Life on a smallholding

How things have changed!

2011-09-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

Well wouldn't you know it....things have certainly changed...

After getting contract work for a short while, My husband had to move back down to the London area, the contract kept getting extended, but because of him being sent to Germany and the cost of a mortgage, plus his boardings, the flights to come home, the cost of the expenses while he was away, and the dream of emigration to Canada for more land, it worked out so much cheaper for me to give up my dream of the small holding in Scotland, and move back down to Midhurst from where i had once left.

We rented our house out to a lovely friend and her son. My own son came up with his girlfriend and helped paint the outside of the house as well as help me pack up boxes, and he help my friend move into the house from where i was leaving.
We had a fancy dress leaving party in the barn to say goodbye to our friends, there was a few tears, mainly from me, a few giddy heads that night too, again mainly from me, it was a very emotional night.

The following day the storms arrived, some of the hard work we had put into the garden, got destroyed, it was so disheartening, especially as i was leaving Scotland with a very heavy heart.
The archway i had put together and stained, and my husband had bolted to a concrete floor, was destroyed and about five feet away from its original position, that was the Monday night, again i wanted to cry.

The Tuesday we collected the van, collected a mates son and his mate, and loaded up the van ready, only to find, that although it was the biggest van that my husband could drive on his licence, it wasn't big enough, and we would have to leave some of our things behind for a while, we sorted out essentials and packed them, leaving non-essentials behind, later that evening, we said our goodbyes and left for the long journey back down south.....during which, we stopped at regular intervals to let the two dogs out for a pee now and then.

The dogs were brilliant during the journey, even though the space for us all was cramped, they didn't whine, and just settled down under my feet, the cat was beside me in her basket with coats and dog leads on top, in fact my husband had the best seat even though he was driving, he had the most space!

My son helped us move into a little rented mid terrace, town house, in a very neat little close... the garden out the back is the size of a postage stamp in comparison to the house in New Byth, with the front garden being smaller still. Getting used to stairs again was a bit strange at first, and Katie the Spaniel refused to go up at first, until of course she couldn't see me then she changed her mind.

Ghillie had managed to tear his paw at some point, so we had visited the vets within the first few days, and the poor dog is now drugged up to the hilts.

Well this is it, the end of a chapter.....well for now. After the amount of time, effort, and money, let alone the paperwork and events we have had to attend to be able to emigrate, we hope we can, its taken over a year and they can still say 'no'.... so i will write again at the next chapter, whether its in Canada, with a new life.....or back in Scotland with a slightly different life...either way, we will have livestock again, and maybe a small business to go with it, but will tell you about it all next time.

Another Addition

2011-03-02T03:09:00.000-08:00

No matter what we do we just cannot seem to give Ghillie the exercise he needs, so we got him a little, very hyper, springer spaniel bitch...and she is gorgeous!

They get on like a house on fire, they constantly play, so much so, i make them have "rest times" when they just sit in their beds and chill out for 15 Min's.

She is not a young pup, more of a young dog, as she is 18month old, but she is lovely natured, quite well trained, great recall and a very amusing personality....hmmmm now there's a thought....can pets have personality's? as they are not persons per say.....oh well....she has it in abundance whatever it is!

So I would like you to meet the newest member of our family...here is Katie!

And here is Katie and Ghillie together

The weather up here of late, is lovely, very spring like, beautiful sunshine now since last Friday, and quite warm at times reaching 10+, although its a bit on the windy side today, and the wind is still cold.I am still not getting to excited over the warmer and sunnier weather as i am sure we will have another bout of winter to come...going by the photos i have taken over the last 3 or 4 years up here, we get more snow in March and April...so we will see.

A few weeks ago, we saw our first lambs in one of the fields nearby, and the Yellow Hammers are back in the garden.So signs of spring is around the corner.

I also took a class of four friends and gave them a watercolour lesson, i thoroughly enjoyed it, we all laughed, and the paintings they came out with were lovely, i might have to do another one sometime soon, but make it a little different somehow, don't know how yet....but i am working on it!!

The mortgage money finally came through, and we have been doing the house up, Living room and spare rooms are now finished, but still plenty more work to do!

We did go and buy each other a nice Christmas present, I got him an E Reader and he got me an SLR Camera...love it to bits... i am getting some wonderful shots....well i think they are wonderful, others might not hahaha

My Husband got offered a job down in Egham, which he took, its contract work, and it pays very well, but does mean i get to see him every other weekend :( I know its something that must be done, but i miss him so much when he has gone.

On a brighter note, we take our English test on the 19th, that's if we can get someone to house sit and look after the cat and birds (dogs are coming with us), getting worried as its getting to a stage when we are running out of time to book anywhere down in Guildford. So fingers crossed this gets sorted asap....and we are going through police checks as i speak, after that its a case of medical checks and a yes or no whether we are accepted or not...fingers crossed.

Well i am off to decide what to do next....do i start painting the kitchen or do i dig the soil for some trees?... or i could repaint the kitchen cupboards? i think i will make a cuppa and see what or if anything inspires me!! hehehe

A New Year...New Start?

2011-01-15T13:24:00.000-08:00

Well the new year has started, Happy New Year BTW...

It didn't start off too well, we are broke, and still waiting for the mortgage money... My son came up with his girlfriend, which was lovely, but thanks to them we ended up with the lurgy :( it was not good.

My husband got it first, coughing, temperature, shaking, bones aching, and sore stomach from the coughing, he was in bed for a wee while....so, as i didn't have it at that point, i thought "oh dear, man flu!" and proceeded to treat him as such...you know the thing, "oh you poor dear" and "would you like some lemsip my love".....but he then gave it to me....it completely knocked me off my feet, i had everything he had, and lost a stone in weight in a week! I still have it and he has just a cough now, it hurts! and it aches....he now asks me if i want a lemsip.

It didn't help that we still don't have any heating in the house, apart from the open fire and a small fan heater, and it has been cold!

We had so much snow we had to dig the ducks out of the duck house(we also had to dig ourselves out at one point), we then decided that it was probably better if they lived in the barn and the chickens in the poly tunnel for a month, well, today the ducks went back outside, i fixed the duck house from the winter damage, and gave it a good clean out...the chickens also had a clean out, but are still in the poly tunnel at night, but have the freedom of the garden during the day...soon we will put the hen house outside too.

We started the year with snow, followed by a day when there was ice everywhere, the Canadian cousins would of loved it, because it was like parking the car in the middle of an ice rink, they would probably of played hockey on it!.......... but most of it has gone now.

The paperwork is almost sorted, we were hoping to take our English test next weekend, but as we still haven't got the mortgage through, we cant ... will have to wait till the end of Feb for the next test, and unfortunately it might mean all our paperwork will be out of date by then and we will have to start again :( Not sure if i really want to start again though, will just have to wait and see i guess.

Well its late again, the cat has curled up beside me, and the dog is hinting....he will have to wait as i am also watching CSi New York....soon Ghillie, soon

Night night all

Things get tough

2010-12-17T15:55:00.000-08:00

Well where to start, after two days of thaw, we have more snow...but its different this time, its not just laying this time its blowing everywhere, my once red door is slowly becoming white!

Money is seriously tight now, cant get over how bad things are getting, Christmas was going to be cancelled as we couldn't afford it, let alone buy pressies etc, and the stock i have left, that i was going to sell at market tomorrow, is now going to be presents as the market is cancelled...still we have some coal at the moment, and we have some wood.

The poly tunnel broke today, the wind managed to break a piece of wood of the door frame...the rest of its OK, and it was a door we didn't use, will have to fix it tomorrow though.

Post has been pretty much non-existent in the last few weeks...when it has arrived we received a secret Santa, Christmas cards and bills that we cant afford!
The items we are waiting for, have yet to arrive...the letter from the body shop as my proof of working there, for the Canadian immigration...its taking forever, as is my NI information, another one that seems to be lost in the post!

We are hoping to do our English test in February, once Christmas and new year are over, unless we can find one at an earlier date ... hopefully the mortgage money would be through by then, otherwise we wont be able to do it.

The mortgage is another one that's taking too long, we would of had it now, but Morrison's took ages in sorting out the relevant info for the mortgage company, now we wont get it till after Christmas...and to top it off Oil fuel cant be delivered till the end of January now due to the back log...later than they originally said, yet down in Berkshire, where my husband dad lives, they have next day delivery! its not like they didn't know it was coming, its here every year in Scotland....how can they be this unprepared!

I must admit, it does look christmassy outside, with the snow and the lights...even if i am still struggling to get into the Christmas mood.

On another bright side we have one hen laying an egg every other day...its one of the rescue hens, but i don't know which one.
The cat has gone senile, uses her litter tray to pee, but not for the other, my floor gets that privilege...she cant go out at night as we don't have a cat flap, so she goes out all day and spends the night in....but just lately she is being a pain at night! mind you, she is elderly, so maybe i should give her some slack!

Well the fire has gone out, my husband is at work, both the cat and dog have gone to bed without me (after telling me its bed time at 9pm, they gave up when i ignored them), and its now 20 to 1 in the morning!
Night night all

Snow

2010-12-10T14:33:00.000-08:00

There hasn't been much let up in the snow...that is until a couple of days ago, when the thaw started, floods appearing everywhere, and ice under allot of the water in some places, our lane is a major skating rink, the 4x4 is struggling with it.

The snow hasn't gone yet...the forecast is basically saying that if we think we have had it bad recently, wait till the next lot arrives, its going to make the last lot feel like a walk in the park!! time to get stocked up.

We have managed so far without heating, despite the -20 we have had a couple of times at night and the -5 on a daily basis..... the family down south have worried about us, i know they have, my mother sent some money to buy coal with, my husbands parents and aunt sent money for oil for the Rayburn, and although we have coal, we still cant get oil for two reasons, all the bills have come in so the money went on them, and they cant deliver oil until the new year!! so we will have to make do with a fire in the fire place, and two little fan heaters...its not so bad, you get used to it after a while.

Tonight, the snow is melting ... very fast!! and its incredibly windy, i dare not light a fire tonight as the wind keeps blowing down the chimney, so i have several layers on and a blanket over my knees, as well as the little fan heaters in the hall, but i do feel like a real old biddy!! hahaha

I am a bit of a nervous wreck tonight, my husband is working nights, and the security light keeps coming on, its probably just the cows going past in the field next door...but not knowing for certain and the noise outside, and being alone(well apart from the dog and cat), sets my mind racing....don't like it....i don't like it at all!!

The temperature has dropped, my fingers and nose is cold, funny how you don't 'feel' cold till your toes, nose and fingers feel cold.

well off to do some crafting! its only 11pm UK time, and probably if i went to bed i wouldnt sleep ... so may as well craft, i might get some stock done for Etsy hahaha

How Wet it is!

2010-11-13T04:27:00.001-08:00

Oh the weather has been bad just lately! Heavy teeming rain! windy! its Come down sideways!!

Which means the ground is sodden!, the area where the ducks are, is muddy! and the hens you will rarely see as they are permanently hiding away in the bushes and trees! But they cant be that unhappy as they are still laying....well one of the hens and one duck is.....well was till the snow came down, and boy did it come down!!

We got snowed in for a week and a half! had to move the ducks into the barn as the snow covered their house, the chickens were moved into the poly tunnel, which although it keeps them warm, it also clears the weeds out of the poly tunnel...so win win!

Although, through all this, A Rat is still managing to go about his business! Bleeding things!

My partner has seen it in the barn, and put traps and poison down in there, I have heard it in the walls of the house and in the roof, so my partner put traps and poison down in there too....and the bleeding thing is ignoring them all!!

Its like a heard of elephants doing a tap dance in the attic some nights!!...no idea how they are getting in...have gone round the house to check if its the drains etc. but they are well and truly blocked off so nothing but water can go down them!

When the snow came down, and after my husband had put insulation down in the loft, we haven't heard them up there, but there is evidence they are in the barn and now the poly tunnel!!

Will win this war! once and for all!! Look out Rats! i am out to get you!!

One afternoon, (Saturday 13.11.2010) we went to see two lovely people...one of which is a blacksmith...something that i think is a lovely art...and he taught me how to make a hook! ..... I loved it! and sooo pleased with myself, when asked what am i going to hang on it...my husband said my ego... then decided that there wasn't enough metal to make a hook that big!! Cheek!

I know one thing though....its coming to Canada with us!!

I must admit, i am seriously chuffed to bits...and although he made it look easy....let me assure you all........it wasn't!!

I have open an etsy shop recently http://www.kimkerly.etsy.com/ to sell my crafts, it was a suggestion or two from some lovely people on the vegetable forum( http://www.growveg.info/ )but before i could put anything on it, i sold some of it to them ....so now i am trying to make things to sell on there...so far my crafts don't seem to be good enough compared to some of the things that's selling on there...but we will see what happens...still have ideas up my sleeve!

Christmas is only a couple of weeks away, and we don't at present have money to buy anything, we are hoping the mortgage money comes through soon...if not Christmas may be late!!

Oops

2010-11-12T07:19:00.000-08:00

Oops, I forgot to do my blog i know...and yes i am sorry...but so many things on my mind, i just sort of, well, forgot!

Anyway, last time i was saying how worried i was with selling Sunny, well i needn't of been, people wanted him more that the others, so he went to a lady who took both him and Alice, We had already sold Rita,Tuppence and Penny to another couple, who already had one goat which needed company (plus they wanted to get milk for cheese etc), and we finally sold Bailey and Becca to another woman in the village...so now we are goat less, and have been now since the day before the wedding....I do miss having them i must admit.

The wedding was great, so informal, which is what we wanted, and people were very generous and gave us donations towards the honeymoon in Canada.

We spent two weeks in Canada, oh my it was stunning, my cousins, who i met for the first time and put us up for the two weeks, were wonderful, but don't tell them that, they will get very big headed hahaha

We stayed in Calgary for the most part, and was very kindly taxied around...we went to the Zoo, and the Heritage park, went into the Rockies to lake Kananaski's as well as Lake Louise...my that was a stunning place to go, if you ever get the chance to go to just one place on earth...go to lake Louise!!

The lake has the most stunning turquoise blue, the only place i have seen that kind of blue is in the Caribean...stunning, truly stunning.

Anyway we went to Banff...not the Scottish one but their one....completely different to ours, no sea for a start! Another lovely place.

We came back to a very damp Scotland, the house looked dismal, and we made our minds up...so its off to Canada to live...well for a year, and if we like it, then we will look to buy..so it wont be for a year or so that i can have goats again :( but I am sure it will go quickly.

So now its a case of getting the house sorted to sell, new carpets for the lounge, and spare room, and one for our bedroom when we have re-decorated it.

We have started the kitchen, painting the ceiling at the mo, painting the cupboard doors, and making curtains...trying to get the proper cottage feel, without MDF doors!

Well off to make banana muffins now...chat soon

soo busy!

2010-07-01T02:42:00.000-07:00

I am sorry its been a while since i have posted on here, I have been a bit busy, and to be honest I did forget as well which is bad on my part.

We have been doing up the front of the house, with the help of some friends, getting wedding plans underway, sorting out honeymoon, chasing goats, milking goats!, making cheese, sorting out the website ( http://www.thegleefulgoat.co.uk/ ), had visitors staying then had more staying ...and the list goes on!!

So where do i start is the next question....hmmm that's a difficult one to answer to be honest.

My partner and I have decided we are going to Canada for our honeymoon, it will give us a chance to meet some family we both have over there, and when i say meet...its because i found some cousins through searching my family tree, one set in Calgary area the other in the London area of Canada, plus my partner has an aunt living in Toronto area.

If we like it over there ... we might live there for a year...and if that works out...well...who knows what will happen!

Anyway, that's the future...maybe, but for the moment we have to have to concentrate on the here and now, and one of the first tasks is finding my partner another job...he was laid off last week and is the main bread winner, he has set up a website, in hope that someone will want him to do some work for them... his web address is www.ohs-consulting.co.uk its all to do with Health and safety in the workplace.

Well its my Birthday today, and it has been a good start! I got a Wii fit board from my partner(something i wanted), a watercolour set from my ex husband and my son and his partner, a lovely goat blackboard from my friend and a pair of PJ's that i am currently wearing as a t-shirt and trousers hahaha ...The sun is shining, which is rare on my birthday(usually a storm or rain on it)...my partner gave me a lovely breakfast outside on the patio set, and i feel like i have been thoroughly spoilt...i am a happy bunny :D

The wedding plans are going well...and the minor panic i had last week about everything going wrong, has now gone...thanks to the guys and girls on the veg forum.

Now we are trying to get things cleared out that we no longer need, and we are selling (reluctantly i might add) the goats, we cannot take them with us to Canada...the hardest one to sell is Sunny, our lovely Billy goat, he is a friendly goat, but people think Billy ...vicious...smelly.....and they don't want to know, Pity he is a lovely goat.

well i had better go and wrap the gifts for the wedding...another job done then, and i wont have to worry about people seeing them accidentally.

I must post some fresh photos on here...its been a while!

Been a while

2010-03-30T06:28:00.000-07:00

I know its been a while since my last blog, but i have been a little busy, although when i came to put it in words ...it doesn't sound like a huge amount.

Any way...Penny gave birth, bless her, she always reminds me of the old maid chicken in the foghorn leghorn cartoon, although she is obviously a goat...anyway she gave birth to a little boy called Bailey (we are using an alphabetical system to name the kids, last year was Alice).

Penny almost looked at me as if to say " see what I can do" She was so proud, and protective...unfortunately, being a boy, he will be fattened for the pot, but that's a bit later on, for now he is a bundle of fun.

Still she has impressed me with her devotion to him and the fact that she is not kicking me so much when I milk her! In fact she is getting more and more amiable with the milking for such a skittish goat...and producing more milk each day.

Tuppence also gave birth, to a strong and healthy girl called Becca, named after my niece ... they share the same birthday...we were given the idea from my mother, although my niece didn't seem very impressed when we told her hahaha

Tuppence's girl is quite a bit bigger than Bailey...and very much more outgoing! in and on everything...we are having so much fun with her.

We put them outside, Tuppence, Penny, Becca and Bailey.

Bailey followed mother everywhere...wouldn't leave her side, but Becca was off exploring..charging round everywhere then she get around the far side of the shelter and call her mother who would come running....only to find Becca would run off again..... you could almost hear Tuppence saying "for goodness sake will you stand still! " I couldn't help but giggle!

They are of course a bit bigger now and both getting the first buds of horns coming through, and so are their characters!

Becca at the back and Bailey in the front...you can just make out Baileys horns.

Besides that, we have had a fire place fitted, ready for the last lot of snow! which started yesterday, nothing settling yet even though we have had a constant blizzard all day today...but the worse is yet to come!

I have also made a necklace to go with my wedding dress, and paper leaves for the wedding, also booked some yurts for the event too

I have been making goats cheese and biscuits, looking at making some cosmetics with the milk, goats milk is very good for you after all and I have been selling items from my website (which is www.thegleefulgoat.co.uk ), holding a try and buy for the site...so people can see and touch the items....and in between all that I am crocheting a baby blanket for my soon to be new niece(my brothers partner is due this next month).

To be honest, i am getting the hits but at the moment not getting as many sales as i would like or need to keep the site working...i need to get out and do some tabletop sales too!

We have a new car or two...well new to us! my partner needed one to get to work, and decided to get me one so i can buy feed and get out and about myself....something we desperately needed after someone vandalised the last car! hmmm now there's a thought...maybe i should get my website put on my car ?

Well i am off to do some more baking, ready for when my son arrives this week...need to feed the workers now don't I? hehehehe

New year, new start!

2010-02-01T00:29:00.000-08:00

Well.... things are turning around, We bought one new car and put a deposit on another,which we collect on Saturday, and my partner has started his new job last week...so things are looking up....at last! hmm maybe i shouldn't shout too loud just in case!

We have snow again! mind you i love the stuff, but it does cause problems for others driving etc, and it has caused problems for us in the past, being snowed in...not now though...we hope. And the white stuff is a pain for the animals who cant get out yet, well we can put them out, but our goats will only hop over the fence and head back into their nice warm pens in the barn, so its just not worth it. We did lose two birds to the winter, one chicken, Kiev, she was getting on a bit, and one duck, Daphne, who was disabled and a bit on the weak side anyway, so at least we lost the two weakest birds...but still sad, and before you ask, no we didn't eat either of them as they we too flattened by the other birds!

Snow was fairly deep, it was up to the top of my legs in the driveway, this photo is of the white stuff before it really came down, some where in there is my old smarty! the snow has gone but more snow is forecast this week, although i am not expecting it to be heavy.

I do expect it to be heavy in two weeks though, its usually about two weeks after America has it bad that we get it....so we will have to wait and see....but if i am right ... you have been warned hehehe.

There is no chance of buying the field we wanted, the farmer decided he wanted to grow silage on it....why he has decided that, i don't know, he told me he wanted to be a part time farmer, which with the amount of land he has its impossible, not only that he has trouble keeping the cows fenced in. they are always on the road, and the field is just a small one, compared to the rest of the land he has....also today he sprayed shit all over it, so it now stinks to high heaven, also wont lend it to us for the wedding, god knows where everyone is going to park!

Oh well its his field and his choice and i cant do anything to change that.

We have just had a new beautiful fireplace put in, but looks like we wont get much joy in using it much now, we will have to sell and find somewhere that does have land with it, only need around 5 acres...still we will make the most out of it till then.

well i have jobs to do, so better get on with them...bye for now

new year!

2010-01-18T01:42:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year everyone!!

Well i am sorry i haven't been up to date recently, so much happened over December, that i am sure you will excuse me when you realise why.
December was not a good month for me, first my partner was made redundant, then one of my relatives died, then the illness in my back went into my hip(so now back on the pain killers and back in much pain using the walking stick), then and thankfully finally, someone vandalised our only means of transport on Jan the second, which was parked away from the house as we were severally snowed in, to the point where it has been now written off.
Some good points of December were, my son can up and built a great smoker from an old fridge, and stayed over Christmas along with a couple of friends, then a quick turn around and some other friends came up for new year.
My partner and myself had a good laugh that if we hadn't parked our car at the top of our lane, we would of been snowed in since before Christmas, it was waist deep along the driveway, i know , i had to try and walk through it at one point, but it only hit the news when England got snowed in three weeks after we had been, and it was total chaos down there. We all seemed to just get on with it up in Scotland! But at least my son got the white Christmas that i had promised him the year before! Phew!

Nothing much has happened on the small holding to be honest, we had too much snow to be able to do much outside, we had a duck living in the house for parts of the winter, she didn't seem to have enough down feathers for her to manage the snow and cold, she is a Saxony, and we also have a Saxony drake, we have decided to go from Aylesbury ducks to Saxony's, mainly as they are a better breed for meat and eggs, Aylesbury's are more a commercial breed for meat.
We have two Aylesbury's in the freezer already, with another two drakes soon to follow.

We are having an open fire fitted in the lounge next week, little after the snow i know, but we usually get another bout of snow in Feb and again around March/ April, so at least we will be warm then!
Out of all the goats that have been to our Sunny, we know one is pregnant, the other two we are not sure on, Rita we are fairly sure, is not with kid, Tuppence we are not too sure, it looks like not, her girth has got bigger, but not by much, Penny however, we are fairly sure is, her girth is growing each time we measure her.... wish it had been one of the other two in a way as she is a kicker when we get near her back legs, Tuppence and Rita will just let you get on with whatever you need to do as long as they have some food in front of them...still they can become pregnant yet, they will keep coming into season for a short while yet.

Pigs? yes well there are still pigs in the freezer, debating whether to get two more this year for a hog roast for our wedding menu...yes we are to marry in August, if everything goes well and i can get rid of my walking stick!!
But also we will need the space that the last pigs had, for the goats and kids....still no chance of getting next doors field while my partner has no job....will have to cross everything and hope!

I have set up a web shop that takes Paypal, although i am trying to sort cards side out still, but take a look and I do hope you like it and buy from it. www.thegleefulgoat.co.uk

Anyway, that's it for now, next time i will upload some photos to make the posts a little more interesting.

bye bye pigs

2009-11-27T04:22:00.000-08:00

Well its all done and dusted.
The pigs were collected the Wednesday after taking them in to slaughter, and we started to butcher them ourselves on that morning, we collected the three pigs on the Wednesday as all three were ready, and so three of us had the a lot of work to do!

I was surprised how therapeutic it was! In fact i found it so therapeutic, that i wanted to do them all and not let my partner or friend have a go, but of course i didn't tell them that hahah

We collected the three pig carcass' in the morning, and started to do the job at about 11.30 ish, I had (with the help of my partner) butchered one half before my friend turned up at 1.30pm, we then decided that it was silly her taking her pig home to butcher, especially when we had all the tools and equipment out and sterilised ready ... so she did hers here at our home(with our help) and made sure everything was not only clean, but also not mixed up.

Afterwards, when my friend had gone home, with a very large box of joints, chops, rolls, sausages, bacon etc...we got down to doing the second half of the first pig!
First we cut off the hind leg(to be our Christmas ham), then the next cut was was horizontally up the belly, separating the belly from the ribs, we then cut the hock away, and separated the gammon, a few chops later and a few slices in my own hand, and the second half of the pig was done!

we decided to do the last pig the next morning, but as we didn't have a fridge big enough, we left it in the boot of the car, it was going to be a cold night anyway, so it would act like a large fridge!
The following morning, my partner had butchered the first half of the second pig, before i had even opened my eyes! he was just so keen!
I finished the second half later that morning, we had 4 hams, several bags of chops and bacon, we flavoured the sausages, my favourite one is the honey and sage! hmmm yummy! And we now have a freezer full of various joints and rolls.
The ham's are now in the spare room, one in salt(drying to make our version of Palma ham), one in the freezer(later to be smoked), one in a brine with a beer and molasses mix, and one in a brine and mulled wine mix(our Christmas ham).

Also this week...I have managed to get my web site up and running, and although at the moment people can only buy items with Pay pal...(I hope to add cards very soon)... they can still buy, which is the main thing...I only hope customers do now though, its been hard work...and with my partner being threatened with redundancy as there is no work at present...i really need this to work!
The website for those who wish to look, is www.thegleefulgoat.co.uk i do hope you all enjoy the site.

What a time of it!

2009-11-16T13:13:00.000-08:00

Well my feelings were OK...Twice a day i have been feeding these pigs, scratching their backs, giving them a rub...chasing them out of next doors fields etc....it was like have two black Labradors running amok around the place, and yes i can see how people get very attached to them.
So I was surprised on my feelings this morning....or should i say the lack of them...but then that could of been the early morning feeling too, we were up at 5am, and left for the abattoir at 6am...too tired and busy to feel any remorse.

I have to say, it wasn't that easy though!
Firstly, my partners car, it got us there, or rather it struggled to get us there, doing 10 miles an hour up the slightest hill....the emissions warning light came on last week, so the car had lost its power...i think pulling the trailer for an hour just pushed it over the edge!

Anyway, we struggled on, and got to the abattoir with little problem. The pigs were sleeping in the trailer, so they seemed happy enough.
We pulled into the car park, and I went into the reception to get the relevant paperwork, and was told that once i had filled in the forms, we were to drive the trailer through the gates round the back....so I filled in the form and returned to the car, where my partner was waiting...he turned the key, and....nothing! the car had finally died...right when we didn't want it to, and with only yards to go! how frustrating!

So, a few phone calls...and lots of left messages(no one answering, for one reason or another), and were had gotten no where!
We walked round to where we were suppose to drive the trailer round, and spoke to a girl, who, in turn took us to another nice girl...who took us to a man, who lent us a van with a tow bar, to get the pigs in!
We got the pigs in to find that the pigs were happy in the trailer, so much so, that one of them just rolled over and went back to sleep!, My poor partner had to get in there with them to push them out!
then we left the van and the trailer where it was and walked back to the car, we rang a friend who came out and towed the car back home...and then we rang yet another friend with a tow bar and asked if she would drive back with us to collect the trailer! thankfully she agreed and we managed to get it back OK
But, we have one more pig to get to the abattoir, and as we ran out of time(which wouldn't of happened if the car had been working fine), we have asked the same friend to go again tomorrow, but this time with a pig on tow!
Thank goodness for great friends!!!

Fun on the small-holding!

2009-11-07T07:47:00.000-08:00

Well it started good.

It was my partners birthday Yesterday, so we did what he wanted to...like go to B&Q for some hooks and spend the day out doing things...anyway, we got back home about 2.30-ish...and as we parked, I said to him

"that looks like our pig in next doors field!?"

And sure enough...Pepper had gotten out of her new fenced area into next doors field! So my partner, grabbed the bucket of feed and rattled it while i took apart the fencing yet again( you may remember me doing so last time for Salt), and he guided Pepper back in, with me fixing the fencing again behind them!

While he was fixing the pen, I took the shopping in and made a late lunch...he came in and sat down telling me that's them sorted.

About an hour later...I saw a chicken out...so i herded her back in, turned around to see Pepper was in the Barn with her head in the bucket of pig feed!

So out we put her back in the pen and as my partner fixed the fencing higher, she disappeared again! This time she was in a different field that belonged to the neighbour!

She had yet another hole she had made in a different part of the fence! Grr

So while my partner herded her back again, I put the goats away, so we could put the pigs into the goat paddock (goats being escape artists, cant get out, so neither should the pigs be able to), then he had to put the pig pen in there....well that was a farce!

Firstly my partner got in, and lifted the sty onto his back so he was like a turtle...he then staggered across the boggy mud and pig muck...only to step out of his welly and straight in the middle of it all!...the air turned blue, and i .... well i laughed to be honest....he then walked through the rest of the area to the paddock with only one welly!
After everything was finally sorted(including putting the chicken away again), I couldn't help but giggle again, when i watched my partner walk to the house, with one welly on...one muddy sock on and carrying his other welly in his hand...i really should of taken a picture at that point! Hahaha.

Today we are dispatching some ducks!...we have 6 to dispatch, we bred them for meat, so we didn't get attached to them....hmmm roast duck for dinner tonight!! although it would be a little tough...so maybe we will wait till after they have been hung for a day or two!

chat soon xxx

Pigs in Muck?

2009-10-25T09:31:00.000-07:00

Well what a time we have had!

My parents have recently been up, and I made sure they have mucked in....literally!!

We decided that as the pig area was so boggy after all the rain we have had, that we would move them to an area behind the barn!
So firstly we had to move them into the goat paddock so we could dismantle their fencing, they loved it in there, but unfortunately, the Billy didn't like them being in there, he battered his pen down to be free and ran straight to the paddock!
Great! we now had to find somewhere to put him! So while my partner held on tight to the billy, my dad kept the dogs at bay, mum and I herded the pigs into the Billie's pen and put a temporary door on till we sorted the billy out. But he didn't want to be in there alone, so we put the nannies in with him, then moved the pigs into one of the nannies pens with a secure door! Phew! Talk about hard work! and this was just the start of it!

We then dismantled the pigs fencing and while my partner rebuilt it, my mother shovelled goat muck into the now vacant mud quagmire, while my dad and I spread ed it out, for it to do two jobs...absorb the access water and fertilise the area ready for next year!
Unfortunately, walking in this stuff was like walking in glue! when i wasn't stuck, i fell in! The first time I fell backwards and sat in the goat muck while my feet, in their wellies, were stuck in the mud!
After a cuppa, it was back to work! which saw me fall face first into the same area! Grrr I was not a happy bunny especially as the rain that was now coming down, made the mud stickier!
By late afternoon, I was sore and mucky, we were all tired, dad and my partner tried to fix the Billie's pen, while we put the kettle on.
The final straw for us all was when i got stuck yet again, fell forward onto my mother and put two large hand prints on her white T-shirt! but while i was struggling to get back up, mum had the fits of giggles(glad she saw the funny side).
We decided enough was enough...the pig area was complete and while i cleaned up, the other herded the pigs into their new area....unfortunatly...dad stood on a rake that promptly smacked him in the nose!....all i could picture while he was telling me was the cartoon Tom and Jerry, and of course i giggled.

So a week after the pigs being in their new area, they seemed to have settled in nicely....until today! Salt climbed the fence trying to get at the bucket of feed that i was about to throw in for them! Grrr
So I took down the fencing, and I then had to herd Salt back in...which would of been fine if Pepper hadn't of came out!
Finally after putting Pepper back in and keeping Salt in...i quickly re fixed the fencing!
All this stress and hassle will end soon....the both go to the abattoir, around the 16th of next month....Ham for christmas i think!

Mating season!

2009-09-26T09:51:00.000-07:00

Well its well and truly started!

Sunny is not looking his best..........He is however spraying like mad, mainly over himself which he seems to love...but also mainly over his beard and face, so he can rub the scent on the girls!

He did mate with Rita last Monday(21st)....in fact the poor girl got it 8 times before 12pm (men take note), but she wont let him near her now....one of the twins came into season today, she has not been quite so obliging as Rita was last Monday, he is really having to work his socks off!
He also make the most strange noise at the moment, not heard a billy make it before....its almost like he is whispering in their ears...and a pleading looking on his face with it(oh go on, you know you want to, don't worry about the kid, I'll take care of her), but they are not falling for it!
Although saying that, he managed to mount Penny, think it must of been her first time, as she wont let him again!! hahah
We have stopped milking Rita, so she will be nice and dry when it comes to giving birth next year(assuming that she took ok)

He is being a bit of a bully to Alice though! Alice and Sunny usually cuddle up together, but today he wont even let her near the food, i may have to take her out of there!.

Ducks have go off lay and chickens are not laying as many as before either, but still getting 5 eggs a day, enough for us!
We did hatch six duckings for the pot, they will be dealt with very soon, so more meat for the freezer!

Pigs are fattening up nicely! We have decided to take them to the abattoir in November, they will be just over 6 months then and it means Christmas dinner will be sorted!
Mouth is watering at the thought of all that ham! We have decided to do the butchering at home, making four large hams....one palma style, two in brine and one cold smoked....we also will do various cuts and joints, and possibly making pork pies out of the head meat....along with all that we will make out own lard as well....think me may need a bigger freezer!

other news: my partner sold his house! that's great news, means we can move on with our lives and pay some of our bills and pay for our wedding next year!
My walking is improving more and more, I have been trying to walk 2 miles twice a week...will try and up that very soon...really need to loose this weight before the wedding!
I am also trying to set up my own website, need to get some money in, and i have always wanted my own business, especially after i have run businesses for others in the past.

Nights are a lot darker here now, usually dark by 6.45 ish hard to see your way to the poly tunnel sometimes, talking of which, we had some lovely melons(behave please, no sniggering) and some wonderful cucumbers out of it, we are still getting chilli's, tomatoes and peppers.
Onions are all drying nicely in the barn, will have to plait them soon! And we have Marrows coming out of our ears(not literally). will have to dice some and freeze it, like we did with the Kale.

Well better go...animals to feed, veg to collect.....etc
Will try not to be too long next time....but i did have a lot to say this time Hahaha

The craft Fayre

2009-08-10T08:59:00.000-07:00

The craft Fayre was not a success, it was more geared towards children than anything else, when i spoke to other stall holders, they had the same result as me, but it wasn't totally wasted, i sold some peg faeries and made some new ones, and the end of the day i sold a laptop bag and some candles to a woman who had a stall next to me...and a couple of other bits and bobs, so i came out in the plus which is better than a kick in the teeth!
Also sold some items to my partners sister when she came up last week...so that also helped.

When we got back the pigs were squealing for their supper and the goats were bleating like there was no tomorrow!
Funny how much noise they make when they all get going, the neighbouring farmers must think we are torturing them! But i promise we are not....funny how livestock can be so demanding at times!

Sunny has been playing up a little too, We know what the cause is, as he is spraying a lot! but it doesn't help that he decided to break down his door from his pen!
My partner and I were having a cuppa and through the window i saw Sunny looking at me,that was a surprise in itself but not only that he was quite happy eating from our veg patch!, so we both shot outside, and he was in his cantankerous mood and went straight for my partner, lifting him off his feet, thankfully not hurting anymore than my partners pride.
When we finally got him in the barn, which looked like a hurricane had been through it thanks to Sunny, we saw the door to his pen was clean off the hinges and about 20 feet away from where it should of been!! So a bucket of feed distracted him(along with some veg), while my partner fixed the door I cleaned tha barn back up, my partner then said" a Rhino wont get through that door now"....I bleeding hope not! I am having enough trouble with the billy let alone a Rhino!!
He has also been having another go at the shed! Although its still up right! but now it has two entrances and exits! I will be glad when mating season is over!

Rita is also being a pain, she has started screaming for a billy, even though there is one beside her!
Although she is getting better with letting me milk her, think she has just resigned to the fact she is going to be milked whether she likes it or not!

We have two hens going broody now even though we have stuffed ice under them, i am sure the daft hens are trying to hatch the ice, either that or they like cold bums! The ducks are on strike in laying eggs too! but that could be that we have now introduced the ducklings to them...will have to wait and see, not that we need any eggs at the moment!

Not sure whats up with Mollie the cat at the moment, twice recently she has bought us a mouse! this is very unlike her...she normally goes outside during the day to sleep and then comes in at night.......to sleep! think there must be something in the air!

Well i must go and make wedding invites.....oh didnt i tell you? ... i am getting married next August, trying to do most of the prep and planning myself, so i am making all the invites and cake etc....begining to wonder why though...its hard work ontop of everything else!

Which reminds me i will have to start making christmas cards soon! oh what a scarey thought!!

By for now xx

quiet week!

2009-08-07T04:35:00.001-07:00

You remember Sunny knocking down the shed, and my son re-building it with his girl friend...well it still stands!

Sunny has tried in vain to knock it down....but its held up nicely! .... phew!

The veg is looking good. we have frozen some curl kale ready for winter, hung the garlic, and will do the same to the onions when they are ready, Strawberries are over now, although we do have one or two hanging on!

Onions are swelling nicely, wont be long before we are drying them out, and we have been and will continue to harvest peas for a while!

You just cant beat your own home grown veg!

The birds seem happy enough, they are scratching and pecking in the garden and havnt escaped or even tried to, apart from Ruffles that is,but then she likes to be awkward!

Mollie the cat has been a little worried though, she sat on the table in the garden and was suddenly surrounded by birds...bless her, she look scared, but also had that look as if to say "all these birds and not one small enough for me to kill!"

We do, however, have a glut of eggs, so i have put tons in the freezer for winter, also been baking and putting that in the freezer too, hopefully, a lot of all this will carry us through the winter this year! There are only so many things you can make with eggs.... and i am rapidly running out of ideas!!

But the poly tunnel has been a great success this year! we have melons, sweetcorn, tomatoes, chillies, cucumber, fennel bulbs, lots of herbs, gogi berries and grapes to name but a few!

So you can guess we are as pleased as punch with it....pity the poly tunnel is not bigger though.

Other than that i have been crafting like mad, in order to get some pennies in! I am making flower peg faeries galore:

And a fair few cards! Here are just some of them:

and hoping to sell my things at the Fetterangus craft fayre this sunday so fingers crossed.

Other than that theres not much to tell this week....i may be late with next weeks blog as my sister in law to be is comming to stay for a week with her partner and their four year old! so it will be a busy week i hope!

another day!

2009-07-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

Well my son and his girlfriend are up at the moment, and they have been great help while they have been here so far, the shed that took a huge battering is now upright and solid, Sunny had a go at it and it still stands, thanks to the two of them for fixing it!

They have also built a trap for the rooks to stop them getting at the hen eggs, although unsuccessfully so far, this trap is a humane one, but at the moment the rooks seem to know what its about, and haven't fallen yet!
Although I bought an air rifle yesterday, and my partner managed to shoot one! the smell of death must of scared the others away, as we haven't had any eggs nicked today..........yet!

So far while they have been up, We have baked bread, foraged for blaeberry's....bilberry's to some of you, walked on beaches...and built things around the house and garden! as well as the usual jobs and practicing with the air rifle!

We have also harvested some Peas, Potatoes, Strawberry's(although we are battling with the slugs with them) Marrow, curly Kale and Onions! so all in all a busy wee while.

weather has not been horrendous, a couple of days of sunshine this week....even managed five minutes in my hammock!! Although saying that, its a beautiful, warm sunny day today, and that hammock is calling me....oh what to do...oh what to do ;-)

Yesterday the animal welfare came round to check on my paperwork, which i am pleased to say was all in order, and he went away a happy man! But when i Rang to register the pigs, they said they would send another one to check the feed etc...you would of thought that they did all that in one hit! Oh well....we are tidy, the feed bins labeled and ready for anything they chuck at us, so now we have to wait and see.

Today my son and his girlfriend have done a fantastic job of clearing the barn! as well as clearing all the rubbish that the pigs have dug up!
Its really surprising, not only how much they dig up...but how much was buried as well, I wonder if they ever dig and say " another piece of inedible rubbish"
I must admit, I do sometimes wonder if all the livestock 'plot' together.....I am sure i have seen them all gathering in a little meeting in the barn now and then......nahhh they can't be............can they???

The Piglets arrive!

2009-07-08T07:57:00.000-07:00

There has been upheaval in the small holding recently............the goats have been stirring and trying to work out what is going on next door to them..........

and the commotion that went on when the piglets arrived!........ well .... see for yourselves........

You can almost hear the goats saying....

"oh no! we have pigs for neighbours!"

But the piglets have settled down nicely....they don't seem bothered by our goats....or the fact the the daft dog keeps touching the electric fence with his nose....thought spaniels and collies were intelligent....but poor ghillie must of been in the back of the cue for brains....four times in one day he touched the electric fence, then yelped, and once the following day, as well as yelping in his sleep(could of been reliving his day i think!), the piglets don't even look bothered by next doors cows that have also had a shock from the fencing...oh well!..

Already we have named them Salt and Pepper, I know, I know, you shouldn't name something your going to eat!

Which is why we named them salt and pepper, so we wouldn't forget we were going to eat them and so we wouldn't get too attached to them, besides it wouldn't of been fair to name all the livestock so far and not these two would it!?!

Salt is the closest and bravest of the two....she also looks the biggest, but they are the same size, i just that's my bad photography at work!

Picked some lovely red strawberries today...put them with the other fruit to see if my partner will spot them...yeah i know they are bright red....but he is colour blind, and rarely sees them against green, guess what i put them with? ...... hehehe yep green apples hahaha

Guessing i will be in trouble when he reads this next hahaha

He now has his house up for sale, so we are hoping it will sell quickly, then we can put the money into expanding the farm.....well that's the theory anyway.....so anyone want to buy an investment? 120k set price....in a quiet village not far from a sandy beach(about 5 miles ish)....two bedroom with large back garden.....only an hour(just under actually...well more like 40 mins haha) from the city of Aberdeen....oh well worth a try..... we have a viewing tonight....so fingers crossed.

The money has been spent already, want to buy the field next door and get some boer goats as well as the livestock we have already....but its like everything you dream of doing....your finger tips just cant quite reach your goal....still one day.......one day (sigh)

heatwave!!

2009-07-02T14:45:00.001-07:00

How hot has it been! Bit cooler today...but phew!!

Wasn't sure at first whether to keep the goats in in this temperature, but when i felt the heat in the barn at 10am...decided they were better off outside!

So out they went, Sunny has his usual routine, the first thing he does is to go straight over to the shelter in the paddock...this is the result!...........how can one goat do so much damage!?

Its struggling to stay up...and i don't think it will be long before we loose the 4Th shelter....back to the drawing board i think!
After demolishing the shed they all join in to eat the bark off the trees! Again this is the result...about a quarter of my trees look like this at the moment..not a pretty sight :(

Although the goats have a definite look of "it wasn't me, honest gov!" ... but they all have this lovely stain of bark around their mouths, which gives them away slightly!

Alice is coming on leaps and bounds, still suckling now and then, but I must admit its not been that often

The piglets arrive this Sunday! my partner is really looking forward to it! all i see is roast pork, pork chops, and a side of ham! Its suppose to be easy-ish to make a parma style ham...will let you know at a later date if it is or not.

I do keep thinking that I should get the chalk ready to mark out the joints, But my partner said i am not allowed to! I guess he is right really, after all the chalk would wash off in the rain!

still the sty is finished, just the pen to do really...and that wont take that long, its more of a case of making a gate to fit on and put the electric wire up...job done!....if only it was that easy, things will go wrong , especially as we don't have a lot to do to it! Or am i being too pessimistic?

We are chuffed to bits with the veg this year....its looking great

the veg are going great guns...although the chickens desecrated the carrots so we had all of 8 of them! but we don't eat many anyway...so no great loss really.

We did do an experimental bed...My partner built a coldframe, put a layer of straw down, followed by the contents of the compost heap....he then planted some pumpkin seeds.....and left it to its own devices....the result?

Well........ see for your self!!

what grew was Pumpkin, perpetual spinach, sunflowers, tomatoes, potatoes, marrow/courgette and feverfew...i dont think i missed anything out, but not bad seeing as we only planted the pumpkin hahaha.

Well i am off to hose all the animals down now...most dont mind it, although Ghillie and the chickens dont seen to like it much ....never mind it will cool them down a bit.

Bye for now xx

as life goes on!

2009-06-26T02:41:00.000-07:00

Well not a huge amount to report this week.

Weather has been very hot, and poor Ghillie and Mollie don't know what to do with themselves in this heat...keep hosing Ghillie down, but he doesn't seem to like that either....no pleasing some dogs is there!

We have two more hens that have gone broody!....Bertha and Kiev...am surprised Bertha has...she is an old girl and usually chuffed to bits at laying the tiny est of eggs!!

But it also means that egg production is down a bit...but we don't mind that as we have so many at the moment...even a few in the freezer!

Darren the drake will be dinner soon!...he keeps attacking the cockerel and hens as well as the two new ducklings!....duck in orange sauce! crispy fried duck!....ooh what about roast duck and a few steamed veg!! yummy....feel like i should be drooling like homer Simpson hahaha

My partner has nearly finished the pig pen and their shelter, which is good, as they are due to arrive very soon!,

already have chosen one of them...not sure which to choose out of the rest of the litter yet....although i didn't choose her i should say she chose me hahaha...went for my crocks that were on my feet so had to have her didn't i haha.

Alice is looking like a devil that butter wouldn't melt in the mouth of hahah...she has these perfect little horns and an angelic face! my partner tried to milk her mum again the other night as usual...Alice decided that while he was she would clamber up his back and sit on his shoulder!! she really did look like an imp then! hahaha you could almost hear her whispering in his ear! hahaha

We put them out all together for the first time last week...and they all got along fine, we were worried about Sunny's horns more than anything...

but we regularly find Sunny and Alice cuddled up together, or laying next to each other...don't know what we were worried about now. But i guess as its a small holding, we tend to be a bit over protective of the livestock now and then...must relax more with them.

The hay in next doors field is looking yummy! would love to let the goats loose in there and then pretend i didn't know how they got out!! ....hm mm maybe a bit of Alice is in me too!! hehehe.

The fruit and veg in the poly tunnel is looking fabulous! as is the veg in the raised beds!!...wont be long before the strawberries turn red and are ready for harvesting!! We will be in undated with black currants again this year, already having to look for new things to do with them....worse comes to worse, we can let the chickens loose on them, but knowing our luck, they wont want them!

we are having roast cockerel for Sunday dinner this week....no not Beaky...but a friend of ours has a vicious cockerel, said she was happy to shoot it but couldn't eat someone she knows!...couldn't help but laugh...still we will still have to pluck and gut it...must find something to return the favour with.

Its a wonderful day though today, sun is shinning, birds singing, a gentle breeze, and not a huge amount to do on the farm.....everything is so quiet....although it wasn't earlier when i stood on a rusty screw that went through my shoe and into my foot! the air was incredibly blue then!!

Well the day has been good, and the sun has shone! had a visit from a friend this morning...and i am off to make something now to take to a friends this evening......we are learning how to weave baskets tonight...should be fun! :)

harvesting

2009-06-16T07:40:00.000-07:00

Not much has changed since the last blog to be honest.

Alice is a little bigger and growing a lovely set of horns! Rita is getting a little frustrated with her, you can see in her face, she has that "now what can i get her to do" look... i wonder if goats ever suffer from baby blues after giving birth?
well they are both outside in the paddock at the moment, then its the turn of Sunny and the twins to go out....have notice that Tuppence has some udder development, i this she has come out in sympathy for Rita.
Getting two pints of Rita daily( we only milk her once a day at present), and a little under 500 ml from tuppence.

The ducklings turn out to be Runner Ducks...but yet to see if they are full runners or a cross breed...still yet to find out if they are male or female! i guess its one of those "we have to wait and see!" moments again.

Piglets arrive in a couple of weeks!! really looking forward to their antics!, my partner is busy trying to build a sty, and pen for them as well as housing for the runner ducks!

Any way... eggs ... lets not go there with eggs... we have far too many... enough said i think!

We are harvesting a lot more now...had some lovely lettuce out of the poly tunnel last night, and radish's are still as nice as ever!
Tomatoes are growing nicely, as are the peas, onions, leeks and curly Kale.

Had a lovely salad from the garden the other day, which included our very own goats cheese(thank you again Rita), and our own lamb salami (which was the very last of prudence, and was what my partner had so loving made)it was very nice.... but it was also a real "feel good" factor....knowing you had produced all these items yourself, and they had no hidden rubbish in them!

We were looking for elderflower again this year, to make more elderflower champagne ... but so far there has not been that many out ... or maybe they are a little late? who knows! i only know there are an awful lot of Rowan flowers out....i wonder can you make rowan flower champagne??

I am currently making honey mead and maple syrup mead, they seem to be doing very nicely...although i am a little confused...most recipes now days call for a Camden tablet in the wine!? why? years ago they didn't even hear of Camden tablets!...i must admit i will only use them for sterilizing the demi johns and will not put them in the wine!

Plenty to forage out there at the moment...sweet Cicely, comfrey, nettles ... wild garlic is nearly over though.....although if you know where they are, you can still eat the bulbs...just don't take too many!
Weather is all over the place, which doesn't help you when you are trying to get things sorted!, but that seems to be happening everywhere doesn't it.

well time to rest my back for 20 Min's before i start egg collecting ...pity there isn't a smiley section on here ....i need one for rolling eyes!

chat soon xx

A delay in blogging.

2009-05-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the delay in my latest blog, I have been in hospital having Major surgery on my lower back, and although i am now home, I am still on lots of painkillers, so my keyboard suddenly swims right in front of my eyes, life becomes a happier place...and i fly away with the fairies...I am due to take these pills in 10 Min's so thought i had better write my blog while i can!

My parents arrived on the 15th to stay for a week, I felt a little bad for them, as i went into hospital on the 19th and before i left said "by the way Rita is due in two days and there are some chicks as well as the other livestock for you to look after while i am gone"... I don't think they were impressed, but they didn't show it if they weren't.

Well before i went in, we had received a couple of ducklings that were left abandoned at Thainstone, well actually there were three of them but we gave one to a friend who had hatch a single goose and her other eggs hadn't taken, so we gave her one so it had company.... but we still had two...they have grown a lot since my week away, and have gone from a fluffy yellow to a fluffy white...and are not looking their best at the moment

But are cute all the same.

Also the rescue hens that looked a bit worse for wear in their last photos...well they are looking a lot happier and laying extremely large eggs on a daily basis...when i say extremely large...i mean EXTREMELY large...they are bigger than the duck eggs!...its a small miracle in its self that they lay these oval, delicate, items...but to lay them so large must be down right painful for the hen...it would be the equivalent of a human laying a large rugby ball....i mean...ouch!!

Any way the hens are looking much better for their freedom...don't you think??

Well the biggest news is....the Friday 22nd may...while i was in hospital....about 4.30pm ...Rita gave birth to a lovely female kid which we have named Alice....she looks just like her mum, although she doesn't have the toggles that her mum has, and it already looks like she will have horns...she is lovely and lively even though she is only a few days old....so all together now... meet Alice...

Aaaaawwwwwwwwwwww!

And i am pleased to report that mum and baby are doing brilliantly!

Finally its good to enjoy the sunshine and the fruits of our labour, we have made cheese from Rita's milk, and had a lovely meal this evening that was all from the small holding...a quiche made with our own eggs, milk, cheese and onion, and lettuce and radishes from our garden....this is truly what a small holding is all about isn't it? ... enjoying the fruits of your own labour makes it all worth while!

Talking of enjoying the sunshine....will leave you with a photo of Penny, Tuppence and Sunny...enjoying the sunshine....while i go off to take my happy pills!....I may be gone for sometime ;-)

What a week.

2009-05-06T04:46:00.000-07:00

What a week its been...

Saturday, we went to Thainstone rare breeds sale at the weekend...talk about disappointing.

We went to look at the four Anglo Nubian goats that were advertised in the catalogue and were up for auction.....when we got there though, there were only two, both billies and both castrated also they were in a sorry state...their feet had been clipped too sharply and so they were on tippy toes, their fur was falling out, either due to mange, worms or stress....probably all three. And they were hunched probably due to the fact they had to stand on tippy toes!

One thing you should know about goats are that they are very inquisitive and nosey...they like to know whats going on and who's doing it....these two in the market were at the far end of their pen and had their backs to people....if i had had the space i would of taken them on to bring them back to how they should be, but unfortunately...i don't have the space for animals that wont produce anything in return.

So we carried on past them and went to look at the pigs, there were loads of highland cows up for market, and one in particular was very stressed and bucking a lot....we walked passed the pen when we heard a voice shout..."clear the aisle please now" so we and about 20 other people were trying to get out of that aisle....bearing in mind that i had a walking stick and couldn't walk as fast as some of the others, it was then that i had realised they had let the bull that was going mad in the pen, loose!

it came charging past and the back end of it caught me and knocked me for six, was in agony, but didn't have time to think about it as the bull had taken an elderly man down, and he had hit his head on the curb, blood everywhere! the bull continued on down the passage knocking children and others out of its way...then it was silent....the elderly man was laying still, there was a man who was a first aider looking after him...and i gave up my coat to put under his head.

Once there was calm and order and the guy had been taken to hospital, we decided to go home...i spent a bit of the journey crying, without my partners knowledge(he worries enough about me as it is, didn't want him to worry more).

Well Sunday we went my partners house, the tenant has now left and we have decided to put the property up for sale, so it was a case of checking the place. I must admit i was a bit surprised in how much of the place was in a mess! So we spent the morning digging up the plants we wanted to keep, hiring a carpet cleaner to clean the stains and generally giving the place a good clean out.

Then it was on to a neeps meeting (north east Eco-friendly people's site, the link is at the top of this page), It was held at one of the neeps house, and no we didn't just sit and talk about how we were going to change the world on our own, its more of a social gathering, we all take something to swap, that can be anything, from plants to homemade jams etc. chat drink tea,coffee and its also a chance to buy from the coo-op...bulk orders and share it out...so for instance i order 6 large jars of honey, and only want 4 of them...someone else will usually buy the spares...its a good way of saving money. Anyway, we met some new neeps and had some homemade wine....which went well with the painkillers and i promptly went to sleep for a short while in the car back.

When we got home it was a nice surprise to see we have another hen laying eggs! so now that's seven eggs a day! My partner did some planting in the poly tunnel...and replanted the ones that we brought back from his house. we did seed watch(well checked the seedlings haven't been eaten by the chickens) and watered them in.....then it was off to check the animals, goats were happy enough, and Rita is as always screaming her head off because she is pregnant and she can !lol but it was lovely day in all.

Tuesday the nurse from the hospital came out to check the measurements of my furniture ready for when i come out of hospital, and my cousin came over from Inverness...i sent her back with 30 hen eggs and 6 duck eggs, she will give them to her sister who runs a Fraser house B&B in Inverness(again the link is above), so they wont go to waste.

Yes you probably gathered we now have a glut of eggs that are growing rapidly! You can only make so many things with eggs, curds, cakes, omelette's etc then you get stuck for ideas, but never mind...i can always freeze some for the winter time.

We had put eight duck eggs in the incubator...well two didn't take so we thought well six ducklings cant be bad, then yesterday one became bloody, so that one is out as well so now down to five.

My partner though is bringing three ducklings home with him, we don't know what breed they are, but they were left behind at Thainstone and the guy who works there has a daughter that works with my partner, so he was offered them(confused?? I am! lol), they were believed to of been dumped there after they were found under a table....so we have gained three on the three we lost.

Well its now Wednesday, and I am feeling the pain from overdoing it at the weekend so once i have made a cake and bread, i am going to sit on the firm sponge that the nurse gave me to raise the sofa up, and have a go at knitting my very first jumper...something i have never done before, and although i can knit the odd scarf or water bottle cover, i have never followed a pattern properly.

Must admit though, its really is a nice feeling to make your own things, whether its bread, rugs or knitting... you get a sense of achievement and you save pennies too...recently i made some homemade cards....

....and i am really pleased with them, they didn't cost a lot to make and there are no others like them....and i feel like i have achieved something this week having made them...i hope all that makes sense lol

Well i am off to put washing out and make that cake and loaf....chat soon xx

End of April

2009-04-29T02:51:00.000-07:00

Well its been a hectic couple of weeks here, so a bit late in posting. We have had some friends staying up here for a long weekend, it was lovely to see them, but it also make you realise how much you miss seeing them, so was a bit down when they went back down to Sussex.

We did, however, re-fenced the paddock, after finding out that Penny is an escapologist and that she seemed to enjoy the farmers field more than her own, although it could of been just her telling the others that she could get out but they couldn't! Anyway, thankfully she hasn't found her way out of the new fencing yet!

The Poly tunnel is now up properly and my partner is chuffed to bits, Ahh yes, friends come up for a break, don't always realise they have to work when they get up here! My Partner on the other hand, is so pleased to have the tunnel up again that he has already got some seeds in there!

We have eggs galore! and a broody hen! not necessary in that order hahahha......we don't want any more hens just yet, so we will make use of our eggs in some way i am sure, as for the Broody hen........well she is sitting on half a dozen Cochin eggs, given to us from another friend of ours, who wanted to hatch some eggs without having to use the incubator this year, so it works out both ways.
The rescue hens have also started laying, so among the lovely white eggs we get the odd dark brown egg too, its nice to see that they have finally settled in.
I have also fixed the fencing for them this week...so hopefully we will be able to grow some vegetable seeds that wont be eaten before they have a chance to grow...blooming hens though....they realised they couldn't get out the side i altered...but found a new way to escape ..... back to the drawing board i guess!

Now i seem to remember i left you all hanging as to whether Rita is Pregnant or not....the out come is...YES Rita is pregnant and has about three and a half weeks to go...But... we are not sure if there is a kid in her or not.
I know that sounds daft, but goats can have "fluid babies"....which means, she will have all the fluid in the sack, but no kid....bit like a phantom pregnancy...I thought i felt a kick, when i held her side, but at the time she was barking at the dogs,(my friend brought her dog with her) so it could of been that i felt...but later on...I am sure i felt a couple of kicks, and Rita wasn't barking at that time...will just have to wait and see i guess
Which brings me on to the next frustrating bit!....the chicks, the ducklings(that we have in an incubator) and the kid are all due the week i am in hospital for surgery on my back...its also the week my parents arrive, typical! i will miss it all!
Mum and dad are coming up for two weeks in all, although the second week they are up to Thurso, so the week they are with me, is the week i am in hospital, and my partner will be at work! so if the birds hatch and the goat kids, you can bet your bottom dollar it will be when no-one is around to help them! so just in case i will have to leave them a list of things to do as well as a list of numbers to ring....in case they need help. I am sure they will be ok though.

well off to make a cuppa...anyone want me to make them one at the same time?? ..... no? Ok well i offered!

Life after easter

2009-04-17T02:19:00.000-07:00

Well Easter came...along with my sister, 21yr old nephew, and two nieces 13 and 15ish i think.
We only have a two bedroom ed house, so it was full to the brim, and a whole weekend of chaos...but it was lovely as a lot of jobs got done.

My nephew helped my partner with cleaning the goat pens out, he surprised me as he really enjoyed it! but hey everyone one has strange tastes hahaha, the dog Ghillie really took to my nephew, so much so that he wanted to 'love' his arm, leg etc...yes you know what i mean ;-)

One day Penny had got into next doors field...had my partner one side of her, nephew other side, and me holding the barbed fence up to get her back in....was entertaining i can tell you, that goat ran rings round the two men ..... my sister nearly fell over in the paddock because she though the billy was going to butt her, when all he was doing was lowering his head to nibble the grass hahaha again i did chuckle, but not till they were all out of ear shot.
but now they have gone and the house seems empty and very quiet.

Its overcast today, so i should put the goats out, but I am keeping them inside, I can get the girls out no problem, but Sunny...well he is a different matter....and i cant put them out with out him, it just wouldn't be fair.
We did find Penny out of her pen in the barn yesterday, eating as much hay as she could....i think i am going to have fun with Penny, she seems to like escapology!

We have 8 duck eggs in the incubator at the moment, this will be our first time hatching ducks, so will be interesting to see if they hatch and how we cope with them...they are from our own flock of ducks so will be good to see if they are indeed fertile!

Well the Onions and peas are growing nicely along with the garlic and strawberries. not sure about how the carrots will do, as the bleeding cockerel and one of his hens keep escaping and i always find them scratching the carrot bed! sure he does it to wind me up!
But on a good note we have Rhubarb, and now the melon,corn on cob, and pumpkin shoots have started to grow....the poly tunnel looks nice and sturdy, just needs the covering on it now.
The duck pond will then need fixing, and so will the gate and fencing....but otherwise we seem to be on top of everything so far this year.

Only thing left is one question, still to be answered, Rita....is she or isn't she pregnant??

well the answer is...................watch this space ! that will keep you all guessing for now anyway hahaha

whos idea was it!?

2009-04-03T04:44:00.000-07:00

Who's idea was it to have goats!
Had a terrible couple of days with them....yesterday it was sunny, who for some reason didn't was to go into the paddock with the girls. He decided to go to where the chickens are kept....so i went to guide him to where he belongs and he promptly butted me in the stomach and lifted me clean off my feet.....it all then happened in slow motion....i saw myself, flying through the air....then landing on my back on a pile of stones, which is painful enough, but even more so when you are waiting for a back operation....i think they probably heard me scream 10 miles away, the pain shot down my legs, and the tears did roll.
But he wasn't getting away with that no matter how much pain i was in....isn't it funny how much strength suddenly appears when you are stressed, hurt or angry....
Anyway he was going into the paddock, whether he wanted to or not... i grabbed his collar and his horns and promptly dragged him in the pen, shut the gate a walked away.....as i limped back to the house, i took a look back at the goats and at sunny....who promptly raised his top lip and did a raspberry at me! the Sod was laughing at me! I could see then, that i was going to have trouble with him after all!

Well that was all yesterday....today was a different day...or so i thought....
Do you wonder if animals chat and plot against humans during the night? I believe they do now as i am sure that's what happened last night, i am sure that Sunny plotted with the other goats on how they would wind me up today!

Today's events.

I put Rita in the paddock, as i always do and looked back to see sunny standing in the veg bed and the twins not out...normally they all follow Rita into the paddock without a problem.
So I shut the gate and and went to collected tuppence, as I put tuppence in the paddock, Rita shot out!
So I got Rita back in and tuppence shot out! Grrrr
So i tried a different tactic....if I got penny in then tuppence usually follows her....so after much chasing I got Penny in....not only did tuppence not follow her in but Rita got out!....still only one goat in the bleeding paddock....the air at this point was getting a little blue....especially when i looked over to see Sunny standing in the raised beds eating the veg seedlings!
So i ignored him for the time being...wanted to get the girls sorted first .... so on we go
...I got penny and Rita in and chased tuppence for what seemed an age, before catching her
opened gate to get tuppence in and yes you guessed it.....penny shot out....followed by Rita....now i was back to square one!
meanwhile sunny was eating all the plants he could find....grrrrrrr
I finally got Rita back in, tuppence to stay in and went to get a little feed in a bucket....this is what i should of done at the start! ... but you don't think of things like that when you haven't had this bother before!
This also was a bit of an escapade though!
As I dropped bucket on the barn floor and lost most of the feed!...I wasn't going back for more so I scooped back up what i could, back into the bucket...left the barn shaking the bucket to make a noise......while penny and sunny were eating what ever they could, the noise of the bucket which had very little in it attracted them both but i still only managed to get sunny in ... and still had to chase penny!
When i eventually caught penny I couldn't open gate with all the goats pressing against it...trying to get at the very nearly empty bucket.......eventually I got her in and put the feed on the floor for them to scuffle over!
and again as i walked away .... I got that same Raspberry as I got yesterday from Sunny!! I am sure he planned the whole thing!
He has been warned that he will be castrated if he plays up again!....although i cant do that as we need his seed....but don't tell him that eh...he is bad enough as it is!

and now i am off for a cuppa, a sit down maybe i should have a shot of something strong in my cuppa...for medicinal purposes only ....of course ;-)

New Live stock arrives!

2009-03-30T04:07:00.000-07:00

We have some new live stock arrive on the farm this weekend, it all started with the arrival on Friday of four new hens that were rescued and suppose to be free range birds...so you expect healthy fully feathered birds, don't you?

well meet our four new hens....

they look a little worse for wear, and when they first arrived they ate like there was no tomorrow!!
This is how they will end up looking like after a little TLC

meet Kiev....

Although Kiev is from a friend and not a rescue hen...she has all the colourings and markings that the others should have!

They all seem to be settling in nicely ... although they don't mingle much yet.But i am sure they will eventually.

Then on Sunday we collected Sunny... a lovely but incredibly smelly billy goat...
he is very friendly, fell head over heels for Rita...but she is not interested at the moment

Meet Sunny....

huge motorbike style horns, although the previous owner said he can be a bit vicious at times...we have yet to see that side of him, I am sure we will at some point though.

I knew he smelt bad, due to being un castrated, but this morning i nearly fell over with the smell that had hit me as i opened the barn door! it was seriously strong!
To be honest though, i really don't mind the smell.....its just as well really....no the only thing that worried me is ..... how bad will i smell of billy when i go into somewhere like a city for shopping(not that i do that very often, last time was Christmas, i think), or going for a meal in some posh restaurant for instance(not that i do much of that either these days).... I am sure it wont be as noticeable as i think it will be, but to be sure...we are planning on getting a couple of boiler suits so any smell can go on that more than our clothes.

The other thing i have noticed is, the goats seem to love eating my daffodils this year, all the flower heads are strewn in a corner of the paddock, although i have yet to catch them doing this.

Was thinking of putting them outside today, but the wind has got up and there is one huge black cloud looming over head...so they have to stay in for now.

Well i have hay to dish out to the animals....so bye for now

A quiet time

2009-03-27T03:30:00.000-07:00

Not too much has happened this last week or two.

Thanks to the lighter mornings, egg production has gone up to four hen and four duck, a day, and with four new hens arriving and two hens still to start laying....we have a glut of eggs! You can only make so many things with eggs, and only have so many cakes for the freezer, my partners sells some at work, which covers the cost of the bird feed nicely.

Goats have bonded well outside,
although they are back in now as the weather has turned, and with the forecast of snow for today....they wont be out for a couple of days by the sound of it.

Hoping the weather will be good on Sunday as we have another goat to collect, this one is called Sunny, he is an un castrated billy goat, so we will start to stink of billy no matter how hard we try not too!
Yes they really do smell, but only when un castrated. they are also less friendly that castrated billies too....so this will be interesting wont it?

The new poly tunnel cover arrived today....means yet another job to do! we had moved the frame for is fairly recently, and had the bent bars straighted, but putting the cover on is another matter....1st you have to dig a trench all the way round...then the cover goes on and you bury the access at the sides in the ditch.... then its down to origami and getting the folds right at the entrance and the back, before you, again bury the access to weight it all down....you got all that?...good....then you can help put it up!
Once its sorted of course, it will be a godsend, especially as its so windy here most of the time, it will mean some veg will have less wind damage.

My partner has been working hard at converting a small damp room in to a wonderful damp free art room, and i have to say he has done a wonderful job.....just don't tell him or his head will swell....anyway....that is were i am off to now....I have lots of crafts that need finishing....and one is a rug made from old towels!

bye for now xx

this last week

2009-03-18T02:52:00.000-07:00

Well the last week was a bit quieter I have to say.

We moved some blackcurrant bushes, and split them...so now we have 20ish of them and not just twelve of them!
bought some red currant, gooseberry and blackberry plants .... so hope we will get a nice crop from them too!
Poly tunnels bars were straightened, thanks to a black smith friend, and put into place where they belong, just need to replace the plastic for it now.... didn't realise we were going to get so much wind living up here, with the loss of two goat shelters and a tunnel, we have had to re think where everything will go...hence the move around.

The three goats have sorted out who's in charge(no guesses who it is again)...and are happy in the paddock together.
But we now have this question over our heads....is she? or isn't she? Rita that is, is Rita pregnant or not? we had originally thought not, but she is making a lot of noise and has put on some weight...I think not, just access winter fat that now needs to burn off...my partner however thinks she could be.....my theory is, if i think not then i wont be disappointed if it turns out she isn't, and if she is, then it will be a nice surprise!
Either way, we will just have to wait and see, but if she is, then it will be a May birth!

Well its another beautiful day outside, just done 'seed watch' and pleased to see the Garlic are doing well, there are also a couple of onions poking through, and the rhubarb is also doing well.
We planted the potatoes and peas and now just have to wait a little while.

We are also clearing an area so we can make another pen....this time to house a couple of wieners(piglets to you)...which will arrive later in the year...and eventually we will invite the two pigs for dinner ;-)

Had a phone call from my son down in Sussex recently...love hearing from him....anyway he and his girlfriend are planning a visit in July ish...i am really looking forward to it...but it does mean i will also have to sort some jobs out on the farm for him...they were brilliant at sorting the barn last time....but this time i have a cunning plan...something i know he will love to help with ....am going to get him to build a clay oven! something we have been looking at doing for some time....along with a thousand other jobs....but have put on the back boiler as it was not a priority, but with him up here...then i can move it forward and my partner can concentrate of the farming side while i concentrate on the livestock side!

well i must dash, will chat soon x

Strange days

2009-03-10T12:36:00.000-07:00

Funny, I thought that it was going to be a quiet week this week, thought it would be easier to post a blog note about once a week maybe.
But I was very wrong...it's only Tuesday and its been chaos already....or at least it feels like it.

We had trouble in the garden....the problem was, last year we hatched our first chicks, only 6 of them, but for us it was lovely to see, one died, it was squashed by its mother....the other 5 (3 boys and 2 girls)however, thrived and still are thriving...
but the problem came to light when the hens all came into lay, the two brothers fought, and it got bad, blood every where!
We had no choice, we had to split them up! My partner built a new penned area for the black cockerel(known as BB, short for Bargain Bucket), and we gave him 3 hens to keep him company, the other 3 hens stayed with Beaky, the Orange Cockerel.....first all was well but the hens were restless, they didn't like the change or being separated.... Beaky led them over the wall to the Veg patch, where they kept scratching to theirs hearts content....well till i spotted them and chased them back, this became a game i am sure of it for the birds...i would chase them in at least 4 times a day! it was bad enough keeping them out of the veg beds and stopping them eating the seeds we had planted (thankfully only onion sets garlic and peas, although the rhubarb had also come up, and they had damaged a couple of them)but when they found out where BB was...I was out there even more often keeping the cockerels apart .....again!

Then I heard Rita making one hell of a racket...I remember thinking at the time...whats upset her now....when i went to the sitting room window(the best view of the barn and its open door), i came face to face to face with the twin goats!!
Oh hell they have escaped!
So out i go again...trying to get them into the barn ...which is no mean feat on your own i can tell you....then once in the barn, it was getting them into the pens...Ghillie didn't help! daft dog thought it was a game and herded them back out again Grrr....as i go out to the veg patch to get the goats back in i spy the the chickens in the bed! More grrr!
Goats eventually got the hint, and went to their pen! phew! Chickens, well they carried on for a few days more...until today.
BB went today, no not that way...he has a lovely home with a friend of mine, her cockerel died recently, so BB will be boss of his own flock!

So you would think that would put everything back to normal.....well sort of, I had to get the girls that were with BB back to Beaky....tipsy was fine....i just picked her up and threw her over the wall....Martha was also not too bad..... i had to chase her for about 5 Min's...then finally used the crook of my walking stick to stop her in her tracks and again just picked her up.
No the problem was Bertha...in and out of the trees, in the paddock, out the paddock...all about the houses grrrr after nearly half an hour and a very sore back....i finally got her in!!
All is now quiet and the birds seem a lot happier...but tomorrow is another day!
and of course we will have to plant some more peas!!

All this and there is still the rest of the week to go!! ho hum!

New arrivals!

2009-03-06T02:30:00.000-08:00

Well the two angoras went to a new home yesterday, it was someone we know and so we also know they will be well looked after.

My friend arrived about 11am ish with her trailer, and we lined it up with the barn, i had geared myself up for a real fight with getting Daisy into the trailer, and was expecting to chase Banjo around the farm before we got him in, but to my surprise, it went very smoothly, especially as earlier that morning things were not looking too good for me. I had already fallen over and landed in the goat muck while trying to feed the chickens, and had also had to chase the same chickens when they had gotten into the veg patch, unfortunately they managed to break some of the rhubarb spears that had just poked through the ground! Grrrr

Anyway, I was really surprised that as i took Daisy into the trailer, without too much of a fight, that Banjo had followed quite happily!

We drove up the lane and took it easy as we went till we arrive at my friends place, where we unloaded the two new arrivals into their pen, much to the amusement to the other nosey animals.

After a few Min's of getting paper work sorted etc, we were off again, and again with trailer in tow, to the next stop, the new (to us) Saanen goats.
met with another friend who i was getting them from and after a bit of a struggle, we got them safely loaded into the trailer, it was hard work getting them in, so i was dreading getting them out again!
but again i was worrying over nothing, and they came out very easily , and it was quite hassle free.

So meet .........
Penny and Tuppence!

Tuppence is on the right of this picture.

both the goats are lovely, although a little skittish at the moment, Penny more so than Tuppence...Tuppence will come to see who you are, but Penny is the first to look over the fence at you.
Poor Rita looks totally confused with it all...especially as they look like her but a lot smaller! she is constantly just standing...staring at them lol maybe she thinks she is loosing the plot lol
I just hope they all get along ok.

Our neighbour came over yesterday evening too, he needed the OH help in delivering a calf...I had rang him earlier telling him that on of the cows seem to be struggling to give birth, about an hour later he turned up and asked for my partners help, he was over joyed to help too, it gave him some idea in what to expect when we have kids from the goats.
so about an hour after he had gone to help, he was back with a big grin on his face...the result was a black calf with a white dot on his forehead!

Today seems a bit uneventful in comparison to yesterday, although i have topped up the pond for the ducks, chased the chickens again, spotted a fox for the first time in this area(will keep and eye out for that one again)....watched the deer play, put the washing on, and out.
Chatted to the neighbour about his calf...and now doing this ...

am off now to do dishes, cut some hedging, chase the chickens...and all before lunch...

We start again!

2009-03-03T04:43:00.000-08:00

So we have now started again!

The Poly tunnel is now moved into the walled garden area...and when the support beam is straightened...will hopefully be complete in time to start planting..we are hoping that the tunnel will be more sheltered now....fingers crossed.

One of the hen houses is now in the Paddock thanks to the two cockerels tearing each others faces off!, and poor hens don't know if they are Arther or Martha!

The ducks don't seem very fussed about all this movement and change...although one of the female duck does like to give another female duck a piggy back now and then.....if you know what i mean ;-)

We are also moving all the fruit bushes and trees into the walled garden too....this in theory will mean that we will be able to plant more fruits and there will be less chance of the goats eating them before we do!, It also means that we can have a couple of bee hives in there too, Ideal for the bees as there will be plenty of flowers to pollinate for them...although we will have to fence that area away from the chickens!

If this all works well...we will hopefully put a nice little seating area in there too...so we can sit and enjoy....although that may be a long way off yet, especially as we are making this walled garden area sound huge! when its actually very small! But again its all trial and error isn't it.

The area where the tunnel and the currant bushes were, will be cleared and fenced off...hopefully before June!...then his nibs will build a shelter big enough for two....pigs! yep we are getting just a couple for fattening up for Christmas!

We did the same last year with a sheep called prudence,

she thought she was one of the goats for a while, she was a lovely sheep, and was very tempted to keep her and breed from her, but i put my foot down on that one.... we want to be goat farmers ...so must stick to what we want and not wavier too far off the path.

when we took her to the abattoir, it was hard...we were sad, but by a few days later when we were tucking into lamb chops...we had forgotten about the sadness...and looked at the money we had saved.

We also turned her skin into a lovely sheepskin rug...so she will always be with us!

As well as a pair of slippers for my son!

There is also a new Goat shelter up in the paddock....well it was a garden shed given to us by a friend who decided that it was no longer of use to them...so perfect for our goats, although the goats were straight into it(mainly as we put hay in it), and they learnt to shelter from the wind in it...the minute it rained they screamed blue murder to go in the Barn! Still they are in for a shock too, soon.

Daisy has been sheared and Banjo half sheared....then its the dusting of Louse powder...which smells like liquorice...Banjo is only half sheared as he is so fidgets so much...we still have to do his tummy area, around the delicate bits down to his legs...also the top of his head...so at the moment he looks more like a poodle than a goat!...but we will win this battle with him, whether he likes it or not!

Thursday coming, Daisy and Banjo are off to their new home, the reason we are getting rid of them is because Daisy was just to keep Rita company...Banjo was a surprise...but neither are of use to us...I don't use their wool, but a friend of ours will and that's where they are off to.

Rita wont be alone though, we are collecting two new goats the same day, they are twin Saanen's, so a smaller version of Rita...Also we will be getting a Billy goat too, but he arrives later when we get the pen ready for him...

Why are we getting a Billy instead of borrowing one?.....well... we did borrow one from our vet...Puck his name was and a real gentleman towards Rita...she was with him 4 times in all, then he died...... we hunted for another one, and found one with a friend of ours....her Billy wasn't so friendly ..in fact he didn't even want Rita to go!...but she didn't take...and we rang to re arrange...that's when we found out he too had died! Poor Rita, she was given the nickname "the black widow!"...none of it was her fault...it turns out that Billy goats go sterile about a month or two before they die...and it had just been bad luck.

It was too late to find another billy now, the season was over, and we couldn't find one we could borrow, but then we were given a tip...the Gamrie goat soap lady had a billy, he was no use as he was related to all her goats now, and he was only two!... so no chance of him dropping anytime soon....we went out to meet her and the billy(sunny), and fell in love with him...so we just have to get the pens strong enough to hold him...then we can collect him anytime we are ready....which also means Rita gets a reprieve.....for now at least...

Up to now

2009-02-27T11:12:00.000-08:00

So most of the animals are sorted for a while...we get some ducks(Darren and his harem), so I make a pond in this once beautiful garden...hmmm yes that was a really nice garden.

When we first moved in, in the walled area of the garden that now houses the ducks and chickens, was a beautiful garden....you know the nice cottage garden with the perfect veg plot on the side...absolutely gorgeous...then once we harvested the veg...we didn't replant...the mud hardened....and the perfect lawn is now not so perfect...and most of the flowers are no more thanks to the birds.
We built raised beds in the hard standing drive way....which gave a good crop, but it could of been a hell of a lot better...but it was our first attempt... the problem was we planted too many different veg, and not enough of each of them!
this year we are determine to sort that problem out. Although choosing what we want to plant and grow, does become a major chat now and then....i hope we like onions!!

So we also put up a poly tunnel...it was up 3 weeks ish...then we had a major storm and no more poly tunnel...along with goat shelter number two! It turns out we are in a storm path...that will explain all the windy days (no jokes please)...and will explain why all our crops were wind burn last year..but hey we live and learn.
But we did grow and very successfully, Corn on the cob, onions, carrots, curly kale, peas, broad beans, perpetual spinach, to name but a few...unfortunately the tomatoes, potatoes and parsnip's were a disaster.... must try harder!!

well will tell you more as it happens as we are now almost up to date

Bye for now
xx

Back to Jan 08

2009-02-24T03:58:00.000-08:00

So the goats arrived around autumn...whats next??

..............A dog!!

Meet Ghillie. (his favorite thing is his ball, favorite food is cow muck..and favorite person is my partner...unless of course i have food near me!)

We got him from a young couple who could no longer cope with him, he is very hyper as he is a Springer cross Collie, he was two when we got him, and it was a wonder that they could cope as they had two kids under two, a cat and 3 kittens, a chinchilla and 5 babies, and they themselves were under 20!

First impression of Sweep as he was called back then...was he was a bit too friendly! more with the baby bouncing in the swing that was attached to the door than anything else...that's it! his man hood had to be the first thing to go!! the second thing was his name...he just was not a sweep!!
Although it was me that wanted the dog, the dog attached himself to my partner...no not that way, get your minds out of the gutter if you please....I mean he went straight up to him and totally ignored me...but I didn't really mind...after all he would spend longer with me eventually.

So When Sweep arrived the first thing was his manhood!...he wasn't impressed!

But it didn't help, that it snowed just after, and although it was funny watching him trying to sniff the white stuff, then lifting his head only to get covered in snow...but it would make the plastic cone brittle with the cold, which in turn would then snap bits off...and would finally end up with a yelp from me as he would catch it on the back of my legs!....talk about a dog getting his own revenge!

As the time past, Ghillie, which is what we renamed him to, became more attached to both of us...and although he loves to get in the posties car(which was a shock for the postie the first time), he is generally well behaved.

when it snows however, he does get a little confused...you throw a snow ball and he will dig for ages trying to find it!

He would still be digging now if we hadn't shown him another snow ball!

Although if this dog was to be a human... I think he would be very much like Kevin, out of Kevin and perry!
he just lollops about without a care sometimes...but will never stray too far!

The goats arrive!

2009-02-22T03:09:00.000-08:00

So the chickens had arrived!

I got to to thinking again...Oh dear...groaned my partner..... Goats Hun, what about getting a goat or two?...

after much persuading, I sourced a goat from a friend of ours, a British Saanen called Rita, and told my partner, that as we have a goat arriving we had better start building a pen out of pallets. The blue air in the barn was lifted when the pen was finish, and we could both relax and wait....we were due to collect her the following weekend....The journey to my friends, to collect the goat, was uneventful, apart from the fact that i casually dropped in the fact that we couldn't just have one goat, other wise Rita will start to think she is human and attach herself to one of us!...with that thought planted in his mind, I went quiet for the rest of the journey.

So Rita arrived! ...she was a big goat! and my partner was still a bit nervous of her...he said her eyes looked evil LOL but she turned out to be very affectionate...It took her a little while to settle in...and i guess she saw me as head goat for a while. but she seemed happy none the less...although she was lonely...so while i was clearing out the walled garden of beautiful, but poisonous (for goats) plants,.... i had a cunning plan!!

Knowing how nervous my partner was with goats in the first place, and throwing him in the deep end already with Rita... I thought of a way where I could get another goat to keep Rita company! (hehehe)...so i said to (convo went something like this) "honey we need another goat!" "why, am nervous with one! let alone two" "but that's the whole point...goats are herd animals..and she needs company, otherwise she will follow you around and that will include indoors...with another goat she wont, also if we get a different breed, we can have one for milk and one for the hair!"

So then We ended up with Daisy! the angora....great !......or was it Rita wasn't happy with daisy in her pen...or with us being near daisy!!...soooo

This is Daisy...goat number two!

I started to build another pen attached to Rita's.....only problem was that Rita thought she was missing out...and would jump into Daisy's pen...the bulling would start...we would go into the barn to find both out of the pens and eating the food!!!

Pen was built higher!!....but daisy found a way of escaping out of the gate!!...so gate was rebuilt!! when they finally were sorted in their pens...it was the paddocks we had trouble with!

Originally we put both daisy and Rita into the walled garden...now paddock....and both were happy...for a week!!! Rita decided to jump the gate! which i still find daft because if she had gone round the corner she would see the little bit of fencing was a lot lower!!. But no, Rita would jump the gate every time we put her in this paddock!! leaving Daisy to bleat her heart out while Rita went home to the barn!!

And every day we would try and get Rita back in the paddock without letting Daisy escape! this would be an ongoing saga! until my partner found in other paddock that we had a bit of corrugated tin...not a lot mind...but enough to make the gate from 4 feet high to 5 and half feet high...yippee i though..... how daft was i!! they were in the paddock as normal...my partner had just finished putting the iron on the gate...and as he turned back to walk away.....there was a thud and he turned to see Rita following him!! Grrrr back to the drawing board!! We cleared the second paddock from anything poisonous from them.... built a shelter in there......fixed the old electric fencing....checked the other bit of fencing...and when we were both happy...we put in the goats! first Rita....she went in and was happy to walk of in the paddock....we shut the gate and went to the barn to get Daisy.....once inside the barn we opened Daisy's pen...turned to get her out and came face to face with ..............RITA!!!!...she had jumped!! ..... now we had two goats outside the pen and paddock!! both very stubborn minded!! But I was more stubborn than both! and we put daisy in paddock first....shut the gate...went and got Rita....came back to paddock with her opened gate and put Rita in as Daisy shot through her legs, and ran down the lane!!!!....so i ran down the lane after her.....and when i caught her and turned to walk back up the lane......there was Rita....right behind me!!! both went back into their pens in the barn to try again another time!!

So now we have reached February...life on the small holding was calmer, the goats finally settled into the fact they were going in that paddock whether they liked it or not!....apart from that we lost two hens to marek's and a cockerel had a bad cyst on his leg, so my partner did the humane thing for him too....but all in all things seemed ok

It was now march...and Daisy however had seemed to of developed a cough...It didn't help that Daisy had had a few bouts with Rita a few days before....and so we called in our vet who gave her a jab to help the bruising etc and said she will be fine...she wasn't...so we called out our vet again....the coughing and heaving got worse... took her some greens and she stretched her neck up to eat but that was it ...tried to put it just out of reach to make her stand...but she refused!!she wouldn't stand....and wouldn't eat....so we arranged for a completely different vet to arrive..By now we were in the later half of march!

The new vet said she would be over on the 27th...two days away...that's ok... we were sure Daisy would be fine for then...and we went to bed

The next morning, my partner came rushing into the house all excited!! ............ "We have three goats!!!".... "Don't be silly!" i said ...."go back and count again!!"....no honestly...we do we have three goats......Daisy had had a baby!"

Meet goat number three!!

Banjo!..born 26th march 9.55am...this is him a lot bigger now, but he again is lovely!

The vet arrived the following day and checked him over..yep he is fine..we finally went in and drank some tea to calm down!

Goats are hard but rewarding work we decided...lets get some more!!(but that is a later date ;) )

the start of it all

2009-02-21T05:47:00.000-08:00

Well since i was a child, i wanted to do three things, one of which was live on a small farm with lots of animals...and I have been lucky to do two of the three i hasten to add...and now I am on the third one!
We bought a small Bungalow in August 2007, in the north of Aberdeenshire, with our nearest shop being two and a half miles away..... the property came with a barn, a small walled garden and a very small paddock...all in all just under an acre in total.
The inside of the house was very 70's...you know the sort of thing, swirly loud carpets, flock wall paper...and very dark!
As there was only myself, my partner and the cat at the time, we concentrated on decorating the inside of the house, with the flock wall paper being the first to go, followed by the 80's gray bathroom!
we also decided that as there wasnt a huge amount to do outside, we would take advange of the lovely veg that was growning in the walled garden area and we also decided we want chickens!

Having never owned chickens before, we were very nervous about them disapearing over the hill to the next farm or worse ...to mr fox!...Also so we wouldnt get attached to them we gave them names like Kiev, nugget, Kay, Eff, and Cee...you get the idea!
So to combat this we build a very large coop in the barn..making a hatch in the brick wall so they would go out during the day...this worked at first, but the chickens werent happy...they started to fight even though they had a huge amount of space...they were bored.
Christmas was entertaining...we had family over to stay, my cousin asked...."do any of the farms have chickens near here?" .... we replied with "not the closest two farms ...think the one in the distance does...why?"
she then asked "well who owns the chickens in those fields over there?"
we took one look outside...to see our chickens going for a wander on next doors land!!..the next scene, was my partner....running around the field in his wellies, with a fishing net.....trying to catch the chickens, while my cousins laughed and filmed it all!! The film "chicken run" came to mind! LOL
Yep the chickens were not happy in their home, so in the new year, we had a change of action...we build new hen houses and put them in the walled garden...they have been there ever since and not once tried to escape.
I have to say though...that we did get eggs when they were in the barn...and the day we got our first egg, we also got our first carrot and two pods of broad beans!...we celebrated with an omlete with the veg sliced up finely and added...a true feast from the garden...and we were over the moon!
now we get eggs on a regular basis...so we have learnt to make no end of things ....just to use them up!...and still loving the moment when we collect the eggs from them!!

The next post will be the next step on the small holding!

bye bye for now
kimmie xx

intro

2009-02-19T23:20:00.000-08:00

First time and a blogger, it seems to be the thing to do these days, instead of putting everything down in a little book that has a lock and key, see now there's another thing...its open for all to view if i wish, which doesnt bother me, yet if this was a hand written diary, it would be hidden from everyone.
Funny how a computer will change your way of thinking.

Anyway, this is my blog about our life on a smallholding, we have only been doing this a little over a year now, my partner works in construction, and before running this place I was a make-up artist and a skin consultant...funny, I remember family saying how extreme in difference my life is now, I mean...now i patch up my jeans, don on some wellies and muck out the goats, instead of my previous life of putting on my make-up, grooming my hair so it was perfect, and dressing fashionable clothes with nice heels!...yes i guess they were right...it is a bit of a difference!!
Going back to the smallholding, well we are up in Aberdeenshire, you know that bit of Scotland that never gets mentions on the weather maps. We have a small bungalow (seems that most of Scotland have bungalows rather than houses) but very little land...in fact its under an acre! so every bit of it has to be used wisely.

We currantly own 3 goats, 5 ducks, 8 chickens, a dog and a cat....but it is still in the early stages

Tomorrow ....or even maybe later today...i will start from the begining, on the life, and how we started....but for now i am off to bed to try and catch up on the lack of sleep i had last night!

Night night