OCTOBER 2010 DIARY
In the field of sustainable living there are sometimes small victories to be won. Such an event occurred this morning when a recalcitrant “point of lay” hen that had refused to consider egg laying for almost three months, at last decided to join the production line. So it’s three eggs every morning from now on, and something less to put in the shopping trolley.
The new hardwood plantation is becoming established with some of the trees now at fifteen feet. Did we really plant all those trees? The poly-tunnel vegetable area is the next phase of development with our renewable energy initiatives next in line. We are so fortunate to have a precisely south-facing roof area and potential for a small wind-turbine on a ridge on higher land. It just needs a modest win on the lottery to afford the hardware!
It’s that time of year when leaves swirl in great mounds and need to be cleared away before they access the yard drains and cause them to block. I was doing just that yesterday (again) when I looked up a saw five adolescent red kites wheeling above the lower field. The breeding success of these magnificent birds continues year on year, although, I think, to the detriment of the buzzard, whose numbers seem to have declined in equal measure.
As well as our regular stream of holiday visitors we have a surprising number of house-hunters looking to escape the hubbub to the relative tranquillity of West Wales. There are only around 300,000 permanent residents in the counties of Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion (Cardiganshire in old money) and most of them living in smallish towns. This leaves vast areas of space and room to breathe amidst some of the finest scenery to be found anywhere in the world, so it is easy to see why some fall in love with the area.
I struggle to understand the attraction of “second home” ownership. Apart from the socio-economic arguments surrounding countryside depopulation and inflating property prices beyond the means of local people, it’s the sheer practicalities involved. Is it really worth the worry of having a “locked up” property miles away for the occasional weekend and the summer break. What about frozen pipes, security, the garden that becomes a jungle etc. etc? Is it really a good investment in any case? If you need to sell at a bad point in the economic cycle, could the property not be just an aggravating millstone? Much better (and more sustainable) to rent a well-maintained holiday cottage and let someone else have the worry, I think. Well, I would say that, wouldn’t I?
Clive Mortlock
Glascoed Farm Holiday Cottages
