The river water came from the far line of those trees, and covered our main field to a depth and force sufficient to push the fence wire away from the posts...
...the water line can be seen by the dark line on the first post.
Lots of things got caught up in the wire and left on the field,
leaves, branches, plastic water bottles, etc.... and these....
A fish. already found by birds, crows probably who were partaking of its flesh.
I put my boot near it so you could get an idea of its size.
and then we found another one in the gully.
Lester had to remove it because the sheep and cows will be back on the field soon.
.... and away into the woods he took it....
And then he came back for another one,
which was so heavy that he had trouble getting it moved to the woods.
......which was so heavy that he had trouble getting it moved to the woods.
These were big fish, and I am sad that they died in such a way, not in their natural environment, and quite a slow death I would have thought. But at least it shows that if the river can support such good size fish, then it is a healthy river, which is nice to know.
I also will think twice about paddling in the river. Sometimes on hot summer days we have paddled up aways, wading through water which is above our knees, which has a wonderful therapeutic effect on our legs. Not sure I am likely to do that again, I would not like to bump into such big fish. So they are not flesh eating sharks, but my imagination says they are!
To change the subject..... the mini milking machine has arrived, and is not so 'mini' as we thought it would be.
It is going here..... in the smaller of the two cow pens. Lester took many wheelbarrow loads of manure out to Veg Plot Two so the the pen is now clear. All that has to be done is to get that floor scrubbed clean which is going to take a lot of effort to do, but it is a necessary job to turn this space into a mini milking parlour.
At the moment this job is not being done because we need to get the fence wire cleaned up so we can get it attached to the fence posts again, so the cows and sheep can get back on to the field.
But, oh joy of joys, although we have still not had a full day of sunshine this year, at least we have had no rain for five days, which is a relief to us all, the animals included.
.... and a surprise harvest of garlic from out of the raised beds.
So the fishes have become without life, and are now in the woods being recycled by other 'still in life' creatures, the Cow Project has moved a step forward, Bonny has been artificially inseminated so hopefully will be in calf again, and we have a supply of garlic which we ourselves are going to recycle by using them in our own food, but keeping a few bulbs to plant again, and we are catching up on jobs that should have been done a few weeks ago now that the rain has stopped.
Bye for now,
Vx
20 comments:
How exciting to get a milking machine. Those fish are huge. I hope the wildlife at least will benefit.
The force of water is amazing. And the size of those fish! I'm sure they were as much at the mercy of the raging water as anything else.
Nice looking milking machine. May it make your milking chores more efficient and much easier for years to come.
Our garlic won't be ready for harvest for a couple more months. Yours makes me hungry for the taste and flavor of fresh garlic!
Heavens to Betsy that was a lot of water. The size f those fish are amazing. Such a pity you couldn't eat them.
Hope the weather stays dry now
Wow, those fish are big! The milker will make life much easier I am sure. Hope it all runs smoothly with no problems. Take care Diane
I find the pictures of Lester taking the fish out of water and carrying it away - quite fascinating. You should perhaps explore the river and its history closely to avoid surprises. These are big, heavy fish, not sardines.
Lovely garlic you've got there! What would our kitchen do without the taste and flavor of garlic?
Enjoy the milker, the garlic, and the non-rainy days!
Those are monstrous fish - I wonder what kind they are? But yes, good sign of a healthy river.
Floods are messy. I have cleaned up after one or two in my day. Trash everywhere.
Congratulations on the Garlic! And I am excited to hear how the milking machine goes.
That's a shocker, seeing those fish lying about where they shouldn't be. I hope the new milker is just the thing and makes it easy and convenient to do your milking. -Jenn
Nice sized fish, perhaps fishing for dinner should be on the agenda, we have a mini milker like that but with two clusters for the goats, great bit of kit saves so much time and no crouching underneath sore backs and fingers.
Holy Catfish! Or are they carp? I wouldn´t go wading either.
I´m looking forward to home grown garlic next year. You got a good crop!
LISA, I would have thought that those fish Lester put in the woodland yesterday would be nearly eaten by now so their bodies will not be wasted! Looking forward to using the milking machine but it won't be just yet!
MAMA PEA, the fact that they were swept away in the water and ended their lives in our ditch was quite upsetting to me, not sure why, but I just felt sad for them.
The milker will also allow me to milk the cows as well, which will take the pressure from Lester.
We have not had any luck with growing garlic in the veg plots, but these were put in the raised beds just before Christmas, and although neglected I think they soldiered on because the weather was so cold and wet, which suited them I think. Nice to have a harvest which we did not anticipate having any harvests this year.
LOCAL ALIEN, we would not have eaten those fish even if we had known that they were swimming around in our gully. We might have cut them up for the chickens, but I think we would have tried to get them back to the river!
DIANE, thanks for your kind thoughts. The milker will make a difference to the amount of time it takes to milk our cows, and I can milk them too if Lester can't, which will take the pressure from him!
Those fish were big, ..... Lester could hardly lift them!
TOIRDHEALBHEACH BEUCAIL, I don't know what type the fish were, but will have a search when I have a free moment.
Fortunately most of the detritus from the flood is on the fence lines, and these can be cleaned up as and when we have time. This was only a mini flood compared to what other people have experienced, and for that we give thanks.
We are looking forward to using the milker as well, although feeling anxious as well! This will be another learning curve for us.
JENN, We were surprised to see those fish, and wish we had known they were swimming around in the ditch because maybe we could have saved them. Not sure how, though, as they would have been very heavy and slippery to handle!
The milker will certainly reduce the time that milking the cows takes at the moment!
DAWN, I thought you had a milking machine for your goats. Lester likes to milk by hand, but now does not have the time to do so because of working full time at the moment.
We don't take fish from the rivers, we have enough home grown meat for our needs and prefer to leave the free roaming fish and animals to remain free!
COCO, the fish were not catfish, possibly pike, but not sure. Lovely fish anyway, and a shame to see them dead in our ditch.
First time we have managed to grow garlic after having had several years of having no success. Grew them over winter in our raised beds, and will do the same next year. Good luck with growing your garlic......
DUTA, I was fascinated by those photos as well, especially by the size of the fish. But this is the first time we have had fish brought on to our land by flooding, suggesting that this was an exceptional flood. I know that the dams in the Pyrenees were full of melt water from the winter snow and the added water from the rain caused them to overflow, and this is what made this flood worse. Perhaps the fish came from those dams. But it is nice to know that the river is alive and not full of commercial and industrial chemicals.
Looking forward to the garlic as well. First time we have had any success with growing it!
Hope you're coping with what nature throws at you. Great photos.
NORTHSIDER DAVE, we continue on with the fight!
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