Weather Statistics for September 2012

I've uploaded September weather data - 

extremes this month:

•  0.6º C on 22nd night,
• 21.1ºC on 3rd day

Not a bad month - as often ,better that much of the summer!

Met Éireann says of the month:

Upload their report here:

Storm Battered

As I sit watching and listening to the wind and the rain outside ( not really wanting to get started out there this morning!) I looked at the blog for this day last year:

This is the picture in large format

September 2011

So I looked at the Nasa site:

Arctic Sea Ice Hits Smallest Extent In Satellite Era

and the latest map:

Sea ice extent maps are derived from data captured by the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer aboard NASA's Nimbus-7 satellite and the Special Sensor Microwave Imager on multiple satellites from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program.

As the US NSICD director said:


“We are now in uncharted territory,” said NSIDC Director Mark Serreze. “While we’ve long known that as the planet warms up, changes would be seen first and be most pronounced in the Arctic, few of us were prepared for how rapidly the changes would actually occur.”

And today's headlines only seem to bear this out:

Wet weather sweeps across UK

Three die as warnings issued of fiercer winds and the chance of flooding in 88 areas of the south-west, midlands and north-east

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/sep/24/wet-weather-sweeps-across-uk

'Planetary emergency' due to Arctic melt, experts warn

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jKKr0IRUKbR6Se7mFZu_qfcFWZTw

Rescued!

We picked up our six chickens from the nut house last night - we were only going to get five, but on hearing that they had just rescued 210 rather than the 150 they were planning on getting, we (rather feebly) took another one. 

If all works out OK, we'll get some more!

We were genuinely shocked by the state of the poor things, they were supposedly 'free range' hens, but they are in an awful state. 

We've had rescued battery hens before that were in far better condition than these.

Today was there first outing at the Turnip House:

bald and scrawny - not equipped for a brisk windy day

in very poor condition

this one is almost bald

the fan is totally flopped - a tell tale sign of stress and bad condition

meet the Cockerel - look at the difference in size!

Charlie getting acquainted 

 Still, despite their poor condition, and traumatic 24 hours being shifted about, we got 4 eggs form them - better than our own mollycoddled flock! 

We will be posting more pictures in the coming weeks, hopefully showing great improvement

September Frost

Last night was the coldest since last winter, with temperatures dropping to 0.6 degrees C at 05:23 this morning, but rising to the dizzying heights of 13.7 by 9:38, hotter than some of our July days!

Still, it was a great night for viewing the space debris

Temperatures in Benraw, the night of 21/22 September 2012

You can download our monthly weather data as XL files from our website

Clouds

Wild winds and September skies brought some great cloud formations today, along with a distant Red Kite and it's crow tormentors

Fresh From the Turnip House

Bootees

Long Long ago when John was but a wee thing, his Mother knitted him bootees. 

knitted confection  perfection

The pattern had been in the family for ages (and so, amazingly, is even older than John!) 

Elaine has taken up the baton and has for years been making them for new arrivals near and far.

Now you have the chance to get some yourselves

All hand knitted, at The Turnip House, by Elaine

Price £15.00 

Sizes and colours to your specification.

Simply email Elaine to get some! 

good enough to eat

The Peacock

It's almost September and we've seen our first Peacock Butterfly of the Summer!

We've noticed a marked decline in butterfly numbers up here compared to last summer, The Guardian says:

The summer of 2012 may become the worst year for butterflies since records began in 1976. If butterfly sightings are lower than the sodden summer of 2007 it would suggest there are fewer butterflies than ever in the British Isles, as numbers have been in steady decline since the 1970s.

And the BBC:

The British butterfly population is continuing a marked downward trend.

This is according to a national survey  which revealed that numbers of the insects fell by more than 20% between 2010 and 2011.

We had give up hope of seeing this sight this summer, so that at least is a reason to be cheerful this morning: 

Ben At Work!

We had a great week with Ben, building walls, walking the dog, and, most importantly  cleaning up the main entrance.

Job Done!

 The Left hand Pillar had been removed in order to get the mobile home on to site, so this had to be rebuilt, and a cap, kindly donated by our good neighbour Frank, put into place - definitely a two man job, and I couldn't have done it without Ben's help

the scene two years ago

cap in place on the rebuilt pillar

finishing touches

 It's always good to have an extra pair of hands when mixing cement - and moving heavy concrete blocks.

But also good to get some R&R in Donard Forest by the Glen River

After repairing the Pillar, attention turned to the gates themselves.
Many years of neglect had left them in a sorry state, so much time and effort was spent by Ben in cleaning them up and applying primer.
As the clean up progressed, the makers mark became visible:

years of paint has covered up the maker's mark

now the fun bit!

And so the gates are brought back to life.
Happy 100th birthday!

J Walker Ballyward (2 Miles away) 1912

Thanks Ben, Great Job!

Mournes Panoramas

Ben, our nephew is over on a working holiday, and trying out the powers of his new Galaxy S3, he's taken some amazing panoramic pictures with it - here's some of them:

Newcastle beach, yesterday, looks like two different days!

great skies!

Turnip House from the field

brilliant sun

Our First Compost Toilet

After a year or so, we finally have a commissioned compost toilet, and  it has successfully completed it second week.

toilet gallery and greenhouse

as it was last year - some change eh ?

new door

neat and tidy, (in need of paint )

covered in sawdust - and no smell

 Strictly speaking, it is a compost toilet, not a composting toilet, as the composting is done separately, in a dedicated compost bin.

I theory you can leave the emptying for a few days, and there is no smell, but we've decided to empty it every day, as part of the 'shutting up shop' routine, so it will be nice and clean for the start of each day.

This may sound like a chore, and not very pleasant, but so far it's been fine, not smelly, and worth it, as we know it's for the good of the garden.

bucket, compost bin, and rain water to hand for rinsing out 

After a year or so we will have good fertile compost. Opinion is divided about whether it is safe to put the composton vegetables, so to be on the safe side, we will use it on the other parts of the garden. We have plenty of other compost for the veg plot.

inside the compost bin, every so often we cover this with a layer of grass cuttings as odour control

the instructions!

We are happy with our work, and so far the 'customer' reaction is good, with such comments as: 

"Very light and airy"
"Much nicer that a portaloo"

So, good beginnings, we'll keep you posted of our experiences 

Here Comes The Sun: Newcastle Arts Festival

Get down to Newcastle Co. Down this weekend for a great Arts Festival, lots to do for young and old, and all in glorious sunsine!

These pictures were all taken this morning: