We’ve had some cracking sunrises and sunsets over the last couple weeks. I don’t think my snap does them justice.
It’s starting to feel like Winter with the temperature getting below zero. The taps in the fields have frozen a couple times so far. If you want to build a stalagmite like mine, then don’t quite turn the tap off overnight.
With the porkers gone we’re free to move Kiwi, Sultana and her litter plus 2 arks to the other end of the field for the Winter. Straight forward you’d think. Plan was straight forward, move one ark, move Kiwi, move second ark and then move Sultana and the piglets. It’s a good plan however remember the quickmud? The quickmud didn’t really want to release the ark nor us once we were in it’s grip. The wooden floor I made and the Porkers never used other than a toilet was wedged tight inside the ark. After 45 mins of pushing, pulling, swearing and Amanda losing her welly(lol), we managed to get it free. A photo or two would have been hilarious but in Amanda’s words “Due to the difficulty of taking photos whilst trying to lever a large ark out of mud, without a) releasing the ark so that you have to start levering all over again and b) loosing your boots which are firmly stuck in that mud, we have only one rather uninspiring photo of lots of bits of wood under the ark, which in no way convey the sheer frustration of trying to move the bloody thing, or how long it took!” …not a happy bunny.
While all this was going on Kiwi was happily grazing, rattling a few pig nuts and she was in her new quarters. Ark number two was a lot quicker, without a floor and less mud it was down the other end of the field in no time. All we had to do now was to walk Sultana and her piglets down. Shouldn’t be a problem after all the piglets will just ‘follow Mum’ … err no that wasn’t what they or Sultana had in mind.
Sultana thought it would be fun to round up the ewe lambs and put then in the lambing shed. Meanwhile the piglets went in all directions except the direction of Sultana. More pig nuts and we have Sultana back with the piglets, temporarily at least. No matter what we tried we couldn’t get all 8 to follow her. Eventually we had 5 and Sultana following the bucket and off we went. So what about the last 3? Fortunately with some ‘sushing’ they went into Ark number 3, perfect. Amanda backed the Landrover up close by, then one by one we caught the piglets without letting the others escape and bundled them in the back of the Landy. After short drive to the other end of the field they were re-united with Mum and their siblings. Time for a shower and a cuppa.
Well this is the baler arriving! Mike has bought a mower (slightly too big for the Massey, but I understand there’s a cunning plan), a haybob and a mower, so we are all set to make our own hay next season. This could be a real saving or a disaster as we have never made hay. All the items were shipped by a huge lorry and unloaded at the farm up the road (thank you Tim!) and then Mike collected each bit and drove it round. This wasn’t completely straight forward as the mower is too heavy and the front wheels of the Massey weren’t doing a lot. He had to reverse it over the brook and up the drive and with no steerage it was a trifle tricky. But it didn’t end up in the brook and it’s all in the barn now and we look forward to using it next year. I am sure it will be a joint effort as the grass will need turning every day, so I’d better read up on hay making!
I have to admit the Porkers were driving me crazy. It’s not all their fault but wading 30 yards through a foot of mud being hassled by 6 delinquent pigs each weighing 80Kg twice a day was a game that was ‘wearing a little thin’ shall we say. I thought Amanda was winding me up when she announced the butcher’s couldn’t take them for another week, that’s another 14 trips through the quickmud. What’s quickmud; it’s the clay equivalent of quicksand. If you move fast enough you can stay on top, any hesitation and you’re up to your knees. They say revenge is a dish best served cold, my preference in this case is roasted, sliced with crackling on the side 
Dumblehole 