http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog A blog about rural life in the UK, our countryside and my country life. It's all here, farming, gardening, wildlife, animals and rural dating. Thu, 20 Jan 2011 14:41:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/burt-the-bat-and-the-blackcurrant-jelly-saga/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/burt-the-bat-and-the-blackcurrant-jelly-saga/#comments Wed, 06 Oct 2010 00:19:09 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=767 This is the story of little Burt the Bat and a story I am ashamed to tell .. but here goes anyway. Let’s start at the beginning. At our farm we are lucky enough to have a colony of Pipistrelle bats and we are extremely fond of our bats. Unfortunately sickness in the colony drastically [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/burt-the-bat-and-the-blackcurrant-jelly-saga/feed/ 11 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/support-our-winter-wildlife/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/support-our-winter-wildlife/#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:31:27 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=740 Between the dreadful floods and the UK’s deepest winter freeze in decades North Cumbria would be forgiven for feeling a little bedraggled of late. Of course with the luck I have I started a market trading business in October, just in time to be flooded out in November and then frozen out in from late [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/support-our-winter-wildlife/feed/ 5 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/how-to-make-a-hedgehog-house-wildlife/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/how-to-make-a-hedgehog-house-wildlife/#comments Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:33:42 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=705 In the last post we looked at attracting hedgehogs to your garden so now we need to know how to make a hedgehog house. Hedgehogs will only stay around your garden if they find a warm secure place to hibernate over the winter months and a good supply of food and water on warm days. [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/how-to-make-a-hedgehog-house-wildlife/feed/ 14 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/pets-and-fireworks-protect-your-animals-on-bonfire-night/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/pets-and-fireworks-protect-your-animals-on-bonfire-night/#comments Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:58:14 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=723 Pets and fireworks simply do not mix. Bonfire night is a fun time for us roasting marshmallows and going “ooooh” as fireworks paint the sky can actually be a pet’s idea of hell. Every year many pets are lost or injure themselves through the fear of fireworks. Whether you have a dog, cat, horse or [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/pets-and-fireworks-protect-your-animals-on-bonfire-night/feed/ 2 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/inside-a-wasp-nest/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/inside-a-wasp-nest/#comments Wed, 22 Jul 2009 00:37:24 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=678 Once the wasps were dead I was able to cut the wasps nest down and get a look inside. Here are some photographs of the inside of a wasp nest. We saw the outside of the wasps nest in my blog post what does a wasps nest look like. Unfortunately as these pictures are taken [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/inside-a-wasp-nest/feed/ 13 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/vets-say-badger-culling-needed-to-tackle-tb-in-britain/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/vets-say-badger-culling-needed-to-tackle-tb-in-britain/#comments Sun, 12 Jul 2009 22:50:15 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=672 On 9th July 2009 the British Veterinary Association agreed a policy statement on the issue of Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) in Britain. Nicky Paull, President of the BVA, said “Bovine TB has an unacceptable impact on animal health and welfare and has the potential to be a risk to public health. Yet the current strategy for [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/vets-say-badger-culling-needed-to-tackle-tb-in-britain/feed/ 0 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/what-does-a-wasps-nest-look-like/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/what-does-a-wasps-nest-look-like/#comments Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:44:36 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=670 Have you ever wondered what a wasps nest looks like? For the first time I’ve recently seen one close up and personal and was amazed at how beautiful they are. It’s amazing how delicate they look, just like paper mache (which isn’t too much of a surprise since they are made from chewed wood and [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/what-does-a-wasps-nest-look-like/feed/ 21 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/great-bustard-chicks-hatched-in-uk/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/great-bustard-chicks-hatched-in-uk/#comments Thu, 04 Jun 2009 07:08:28 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=639 No I’m not using bad language, the first Great Bustard chicks for 177 years have hatched in the UK wild in Salisbury Plain … woohooo (claps hands with delight). There have been sightings of a female with two chicks and another female with a single chick. Great Bustards have a sad history in the UK [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/great-bustard-chicks-hatched-in-uk/feed/ 3 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/welsh-badger-cull-gets-go-ahead-to-fight-bovine-bt/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/welsh-badger-cull-gets-go-ahead-to-fight-bovine-bt/#comments Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:52:13 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=342 Just a week after Environment Secretary Hilary Benn announced a test vaccination project in six areas of England, beginning next year, the Welsh Assembly Government have announced that Wales will go ahead with a badger cull. In England farmers and vets will be trained to trap and inject badgers with a test vaccine for bovine [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/welsh-badger-cull-gets-go-ahead-to-fight-bovine-bt/feed/ 9 http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/breathing-places-schools-project/ http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/breathing-places-schools-project/#comments Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:03:58 +0000 Sally http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/?p=312 Over 8,500 schools have signed up for the BBC’s Breathing Places Schools project since it’s launch last year. The project is free to sign up to and each term teachers will be able to download a new activity sheet, teachers notes and a curriculum guide . This spring term schools are creating homes for wildlife [...]]]> http://www.country-couples.co.uk/blog/breathing-places-schools-project/feed/ 1