Passing the time

The patchwork curtains I have just made for the Half Barn, made out of bits of fabric I had in my stash. They are a bit on the thin side, and I might line them for next winter, but I do love the way in which the light shines through them giving them a stained glass effect. I pass my time quite happily watching the way in which the light shines through. Even on 'not so nice weather' days they still look bright and cheerful and lift the soul.

Today I have done quite a lot of stopping, my snuffles now having turned into full sneezes and a waterfall of a runny nose. It is, I think, down to the amount of dust we have in the house, as Jean Pierre now moves on to working on the ceiling of what will be the dining room. Robbed of any energy but not ill enough to go to bed, I have passed my time doing little bits of tidying up. Didn't make much difference to the overall state of chaos, but at least I feel that I made some sort of contribution to getting straight.

In between I passed the time at having a go at getting the donated knitting machine going:

It is a fearsome beast and much more complicated that the knitting machine I had years ago, but I did manage to produce some rows of knitting. Tough to push to and fro though. Too much use of it will make my arms go very muscly.

Hubs, meanwhile, was passing the time talking to Jean Pierre:

....who is the other side of the wall. They were up there for ages doing man-talk.

Meanwhile, the bread was  passing the time by basking in the sunshine.

I had put it there because it was being lazy about getting risen up. I thought a nice warm up in the sun would get it going. It did. The bread is now cooked.  I do not know where the sunshine has gone in this photo, but, honestly, the sun was shining....

Meanwhile,  passing their time out at the Small Veg Plot:

...the chickens have done a great job about keeping the weeds down. Well done all you lot. Saved me a job.

Meanwhile, out at the Pig Pens:

Max and our other Tamworth girl were passing the time by having a a bit of a romp in their mud wallow, Max just as hour or so before having had his way with her, but in the privacy of their hut.

...and:

....our other Tamworth girl was passing the time having a snooze in her hut. Actually, what she was doing was going into labour, because a couple of hours later we could see one little piglet. I would have gone in to her hut to help her, but Hubs said not to, that she was perfectly able to do the job herself. And she didn't look stressed. Sort of had a smile on her face.......

This chicken is not too good at the moment, and we think she is on her way out.

...she passes the time by shuffling about the place, looking all bent over. We would put her into a cage, but think that she is better out and about. The other hens are quite caring of her. One was talking gently to her as they shared a puddle of water, and seemed to be encouraging her to drink. Orpy, the cockerel, even took his pleasure of her, which flattened her to the ground, but then he stood around her seeing if she was alright, perhaps because she didn't make the normal signals to him that it was a job well done.

The loo! Now in its proper position, and passing the time until it can have running water and be a proper loo. The space beside is the Italian Shower. Posh name for what is a tiled shower space, but Jean Pierre and Danny like to refer to the space as the 'douche italien'.

And here are is Twoey, waiting for her milk. She is the little black lamb at the bottom of the photo.

.....and having a moment with Gussy. Bools and Gus are good with her and give her a lick round to make sure she is clean. Bools and Gus, though, may not be quite so bold with the sheep. One of them wouldn't come out of the field last night. She had twins the day before and is taking her job very seriously. Normally a ewe will keep her lamb / lambs close by for a day or so, not wanting too much interaction with the rest of the flock. After that, she starts putting more distance between herself and her youngsters which make the youngsters start interacting more with the flock as a whole. This ewe is not doing that. She is the most ferocious guardian of her twins. Both Bools and Gus have been rammed at full force by her, knocking the wind out of both of them. All they wanted to do was have a lick round the botties of the lambs. Hubs is not enarmoured of her either. He had to chase her round and round and round and round again, trying to get her out of the field and into the Sheep Paddock.  He fetched up red faced and out of puff. I did not say a word. Nor did I show my mirth, which was jiggling about inside me waiting to erupt at any moment. 

Off to bed I went at seven last night. Fed up with the sneezing, coughing, and runny nose. Now it is five in the morning. What a delightful time it is. All are asleep. But....sneezing, etc...has just started again, so I think that I shall tiptoe back to bed for an hour or so.

Bye for now......