Hairy MacLairy the ram makes some unusual friendships. 
But this must be the strangest of them so far.
Sheila were you over there kissing that ram? No Miss C is was not me. It was Charlotte. She’s smelly can I bite her?
I only want to kiss you Miss C. Why don’t you come closer so I can nibble, I mean, kiss you. I don’t kiss sheep. I am a nice piggie. 
Charlotte is the one.
Queenie arrives at the fence on her tip toes. This heifer is getting so wide she sways as she walks. You want me to sort it out? I can you know, says Queenie. I can head butt her for you.
No, thank you Queenie honey. That is such a sweet offer but I think I can manage.
April asked how big The plonkers were getting. 
That big. They have a tunnel to the outside field where there is more shade in the afternoon. Half the time there is a Plonker asleep in the tunnel!
The temperatures rose to 100F (38C) again yesterday with dreadful humidity. So once again I hosed down animals and refreshed water throughout the day. Mama’s lambs were so stonkered by the heat that they just lay about sleeping in the shade, with the occasional sortie out for food and water. Forgetting completely that they had been separated from their mother. Mama is more upset by her restricted diet than anything now. She ate her small serving of dry grass hay with very bad grace. Last night all was quiet.
Tomorrow I will have been blogging for a year. So I shall be constructing a special post for July 4th. If all goes well.. sometimes the farmy happenings do get in the way. There is a change coming you see. I have a job for you.
One of my reasons for blogging was to train myself to write every day. I had intended to do this for a year then swap the blog writing time into book writing time, using the blog as a resource for a book of stories in chronological order describing a year on the farmy. Taking it down and taking it apart. Operating on it as though it were a dry thing. In the beginning I saw the blog as a collection of words and pictures. All that changed because of you.
This journal has become a resource in more ways than the obvious. I now have a pool of good friends with international advice and incredible support in this often solitary venture. And I cannot bear to lose you.
To close the blog and scuttle back under my rock with all my loot now seems callous and unusually cruel, because I know you are there now. You are my smiling baby and I cannot take my eyes off you. You have become part of the farmy. My companions. Your own personalities and knowledge have been woven into my work. And I love to form my words and create the images and make notes throughout the days knowing I will share these with you upon the next dawn. As Bill said, it is easier to write when you are writing for a person, for a reader. (If you have a moment check out Bill’s page, he put the sweetest childrens story up yesterday, for you to read to the littlees!)
And I have hundreds of you readers. So I am very lucky to be able to write to you. Some of you cannot comment or advise. And there are a precious number of you who comment almost every day, or once a week, or once a month and sometimes only once and you are the most vocal of the Companions of the Farmy. All of you have become part of the fabric of the Farmy. I could never have seen that coming.
Good Morning. Of course I will keep my Farmy Door Open for a long time yet. I don’t think there was ever a question. However to achieve the next objective AND to blog daily, I need your help to compile the first book of Farm Chapters. We will be needing a working title. There will be 12 chapters.
So from tomorrow, I shall give you the link to ‘What happened on the Farmy on this Date A Year Ago.’ (There must be a more concise way to say that.) This takes both you and I back to look and choose. (Though in the beginning I did not blog every day so it will not be too arduous). I believe there is even a WordPress programme with which we can turn the best of the blog into a book. Though I also want to be able to print it. (I love books) There is a lot for me to learn. Each page we choose will have to have work. Usually I get it all written in an hour in the morning. So the book version will be screeds better. And lately I am not writing so well. I will have to pull my socks up!
What a journey we are about to embark on. But first I need to get out there and milk my cow!
I will be back in a couple of hours to see what you think. By then I will be armed with coffee and breakfast and ready to begin the writing work.
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
123 responses to “Hairy MacLairy gets some Piggy Kisses”
Hi Celi! I am so glad to hear that you will be turning this into a book. I was hoping you would! But I foresee it being published by something even better than blurb.com. It will definitely be of interest to many people!
Congratulations on a fantastic year on the farmy and excellent writing. I look forward to hearing more but will completely understand your need to focus on the book more and of course just the living part of your life on the farmy if you need to! All the very best. You are such an inspiration. Ho
Good morning. i am going to do my level best to blog AND write. They kind of feed each other so i am sure it will not disturb my focus or anything.. c
Morning C, I wish you would not go! Your posts are refreshing and beautiful!
And maybe cut back on posts is the way to go, after all we would miss you way too much!
But your workload and family is understandable 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
NO silly, i am still blogging every day, i am just adding a new component! i could not stop! c
Great idea, Celi: I will get to see some of the events I have missed!
I will let you know when there is something to see, some of the early ones are a wee bit embarrassing! c
I recently found you blog and love it! Look forward to seeing this all in a book. Do hope you keep blogging!
I will.. no worries.. i could not bear to be without my good mornings! c
I panicked for a moment there thinking that you were going to stop blogging. And then when I read that you want to compile your best posts into a book, I was elated. I have thought for a long, long time that you need to do this. The potential market for such a book is huge given the current back to basics trend. You have a gift for writing and photography, storytelling and connecting. So glad you are moving toward publication of a book.
I will need help, but i will not stop blogging, after all this is where my support team lives!! and Audrey i will be very interested to see which of the pages you think have potential c
very exciting news!
As you know from a previous comment from me I had already been casting my eye from time to time over the farmy’s back catalogue as I recently came in about the same time as Kupa and the pea hens and was curious about the earlier times. Your to idea link back to past posts and collaborate with your entourage to create a book/s is very clever. I agree also you have the voice, characters and images to for children’s books. You’ve done so well, it’s a natural progression to take it further 🙂
Morning EllaDee.. I love working with a team so it seems natural to me to work with the team who has developed around the farm blog. As you know there is a lot of talent in this group.. c
I first came upon your blog while reading a comment section at Collie Farm . You had linked a story you had written for Michelle to read. It was the story about the night you were out in the field listening to packs of coyotes. Sitting there in your gum boots and nightie with your dog. I felt that I was right there with you, with the hairs on my neck straight up! It was a fantastic story, well written, and it drew me into reading your blog daily. You are a wonderful writer and I hope that your book cones to be. I will certainly read it. Good Luck, Faith.
How absolutely wonderful. thank you for reading. yes i agree that the coyote story has the potential to be in the book.. we must have another look at it! c
Well, the farmy is definitely not an orthodox place (Hairy McC and pigs, whatever next?). How awe-inspiring that you have posted every day for a year! Please don’t go away, but do consider cutting back and posting just 2-3 times a week, or even weekly I know, from balancing writing books with blogging and doing a seasons newsletter, that I have to pull back my energies for book production. This is now time for sustainability, and as a farmer, you know all about that!
Meanwhile, I’m sending you abundant rain from NZ. Check out this link and have a good rain-bath:
http://seasonalinspiration.blogspot.co.nz/2012/07/serious-rain.html
Not orthodox NO!! There is a lot of afternoon time that i can gather up for writing if i am clever. i would hate to give up the dawn post. We all love them so and it centers me. Tho some days they will be shorter.. now i am off to look at your rain! c
I only recently found your blog and am so glad I won’t have to lose it! One of my favorites. I am always looking forward to reading it.
welcome leslie, thank you for reading and no worries, i will be here a while yet!
I’m glad you’ve been able to pursue your dream of writing a book. And look at all the fun you’ve had in the meantime! Congrats on a year, and blessings on your project!
I think it’s so cute that the animals get along like that!
You’ve taught me a great deal about farming…without the backaches, flies/gnats/skeeters and sweating. You were so kind to show me the wonder and humor and love of it all…I’m glad to hear that you’ll be sharing that magic with a larger audience. They will love it. Congratulations, and break a leg (reference to your theatre background, not that I actually want you to break a leg 😉
Nikki
oh yes!! break a Leg is a great thing to say! c
aw shucks I love the photos of the piggie kissing the sheep. I’ve never seen anything like that before. 🙂
Lovely photos celi and the commnets here must have made you feel very warm and loved! You know we would all miss you, but I see that this is not going to happen (i.e. you´re not going to stop blogging), Three books – that´s a lot of work, but I think you have even more than that in you…you will be a runaway success and we´ll all be so thrilled to have shared a little in your story. Exciting times ahead!