Mark and Gerlinde once again stepped into their role of animal sitters while we had our one night city break. The weather for the journey was good, although the Cuillin ridge was looking threatening with the most spectacular sky of greys, blues and fiercely bright, almost sulphur yellow. The scene was like something out of Tolkien and guess what? No camera! Anyway, our shopping trip was successful and we enjoyed the weekend, although it’s always good to get home.
Aliens revealed!
Meanwhile, back in the glen, our suspected extraterrestrial visitors look far more mundane by daylight. As you can see, the basic ground work between the two forests seems to be complete and consolidation of the track is now underway as far as we can see.
On the Garybuie front, not much is happening at the moment with our ‘ducky developments’, a task also affected by the festive preparations, but also by yet more rain. Two other factors have also played a part in the delay. The first is that it’s difficult to dismantle the old duck house when MacRae and the Cherry Bs are still in there! The second, apparently, is the lack of a certain magical tool – an angle grinder! Seemingly this piece of equipment is essential for cutting the bolts which hold the duck house roof on and for cutting slots for wooden posts in paving stones. The first problem was dealt with yesterday evening, when we moved Mr MacRae and his ladies into their temporary accommodation in the garden shed. The second was resolved upon the purchase of said essential equipment in Inverness. It’s like Christmas has arrived early for Kevin! Although we can’t really tackle anything until the weekend, he just can’t resist admiring his new toy in the box and yes, it’s been surreptitiously plugged in a couple of times, no doubt to get the feel of it. I guess it’s a man thing!
New vantage point
It’s been quite windy on and off over the past few days, an aspect of the weather which ducks don’t seem to appreciate. Consequently, the ARs and Muscovies have spent a lot of their time within the boundaries of the garden where there’s shelter. Biggles has taken the opportunity to explore all nooks and crannies within the garden, along with a couple of new perching posts. Yesterday, while working in the kitchen, something caught my eye through the window – Biggles! A perfect perch for checking up what we humans get up to!
There were some strange sights and sounds across the river at the end of last week. Moving lights accompanied by ominous clanking gave the impression of an alien invasion. Are exchange rates good for Martians at the moment? Is the holiday season being extended by visiting extraterrestrials? Nothing quite so dramatic I’m afraid, just the emergence of three JCBs from the forest opposite which need the assistance of lights to work at the end of our ever-shortening days. The machines have been hidden within the forest for the past few weeks, where they are constructing a track extending to the forest at the top of the glen. Trees at the lower end of the glen were felled back in 2007 and the felling of the ‘top forest’ is the second stage of the operation, the track being necessary for the transportation of the resulting timber.
Upwardly mobile
On a much smaller scale, Kevin has been carrying out some construction work of his own this weekend. The weather finally came good on Saturday, so phase two of the duck development area got underway. Increasing the height of the old pig/chicken/duck house will make mucking-out a lot easier – particularly on the lower back! By the end of the day, the back and side walls were complete, along with a temporary roof. While Kevin was busy with his six-inch nails, (one of life’s essentials here at Garybuie!), I occupied myself with some serious shrub maintainance. Most of the shrubs in the garden haven’t been tackled for a couple of years, so some serious secateur work was needed. I also finally got around to tidying the raspberry plot – another task delayed by bad weather.
All in all, it was a fairly productive day which is always a very satisfying feeling. It also made us keen to continue our endeavours the following day. The weather, however, had different ideas! Never trust a man from the Met Office! At least before things took a turn for the worse, we were treated to the nicest sunset for quite some time…
Tranquil skies
Sunday greeted us with a biting wind, but at least it was dry. Not to be deterred, I continued to battle with the bushes, whereas Kevin replaced the rotten wooden floor in the developing ducky dwelling with paving stones. And that was it! By lunchtime, some kind of vicious arctic front decided to hurl every permutation of frozen water at anyone daft enough to be out in it! Us? daft? Naw…but I think that this twosome should have tried to find a bigger bush…
The weather is still pretty grim, perfect conditions for ducks in fact, but not so for hens. They love nothing more than a nice bath – but not the watery kind! Dust bathing is their idea of heaven, but with all the rain, their regular bathing facilities have become more like mud baths! But as I mentioned a couple of blogs ago, after clearing the polytunnel out for the winter, it seems that I’ve inadvertently created the perfect indoor poultry pampering facilities! They make a bit of a mess, but if they can rid the place of any unwanted pests and maybe add a bit of fresh manure while they’re at it, then I think that’s a fair compromise!
hurried harvest!
Monday did in fact demonstrate that there still is a sun up there somewhere above the windswept greyness. The morning was lovely so I took the opportunity to harvest the carrots. Apparently they can be left in the ground, but last year we did that and they developed black blemishes extending into the flesh of the root. Consequently, I thought we’d harvest and store them somehow. Interestingly, the carrots which were planted earliest are again suffering to some extent with blemishes, but the later crop are just fine and I suspect that maybe they could overwinter in the ground. Ah well, another lesson learned for next year! Either way, I managed to fill two wheelbarrows which should see us through the winter months – assuming we can store them adequately. Thankfully, I managed to gather the carrot crop fairly swiftly as by lunchtime you’ve guessed it, the rain reappeared!
In the midst of all the November gloom however, there’s been a small wildlife highlight in the garden this week. A female black cap seems to have laid claim to one of our bird-feeders, so much so that she aggressively chases off any other hungry visitors. According to the bird book, the Black Cap isn’t very common in this part of the world so what’s she doing at Garybuie? I haven’t managed to spot a male so has she got left behind at migration time maybe? If that’s the case then I hope she survives the winter and meets up with a new partner next season. I realise it’s not too clear on the following pictures, but she does in fact have a prominent russet-coloured cap on her head, a giveaway to her identification.
All alone
As I write this blog, the wind is howling and even the ducks are staying sheltered in the garden today, rather than venturing too far afield. Can’t say I blame them! I’m not looking forward to feeding time this afternoon, but rather to the end of the day when all birds are safely away for the night and we can enjoy a cup of tea and a good book! With shorter days now, reading plays a bigger part in our daily routine. I still seem to be on a vampire theme after Kevin discovered a new-to-me author in Portree library – Laurell K. Hamilton and her Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. That’s the only problem with a series, if I enjoy one, I have to read the whole lot! A couple of weeks ago I bought the latest J R Ward book, Covet – A Novel of the Fallen Angels, which was great. Unfortunately, I have to wait until May for the release of her latest Black Dagger Brotherhood novel – my favourite series for some time. Kevin’s more of a World War man however, but isn’t averse to having a few Greeks and Spartans thrown into the mix!
Now that our Muscovies, Huff in particular, have settled into their new home within the boundaries of the garden, we thought it was time to allow MacRae and the Cherry Bs into the garden too, especially as Huff spends a lot of his time huffing and tail-wagging at the fence-line anyway! It is after all going to be their new home as well in the not too distant future. If you’re a regular visitor to Garybuie’s blog, then you’ll know that Huff and MacRae are old adversaries. However, when we implemented the new plan a couple of days ago, it was some new adversaries who confronted the newcomers first…
Prior to this vociferous scene, Walter, second-in-command of the ARs, had performed some serious neck-grabbing on MacRae! No injuries though but there have been several similar confrontations since. Hopefully it’s a pecking order thing and will soon be resolved. Luckily MacRae’s feathers didn’t seem to have been particularly ruffled which was fortunate, as waiting just around the corner was …
As you can see, the ARs didn’t seem overly impressed by Huff’s efforts so waddled off for a refreshing swim after all the excitement! Meetings between Huff and MacRae are now frequent occurences - usually at Huff’s instigation – but even though there’s still plenty of huffing and tail-wagging, they seem to have developed a mutual respect. Not so between MacRae, Puff and Biggles however. He physically attacks them if he meets them and we can’t understand why. Can anyone out there shed any light on the meaning of this behaviour? Fortunately, no injuries occur and the Muscovies are capable of handling themselves, but even so, it’s not a desirable situation.
Antony & Justine
Getting away from ducky disputes, we decided to have a day out yesterday and visit our friends, Antony and Justine, who moved to Skye last winter and began their new lifestyle as proprietors of the Blue Shed Cafe in Torrin, on the road to Elgol. Because of the busy season this year, we only managed one brief visit over the summer, so it was nice to return now that things are more relaxed. They both looked really well and although they’ve had a tiring and hectic first season, they’ve obviously thrived on it!
Blue Shed Cafe
We had chance to catch up with them and hear all their new plans over some delicious home-made soup and a sandwich. We are really happy that things have turned out well for them, even if they don’t take their holidays with us any more! Any regular visitors to the blog probably remember Jenny and Patrick, more guests who’ve given up on our self-catering facillities in favour of a place of thier own on Skye.
Jenny and Patrick
We really must start discouraging guests from moving to Skye – it’s bad for business!
We’re certainly experiencing some good November weather at the moment – rain, rain and more rain! Even so, new plans for the garden/ducks need to move on, so dodging between showers at the weekend, we made a start. As all the ducks will be free-ranging, using the whole of our least productive veg patch as the new ducky homestead seems excessive. As long as there’s enough space to build a duck house, surrounded by enough separable ground for the protection of any future ducklings, then that’s fine. Consequently, we decided to move the fence in the picture by about a metre and a half towards the treeline, thus enabling us to regain some veg growing ground while still having plenty of room for a good-sized ‘Ducky Den’.
By the end of the day, the gate was hung from the opposite side of the fence post and the fence was in line with the soon to be renovated ex pig/chicken/duck house in the background. We could just do with some decent weather now for continuing with our plans or the whole area is going to become a quagmire.
Monday was quite a pleasant day however, so I managed to get quite a few outdoor jobs done, including clearing out the polytunnel. It looks a bit barren in there, but it gets me quite excited thinking
about new planting schemes for next season – a kind of blank canvas I suppose! (I’ve told you before that I’m easily pleased!!!) I’m also considering a move of my potting bench and spare pots etc. down to the far end of the tunnel. There’s an over-hanging Rowan tree there which does cast some shade in the summer, resulting in not the best of growing conditions. At the same time, I will be able to extend the planting area to the entrance where the light is much better. Anyway, after all my efforts the hens were thrilled with the new look and took the opportunity to have a much missed dust bath!
Returning to ducky matters, as I’ve mentioned before, Huff the Muscovy seems very happy in his new environment. However, new found confidence is encouraging him to assert his authority around the place. Yesterday he showed our cockerel who’s in charge with some serious wing beating and pulling of his newly grown tail feathers! Poor old Snowball, he already endured some serious unprovoked attacks by the ARs back in July! (Blog entry,’Violent times’) Thankfully, this encounter seems to have been a one off event just as the previous one was. Also, for a couple days now, the bossy Muscovy has been returning to the boundary fence between the garden and MacRae’s patch all of a huff! Is he just visiting old neighbours or engaging in a serious bit of taunting? He should beware, seeing as our future plans involve moving ALL the ducks into the garden! Could be interesting!
On the indoor front, I finally managed to finish re-decorating the self-catering bedroom. No, I’m not very slow, it’s just that I was a mere three, one metre lengths short of wallpaper and had to wait fo the shop to re-order! Anyway, it’s another winter’s job out-of-the-way!
We woke up this morning to the first hard frost of the year and a clear blue sky to go with it. The low temperatures had the same effect on all bird life at Garybuie – an increased desire for fast food! The wild bird population showed a keener interest in what was available at the various feeders, whereas Snowball and his girls opted for the ’stand on the door step and look longingly through the window’ approach! It works every time!
What's cooking?
Chilly breakfast!
Meanwhile, all the new residents of the garden seem to be settling in nicely. The Wick Chicks keep themselves to themselves at the moment, although they’ve thoroughly investigated all that’s on offer. However, they prefer to roost in the utility room rather than the coop – probably because of Snowball’s unwelcome attentions! – but thankfully they’re an unflappable trio and can be easily transferred at locking up time. This evening we’ll ensure that the utility room is unavailable and see what happens.
On the Muscovy front, things are good too. All three birds seem relaxed and happy with their new neighbours, the ARs. When they do meet up, inevitably there’s lots of huffing and tail-wagging which I suspect is either just a greeting or at most a territorial display. Coming up are Huff and Biggles, introducing themselves to the current residents. As you can see, the ARs don’t seem to be overly impressed with all that huffing, it’s a different language after all! (And they still steal the Muscovys’ food given half a chance! )At least you can understand where our Muscovy drake got his name!
New perch
Although Biggles has in no way curtailed her curious nature, she at least has stopped using the wall of her former home as an evening look-out post. Instead, she briefly took position on the shed roof, but since then has discovered the gap under the fence which leads to the adjacent drainage ditch. Ahhh! all that delightful dabbling! She’s introduced Huff to her new discovery, but Puff just waddles off in the opposite direction with a ’not on your nellie’ look in her eye! (I think she’s actually just taking the opportunity to get away from Huff and his amorous intentions which certainly seem to have increased since the move!)
Yesterday we managed to survive our second visit to the poultry auction in Dingwall. The previous evening we decided to go with the intention of buying some new pullets to accompany Snowball and his girls. ( I knew we wouldn’t be able to resist!) We had a fairly early start as the auction began at 10a.m. and fowl kicked off the proceedings.
Worth an early start
It was worth the early start however, (although the ducks and chickens at home might not have thought so!), as the changing sky en route was spectacular. In fact the whole journey was wonderful as it turned into a beautiful day and with a light dusting of snow on the mountain tops along with vibrant autumn colours, the scenery just got better and better. It also helped to calm the nerves before they became completely shredded at the auction! At least we knew what to expect this time with the rapid fire delivery of the auctioneer. That in itself is difficult enough to follow, but combined with a Scottish accent and lots of squawking, quacking and crowing, a serious challenge is presented! See what you think…
Anyway, Kevin rose to the occasion and obviously nodded or winked in all the right places, (even though he did get a bit over excited and bid £5 more than we’d agreed on!), as we came home with three beautiful Copper Black Maran pullets. They originated from a breeder in Wick, hence ‘The Wick Chicks’!!
