A Very Special Day

Yesterday was such a special day, the culmination of a year of hard study for Jason and lots of support from his family to get him there.

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We all celebrated in his success, the sort of success you only get when you work hard and persevere.

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Some of my favourite men, Dad, Jason and Lovely Hubby, posing manfully.

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Light hearted moments and lots of laughs made for a wonderful day.

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Alan........Lovely Hubby, the man that made it possible for Jason to spend another year at University, I'm loving that all my men make me SO proud of their skills and achievements.

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Jason David Wright, BSc MSc

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Sue xx

Sulky Animals

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This morning has been spent with the two of us thawing out the animals water and making sure the animals and birds (both domestic and wild) are fed, warm and comfortable.

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This means that bucket after bucket (and watering can after watering can) of water have to be lugged to the paddock and the orchard to thaw out the pigs troughs. Ice has to be picked out as soon as it loosens, otherwise it cools the warm water down again. The animals love the taste of the warm water and you have to be careful not to let them get under the flow as you pour it out, (our Aga warms our water to a VERY hot temperature).

~As soon as they have eaten all their food and drunk enough to fill and warm their tummies we have to face the mournful, sulky looks, I'm sure they blame us completely for this alien and freezing cold terrain. The pigs hate walking on frozen earth and stand still for longer than usual.

~As soon as they see us head for the house they realise that there will be no more food until teatime, they somberly pick their way back to the pig arks, get comfy in the liberal amounts of straw and prepare to snooze away another day.

~Tinka, Tayla and Gypsey (posing in order) show their cute little faces in the vague hope of second helpings of breakfast......

~ ...but no, even the dogs need to get indoors to thaw out their little paws. So that's it, morning chores over with and time to thaw us out with bowls of steaming porridge and more hot coffee.

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Have a warm and cosy weekend wherever you are.

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Sue xx

Iris and Fern......

Iris and Fern

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During the night another little cutie joined the brood, or rather was born all alone in the dark incubator. Imagine spending your first night in this world all alone and in the dark, (at least she was warm and could hear cheeping from the box).....never mind she's in with her brothers and sisters now (fingers crossed they're all sisters) and enjoying lots of little fluffy cuddles. Up to now we have seven little babies, with one more egg looking hopeful for hatching.

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~ One minute they're all awake and dashing around, the next it's as though their little batteries run down and they lie down and fall fast asleep. ~~ The mop like thing you see is one of Lovely Hubbys' scarves cut into strips and bunched up. It makes a pretend 'mummy' for them to run under when they feel threatened or cold. Although they all love the heat from the infra red lamp and bask in its glow. ~ ~

When I briefly turned it off to get a photo they quickly huddled together and fell asleep. So I quickly turned it back on.

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Today I must try and get some chores done and spend less time with the chicks....yeah right!!

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So it's goodbye from Iris and Fern and it's goodbye from me.....

Sue xx

The miracle of birth......

Meet Pipsqueak....our firstborn.

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By 9.30 last night the first chick was drying out and cheeping away to itself. After a brief look at her we left the incubator alone, we thought better to keep the room dark and not disturb them too much.....but it was SO hard to peel myself away.

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I went to check on them at first light after seeing to all the other animals, we are in a frosty wonderland here on the farm today and frustratingly all the troughs and feeders had to be thawed out, meaning I got to my little babies much later than I would have liked.

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But there was Pipsqueak all dried out and fluffy, and amazingly when I called 'chook, chook, chook' she clambered over the other eggs and dividers to get to my hand and jumped on.....I truly am Mummy!

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Then I witnessed the birth of the second chick, all the noise me and Pipsqueak were making triggered a monumental effort on the part of chick number two.......

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...and she heaved herself out of her shell and draped herself over the divider....

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...thrashing backwards and forwards in exhaustion....

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...with her little heart visably pounding in her chest, she got her bearings.

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I gently placed her over the divider in the larger space with Pipsqueak...

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...and left her curled up in the corner to re-cuperate from her tremendous effort. Next to her is her little sister which as I type this is now almost ready to pop out completely. ~

Pipsqueak showed lots of interest in her new little sibling and cheeped for all she was worth.

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The next stage is for them to move into this box with the heat lamp set on the tripod over it to keep them cosy for their first couple of days, then it will be into the brooder cage. But for now they are all still in the incubator, it keeps them nice and warm and their cheeping encourages the others to begin the long journey into this frosty world.

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Back with another update and more photos tomorrow.

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Hello Big Wide World!

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Sue xx

First signs of life.......

Just a quick update to show you what I found when I went to look at the eggs at 6 o'clock tonight.

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Two of the occupants are making their way into the big wide world.

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And when I spoke to them......'chook, chook, chook'......they answered and made a bigger effort to escape their cosy eggs, which then rocked frantically backwards and forwards....soooo cute!

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More 'eggciting' news tomorrow.....I'm SO excited!!

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Sue xx

After a wonderful relaxing weekend......

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It's been a brilliant weekend with Mum and Dad visiting since Friday, and friends coming for Supper on Friday night. So lots of laughs, chatting and good food (diets went slightly out of the window, but on the whole we were good).

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So after a wonderfully relaxing weekend it could be a case of the Monday morning blues, but this week we have something to look forward to, the imminent hatching of our chicks. The eggs were all 'candled' last week and all but 2 or 3 looked viable. But until they hatch we just won't know. This is new territory for me and possibly the start of a new cash source for the farm as the Lavender Pekin Bantams will be for sale in little family groups.

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They make lovely little pets, they are friendly, very watchable and cuddly, and as a bonus they lay the most tasty little eggs (about 4 or 5 a week each during the longer days).

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We have everything ready for the new arrivals, the infra red light to keep them warm, a big bag of Chick Crumb for when they start eating on the second day, the brooder cage for them to live in to keep them safe from the cats and a certain little doggie....yes, Rosy I mean YOU!! ~

So come on little chicks......time to start your big escape!!

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The other main job accomplished this week was the vacinating of all the pigs, filmed for posterity by my Dad, Alan was very brave using his new toy a 'Masterject' for the first time in front of the camera. Previously we have always just used ordinary syringes and what a hit and miss job we made of that!!

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Big thanks to Dad for the tidying of the polytunnel, I will go out and finish it off this week I promise!!

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Sue xx

Visitors to the farm bearing gifts......

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When my Mum and Dad decided to visit us on the farm, I asked them if they had anything suitable for the Kune Kunes to play with, old footballs, lightweight containers they can throw around etc etc...... as they are only baby pigs they like to play, it keeps them out of mischief (well sometimes!).

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They came bearing gifts......for piggies to play with! They couldn't find anything in Dad's stash of 'useful' saved oddities in the garage, so they stopped at a shop on the way and made a few purchases.

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I did tell Mum they were baby piggies.....not just babies....honest!!

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This is a storybook mitten....seemingly I have to sit in the arc reading them a bedtime story......what will Lovely Hubby say about that then!!

Sue xx

This time last year......

Maud and Martha

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This time last year Maud and Martha were cute little piggies just able to reach into their troughs comfortably, now they both weigh around 27 stone and throw the troughs around like they were paper aeroplanes!

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Martha

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All the pigs are doing well at the moment, we currently have ten, eight girls and two boys, lots of babies are due around Christmas time, so soon, hopefully, that number will massively go up!!

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The first babies due on the farm are the chicks....due next week, if all has been going well with the incubator, I'm going to 'candle' the eggs later and see how many are viable.

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Have a good day, and I hope it's a bit warmer where you are than it is here. When we woke to to no frost we expected it to be warmer, but the wind is icy. I had the ear flap down on my hat for the doggie walk this morning!!

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Sue xx

Like an onion......

As I peeled off layers of clothes this morning, an onion sprang to mind, as I removed layer after layer, two pairs of trousers, one tee-shirt, one sweatshirt, one cosy fleecey jacket and then a quilted bodywarmer, two pairs of socks had kept my feet almost warm and with cosy gloves and my hands in fleece lined pockets as I walked the dogs, wearing my lovely cosy fur lined hat with ear flaps, it was no wonder that the pigs looked at me in wonder a few minutes earlier!!

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The frost lay think on the ground til late and the heavy mist never went today, it lifted slightly, but the sun's weak rays could do nothing to burn it off.

~ The birds and the animals have spent the day mooching about, scratching for food, sleeping in cosy arks, ignoring the miserable day on the outside. The highlight of their day, me appearing once more dressed like Scott of the Antartic with fresh rations at teatime. Now they are all in bed for the night, tucked up safe and secure and it's time for the fire to be lit in our hearth, for curtains to be closed and for us to follow the example of the animals.

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Who says animals have no sense.

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Sue xx

The Weekend

For the first time in ages our weekends are getting to be just that ittle bit more relaxing. There is a winding down of things to do, yes there are always the animals to feed and muck out, and there should be more tidying up done around the farm I suppose. But we are doing what farmers of old did and responding to the shortening days with more indoor activities.

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The house is being tidied, and a touch of redecorating is going on. The paperwork is gradually being brought up to date. And in the manner of Archie, seen above stretched out on his new favourite snoozing place, we are relaxing, sitting down earlier, watching a bit of TV catching up on our backlog of reading material and finding ourselves nodding off in front of the roaring fire each evening.

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I'm finding that apart from the constant rain and yucky mud, Winter has some good points!!

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Sue xx

Thank You

Thank you for all the lovely comments yesterday. It's always a poignant day, and so it will be again on Sunday. When we take time at the Farmers Market to stand and offer our two minutes of silence as a mark of respect to the service men and women who have laid down their lives or their health for our country.

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My two brave men are quiet about some of what they've seen and lived through. They both losts friends and seen too much suffering in the past. Snippets come out in conversation occasionally and with each new bit of information my respect and admiration grows for them. They go through SO much, that we know nothing about our young men and women who go off to war and come back with a knowledge they should never have.

Thank you again for understanding.

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Firstly, this weekend we will be repairing all the damage that yesterday heavy winds caused, only bits and pieces thank goodness. Lots of things have blown around the farm that will need finding and putting back in their proper places. It's a kind of hide and seek for farm implements I feel!!

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Then we are off to buy supplies, the animals all have healthy appetites with this cold weather and keeping little tummies full and animals and birds happy is important. Now I feel a quick whizz round with the vacuum cleaner is called for, you can only ignore dirty doggy footprints for SO long. Gosh I lead an adventurous life....... lol!!

Have a good weekend wherever you are and whatever you do.

Sue xx

Respect

They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old.

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

we will remember them.

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I have two menfolk that have served their country in times of war, luckily they came back, many didn't. Today we give thanks to ALL the serving members of the armed forces and we remember the MANY who have laid down their lives for us, that we may enjoy peace.

Respect is due, is not always shown, but is the only way we can truly show our thanks to the men and women who work so hard to defend this, their and our country. Wear your poppy with pride, it's a sign we care.

Sue xx

Feeding our feathered friends.....

Now's the time to really be feeding our feathered friends regularly. Lovely Hubby is a big softy and can't bear to think of all the little birdies with hungry tummies. We bulk buy peanuts, Wild Bird Seed and Fat Balls whenever they are on offer in the shops and try to make sure that all our bird feeders are kept topped up at all times.

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Two of my birthday presents this year are really coming in to their own now that the frosty mornings are here. The birdbath at the top of the post is used daily for drinking and bathing, and on frosty mornings I always go and top it up with some warmer water. It's lovely to watch the little birds flittering around having fun in the water.

The seed feeder in the other photo is also well used and is usually to be found with a little bird on each perch. We also have a large Fat Ball holder for our loose fat balls (the fat balls you can buy in little nets can be dangerous for small birds they get entangled) and two peanut feeders,. one small and one large.

As you can imagine it gets very busy here during the day. Two new regular visitors are the Woodpecker from last year and his mate. He obviously has a good memory for the best place to eat in town.

(And NO we don't have daffodils blooming at the moment, the top picture was taken in April!!)

Sue xx

What are we up to now.......

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Well here on the farm we're up to lots, as usual, but for the benefit of this post these are three of the most recent things we've been up to.

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Lovely Hubby doing what men do best... ~~ ...using the kitchen table for the purposes of taking apart dirty equipment, in this instance maintenance of his chain saw. ~ And me caught on camera, holed up in my work room putting the finishing touches to masses of Christmas cards ready for the next Farmers Market. ~ Very reluctantly talked into posing! ~

And the best thing, the picture at the top of the post, my incubator containing12 Lavender Pekin eggs and 2 Welsummer eggs hopefully due for hatching on the 23rd of this month. I'll keep you informed if it works. ~ Sue xx