Things I learnt (in the absence of a more inspiring title)

I have no photographs. I took the shots, got distracted, loaded them, got distracted,  thought I had saved the ones I wanted, got distracted,  deleted the file and then let the computer run out of gas and then did not restore and there was nothing.. anywhere. Well you see the problem. And my Hawk the Knight  was discovered inside the chook house terrorising its inhabitants. Scared the eggs out of them! He is so beautiful but very naughty.  I took shots of him flying out and I could pretend they were brilliant because you will never see them – you see –  oh dear!  they were deleted by mistake , but in actual fact they were all blurred motion and rubbish before I deleted them by mistake. You will have to imagine it. I think he will  be back. We may get another crack at the shots.

Anyway to fill in,  I will show you the list (so far) of the things I learnt this last year so you can help me remember them all. If I don’t learn stuff then living  is a waste of time. And I HATE to waste time.

So here is the beginning of my list..

TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS. If you hear a sound that makes your head move up and across .. follow it. Take note. If you think something is wrong IT IS!

COOKING ON A WOODSTOVE slows you right down. You learn to think ahead, hours ahead actually, so you can start dinner at lunchtime. The tension of preparing a meal melts like the butter in your pan. This is nice.

THE VET is part of your team, not a last resort. (Learnt this one the hard way).

GOING OUTSIDE in subzero temperatures with your contact lenses in your eyes is a very bad idea.

WATCH. WATCH. Spend a portion of every day watching. Quietly. Be still.Keep your head and your body  and your hands very still. Only move your eyes.  Focus your mind, narrow your vision and examine your environment. For me this means watching the animals at work and at play. Learn their rhythms then learn to watch for changes in that rhythm. Once you have trained yourself to be still, shut your mouth and watch, you learn.  Plus  birds will fly very close to your face.  Sparrows wings on your cheek is a gift.

IF YOU HAVE CURLY HAIR (like me)  and you want to set the curls for the day, wet your hair in the shower before chore time, then go outside into sub zero temperatures without a hat. Shake your head often, even when your curls are frozen solid and make a clinking sound. When you go back inside they will slowly thaw and dry into perfect coils  – beautifully! There. Who needs a fancy hairdresser and expensive product! Just freeze your hair into submission.

FEEL YOUR BODY. Train your mind to test the muscles, test the gravity of the day (it is not always the same) test the speed of  time for that day (that is not always the same either)  you will adjust the movements of your body accordingly. Test the ground for slipperiness. Some days you can loaf about and wander through the work, some days you have to go down a gear and work faster! But once again, test the ground for slipperiness!

NOT all milk cows are nice.

SNOW COVERS ICE. The danger is still there even though it cannot be seen.  People do not always tell the truth. Not every one is nice. Not everyone does what they say they are going to do. But if you treat them as though they are nice  and dependable often they forget to be bad. But a mean looking dog is helpful in any case. 

SPEAKING OF DOGS,  train your dogs to walk from the back door to the shower every evening before bedtime so when it is muddy they will walk there without any problems and have their feet washed without a fuss. I hate a fussy dog covered in mud, don’t you?

IT IS OK  for Old Dogs to just lie about and be Old Dogs.

CHECK THAT THERE IS NOT A KITTEN in the dishwasher before you close the door. Don’t worry I did!

LISTEN TO YOUR PEOPLE. Think about their advice. But in the end the decision is yours so Own it. Then Own the errors. If you cannot own your mistake you can not fix it.  Own your mistakes and own the power to put it right.  If you cannot put it right. LEARN. God knows I learnt a lot this year.

IF SOMEONE SAYS: I don’t know. They probably don’t. Move on.

IT IS OK TO HAVE YOUR FIRST GLASS OF WINE at 4pm in the winter, but don’t share it with Sheila the pig, she only likes beer, but not out of a can.  She hates beer out of a can.

LOOK YOUR ANIMALS STERNLY IN THE FACE and tell them what you are thinking. In the appropriate tone. Often through no fault of their own they will get what you are saying.

TRUST YOURSELF. Honestly. Trust yourself and trust your animals. Often they (and you) can achieve a lot more than you could ever imagine.

I am very sure that is not all I learnt, can you add to it? Today I shall take Camera House for another walkabout. Maybe there will even be sun. So far it is only morning darkness. We had a bit of snow in the night though.

Have a lovely day.

Your friend on the farmy

celi