Sorry I have not written for a while but I have been to monkey World in Dorset with my dear wife - had trouble getting out - the wife I mean!! A few bananas resolved the problem.
The parts for the little red tractor arrived and with much scratching of head and burn out of anglegrinders - up to my arms in *!^^^**** as well as grease and oil - not the mention the elastoplast I have installed the new clutch and parts on the old three cylinder diesel engine. With mighty constructions of timber, trolley jacks and other implements which would not put Arcamedes to shame I attempted to fit the engine to the gear box without success. After a day, which looked more like a reanactment of the building of the pyramids, I still had not succeeded, but they say it is better to have friends than money in this world and over the horizon came my dear friend Pete. Mounted on his 8 ton JCB and masses of chain he lifted the engine onto the gearbox. MUCH JOY - off he went to save other struggling souls and left me to reassemble the little red tractor. After a day of steady work - nuts, bolts, wires, new oil in the engine, fitting of the battery I started the engine. I jumped up on to the springy seat, depressed the clutch, reved up the engine, put it in gear, let out the clutch and NOTHING HAPPENED!! Wo is me. I was not dispondent so I looked around at the multitude of levers that surrounded me - tongue in cheek - I pulled and pushed the odd lever and off the little red tractor went. MUCH JOY. Now I am looking for some work to do with it. I have terrorised the wood pile and put some huge ruts in the ground and I am having a fantastic time playing with my tractor!! PS It will soon be time to pick the broadbeans you put in last winter - see earlier blog.

I have been given a shed,it's much larger than the shed I have at the moment on the allotment, so without hesitation I have taken down the old and donated it to a fellow allotment holder. I have prepared the site and laid the floor,tomorrow I will put the sides and roof on,it is large enough for my gardening tools and a potting bench leaving enough room for a comfortable seat for my dear wife to sit and drink tea and admire my vegetables, that I have worked so hard to produce. It should be quite cosy on a typical summers day pouring with rain, a nice cup of tea and a slice of cake will be just right, the possibilities are endless from a social gathering to full blown dance - don't know where the band will be though, I think a CD player will do for the music. Do you remember the little red tractor? Well the parts have arrived and I will soon be back in the woods all exited to fit the new parts. Last night I went to my shaman meeting and met some old friends and had a wonderful meditation and drum healing - came away soul and spirit refreshed amazing the shaman path really puts ones feet on the ground.

Stumbling around the woods I came across a large bramble patch hiding a little red tractor. It looked very sad - tyres were flat, pipes and fittings missing but mostly complete. Iasked the owner if I could purchase it and he said yes. Smalll sum of money changed hands and it was ALL MINE!! I pumped up the tyres, fitted a new battery, tried to turn the engine but it had seized. I took the starter motor out, turned over the engine with a crowbar, replaced the starter, poured diesel in the cylinder heads and with much grunting the engine began to turn and eventually fired. All excited I jumped up in the cab but the clutch was seized. After much mumbling under my breath and masses of timber, car jacks and ropes and pullies I split the engine from the gearbox to find the clutch was a solid block of rust. New clutch on order - further riviting installments to follow. Photographs to come when I work out how to put them on the blog. Help - can anybody send me a simple message and instructions on how to do this. Please remember that I am useless on a computer so it must be simple and idiot proof!!!!!!!! Thanking you in anticipation!!!!!!

Doesn't time fly. Here i am 68 years old and it only seems yesterday that I was an infant. At the time of my birth, during the second world war, my father was in Lille with the British Expetitionary Force later to be wounded and evacuated from the Dunkirk Beaches. He then went Litchfield Hospital in the Midlands for extensive skin grafting and my mother took me at around three months old by train to see him as he was not expected to live. Fortunately he did and had a full and active life. My first
recollections as a child, around three years old,
think, were the aircraft dog fights which my mother said I found quite amusing but very dangerous and the grey homemade elephant that my aunty made that used to comfort me when stuffed under the stairs during an air raid!! Of course, these were the GOOD OLD DAYS, of dried egg powder, no sweets, no bananas, in fact not much of anything. The next major step for me was going to school in the January, sliding on the snow with my big sister and her friend. It was a mile and a half to school on foot - no 4x4's in those days!! We used to eat our lunch in the air raid shelters listening to the occasional doodle bug and bomber planes overhead. Strange men called Canadians were also in our village and would always give us the odd bar of chocolate, mostly at Christmas. Around about 7 or 8 years old I recall German prisoners of war working in a quarry nearby who were very friendly and would make us toys etc. Time goes on and sweets came off ration and things were more plentiful generally. I am certain my spirit guide was with me then offering protection in those difficult times.
I am having a wonderful birthday and this evening I am going out with my lovely wife for a nice meal. My children, grandchildren and great grandchildren have all wished me a happy birthday which is priceless - and as a cherry on the cake, I have won some money on the premium bonds!! On my spritual side, I have a friend and his wife coming for some meditation and he needs some spritual uplift. Today I have bought new sage and a native American CD. The other day, completely out of the blue, a friend from Berlin of some 35 years found me on the blog - we exchanged family news and it was wonderful to hear from them. I now hope to use the blog to keep in touch from now on. For my German readers a small sonet, which I read in what was East Berlin in Spindlefild on a billboard, reads:
Est ist furling und ich bin frei - translated reads:
It is spring and I am free - and that is me - as free as a bird.

Today has been very spiritual, the six acres of wood I have been working in has a wonderful feeling of being in touch with Mother Earth and Father Sky and my Shaman ways.
The air of peacefulness and being at harmony with ones self is overpowering. The spirits are strong in the woods and I draw strength for my future spiritual work from my spirit guide Blackhawk, who is always with me. The trees are just starting to bud in parts of the wood, primroses and other forest flowers are just showing. Spring is on its way and it will soon be Ostara and the Godess will blanket the earth with her fertility once again.
A friend has asked me to help him spiritually as he is at odds with all things. His aura is very confused and unsettled. I will try to comfort him with meditation and healing and lead him to a more peaceful time and place.

Sorry to have left it so long in writting to you all but I have been very busy in the woods .A few days ago I had an invitation to help with some coppicing ,the wood was last worked some sixty years ago and is rather overgrown with all manner of trees ,some oaks had been planted out over the years but the these had crowded out the hazel stools and forced them to reach for light and grow enormous in girth and length ,these were felled and the wood selected for various products such as bean sticks,rose arches, pea sticks and all types of woodland crafts from trugs to fire wood.This felling will enable the hazel to regenerate and be more productive in years to come . The oaks will be selectivly felled to remove weak and damaged trees to allow the hazel stools to mature over the next ten years

Cold ,not good out side.
so lets be happy happy and look forward to the spring .
Now is the time to sow all manner of seeds from brussels to cauliflower ,some flower seed can be sown now with a little heat .
Ihave done some heavy digging on the allotment and with this frost and snow it should break down to a fine tilth .
Please put plenty of food out for the birds ,fat balls or melted lard or fat mixed with wild bird food and allowed to cool is a good feed for them.
Off to the farm now to buy a bail of straw to make a scarecrow to keep the wild pigeons of my cabbages.They are too fond of cabbage.

I was in the allotment yesterday carrying out winter work such as digging, clearing up. I have now started to fill my bean trench with all sorts of vegetable matter and compost ready for my bean planting in May.
The ground was soft enough to transplant my broad bean plants out into two rows. The beans were raised in seed trays outdoors so they did not need any hardening off. The reason I did it this way and did not plant them directly into the ground was the fact that the allotment is rather wind blown at this time of year and the beans get rather bruised. These beans have been planted a little deeper than usual and then ridged to prevent the wind damage.
I have now transplanted my winter lettuce plants out and I am looking forward to my first crop of lettuce in early April.
Please remember to feed the wild birds with grain and fatballs.
Happy New year to ALL my Blog Readers!!

I have been out today looking at woodland suitable for coppicing. I have visited a couple of sight which looked promising and contacted the owner for the cost. They would appear to be old coppiced woods but left to go to rack and ruin. If I am lucky to acquire these I will try to rejuvinate them for making woodcraft such as stakes hurdles, charcoal etc. Please watch this space for further developments.

I have been on the allotment today the frost has lifted and the ground was soft enough to dig some parsnips ,these are tasty after frost, baked in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil and a some honey. The leeks are coming on fine and I hope to make some soup in the near future.

Watch this space for a super recipe.

I am of to the nearby woods this afternoon to gather seed from various trees to add to the seed bank for planting in the spring.

Talking of planting now is the time to plant onion seeds. Choose a good quality seed compost just cover the seeds allow 14 to 21 days to germinate at 19-21 centigrade when big enough to handle -transplant into 3" pots.
More info later on what to do next