Some rotovate, some don't

And here is MumTess with some of her little helpers. Working away they are, feeding themselves but also rotovating part of the Long Veg Patch. And here is what MumTess has managed so far:

....and here is what I have  managed to do:

...yes, well, I have been otherwise occupied:

...in the Small Veg Patch I have been, ably helped by the Chicken Flock. A lot of team effort going into this year's veggie planting. However, the chickens have now been banned from this veg plot. The reason? Their feet. Stomping over the newly dug earth flattened and compressed the newly dug surface. Felt terribly guilty about setting a ban. When I had my next digging session they all stood in a line outside the fence watching me reproachfully.

The thing is, that no doubt they are doing a good job of cleaning up the soil from 'baddies', plus some 'goodies' as I well I should think, but the compressing of the earth again made me feel like giving up. The geese are banned as well. Their feet are even bigger.

When I had finished in this veg plot for the day and shut the 'gate', which is only some wire tied across the entrance but serves a useful purpose of keeping all out, all the chickens were sitting in front of the gate in a huddle hoping that a magic solution would appear to allow them into the plot.

But the flock have done a wonderful job of keeping most of the soil in that plot free of weeds, bless them, and as I say, I do feel guilty about not allowing them to enjoy the benefits of the newly dug soil.

And then there are these hooligans:

They are not supposed to be out and about. They are supposed to be in the Long Veg Plot with their mum. But despite Hubs rearranging the wire on the electric fence, within seconds they slid underneath it, not minding that some of them got shocked by the electrical current. Once out, it was 'Hooray, we have escaped', and off they sped, racing here:

...racing there....

..then did a circle around their mum's paddock but did not pay her a visit. It would seem that, like any young ones, that they prefer to keep out of her sight but within visiting distance if anything untoward happens which frightens them. With speed, should this happen, they will charge back to her. Otherwise, off they go, having a jolly, exploring, messing about, fighting, playing with Bools and Gus most times running along with them.

......and off into the Courtyard before I could get in front of them to turn them around and herd them back to mum.
And a quick investigation before I got them shooed out...

Then off down to the leek bed to have a stomp around.....

...then on to the mangel bed to finish off the last of the mangels.

....and that was enough! Charming though they are, I had work to do, so with Hubs' assistance we got them back with MumTess, then all were encouraged back into their home pen.

They are fun, those piglets. But my goodness me they are naughty. And they scream. Dreadfully. Two had got stuck in the Small Veg Plot. In they had gone for an investigation, but then Bools and Gus decided to accompany them. This freaked those two out, but instead of making a return through the gateway, they kept going and ended up jamming themselves in the wire. Man of man, but did they scream. The most loudest cacophony of noise did they make, which was amazing for creatures so small.

It is good that the piglets are having a good life. That they have fun. That they have adventures. And they give us much benefit back as we watch them.

.....but how are we going to catch those hooligans, what are we going to do with them....how are we going to sell them.....how many are we keeping back for ourselves, .....how does on make sausages, ......these, and many more questions, remain unanswered at this time!

The rotovating team

Wahooo! Temperatures suddenly gone loopy and up around 24C they have gone. Seems strange that only three weeks ago we were down to the minus 10's. Also, about three weeks ago I decided that enough was enough, that I my list of things to do each day was just plain silly, and that something had to go. And that something was the veg plots. No veggies this year, that is what I decided. It was a relief. Veggies are hard work. Mind you, the end result is worthwhile, the same as everything else when it comes to smallholding life. So, no veggie growing activities for me this year.

But.....however.....um......the sun arrived, and I suddenly found within myself a fierce yearning to connect with the veggie plots. Realisation also came to me that I am a lost soul. I am addicted. So on to the Internet I went and ordered the veggie seeds for this year. Why order over the Internet? Because I can take time to make my list and then trim it down to fit my budget. It is less complicated as well. Standing in front of hundreds of seed packets in a shop does my head and I either spend too much or can't make a choice so end up with buying none.

Now all that has to be done is get the ground dug. With the mechanical rotovator now dead forever it is now left up to the living rotovators to do the work: me and MumTessy.

This photo was taken by Claudine at the Chambre d'hote opposite to us. It is me doing rotovating on the three long strips of furrows ploughed up by Hubs in December. It is hard work. It will take me a long time. But, MumTessy to the rescue:

First of all we electric fenced a nice portion of field plus half the long veggie strips. Exactly half the length actually because I walked the entire length of the strips and divided it in half so MumTessy and me had fair shares of the work.

We opened up the gate into MumTessy's paddock so she could access her rotovating task only she preferred to linger in the runway to the paddock. This she was not supposed to do. Rotavate the path, that is what she decided to do.

Ah well, hopefully she will get over to the proper rotovating area soon.

And this little one appeared to day, by surprise.....

This hen had cosied herself up behind the grain bins. We didn't know she had done so. On cold concrete she must sat because no nest could we see. First we knew was when Hubs heard cheeping sounds accompanied by Mum Hen clucking at him to keep away. She must have been sitting during the really cold weather. Well done this hen. Forever we shall regard her as a stirling trooper.

Oooppss....Hubs has just yelled that the piglets have escaped.....so bye for now...

9, 17, 2, and nearly a splash

How many piggies arrived?

Nine! They are now nearly two weeks old, and running around their pen like hooligans.



 

Their noses are mucky because they are investigating the delights of digging. They have battles which involved hanging on to each other's ears and tails. The males (3) are already barging into the flanks of the females, just like their dad does. They are starting to find their voices, but not much. They are a total delight!

Meanwhile, seventeen lambs were the final number born. All black, or black or white.

You have met Twoey already,  and here is her brother Benjie...

Twoey has two white blobs on her forehead, Benjie has a white triangle. Both have little mops of white fur between their ears. Both have to be bottle fed because their mum, who had three lambs, gave up with these two. They are pals. But they do not have such joyfulness of spirit as do the lambs still being fed by their mums. I have not seen them prance about, nor race with the wind, nor even have play-battles. Yesterday the last lamb was born. It was very tiny. I think the mum must have taken one look at it and decided it was not bothering about because it was left to fend for itself. All the day long I watched it out in the field with the others, hoping that the mum would feel some sort of pull of her heartstrings. She didn't.  Did not even know who it's mum was. No one showed an interest. So in it came with the rest of the flock in the evening. Needed to be fed. Died during the night. In a way I am glad it died. Having seen how not having a mum has affected Twoey and Benjie, it would have not been a good life for that little one. At least the brother and sister have each other, but that little one would have been truly an orphan. So I glad that nature intervened, even if it was sad to see the little lifeless body in the morning.

But.....we have two ceilings now finished:



What will be the Dining Room eventually

And by golly gosh what a humungous state the house has got into, and what a humungous state me and Hubs have also got into. During the previous renovation work we had caravans to return to so we were out of the way of the messiness of the building work. But now we are in the house all the time, we could not escape the building zones, nor could we escape the desert storm of dust which frequently flew around the house. But.....two ceilings now up, and rooms reasonably cleaned up. I spent all weekend vacuuming through the house. Foolish me. Should have waited, as now I will have to go over it all again.  It's no good using a duster. I have to use the vacuum cleaner. This is not house dust as such. It is wood and brick dust, which is a completely different type of dust. And we are exhausted. I do not remember being so tired during other phases of the renovation, but this time we are wobbling with tiredness. Might be because of the recent extremely cold weather, or it being the explosion of young animals all of which were not expected, or it could be because it is the changing seasons...not to worry, though, two ceiling done! Whooppeeee!!!

....aaaaannnnddddd......the bathroom is only waiting for the tiles to be put on the walls, the plumber to come in and finish the plumbing, and for the electrician to complete his part as well. And then we can  have a splash about in the shower. And go to a proper loo with running water instead of using a watering can. Whooppeeee again!



It is also a strangeness that now the electrician wants to know where I want the kitchen plugs to go. And that we are now talking about getting the walls of the dining room started now it has its ceiling on. Never thought we would get this far in just under four years.

And the proper mains electric in to the house is being sorted out....



....the trolley at bottom right is the electrical unit we have been running on, and what a delicate piece of equipment it is too. Put too many electrical appliances on at the same time and it switches off. Was a bit of a fright for Hubs as the hole in the wall was made for the electrical box to sit in. He thought the house would fall down. He is very sensitive about stones being taken out of the wall, after having spent a large amount of money having the walls repaired.

Not to worry though, the cracks still left in the walls do not seem to have got any bigger.

And off I now go to feed those two lambs, and then have a check on the piglets, so saying bye for now......