 | Thank God the bulk of the harvest is done for 2015! All we have left is second-cut hay. They have been long, exhausting and physical days. I now have to brush up my parenting skills, reintroduce myself to forgotten friends and catch up on a mountain of office work (office work according to Mike is not real work as you don’t sweat!) He annoyingly refers to it as ‘my days off!” If he keeps doing that I will deck him with my ‘Popeye-like’ muscles developed from bale bumping. I may need to add ‘Anger Management’ to my to-do list.  Last loads coming in. |
The livery yard has been really busy with high demand as we go towards Autumn. We have some new horses coming to the yard. I really want to improve our fencing over the winter. We still have plenty of grass and the paddocks are in lovely condition.
| Every day I lift and lug bales and feed bags, shove massive beef animals around, chainsaw wood, muck out pens/stables and move furniture in the holiday cottage to hoover underneath (yes….I really do hoover underneath, but alas not in my own home for years. God knows what lurks in dusty peace under our furniture? I’d need the shotgun at the ready before moving anything. Then last week I relaxed in a bath went to get up and “arghhhh….’locked spine agony’. Where is the logic in that… is it normal? I’m far too skint to pay for an osteopath so can be seen dangling from beams on the farm and doing stretching exercises whenever possible. The holiday cottage continues to be busy. We had a dear little boy staying, who managed to knock himself out on day two and ended up in Gloucester Royal overnight. He then became ‘farming mad’ (was this related to the bump on his head I wonder?) and wanted to watch the tractors going up and down the lane to see the animals. When I was babysitting, I could hear him in the bedroom singing ‘Old McDonald’s Farm’. I gave him a little ride on the tractor. What a poppet! Maybe we should put him down as our work experience lad for 2029? |  |
| We are continually improving the cottage. Our guests have made some great suggestions and during the last month I have purchased a fantastic plastic (retro) set of crockery for the children when they are having cream tea. I want them to have nice stuff and not the yukky modern plastic (but maybe not the bone china?) Recently I have purchased: shaver/toothbrush charging plugs, a little toilet seat for toddlers and a stepping stool, a lovely little antique walnut wardrobe and postcards showing a cottage and farm. This list goes on! The suggestion we will not be following was having dogs upstairs, I understand people love their dogs but I have provided a lovely room for them complete with smoke/carbon monoxide alarms, blinds at windows, bowls, luxury dog beds and dog shower/bath. It’s not fair on other guests to have dogs in bedrooms. Something I want to get is a slow cooker, they are so useful. | Here is a nice picture of our bull, cow and the twins. They are growing.  |
| Our next big job now the harvest is finished is getting all our winter wood in. I love this job! We go out as a team with loadall and trailer and pick up any fallen stuff from the fields. My lovely old Rayburn provides us with all our hot water, cooking and a fair bit of warmth. If somebody offered me a top of the range brand new electric cooker I would decline with thanks. You cannot warm your backside on a soulless electric cooker. |  | I am very excited about getting a workaway volunteer here for a month or two. My garden is a shameful mess and needs attention. I had quite a response and they all seemed so nice. I did workaway when I was young and loved it (still good friends with my host family). I have had to explain to Mike that they are NOT slave labour! In my opinion anybody who is prepared to travel around the world doing a few hours work in exchange for food and a room has got to be interesting. Not sure what they will make of us? |
| We have our little old tractor going - it has sat in a barn for years. We will be taking it to a show in September at the Speech House. Thank you to the vintage specialists who got it running again so quickly. Looks like AGONY to drive with the cracked (metal!) seat and spikey wheels; you’d never be the same again after a spin around the yard. |  |
On a sad note we lost a farming friend in an ‘on farm’ accident. Farming currently employs less than 1% of the working population but it is responsible for 25% of the work-place deaths. This has GOT to stop! I think if you had women keeping an eye on safety this situation would improve. I drum safety into our apprentice and helpers and woe betide anybody who doesn’t listen (including Mike). We feel so sad and our thoughts are with his family. How can anybody so vibrant and full of life have gone?
RSS Feed