Fresh Air.

Tia is the sweetest calf. Both of these calves were hand raised with the kindest of people yet it is only Tia who, when she sees me, will quietly move in closer for a scratch.  Tia and I have a real connection. I am entranced. 

I have a good feeling about this wee heifer and spend as much time with her as I can.  She may become a milk cow but like I said that will depend on whether her udder takes after her prize winning Angus father or her Prize winning Holstein mother.

But I will keep her – this one is not for sale.

I have turned the piglets house upside down and given it a thatched roof with plenty of gaps for fresh air. When it was right way up it was getting too hot and fuggy in there. Not enough ventilation.  In the winter fresh air is very important to the lungs of the animals.

Soon they will be too big for this too, piglets are the porcine version of A Fish Out of Water. They grow Fast!

This looks like a weird house but I have always liked the rounded sides, when the little pigs pile into the deep straw with each other there is less chance of one being jammed into a corner.  And the sides keep the straw in place so they can keep nice and warm and breathing the fresh air.

I have never had such little pigs in the winter before but this is generally a tough heritage breed and as long as their bellies are full and they are dry I am assured they will be fine. It is hard to fight the urge to put up a heat lamp but the threat of fire in this old barn full of dry hay and animals is just too terrifying.  And with pigs you cannot get the light low enough to properly warm them anyway – they play with anything.

We had a visitor to the barn yesterday. He comes occasionally but I have not been able to get a photograph of him before. And usually he visits the Rat House, not the main barn.

But here he is sitting on a bale of hay in with Tima and Tane. Large as life.

I bet LuLu was deeply un-impressed when it was time to go to bed with her pigs.

And yes, the well water is still black. The well pipes have been treated, the softener scoured and the parts changed, the pump taken apart, although they found no actual reason for the residue in the water it seemed to be clearing then just as they focused down onto  the hot water cylinder, the well went black again.  I have not washed my hair in over two weeks. I am blonde, I am not washing my hair in black water. But maybe this is good for my hair? Isn’t there a Thing? About no shampoo? No Poo or something.

Now that we are freezing it is impossible to collect rainwater.

There is a terrible possibility that this may not clear and we will have to dig another well. And that is too expensive to even contemplate. So, in the meantime we keep bringing in water to drink. And of course the woofer program is suspended until I can guarantee clean water for my workers. I am not booking anyone until this is cleared up.

Dirty Water is not a problem I expected.

And like we discussed last time we talked about our water – I am learning to really appreciate having good clean water. Especially when I run out of the bottled town water that we haul from John’s mother’s taps.

But I am getting used to the new regime now, John is still not working so he gets the jugs filled on his way back from his workshop, close to where his mother lives. We are developing a rhythm.

Just another part of country living.

It is 27F/-2C right now (6.20am)  and this is our high for today.  We expect to continue down to 9F/-12C by about midnight.

I hope you have a good day.

Love celi