Friday 9 October 2015

What do you do........?

 
 
What do you do when the frozen peas you have just bought are left out in the open air instead of being put in the freezer?
You put them in the dehydrator toute suite.
The reason why they were not put into the freezer?
Because I was too distracted by the Rayburn Project, which was jumbled up in my head with the thought of playing with the French / English Irish band that evening.
In fact I was quite useless all day.
 

What do you do when you realise you have nothing to wear that did not bear witness to farm life?
I raided my stash of material and made myself a new skirt, which did not have any dribbles, splashes, rips, or other general spoilage from living life on a farm scattered all over its surface.
I am now on a mission to get more new clothes made,
for some reason I do not seem to be able to allow myself to buy clothing which is made commercially, apart from underwear and even then I will have a go at making certain private garments at some point in the future.
I do not know why I have this need to wear only what I make,
I suppose it is just me being me....
 
 
What do you do when you see a radiator on the wall in your home,
the very same wall which once was part of a ruin of a building?
You sort of do a silly dance, and sort of do a bit of yelling in the air,
that is what you do if you are me.
 

What do you do when you want you are going to a rehearsal of a band which is making you feel nervous and unsettled?
You do some baking, that is what you do, in the hopes that by providing a tasty nibble for all to eat,  that all will be put into a good humour  before one even starts playing.
Well, anyway, that seemed like a good plan to me,
shame that Dotty (our young calf) decided not to come in from the field,
and that Lester then had to chase her round and round that field,
which is quite a big field,
and makes him quite out of puff,
which was not a good thing if he was going to need to be able to play his violin, mandolin, and banjo, with a super duper skill which would impress the other band members later on that evening.
No, this was not good....
so Blue (one of the rottweiller girls) and me to the rescue, with Blue running alongside Dotty,
which Dotty did not like,
because Dotty believes that there is nothing in the world except herself,
the same as all young beings of the world believe,
until something happens which makes them realise that the world does not revolve only around themselves.
This, then, is what Dotty needs to learn.
She did not learn that lesson entirely this time, but was made more aware of greater forces, such as allowing Lester to get a rope on her so she could be taken into the cow barn to be with her mum, that if she did not let this happen then a big black thing of an animal would chase her round and round until she decided that Lester was the better option to take.
I, meanwhile, stood and watched, ready to call in Blue when Dotty chose her option.
 
Back at the oven......with Dotty now quite happily cosied up with mum Bonny....
what to do if the quiche you are baking to impress others with has now gone past its best,
 and has now got a sort of blackened perimeter because you have been busy somewhere else?
Well, you look at the singed pastry, do a couple of seconds of panic, then go get the expensive cheese you have just bought from out of the fridge, then grate this expensive cheese over the top of the quiche in the hopes that it will cover up the burnt bits, that is what you would do if you were me.
Then you put the quiche back into the oven for a few minutes to melt the cheese, the theory being that the cheese would act as an icing over the blackened pastry.
It sort of worked.
The quiche was well received that evening.
 
And so what do you do when you reach the hour of midnight, and the rehearsal is now at an end,
and everyone is smiling at you, and asking if you are coming again next week,
and you feel so well received by everyone,
that you are almost speechless,
what do you do?
You sort of go into a sort of daze, that is what you would do if you were me,
and thank everyone,
with a smile on one's face a mile wide.
 
And so Lester and me drove home in the early hours of the morning,
taking it slowly,
not because of the amount of traffic on the roads,
but because of the possibility  of bumping into deer, wild boar, badgers, and anything else which roams at night.
We were both smiling.
It had been a good evening.
And we are going again next week,
because we have been asked to do so.
Wow!
 
Vx
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


14 comments:

Ohiofarmgirl said...

what a day! it sounds like a good one. so glad you "got the dog" for that silly calf. i think Blue is going to become your most important farm "tool." as for the Rayburn... i'm very excited about that project. such a joy to see your progress!

Dawn said...

What a wonderful day full of lots of positives, congratulations on your audition, the skirt looks lovely too, you will have to make a few more just for band sessions :-)

rusty duck said...

Well done x

Vera said...

OHIOFARMGIRL, Blue is such a good herder of the animals. She just loves to run and play, and, as you say, is fast becoming one of our 'important farm tools'.

DAWN, I am going to have to make quite a few items of clothing because I have not made anything for over seven years so everything I wear is looking very 'farm soiled'!

JESSICA, thank you.

PJ said...

Good for you. Next week you can feel more relaxed about the band and just have fun. Love the skirt. Pretty color.

Rhodesia said...

Sounds great, well done, you fit so much into your lives. Diane

Horst in Edmonton said...

Sounds like you had a great day. Hope everything goes well next week.

Vera said...

PJ, I still can't believe I am going to be playing in a band, but as you say, the next rehearsal should see me more relaxed, and I might also not be so nervous during the day of the rehearsal!

DIANE, I don't think we fit a lot in, we are just people who like to do productive things!

HORST, thanks, and hope you are keeping well and that you week ahead is also a good one.

Kirsty said...

Vera sounds like you've been busy as usual. I can't believe you make all of your own clothes and you just knocked up a skirt like that, amazing! I'm glad your evening with the band went well x

DUTA said...

It's good that you live in two worlds : the everyday world of working on your little farm, and the wonderful world of hobbies: sewing and playing music. The two complement each other, and make your life one happy whole.

Cro Magnon said...

I thought it was a pizza. Yesterday as I was driving home I met another car coming towards me just when a deer crossed the road between the two cars, missing both of us by a few metres.

Rosaria Williams said...

Oh Vera, this is such a fun read, with all the anticipation and excitement as though I was sitting in your kitchen watching you scrambling about getting ready for that rehearsal...Glad you enjoyed it so, tired as you all were.

Vera said...

KIRSTY, the band evening was a good surprise to both of us, and it will give us social connections which will offset the insular life of running a smallholding...plus it is jolly good fun!

DUTA, you are right...... life on a smallholding can mean seven days of hard work, so there is a need to keep a balance with the lighter side of life by playing music and being creative!

CRO MAGNON, oh crikey.....one deer plus two cars! What a near miss. Soooo glad you didn't get hit by animal or vehicle. We shall now definitely make sure our speed is on the slow side when we are coming home from band practice.

ROSARIA, I am glad that you enjoyed reading about my band experience.... it was a good experience for us to have, and it is nice to know that you enjoyed it as well.

Kerry said...

What a lovely post, lots of positive things going on. Glad the band practice went well and I bet you looked lovely in your new skirt x