Well, he came.....

That man, the one I wrote a blog about a few days ago, the one who wanted one of our lambs, the one who made me feel rather nervous because of his dark looks, well, he came. Plus his wife. They both came. In a posh 4 x 4 truck they came, towing a small, smart, animal trailer.

We thought he had changed his mind. Hoped he had. But then he came. I saw him reverse into our drive. I scurried indoors to let Hubs know. I wasn't being a coward, really I wasn't, I just wanted Hubs to be the meeter and greeter.

It went well. Surprisingly. The sheep didn't think so. They charged and barged and complained and generally carried on hysterically, as they do when they are in a mind to be difficult. Sometimes they can be quite calm and placid creatures. Other times, monsters of nervousness. Anyways, they were not fussed with being disturbed at their bedtime, but then neither would I be as I headed towards my bed.

Two. They wanted two lambs. Females they wanted. I would not let them take Tooey. I said she is still being bottle fed. She is becoming special. Her and her brother Benjie, they have moved themselves in to my heart. They have done this by coming to find me when they are hungry. If they are out in the field, I call them by name, and if they are not too concentrated with eating grass, they will come running over to me. And lately they have found a way of getting under the wire field gate, after first hanging around the gate to see if I am on my way. If not, then they come and find me. They will even come in to the house. Hubs says that they should not do that. That a behaviour is being laid down which might cause difficulties in the future. I can't help it though. I find them dreadfully adorable. Tooey even let me give her a hug today, but Benjie, being a male, prefers not to have such a contact. He just comes to have his milk, and then wanders quickly away again.

The geese have not been very nice today. They would not let me and the dogs come through the gate into the Courtyard. One even attacked Gus, although Gus did not realise it. He just thought he was wearing a scarf because what the goose had done was wrapped herself round him somehow. 

But the piglets managed to stay inside their electric fencing today. I think that, as they are getting bigger, that they are now unable to slide sneakily beneath the lowest wire without getting a smacker of an electric shock. We know that it is a smacker of a shock because Hubs has managed to get shocked himself three times during the last week.

Everything is bursting with life here. We found the Bareneck hen sitting on a pile of eggs behind some concrete slabs. We have left her to get on with it. But the blackbirds are managing a heavy presence now, as are the magpies. One of those horrid birds, and I say 'horrid' because they are noisy, always arguing, never calm, nor chirrupy, ....well one of those damn birds has had the three week old chick away, the one whose mum sat on the egg on the cold concrete floor of the Tall Barn without us knowing.  Any day now the trees will come in to leaf and provide hiding places for these birds. And what they will do is spy on us and our animals. If Bareneck does hatch chicks then she is going to have to stay inside the chicken run for a month or so. Neither her, her chicks, or me, or Hubs, is going to like penning her up like that. The only good think about those 'horrid birds' is that they pick up the sheep poo in the Sheep Paddock, which saves me a job. The hens, bless them, usually sort out the Sheep Arbre. Yesterday the geese were also in the Arbre. Not sure what they were doing in there. Probably aggravating the chickens. Plus they can drink from the sheep's water trough. I would think that they also grab a quick bath in the water as well.

I have been digging in the veg plot, but had a bit of a disaster today. My three pronged fork broke. I was most upset. It is my trusted friend. The normal fork hurts my back, but the three pronged does not. In fact, it is doing wonders for my pecs. My bosoms have become less inclined towards the downward since I have taken over  as Chief Rotovator, which used to be Hubs' title until his mechanical rotovator died. He is not into digging. Oh he tries, he really does, but his attention seems to whittle away after half an hour or so.

So two of our lambs have found a new home. We received payment for them, which will help towards the yearly vet visit and the shearing of the sheep. The man and woman, well, I still felt intimidated by them, but ultimately we decided which of the lambs they were to have. They are supposed to be breeding them. Will they? Well ownership, and therefore responsibility, has now passed in to their hands.

......and we have light!!!!!! The electrician has been. And now, in the kitchen, which is between the Side Barn in which we sleep, and the loo, and the temporary kitchen, hanging from the ceiling is a light. And it has switches to switch it on and off. Three. One at each doorway. Which means........ no more tripping, fumbling, or groping about in the dark waiting for the temporary sensor light to switch on so we can see where we are going. Although I have become a skilled walker-about-in-the-dark, it was an absolute pleasure to have a night time trip to the loo without an adventure being associated with it, the adventure being will I or will I not bump in to the wall, will I tread in Gus's nighttime evacuation ( he does not do that often, but one has to be aware that he might have done a poopsy), will I manage to avoid the paintpots or other stuff lying around, will Bools get up to say hello and trip me up, will four footed little things scurry over my feet (actually we have not had any probs this winter with rats or mice, but memories still linger of the previous winter when we were virtually inundated). I did have a torch at one time so I could see my way, but Hubs 'borrowed' it when his broke last year. But...I can now switch a light on. A proper light. Hanging from the ceiling on proper fixings rather than hanging off a beam haphazardly and only switching on if I can manage to walk in the path of its sensors. This kitchen light, plus the lights in the bathroom, plus the lights in the Side Barn: wow!