Back on the farm.

I am home again. And like every time I come home  to the farm I am haunted by this little nursery rhyme.

To Market, to Market

To market, to market to buy a fat pig;
Home again, home again, jiggety-jig.
To market, to market, to buy a fat hog;
Home again, home again, jiggety-jog.

To market, to market, to buy a plum cake;
Home again, home again, market is late.
To market, to market, to buy a plum bun;
Home again, home again, market is done.

To market, to market, a gallop a trot,
To buy some meat to put in the pot;
Three pence a quarter, a groat a side,
If it hadn’t been killed it must have died

There are a few variations of course but this is the one I grew up with.

My Mum did not sing (due to a car accident when we were all very young) and she lost her singing voice so I grew up chanting nursery rhymes in her breathy low tone while other children grew up singing them.

This chant will run through my head for the day!

The sun is coming up. I will take a picture of the sunrise for you then get my work clothes on. Then the dogs and Camera House and I will begin the day. Tomorrow I should be able to bring you pictures of everyone.  Word is they have all done well in my absence. Which is as it should be.

The pigs will be glad I am home  as John has been feeding them at 4am  on the way to his work. So there will be plenty for me to do over next few days getting  their beds back up to date.

My trip was marvelous I feel quite refreshed and ready to go. And I am very grateful to all my guest posters.

The weather for the next ten days has sunshine and, except for tonight, will not go below freezing. So my first big job is to get the four middle sized pigs back out of the barn and into the rat house paddock with the root cellar.

One long weekend to California early next month – then I am home for another season so there is no need for everything to remain so simple.

My second big job this week is to sow the first wave of cabbages and brassicas.  They will grow on in their trays for a while.  I know that we will still get more wintry weather but I am going to prepare for an early spring just in case I get the opportunity. We have had such a mild winter here.

There is a high of 38f/3c forecast for today, a little bit of wind but nothing noteable.

Hard to believe that only yesterday I was breezing about London and the day before Milan and now I am back on the flat, flat, quiet, quiet prairies!

Life is grand.

I am looking forward to getting to work  and so I will get going now and be back with a decent post tomorrow.

Have a lovely day

celi