The Other Day.......

The other day......................tunnelled out, that is what the juvenile pigs did. Well, it was a surprise that they hadn't escaped before, but the other day they did. Nothing for it but to put them out into the veg paddocks for a couple of days while the problem was sorted out. We were going to get one of the youngsters into the freezer this weekend, but we have gone into a bout of wet weather again, so we can't.
Lessons to be learnt: not to over winter youngsters but to organize our two adult pigs so that we have a litter in early spring, grow the piglets on over the summer and autumn, and then into the freezer in November / December. One of these years we shall get organised!

The other day........ little Ditsy got stuck under the chair in the kitchen. She has a twisted foot so can't move about very easily. There were a couple of piles of chicken poo about her person which suggested she had been there a while. Not to worry, Boolie moved in quickly to clean up the poo, but she didn't seem worried about him barging in on her, just chatted to me about this and that as I carried her outside. Unfortunately she was not entirely poo-ed out, and this one Boolie could not clean up because it was all down my skirt.

The other day........... off up into the Pyrenees I was taken, to learn how to make sushi. It was a fund raising day, and that is why I went. I also thought it would be good for me to have a few hours away from the farm. 

The day was lovely, the surroundings superb, the company fantastic. Shame that I found out that sushi is not something that I shall be partaking of in the future, although I did like some aspects of it, in particular the  Japanese seasonings. 

It was the toilet seat though, that is what intrigued me the most. It was heated. Having sat on an ice cold toilet seat during the last few months, it was a treat for my rear end to be embraced by such warmth. 

There was a row of buttons attached to the side of the loo, six in all. I didn't have my glasses with me so could not see what they were for. Fortunately I erred on the side of caution and searched for the flush button, which looked the same as the one at home, and that was on top of the cistern. This I used. Good job that I had not dabbed at the other buttons. Apparently they were for having a wash underneath. 

"You can even get bidet loos which have warm air to dry you off with " said the owner of the house.

Oooohhhhh! Now that would be a treat on a cold winter's day. 

The other day.........Lester got stuck. Out in the woods, unloading some old hay, ground very soft, and.... squelch, down into the ground the tractor sank. Couldn't go back, couldn't go forwards.

"Go sideways" I said. It worked. 

Meanwhile, the dogs romped out on the river beach, which has started appearing again as the  water level has dropped. Not sure how long they will stay dropped for because we have another bout of wet weather ahead. Not to worry, it is the mixture of sun and heavy showers which pull the grass up and gets everything growing. 

The other day........ band practice started again, because we have been booked to play at a village fete in early June, but this time we are going to have a go at singing traditional French songs, which is going to be quite a learning curve for us all. And thank goodness I can use YouTube to search for the songs, then learn how to sing them. 

And today... have just put the electric box for the pig fencing in the dehydrator. It needs to dry off because its protective covering blew off during the night and it got soaked. 

Have also put the sheep and cows out because it is getting on everyone's nerves having to stay indoors.......the sheep and cows because they get bored, and us because of the continual complaints from the sheep, and the occasional heavy moaning from the cows. There is not much to eat out on the field, but everyone seems happier with the arrangement and we are hearing no  more complaints. All is quiet.

Things to catch up with.........

- there is a bowl of pig fat in the fridge needing to be made into lard

- there is a bowl of uncooked pork in the fridge waiting to be put through the mincer and then frozen

- there is a chunk of belly pork  in the fridge to be made into bacon

- the fridge is full of jars of milk which needs de-creaming and then put to butter.

- also need to make some yoghurt, but not cheese because I keep forgetting to order a new pot from Amazon specifically for the making of cheese.

- there are huge heaps of hay out front which need getting round to the compost heap out back. 

- .......and so on........

Life on a farm / smallholding requires endless lists of work to get through. However, one thing I did learn from my day in the Pyrenees is that sitting watching the view is alright for an hour or so, and then I get fidgety and homesick. That not having animals around makes for a very clean and sterile environment which I don't seem to be able to relax in. But that loo, the one with the warm seat, now I could go for that!

Off to rescue the electric box from the dehydrator.........so bye for now, and hope you have a good weekend.

Vx