The Farmy is back online. There have been a few changes.

Camera and the Connection have returned.  So we have images and we have the internet back to its usual comforting crawl. And oh I missed you so.  It was very strange not to be constructing sentences in my head all day and collecting shots for you. 

The Duke of Kupa says welcome back. All is well though different.

While you were away there were some  changes. The Plonkers were taken to the little village abbatoir.  There is such a gap when an animal moves on. But slowly we readjust  and settle again. This is the cycle we are living in when we grow our own good clean food. Though a sad time,  it is also a time to say thank you to the animal for feeding us. And a reminder not to take meat for granted. To be grateful.

The big pigs enjoyed the ride in the trailer so much that they were still fast asleep when they arrived and had to be prodded awake.  Then much to their delight they discovered that there was a  freshly filled mud puddle in their holding pen. 

We are getting very short on grazing now so The Murphy (wether lamb with the tail) hitched a ride with them. 

We are getting close to our winter weight.   It is going to be a hard winter as I am already feeding the animals from my precious store of winter hay. So the Big Bobby (steer)  is on a get fat diet and he will go at the end of the month, there is not enough grass to keep him until December as originally planned.  Baby Bobby Blanc will be here for a while yet. .

Paisley Daisy the Ayrshire milk cow, Queenie Wineti the year old Hereford heifer and Hairy MacLairy the Dorset ram are all hanging out together. The Shush Sisters, bless their dirty little Hereford selves… 

Are here for the duration.

Our sheep flock is now Mama, Mia, Minty and Meadow.  Look at those mutton chops!! 

And there comes a time in every dogs life when the guinea just rises up..  

and says ENOUGH with the herding!!  Just bugger off and leave us alone already!

We had a shower yesterday too which was very welcome. I was lucky enough to hear it coming. Hearing a shower of rain approach across the fields is a most amazing thing. It was evening. There was that natural hush of dusk so it was almost silent. Silence is very hard to find, even out here. I was feeding the steer in the Rat House Paddock when I heard a low wooshing, like the sound of waves on the shore as they are pulled back out to sea dragging at the little pebbles on the sea bed.  Or like the tiniest of waterfalls far off in the bush. The sound was very far away, but enough to raise my head and draw my eyes.

I looked towards a far corn field and realised that this gathering wet windy homogenous sound was coming from that field. From that direction. Then a breeze touched my face. When you are in the underground and a train is coming it is preceded by a wind. This is your first warning that the train is imminent. The train pushes a hot heavy ancient filthy wind along ahead of it through the tunnel. That wind is full of the scents of dust and rats, old papers and dank skin, and dark secrets. The wind I felt yesterday was its clean and beautiful country cousin.

Like a bell I realised that it was rain that was coming across this field towards me  and it was herding a fresh cool  wind ahead of it. So the first thing that hit me, other than sound, was this wind full of the scents of clean water and silver linings. A long leggy wind. A dancing wind. Lifting my hair. Tugging at my skirt.

The rain sound chased the wind towards me  as the rain sound itself began  to lose its static and though still at least a mile away now, I could hear clearly that it was rain drops on dry corn, then seconds after that, actual seconds – this was quite slow, the wind had whirled giggling  past and I could see the mist of the rain aimed directly at me, passing out of  the corn field then  falling on the bean field, the leaves ducking under its wet finger tips, then down into and up from the dried creek bed, then across the field it came, over the fence and the first of the big fat loaded raindrops began to fall on me. I whirled laughing and joined the giggling twirling wind and we ran ahead of the rain for the shelter of the barn.  Thinking how do I explain standing leaning on a gate listening to the rain coming.  How do I put such an primal collection of senses into cool modern words. How to help you feel this wondrous moment.

Good morning. The rain did not last long but the memory of it will.

I hope you all have a lovely day. I am so glad to be back up and running!

celi

We missed a few from a year ago!  

Summer sauce. The tomato sauce that I am still making every day.  Though now I make it in a crock pot.

The barn at rest. Some lovely shots of the barn a year ago.

Checking for mites in the bee hive.  Plus a sweet shot of Mama and her flerd.