Manor Farm over 500 years old and today is still a working farm run in the manner of the Victorians. There is a large courtyard with stable and enclosures for various farm animals, many running around freely, and lots of old equipment whose purpose I couldn’t even guess at. Then there is also the farm house, school area, pond and many fields to explore.

The Shepherds Caravan

Inside the caravan

The pigs were wonderful. Snowflake, a huge pig to say the least, was hungry and when she knew food was coming we thought she was going to jump out of her sty!

Snowflake

Other pigs and piglets were in the fields which we also saw being fed.

We saw a sheep being sheared which is something I’ve never seen before. It was a ram and didn’t want to be sheared so struggled all the way through! No pictures I’m afraid.

There were ducks, turkeys, chickens, geese and piglets all running freely around the farm. Wonderful! Ffion got to feed the birds and cuddle a baby rabbit and chick which made her day.

I also enjoyed the farm garden which grew some lovely flowers as well as the expected vegetable patch.

On the way out, we spotted this carved into the end of a fallen tree. Great!

Hard to spot…

There they are…

Working hard!

Matt and Fi had a lot of fun searching for them this morning. I’ve a few more models so will set them up somewhere soon and see how long it takes to be spotted.

Sadly, a plant I added a few years ago turned out to be a huge shrub which would grow taller than the house if I let it. The shrub roots had become pot bound, completely filling the unit and also in strong winds it was unstable and likely to fall over.

In order to replace the filter, I bought a new pot and pond plant pot insert, this time in a dark brown colour. I already had plenty of spare pea shingle and a hose connector. With these, I put together the filter as before. Details Here

Contents of the old filter showing how the roots had filled the unit up completely

My new dark brown container

Drilling the hole for the water inlet

Attach pump hose and add to pond empty

Allow to fill with water and then add the pea shingle

Plants added, but pump not turned on yet

I chose to plant Iris Pseudacorus, a favourite due to its vigorous growth, Caltha Palustris which grows fast and produces lovely yellow flowers each spring. Lychnis Flos-cucli and Primula Beesiana are two plants I’ve also used today which I haven’t planted before. I look forward to seeing the results.

I have replanted the shrub in the garden and it will be watered well, but I’m not sure how well it will do being in soil.

All in all, I’m pleased with the results and look forward to many good years using this filter to get good, clear water in the terrace pond.

As the water at Ryde is very shallow, the ferry lands at the end of a pier which is 2,234 feet long. There is also a hovercraft service from Southsea which goes straight into Ryde, but getting to the ferry is easier for us plus we enjoy the walk along the pier into town.

Ollie and Ffion enjoyed playing in the sand, digging holes, paddling and chasing each other and Fi loved being buried. Ollie did her a hairstyle with seaweed.

We watched as a boat ran aground in the shallow waters and the crew had to get out, turn it round and push it back out to sea. Oops!

After the beach we went to a fair where Ffion had a go on the waterballs, helter skelter, crazy golf and a scarey ride that span her and Ollie upside down!

Video of Ffion on the Waterballs

We had a drink and a sandwich then strolled back to the ferry for the journey home.

We all had a great day… and seem to have come home with half of the beach in our shoes!

I’m coming to the end of some leave I’ve taken over Easter and feel like I’ve had a summer holiday! The weather has been as good as a hot summer and I hope this continues for some time yet.

I took Ffion to see the new Winnie the Pooh film this morning which she thoroughly enjoyed. Then after Jen came home from work, we headed off to the beach.

Jen and Fi went for a paddle.

We then buried Fi in the shingle which she thought was great!

The schools re-open tomorrow and I’m back at work on Wednesday, but we all certainly feel like we’ve had a break!

We both enjoy photographing butterflies in particular so this promised to be a real treat. We were not disappointed, and in fact were quite impressed with the whole place as it also had a large area of free flying birds, one of which was rather cheeky, a reptile rescue centre, a selection of farmyard animals plus various exhibits to look at.

This bird was trouble!

After landing on Jen’s feet, he proceeded to explore my foot and then set about tearing chunks of leather off of my sandles!

Click to watch a short video

It then pearched on Jen’s arm for a while, much to Ffion’s amusement!

After this, we explored the rest of the centre. They had hundreds of tortoises!

The farmyard animals were popular with the children.

These two were getting quite grumpy with each other:-

And then there were the talking birds. This fellow was as cheeky as he looks!

And then of course there were the beautiful butterflies:-

This was originally a Roman fort which developed into a mediaeval castle, a royal palace and finally a Napoleonic prison. It lays claim to being the best preserved Roman fort north of The Alps.

We took the bus there which didn’t take long and as soon as we arrived Ffion wanted to climb to the top of the keep. This is accessed using a rather scary spiral staircase. There are some magnificent views from the top of Portsmouth Harbour.

We had some cold pizza and an ice cream at the bottom and finally wandered around the church before catching the bus home.

We all thoroughly enjoyed our visit and no doubt will be heading there again soon… if Ffion has her way!

It was a wonderfully sunny day. We took a picnic of our favourite sandwiches and snacks which we enjoyed under the shade of a tree whilst watching Ffion and Matt play together on the massive climbing frames in the play area.

My favourite part was the walkthrough Lemur enclosure. In this picture, Fi looks as if she has a miniature lemur on her head!

We all had a great time and will no doubt visit again.

We also took the time to wander around the garden ornament shop there and came home with our new pet, Dibby. He is now settled by the pond and officially appointed as the Guardian of the Goldfish as he is perpetually gazing down at the pond and checking on its welfare.

Ffion holding Dibby

Dibby checking the pond

]]> http://magicsparkles.wordpress.com/2011/04/18/devils-punchbowl/feed/ 0 magicsparkles Jen and Fi Ffion holding Dibby Dibby by the pond