5. Still leaking...

We still have a major water leak (we are on a spring, ie not mains water). Somewhere in the system between the squash-court-sized water tank and the 6 houses including us and 2 farms that it feeds. We are trying to track it down - today I dug out our stop-tap next to the house.



But it is a major headache. Today when Sarah got up at 5 to leave for London, I went to turn our water on (turned off yesterday so that the big tank fills and we have water for a week or so). And a bit awkward in respect of our guests (we have a 6 week booking in the cottage). In fact, they could be reading this! Very nice guests, in fact so nice we are having them round for a drink at the weekend.

The turkeys are in trouble (with me!). I have confined them to their barracks for most of each day now. It was becoming too time-consuming herding them back after they had been fraternising with our neighbour's turkeys (their relations in fact); time-consuming and embarrassing. Last time I chased them, they went into a greenhouse and exited through a pane of glass. Funny, if you were watching and not participating. So, now I only let them out to play in the afternoon - today it was 'it' around the rowan tree.

This afternoon I weeded and manured a bed. Then picked veg for supper. I am experimenting with freezing beetroot. Cabbage, spinach, leek out of the garden and a lamb heart from our neighbour. We bought a lamb from her, and it came with 3 hearts. We get on!



Afetr it got dark I did a bit more insulating in the loft (approaching 15% now), and then a quick break to finish Hardy's Woodlanders. I really liked it - lots of twists and turns, its doom and gloom reflecting the various issues here (water leak, leaky windows (hopefully now solved after our 2nd scaffolding envelopment of the year), bulging lounge floor) and backdrop of woodland activities).

And it is now official - we are a farm; or at least BT have written to us as 'Farlands Farm'. Prefer smallholding myself.

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