Brrrr....it's cold!

The weather has turned distinctly cold with a touch of snow but this does not deter the man whose favourite employment in past winters has been making snow at 2000m in the wee small hours of the morning.

This week, abandoning the trusty scythe for mechanisation, Jon has been cutting the grass around the green areas with a flail cutter. Yes I had to ask too. For the uneducated amongst us, this consists of a rotating drum with lengths of chain attached which sits on the front of a machine. It 'smashes' the grass and is good for the initial preparation of uneven ground. Sorry there are no action shots of this but poor Claudia has been suffering from a cold and has been stuck at home for a few days...sensible girl....hope she's feeling better soon.

Working on the 5th fairway

A couple of pics showing the fifth fairway after it has been cleared of gorse and trees and Jon clearing gorse from the small burn running alongside it. As you will probably gathered by now, gorse is a major feature of the land at present!

Clearing the first green complex

Work has started on the first green complex, an area which is covered in long grass that doesn't appear to have been cut or grazed for the last 20 or so years. This means a thatch problem of up to 2 feet (60 cm) in places which has to be cut away with the scythe.

The photos show the area before and after clearing, note the large pile of gorse and other debris in the middle of the second picture.