One Lost Camera

Camera last seen out in the sheep paddock.

I was filling in time while Himself was nailing some weather protection boards along the roof line of the little sheep barn. It was a sunny day in early December. I though it would be a good idea to record the work that Lester is doing on the smallholding now that he is no longer tied to his computer working for an employer in the UK. We are now our own employers, and in control of what we do without anyone else being our boss. It is a scary time, because it means that we have no income other than what we already have in the bank. Any income has to be generated by our own efforts. 

But the upside is that we now have time to do the things that we didn't have time to do when Himself was working on his computer for such long hours. Like talk, like have fun together, like watching the animals, like being able to sit in the sun for half an hour to watch the chickens mess about with each other. It is good to have time to enjoy being here, to stand and watch the clouds, to stand and feel the wind, to have the time to make plans. 

The Rayburn wood burning stove is still in the hallway, though, and nothing has been done to get it into the kitchen as yet. But this is not a problem, because the anticipation of having a real live wood burning stove to cook on is a delicious thing to look forward to. Plans are being made though to get installed, but we have been diverted away from the kitchen project at the moment by the need to do other things, like the repair of the walls in the Middle Barn, which requires stones being laid back into the river stone wall one by one. It is fiddly work, and slow. 

And then there was the guttering to be done on the sheep barn, and the facia boards to be put up. And this brings me back to where I started.

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Message to self: It is unwise to take the camera out on a photo shoot of Himself balancing up a ladder, the reason being that Himself might have a totter up that ladder, requiring of myself to, with some haste, stop the photo shoot and go steady the ladder for him.

- That if this were to happen again in the future, that it is unwise, in fact very unwise, to leave the camera on a handy pile of sand lying on the ground by the fence. I would have used the plastic garden chair to put it on, but that was now covered in muddy footprints from Himself, when he thought he would use the chair to stand on because he couldn't be bothered to get the ladder from the Middle Barn. Since the plastic garden chair is old, and the back is broken, it makes for a very wobbly and unsteady platform for hoisting up heavy wooden facia boards, this he found out when he almost topped from it. And this I found out for myself when I was required by Himself to stand on this very chair to hold one end of the facia board up while he went up the ladder, now fetched from the Middle Barn, to hoist the other end of the facia board up
.
- That should the weather suddenly become inclement and we all have to go indoors toute suite, the first thing which should be picked up is the camera.

- That the mystery of where the camera now is may be solved at some point in the future when the lawnmower runs over it. (I think the rottweiller girls picked it up, did a romp with it, then found that a little pink camera was not a particularly fun thing to play with, and dropped it out in the sheep paddock somewhere), but it has forced me to purchase a new camera which is more suitable for the work I need it to do, so not to feel too guilty about losing the other one, but defo be more careful with this new one.

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Still busy with the redevelopment of the Aspects of Self web site. Have spent the last three months redeveloping the site. Spent all day repairing broken links on it. Lester uploaded it so it was live on the web. Had a look around it. Yuk. Didn't like the look of it at all. Back to the drawing board. But an inspired Lester made some suggestions which I took up. Crikey but the web work takes up time. Good job the weather has taken a down turn, (although warm (19C) it is wet), so I am not seduced into spending too much time outside in the sun.  Heard the river running this morning. Means that we are likely to get some water on the land. Not to worry. We are prepared for this. It is part of the life of living near to a river. 

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Still have not got anywhere near my new sewing machine. Have two gallons of milk sitting on the stove waiting for cheese to be made. Have another gallon waiting to be made into yoghurt. Lissie continues to give us up to three litres of milk a day, bless her. She is defo in calf, so does not have the 'time of the month' behaviour any more, which is a relief for us all. Mum pig is still having her seasons though, because we saw Max trying to stay on board her yesterday, but he kept slipping backwards off her. She could have been more helpful towards his efforts if she had chosen a drier spot to stand in, but she didn't, preferring to let him try to have his way in the muddiest and sinkiest part of their paddock. I don't think he managed, so no piglets any time soon. Hopefully by the time she does have piglets I might have been able to have a go on that new sewing machine, if not, then perhaps by the time Lissie's calf arrives in August.

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Out in the Back Field today, whatever the weather does. Have loads of poles arriving tomorrow, and string has to be laid out as to where they are to go. We are dividing the field into sections so the pigs can get out and about but within boundaries. We don't think it fair on them to be kept in the same pen all the time. We think that they need to have as good a life as we can give them. They give us food, and we in return, give them as good a life as we can. But what they don't need to be doing is foraging in the veg plot. And what the geese don't need to be doing is plodding over the veggies in the veg plot with their big feet which flatten everything. And what the chickens don't need to be doing is foraging in the veg plot either, particularly on the newly planted rows of seeds, and the young green tomatoes which they absolutely adore. And what the rotweiller girls don't need to be doing in the veg plot is either messing about playing chase which each other, or digging holes, which is their favourite past time at the moment. Either of these two activities does not bode well for the growing of veggies. Sometimes we feel quite embattled in regards to our veggies, so poles up, everyone out, except me and Lester. 

But I am lingering, chatting away with you, and not getting on with the day. So I hope you have a restful Sunday, and bye for now.....

Vx