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ppink · 13-02-2011 06:14PM

2 german sheps and 2 cute mutts:)
no way they will be going to Mothman's for a visit tho' or chickens would be kiev;)

Rainbowsend · 13-02-2011 06:19PM

Little fat Cocker Spaniel (though getting slimmer)

Mothman · 13-02-2011 06:37PM

ppink wrote: »

2 german sheps and 2 cute mutts:)
no way they will be going to Mothman's for a visit tho' or chickens would be kiev;)

Had a Red Setter, but instinct and Hens were not compatible

Now have a mixed collie. nearly 3yo and only had him about 3 weeks. Did actually catch a hen but I think he knows now and ignores them. Still need to get the cows and the cat used to him, but no substitute for time.

bogtreader · 13-02-2011 07:50PM

Three in total Two jack russells one long legged one short legged.
One terrier mix who thinks she is human

littlebug · 13-02-2011 08:38PM

One Kerry blue terrier mix with all the personality of a full kerry blue..... those qualities combined with having (probably) been stuck in a shed

for most of her 1.5 (approx ) years = quite a challenge. We've had her for 3 months and we're finally making some headway. She has thankfully stopped wanting to kill other dogs but on her list of enemies are cats, small birds, hens (I discovered yesterday

), and for some strange reason donkeys

We still love her though (some days more than others admittedly:o).

Mothman · 13-02-2011 08:58PM

littlebug wrote: »

and for some strange reason donkeys

One kick will sort that out :pac:

We still love her though
(some days more than others admittedly).

whyulittle · 13-02-2011 09:08PM

No dogs at the minute, but we used to have a black Lab years ago who would catch crows and leave them at the back door.

Ditch · 13-02-2011 11:08PM

Mothman wrote: »

One kick will sort that out :pac:

Got a donkey here.

Day I brought him home, I figured I'd best take it careful, with the Dogs.

Had a mostly different set of Dogs then. All but one's dead now.

Not the donkeys fault ~ by the grace of god and some nifty foot work from yours truly!

So; I've got " Donks " here. Muzzled the worst of the Dogs and decided to take each one down to him, on a lead. See how they reacted to eachother and take things from there.

Then senility kicked in once again :rolleyes: For some 'reason' I shall never, I swear, fathom; I just opened the door and let the f***ing lot out! " Oh, Calamity! "

Five Dogs. One donkey. Honestly, if I'd filmed this, they'd be paying me good money for the DVD!

Dogs have charged the donkey. Donkey's laid fertiliser and bolted straight through the hedge. Five mad Dogs after him. Me in hot pursuit.

Ever seen a Real donkey Really fight a Real Dog, for its life? Quite edifying. Donkey actually picks up a Dog, with its teeth. Pins it to the ground. Then tramples ten bales out of it with his front feet! Kneels on it and all sorts!

So; There's five Dogs, various. One donkey, vicious. And some half hysterical lunatic, lashing out like Bruce Lee on speed. Kicking, punching, throwing just about anything that came within reach.

It all got quite 'emotional' .....

Memories, eh?

boneless · 13-02-2011 11:25PM

bogtreader wrote: »

Three in total Two jack russells one long legged one short legged.
One terrier mix who thinks she is human

The shorter the leg the bigger the ego!!! I have a JRT cross that really thinks she is a wolfhound

!

littlebug · 13-02-2011 11:33PM

boneless wrote: »

The shorter the leg the bigger the ego!!! I have a JRT cross that really thinks she is a wolfhound !

I had a wolfhound when I was growing up. He was the biggest softest sap of a dog ever

When he died my father got his friend with a digger to dig his grave in the field. Neighbours came to his funeral. Sigh

We also had a turkey that thought he was a dog.

littlebug · 14-02-2011 11:18AM

Everything that I had growing along my back garden wall bar an elderberry and a pyracantha has died... it's all being chainsawed out as I type:( I'd put a hell of a lot of work into that back wall. Back to the drawing board.

Feargal as Luimneach · 14-02-2011 03:34PM

littlebug wrote: »

Everything that I had growing along my back garden wall bar an elderberry and a pyracantha has died... it's all being chainsawed out as I type:( I'd put a hell of a lot of work into that back wall. Back to the drawing board.

Put in native plants. The cold won't kill them:)

littlebug · 14-02-2011 04:50PM

Feargal as Luimneach wrote: »

Put in native plants. The cold won't kill them:)

Well there will probably be ivy and honeysuckle for a start. I need to bear in mind that it's a small garden so I need to maintain play space!
We also have a side bit that we don't really use much.... I've been looking at your wildlife garden thread for inspiration :cool:

stupidusername · 14-02-2011 08:30PM

littlebug wrote: »

I had a wolfhound when I was growing up. He was the biggest softest sap of a dog ever When he died my father got his friend with a digger to dig his grave in the field. Neighbours came to his funeral. Sigh

We also had a turkey that thought he was a dog.

I love wolfhounds! how long did he live?

I haven't got any dogs or pets. still think of my little rescue dog as mine though... little reggie. miss him

Ditch · 14-02-2011 09:47PM

" Dingo "

So called simply because he looks like one. And no body's really certain what he is.

Believe it or not though, there's every reason to believe he's half Bull Mastiff. Never think it, to look at him. But, the dick who bred him ~ then wanted to kill him ~ said so. And kept BM's. I've also seen extremely similar looking Dogs elsewhere. BM crosses.

Best thing about " le Ding " here is just that no body knows quite what the hell he is. What we don't know, we can't get an easy handle on.

Result? He scares the living daylights out of just about Everyone who comes to my gate. Charging and bouncing on his chain. What if he got off??? They don't know. Because they don't know what he is!

I've had 'certain types' turn up here aplenty. I meet them at the gate and question them as to their business. They give me their flannel, eyes never once leaving Dingo Dog. And, to a man, they Always have to ask me; " What is That?! "

'Funny' Dog too, le Ding. My mate was round here one time. le Ding was free in the room. Mate went to pat him on the head, as Ding sat there ..... Yunk!!!

Now he knows to beware of the Yellow Peril

littlebug · 14-02-2011 09:55PM

stupidusername wrote: »

I love wolfhounds! how long did he live?

There's a question... at a guess 7 or 8 years. It's a while ago

That doesn't seem old but I think is normal enough for a wolfhound.

stupidusername · 14-02-2011 09:57PM

littlebug wrote: »

There's a question... at a guess 7 or 8 years. It's a while ago That doesn't seem old but I think is normal enough for a wolfhound.

yeah I suppose they probably wouldn't live to much longer on average. I love wolfhounds! would love to have one.

whyulittle · 15-02-2011 07:54PM

Just found a tiny little brown ladybird on my leg. Can only assume it got on me when putting up the nest boxes, even though I've changed since.

Almost had a bad ending (for both of us).

Think small brown ladybird, bad eyesight, dinner time, lasagne, brown mince......

whyulittle · 16-02-2011 09:16AM

3B3B9EB0BDB44DDFB86854A5E7AD817E-0000315944-0002167014-00800L-73B45127529A44889FDABCB0A57CFFF8.jpg

On a 10 cent coin.

I hope it's just a normal harmless one, because it got away from me!

Mothman · 16-02-2011 09:27AM

whyulittle wrote: »

On a 10 cent coin.

I hope it's just a normal harmless one, because it got away from me!

That's a 10-spot ladybird I believe the pattern at the head is diagnostic.

If it was about same size or a little larger than the 7 spot ladybird that most of us know then Harlequin Ladybird would need to be considered. In this case size rules out Harlequin.

Bagmagnet · 16-02-2011 06:13PM

Just after learning of Fine Gael's promise to reverse the ban on stag hunting. Not a chance they're getting a vote from me now.

Ditch · 17-02-2011 01:31AM

Then, let's discover how best to encourage ivy ~ aside from having an Ash tree!

(Mod note- relevant text copied over from the Nestbox thread)

littlebug · 19-02-2011 12:11PM

Out walking this morning me and my monster met small dogs...

87B00E215232454EA6759A7FB774A45A-0000331913-0002174688-00500L-1AEDA8CF4E754E57BF9ABD327620F22E.jpg

...and big dogs..

EA2D9ACC8BC94C7E85F98DB2AE89C67F-0000331913-0002174689-00500L-302F1DE9346C4E98B6AB613C97CF5C81.jpg

and all sorts in between and she didn't try to kill any of them

We really have come a long way

Mothman · 19-02-2011 01:09PM

Wow LB, but be careful of labels, your little terrier might start to believe it is a monster and start to act it again.

Spring in the air today. 100s of frogs, Bumble Bees in flight....

artieanna · 20-02-2011 02:10AM

Ditch re the ivy....v easy to grow... take cuttings around 5/10ins long make a nice angle cut / put them in a pot or direct in the ground where you want it to grow (pull any grass weeds from around it) and let it off..

Soot is great fertilizer for any green foliage plant full of nitrogen, spread a fistful of it around the base of plants.

I always add a few more cuttings than I need, Just in case of any failures..

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 20-02-2011 09:03AM

Just on the use of soot:Fresh soot is caustic and can be used as
a soil fumigant to destroy insects and slugs (not that any of us nature lovers would want to). For use as a fertilizer
it is best stored in the dry for three or four months first.

Ditch · 20-02-2011 03:30PM

Cheers, peeps. Now, this talk of 'soot' got me thinking. In fact, it just got me thinking again about something that quite often passes through my mind.

See, I'm no Gardener. But, I've known people who were. And I'm pretty sure I remember one guy (OK, we're talking fifty years ago here! The memory fades!

) who certainly put tea leaves on his flower beds. Only, I can't be 100% Certain he really put coal ash, from his fire place on them too.

And that leads me to further questions; Like, can burned coal ashes be considered / treated as soot?

How about turf ash? Wood ash? Union Nugget ash? Is there any great difference in all these by products of the stove? What can ~ or shouldn't ~ we do with them?

Personally, I've spent the past few years throwing my turf ash onto my horses manure heap. It makes up a minuscule percentage of what goes on there. I'm taking it that's OK. I'd wonder about coal ash though

Delighted to hear ye views and ideas. It'd put my mind at rest, 'Knowing' what I can put on the dung heap.

Wonder if any of this could be put on the pastures, come to that? Any of it good for grass ~ without bothering my horses?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1 · 20-02-2011 10:01PM

Depending on the type of wood, the ash may contain five to eight percent potash, one percent phosphate and trace amounts of micro-nutrients such as iron, manganese, boron, copper and zinc.

On the other hand, wood ash may be detrimental to some soils because of its effect on the soil chemistry. When applied to the soil, it acts much like limestone by raising the pH or alkalinity of the soil. Unlike limestone, however, wood ash has high water solubility and works more quickly to change the soil pH. This may cause a problem in many gardens that tend to have a naturally high soil pH. Wood ashes should not be applied around acid-loving plants. They should also be used at a rate of no more than 20lb to 1000sq ft.

Coal ash is to be avoided as it may contain dangerous trace elements that may get into food you are growing.

Turf ash, I believe is similar to Wood ash but lower in nutrients.

Ditch · 20-02-2011 10:22PM

Hmm. Coal then is, as I suspected, out the window. (Visions of the Welsh 'Slag Heaps'. Nasty)

Wood / Turf ash though? Sounds to me like a bit more alkalinity may not be a bad thing. Could that not potentially help retard Juncus Rush?

Heh! Can anything retard that stuff? I read a study; They reckoned a herd of goats, penned in on juncus could destroy the stuff.

This ~ they said ~ was because of the different 'eating' action of goats. Cows, horses, sheep did what ever they do. But, goats " wrenched ", thus damaging the stem and blah, blah.

Know what I did? I spent an entire summer, crawling around on my hands and knees. Physically wrenching the juncus off an entire acre of land. Ripped it all away. By hand. Made out I was a herd of hungry goats.

Year or two later and ye'd never know I did it :mad: Complete waste of effort.

My neighbour? He " Licks " his. Rolls it with a carpet covered roller. dripping with some chemical. Frankly, I see no difference. Maybe it'd be hellish worse if he didn't? Dunno.

Can one get rid of juncus? A few fields I know, not a million miles away, have been " ReSeeded " and are now lush, green grass. I've done my best here. But, five years down the line and there's still more than enough rush on my would be pasture.

Mothman · 20-02-2011 10:32PM

Didn't know there was any such thing as penning in goats. Its why I have cows, the goats are not pennable

As for rushes...wet = rushes.
Get rid of the wet and then you may succeed in getting rid of the rushes..hardly practical though....

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