MOLE WARFARE (6)

In an earlier post, one commentator asked for more details about the various battlegrounds with the Mole Army, including a map. So, here they come.

Here is the house, as seen from the road, with the newly roofed middle building and the big beech tree in the background.










And here is the Mole Army's view from the compost heap, looking north east to the barn, the back of the middle building, and the big beech tree.

Last summer I cleared the area between the house and the wood on the right of trees. Between now and 1 May, a man will come with a machine and chew up all the ground, together with the remaining tree stumps and tree roots. I will then sow grass and perhaps a couple of cherry trees.

This is looking from the north east towards the back of the barn (the big beech tree is on my right). As part of the Smug Builder project, I have bricked up the four outlets, where the pigs used to run in and out, and have built a door opening. You can also just about see the foundation, which I rendered yesterday afternoon. Later this year, I will paint the barn, so that it is the same as the middle building on the right. 

This is the edge of the cleared area, looking south west at the compost heap, Mole Army HQ. The orchard is off to the left, and the fallen apple tree and paddock are in the background.

Note the evidence of warfare in the foreground, the front line of trenches.

The rather Somme-like ground in amongst the orchard.

I have beaten a tactical retreat here, while I sort out the cleared area closer to the house.

The fallen apple tree, and the Mole Army's supply line up from the paddock into the compost heap on the right.

This is low-lying and swampy, which is why the tree collapsed. Perhaps I should break up the supply line by building a pond?

The flat area in the near background is where I am going to build the kitchen garden, this year's new project.  But I have to clear out the moles from under the compost heap first.

Walter Blotscher