It's a bit batty

One of the planning requirements of Monmouthshire is that we have to have a bat survey before we can submit our application. This can only be completed between May and September, so our timing is spot on - if we had been ready to go to planning in October we would have had to wait till the following May. If bats are found or there is the possibility of bats being found, we have to tell the planning people how we're going to protect the bats and look after them. This will inevitably delay things, so we're hoping for no bats.

Our bat experts came on Monday afternoon, set up some kit and peered into the loft where they found... bat droppings. Pooh. Literally - a small number of bat droppings under the ridge tiles. And some older droppings under the insulation.

There also had to be a bat count, so we all sat outside at dusk waiting for bats. It was FREEZING. Luckily enough it was above 10 degrees (apparently it has to be for the bats to fly) and we waited. And waited... Then at last some activity - horseshoe bats and pipistrelles, picked up by the bat sonar  and seen fleetingly in the gloom. What we were looking for was evidence of bats coming out from under the ridge tiles. Nope - didn't get that.

So guess what that means? Yep, another survey in a month's time, just in case the bat droppings in the roof were from summer bats, who won't have arrived yet. We can't yet submit planning, we can't get any costings and we've been advised not to start taking the paint off the outside walls in case the planners get wind of it and think we've started work. So we wait...

Although, there is actually something we could be doing - cutting the grass paddocks. It's a lot of grass so we thought we should get...

A TRACTOR!!  It's brilliant! We've been well advised by our friend Vincent as to what to buy, and we've got a Yanmar tractor, a flail mower, a harrow and a tipper trailer for carting logs around. We've already started moving a huge heap of logs which happen to be exactly where we intend to put a garden shed, and we'll start on the mowing when it stops raining.

As you can see, Guy seems happy with it!