It was a dry dull day that saw the start of November, and the river level of two feet and five inches continued to slowly abate for the next couple of weeks.
Along with getting the last of the hedges cut and tidying up more of the pathways, some time was spent splitting more wood and kindling to keep the wood burning stove up at the café going throughout the colder months ahead.
By mid-month the frosty weather arrived, and the mouse guard was put onto the beehive,
the outside stand pipes were all lagged,
and there was extra food put out at the feed stations for the birds.
Along with other jobs undertaken, some of our kit received a bit of attention after a long cutting season. The tractor had a bit of repair work done to it; and got its usual annual service, and the flail mower had its roller bearings and skids replaced after old age had taken its toll on these parts.
Up at the fishery the boys have been busy adding some new casting stances in places as some of the older ones were getting past it.
The field fare were moving through in big numbers during the cold snap, and the red squirrel is still about just now. We were seeing a few snipes and the Nuthatch put in an appearance at one of the feeding areas.
Out on the river the otter and some smaller seals have been seen on a regular basis.
The last day of the month was a dry dull cooler day and the river level was sitting just under the six feet mark.
Dago