Toot Toot

I am sorry – ‘Toot Toot’ has nothing to do with anything, it is just a sound I make when I am moving an animal aside. It is just so cheerful, musical even. Just a childish ‘Toot Toot’ all by your self out in the field.

The other day a friend and I were talking about the work I am doing compiling the Fellowship Book  ‘Letters For my Little Sister’.   Sixty Eight of you contributed to this book.  How brilliant is that. (I am filing it Tuesday so stand by for the big relief sigh!) Anyway my friend very casually said that an old professor of hers had told her: the best way to do the last edit of your book is to read it backwards. I smiled,  nodded nicely and commented that it sounded like her old professor was obviously completely bonkers. She laughed. But the idea stuck as ideas do. 

So, last night I began to read Letters For My Little Sister backwards. Paragraph by paragraph.  And she was right. It is an excellent way to check the work.  We get into a rut moving the same way and don’t see certain things anymore. Maybe we should all do our days backwards every now and then. Just to jump start real observation.

This morning John will give the cows their last shots then  later today the Lady Vet will come to AI (Artificially Inseminate) Daisy and Queenie.   Daisy has done much better with her injections this time.  No kicking and hurling herself about. 

Oh and by the way. John picked his first big red tomato today.  Though someone ATE the evidence.  It was stunning. We do not buy tomatoes out of season so that first taste is (dare I say it) orgasmic! Such a naughty word. 

We are still on to show our tomatoes on the 4th of July. How is your garden coming along?  Do you want to join our Fourth of July challenge. John and his mother compete every year to get a tomato on the table for the 4th of July. Just take a picture of your biggest tomato and link back here so I can come across and have a look!

Part One of the chook run was added to the Hen House that Kim built. So now they have run Number One and a good solid lock down space for the night-times.  And I have a lovely old chair for chook gazing.

Updates:

The general concensus (sp?)  seems to be that Minty is having some kind of phantom pregnancy.

Daisy’s Big Bobby is officially weaned, no more milk for him. Daisy’s production is dropping and he is getting too big to manage safely.  He is huge and such a bully.

The old fellas concur that Carlos Garcia was probably taken by a large Hawk or Eagle. He was a juvenile and not big. The piles of feathers and no body is often the work of a big bird.

Now my dear Godot the Angel is upstairs with his girls.  But they cannot stay up there forever. At some point we have to get over our fear and let them out again.

Queenies Bobby has a light coloured runny bottom and I cannot work out why, (though it is possibly the hormones she is on to bring her into heat, he is a breast fed baby after all). The vet will have a look today.

Good morning. After doing the early work of the day forwards, I am going to go back to reading the manuscript backwards. Not long now and we can begin Book Number Two. Gird your Loins darlinks.

Have a lovely day.

Your friend on the farm

celi