How things have changed!

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

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?

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

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

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!

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

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!

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

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!

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!

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

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!

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!

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?

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!

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

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!

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!

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!

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)