A Shepherds Tale

I still love Italy

2011-10-18T01:44:00.000-07:00

Some more photos this time of around Lake Garda and quite a few of Verona, another amazing Italian city. The first of the Verona photos is of Juliet's balcony, mmmm!!!! Absolutely hoards of tourists in the courtyard beneath the balcony many leaving 'love tokens' stuck to the walls and love letters in a souvenir shop dedicated to the star crossed lovers. All very tacky and really rather sad. But the rest of Verona was fabulous so much to see but only one day, so would love to go back. Lake Garda was fascinating, lots of villages dotted round the shore all accessible by boat, all full of character, and each quite different. Quite touristy but generally not over the top. And we had fabulous weather which always helps!

Next stop the Alps.

I love Italy

2011-10-03T01:14:00.000-07:00

Just a selection of some of the photos I took in Venice. I was surprised by my reaction, I thought I would be amazed by St. Mark's square but I found it soulless, atleast when compared to Sienna. Many of the buildings were under wraps for restoration but it wasn't even that. It didn't help that we couldn't get into Saint Marks because of the queue winding for miles round the Doge's Palace. But it just lacked something. However the Grand Canal and all the minor canals were mind blowing. What a feat of human ingenuity? It resembled a busy motorway with boats zipping around in every direction and at speed. Oh but it must be a hard place to live, everything bought in by boat then trollied[by hand] to home or business. No wonder the numbers of permanent residents is dwindling, and of course putting up with the thousands of tourists who arrive every day must be very wearing.

I was further amazed by the size of the Cruise ships that were docked. More like floating tower blocks. We stayed for two nights on the Lido which meant we didn't have to leave our car in a public carpark. This was an excellent choice as the Lido is much more relaxed and less claustrophobic than Venice itself, and the vaporetto across to Venice gives a panoramic view of the city.

My one regret was that I had just read Miss Garnet's Angel by Salley Vickers [see a later review] and had wanted to visit the Church of the Angel Raphael. We found it [after a long trek] just after midday and it was closed til mid afternoon. We did not have the time to return, but maybe that will be for another trip. I would like to go back and explore further. Preferably earlier or later in the year when the weather would be cooler and with maybe a few less tourists. However I am delighted to have had the chance of a brief visit.

From Venice we drove to Lake Garda to spend a week with friends from England, photos from the Lake in my next post.

Venice or bust!!

2011-09-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

Just to say that we are off to Italy tomorrow for a holiday. First stop Varazze [near Genoa] then on to Venice for a couple of nights then to Lake Garda to meet up with friends for a week of R&R. Yippee. Then a leisurely drive home over the Alps. See you when I get back.

September already!!!!

2011-09-01T01:56:00.000-07:00

Rubbish blogger me? Well yes but there seem to have been a few of us out there this summer. I have no excuses, I haven't been doing much of anything, except soaking up the sun's rays when they have deigned to appear. It's been a rubbish summer, for here anyway, it's all relative isn't it? I've been to the beach a few times, I love swimming in the sea, just wish it was a bit closer, but hey musn't moan. I have been doing a bit of work on the second draft of wip one but there is still a way to go. I have been reading a lot, on my Kindle and real books, so I haven't wasted the whole summer. I have looked in on other bloggers[atleast the ones who have blogged] but I haven't left comments much, so now I am going to try to be a better blogger.
If I have any followers left please call in from time to time and I will try to find something interesting to say. That may be a tall order but I'll give it a go.

To start the ball rolling a book recommendation: A Very Long Engagement by Sebastien Japrisot
This is a French author that I have recently been introduced to and I enjoyed [if that is the right word] this novel. Apparently it was a runaway bestseller in France when it came out in 1991. The theme is the fate of five wounded French soldiers, who in January 1917, were forced into no-man's land by their own side, with their hands bound, and left to die in the cross-fire. The story of this barbaric punishment is slowly uncovered more than two years later by the paralyzed fiance of one of the soldiers. Mathilde Donnay wants to know the truth about what happened and why. And whether her fiance could still be alive. An unusual look at the barbarity of war and also the acts of compassion that such degradation can bring out in people.
This is a book that I shall read again as the story is complicated with intertwined characters, who all deserve more time to get to know them. His writing is quite beautiful in places. A book to savour. I shall try more of his work.
It's good to be back, leave a comment if there is anyone out there!!!

Magic Kindle, Kindle Magic!

2011-05-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

I never thought I would say this but I LOVE MY KINDLE. I picked it up while I was in England and it was love at first sight. Now don't get me wrong I shall still buy 'real' books because you cannot replace the wonderful feeling of holding a lovely new book but now I can download in seconds enough books to keep me going for the rest of my days. And my gorgeous purple case is just perfect. I also managed to sort out the problem of downloading to France from the UK so I am in seventh heaven. In fact I haven't stopped reading since returning from my trip. The problem will be getting anything else done!!!

I can also transfer my wip to it which has actually spurred me on to get back to the second draft. So I am feeling really quite upbeat about my writing at the moment so I must try and hang on to this enthusiasm and make some progress.

The weather is glorious with beautiful warm evenings to sit outside with a glass of chilled wine reading the latest book on my Kindle. It's a tough life but hey someone has to do it!!

AAAAH

2011-05-09T02:43:00.000-07:00

I'm off to England for a few days and it's obvious the cat is extremely worried by my leaving her with the OH. As you can see she has a very tough life. See you when I get back.

Barcelona WOW!

2011-04-18T02:33:00.000-07:00

It is many years since we last visited Barcelona and I had completely forgotten what a fantastic city it is. We had a fabulous few days although it was tiring. We arrived on Friday, late afternoon, after taking the scenic route from France over the Pyrenees, there was hardly any snow to be seen after the recent spell of hot weather but the scenery was spectacular. We spent the first evening wandering along the Ramblas down to the sea. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me that evening so can't share with you the totally amazing indoor food market. It was visually stunning and the array of foodstuff put french markets in the shade, not easy to do!!! Saturday morning we went to see one of Gaudis masterpieces the Parc Guell which is on the Unesco list of World Heritage sites. WOW WOW WOW. Please have a look on Wikipedia as my photos do not do it justice. The afternoon was spent at the Olympic Stadium watching our local rugby team, Perpignan, beating Toulon in the Heineken cup quarter final. The atmosphere was electric with a sea of red and orange Catalan flags. Absolutely brilliant. The evening saw us back at the Ramblas where by a quirk of fate we found an Italian restaurant and had a very enjoyable meal. On Sunday we met up with some friends who were also in Barcelona for the Rugby. We had hoped to visit the Sagrada Familia, Gaudis Cathedral which was started in the 1920's and is famously still under construction. It is due for completion in 2025!!! However the queues where horrendous so that will have to be for another trip. Instead we went back to the sea and visited the Olympic village and watched people swimming in the sea. In between times we managed to enjoy the Cafe culture which is alive and well. It's a really busy city but somehow doesn't feel frenetic like London, the people seem very relaxed. The wide tree lined Boulevards give the impression of a light and airy city, despite the traffic. It helped that the weather was fantastic, mid 20's for the whole weekend. And the Integrated Transport system is first class, meaning that we were able to leave our car at the hotel and tour Barcelona using the clean fast and regular trains or metro system. We didn't try either the buses or the trams, maybe next time. We left Barcelona on Monday morning and returned along the coast road, stopping at La Jonquera for some shopping before crossing back into France. A thoroughly enjoyable weekend, I'm just sorry that my photos don't do justice to the city.

Barcelona here we come!

2011-04-07T23:31:00.000-07:00

We're off to Barcelona for a long weekend of Rugby and R&R, news and photos next week. YIPPEE

Chicken little, chicken large!!!

2011-02-23T01:01:00.001-08:00

OUCH!!!!!! You may remember we bought some chickens last Spring well I think one of them is overeating!!! We get 4 eggs nearly every day from 4 chickens which in itself is excellent but then we got an absolute whopper of an egg. Basically two full size eggs in one.

Oh and as an aside to this fascinating egg fact I have managed about 1000 words of wip 2. Just thought I would slip that in, wouldn't want anyone to think that I was actually writing again!!

And thanks to Debs for telling me how to link to previous posts although I haven't mastered the photos yet but will keep trying.

Anyway have to go now and decide how to cook my monster egg.

Snow and writing friends!

2011-02-03T02:14:00.000-08:00

The first photo was taken on the 29th January' from my study window. An unexpected fall of snow, luckily it was gone by the next day. Unfortunately I was out running when it started snowing so I was somewhat bedraggled by the time I got home. But I don't get wet very often so I can't complain. The second photo shows my furry friends who sit in my study and keep me company while I try to write. They are very undemanding and non- critical. This is particularly useful as I am reading my wip into my laptop using Dragon software and I don't want any sniggering in the background.

What I have noticed is how useful it is to read aloud what I have written, it really shows where some passages are not working.

The down side is there will be an awful lot of rewriting to do!!! And now the sun is shining and I may just have to do some very important work in the garden.

New year, new study, new impetus!

2011-01-14T01:47:00.000-08:00

I would be doing this post with my new Dragon software but I am watching the T Twenty cricket[England v the Aussies] so it's too noisy, but so far I am impressed and looking forward to making progress on my new wip and the second draft of wip no.1. I also have a new study, the first time I have had a place I can call my own, and it's great. No excuses now other than all the usual ones that we mega procrastinators can call up at any time, but I shall try to be good. And I have got the wifi on my laptop sorted out, we popped into the local computer shop and they tweaked a few nobs and hey presto my wifi is working properly. So now I can sit in my armchair, watching tele while blogging instead of sitting at my desk writing. Real progress there then!!!!!So the photos, in reverse order, show the original kitchen when we bought this old house in 2005.

By April of this year we had moved to part of the new kitchen so we could start demolishing the old kitchen. I have to say it was not a moment too soon, the old kitchen was really beginning to depress me and when we uncovered the old water heater we were extremely relieved that no major disaster had occurred!!!! I think you will agree that my study is a vast improvement on the kitchen and my old desk at the top of the house. See My window on the world. Although the view is not as impressive, this morning I was visited by a red squirrel who was checking on the availability of almonds on our Almond tree. Of course no camera to hand!

For my next post I will try and sort out why I can't get photos in between the text and how to link to other posts . Any advice will be very gratefully received as I am still a technophobe and require instructions in words of one syllable or less. Now I must concentrate on the cricket, I mean writing.

Blog birthday, four years old today!

2011-01-08T02:51:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all the Novel Racers and everyone else who pops by from time to time.
I can hardly believe where the time has gone. 4 years since my first blog. I have been a bad blogger recently but one of my goals for 2011 is to be more consistant in everything I do, including blogging.
I am still having sleep problems but over-indulging over Xmas and the New Year has not helped. I am hoping that a regime in January of 'healthy' food and 'much' less wine will improve things. For Xmas I treated myself to Dragon speech recognition software. I have had a little play with it and I think it is going to help me enormously. It is much quicker than my typing and more accurate. My bugbear now is that the wifi on my laptop keeps dropping out, so at the moment my laptop is connected to the router by a cable in the kitchen, where I am standing up instead of sitting comfortably at my new desk in my new study. Over the weekend we are going to try to sort this out and then I will post some photos of my fabulous new work area. Where writing will be so much easier!!!!!! No more excuses either.
So that's it for now as it is time for my Saturday run, but please come by again next week and see how I am getting on with Dragon.

Insomnia rules KO'D Xmas 2010

2010-12-24T02:40:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long silence but I have been struggling with serious insomnia for some months now and I haven't been able to string more than a couple of coherent sentences together. So no writing or anything creative for a long time. Now I am seeing a Doctor and am having acupuncture and taking homeopathic medicines and I think sleep is slowly returning. I am hopeful, no determined, that the New year will see me return to my writing and blogging, so if anyone still comes to look at this blog from time to time then please come back after the 8th January.

In the meantime I hope y0u all have a Happy Christmas and a creative New Year. See you in 2011.

La Rentree and dreams of Wildfires!

2010-09-06T07:15:00.000-07:00

Time for children to start a new school year, in France it's called La Rentree and the supermarket aisles have been filled, since the middle of August, with all the paraphanalia associated with school. The sight of all those pens and pencils and notebooks has fired my desire to start writing again. I have spent the summer lazing around, I am tanned from reading indulgently in the sun, but now my fingers are itching and ideas are floating around in my head.

I can sit outside in the early evening as the heat dissipates with the setting sun, it's quiet with just the occasional sound of a car or a dog barking disconsolately.

Although on Saturday it was a very different story. It started at about 3.30pm with the sound of a small plane circling overhead, nothing particularly unusual about that but soon it was joined by other planes flying over our house. It was then that I noticed the smoke over the hill behind our house. I called the OH to come and look. As the planes came low over the house we could identify them as Canadairs, the planes the French use to fight wild fires. It was obvious there was a fire in the hills behind our house, how close we didn't know but the smoke had dissappeared so we guessed it wasn't too close. But we spent an interesting time watching the planes coming low over the house. We found out later that about 40 hectares of garrigue[quite some distance from us] had been destroyed but no properties had been threatened. It is something that happens quite regularly in this part of southern France during the summer months, and unfortunately the fires are sometimes started deliberately. It didn't occur to me to take any photos until the 'excitement' was nearly over, I wouldn't make a very good journalist, and I missed the 4 planes all flying over together!!! So all I have is a rather grainy photo of what could be any plane. What is perhaps more interesting is that a week or so ago I had a dream/nightmare where there was a wildfire raging behind our house and we were trying to keep our house and our neighbours house hosed down with water. The house on the hill behind us was ablaze. As someone who very rarely remembers their dreams this was unusual to say the least. Premonition or what?

So tomorrow will see me back at my desk, pen in hand and notebook at the ready. I just hope I can remember some of the ideas I have had recently!!!

Oh and well done to Jackie for spotting the sheep hiding in the dining room. I am busy laying floor tiles at the moment so there may be more photos soon. Of course Jackie you could see the progress for yourself!!!!!!

And I really do intend to be a more diligent blogger this Autumn.

August is a Wicked Month!

2010-08-17T05:43:00.000-07:00

Half way through August already, the sun keeps shining and I am reminding myself to enjoy this glorious weather. We have been to the sea to swim and have lunch, there has been free music in the local villages plus a Folk Festival and visits to friends for BBQ's and generally having a good time. And on Saturday we had a party to celebrate our wedding anniversary. All good fun. Summer is a busy time in the south of France and we are doing our best to fit in as much as possible.

And just to prove that we are still fitting in a bit of DIY the photo is our new dining room. This is part of one of the two extensions we have had built. The furniture and contents have been in store since we moved here more than two years ago, so it was good fun to open some more boxes. We are still working on the kitchen with the floor tiles due to be delivered at the end of August, then we can really make progress. We are also working on the study[old kitchen] which will mean that I can finally get all my books out.

The title of this post refers to a book by Edna O'Brian. I have been re-reading an assortment of books out of neccessity, although last week we cycled to Quillan to our friends book stall and I found two books I wanted to read: Isabel Allende's The House of the Spirits her first novel which for some reason I had not read, it's an amazing book. She is a real story teller with a remarquable style, I could barely put it down. The other book was by Margaret Forster: The Diary of an Ordinary Woman. If you get the chance to read this book do not make my mistake which was to read the Authors Note at the end of the book as it rather coloured my enjoyment. Nevertheless another excellent book from this Author. We shall cycle to Quillan again tomorrow so I can change my books, hopefully I can find some more gems. And I am beginning to feel like picking up my pen again after rather a long break when I just could not feel inspired. Sometimes you just have to accept that. Now I think it's time to sit in the sun and see if I can come up with some ideas for the wip. Oh it's a hard life sometimes but someone's got to do it.

Holiday snaps

2010-07-10T02:48:00.000-07:00

Oh no I hear you groan, not someone elses holiday photos, can there be anything more boring? Well probably not but you are going to get them anyway. Just to prove that we actually went. It seems like an age ago, a month actually and we have been busy with diy since our return, but more of that another day.

I have to say the photos are not as good as I had hoped and I have decided that I need to upgrade my camera. I know that old excuse, but this time it's true. Anyway for what they are worth, starting in Verazza Italy, then Sienna, the Piazza del Campo and the Duomo, then Pisa, lunch overlooking the Med, Volterra where we stayed for 4 nights then Saint Maxime [opposite Saint Tropez] in France and a rather angry sea. It was very windy and I couldn't keep the camera still.

We had a wonderful week, the weather was fabulous, sunny and hot so I was able to swim every day. We adore Italy, it's even more laid back than France, with good wine, gorgeous food and amazing architecture everywhere you go. Somehow it's good for the soul and we definitely recharged our batteries.

On the return leg of our trip we stayed two nights in the Var region exactly one week before the area was devestated by floods, with considerable loss of life. We felt very lucky indeed that we had not been involved and very saddened by the tragedy.

Hope you enjoy the photos.

Holiday whoopee!!

2010-06-02T23:21:00.000-07:00

We are off to Italy today for a weeks rest from DIY. We are going to the Ligurian coast and are so looking forward to seeing the wonderful rugged coastline and the beautiful fortified towns. The food and wine is not bad either!!!
See you when we get back.

Late snow and central heating!!!

2010-05-18T06:57:00.000-07:00

We are probably one of the few people to have central heating installed just as the winter finally bows out. Although I have to say that the snow we had at the beginning of May was a surprise to say the least and we thought we might ask the plumber to get a move on as we needed the heating now!!! It has been hectic and chaotic with seemingly every room taken over by the plumber and even more mess than usual. And just as the plumber left the gas board started digging up the road to bring our gas supply. However all the work going on in the house meant that the OH had some time on his hands so he set to and built a Hen house and we are now the proud owners of 4 hens that are currently laying 2/3 eggs a day. It is so good to have our own supply of fresh eggs again.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to concentrate or find a quiet corner to write or blog. But i shall try and get back into some sort of routine again. I am so easily distracted, any excuse will do. Now I need to give myself a talking to especially as the sun is shining and it is finally getting warmer, and I always feel more energetic when the sun shines so a photo of our new hens and then !!!!! Back to digging the trench across our front garden to take the gas pipe, we thought about getting in a man with a mini digger but decided it would make too much mess so we are playing at 'navvies' for a few days. It's hard work but probably good for the muscles, although I'm not sure about the hairs on my chest!!!!

Back to the wip tomorrow or maybe the day after ..........!

March 2010

2010-03-26T03:52:00.000-07:00

It's very nearly the end of March omg where has the month gone? Sorry I haven't been round to other blogs much but I will try and catch up with everyone soon.

Well it started with more snow in one day then I have ever seen. The scenes are taken from our house and are what we woke up to on March the 8th! We had to drive to Carcassonne that day[about 45mins normally] as we wanted to order our new kitchen while it was on offer. With 30% off we couldn't afford not to go and it was the last day of the promotion. Luckily we have a four wheel drive car and got there no problem. Ordered the kitchen, delivery end of April, not that we will be ready for it then, and then left for home. The return journey took us 90 mins mainly due to very slow moving cars in front of us[not 4 wheel drive] but we made it. And apparently we were lucky because not much more than half an hour after we had travelled there were cars and lorries littered all over the road and friends took 3 hours to get home. We had a week of freezing weather and then the wind changed and we now have lovely sunny days and temps of around 20degrees. It's such a transformation. We have the doors and windows wide open and my spirits have lifted. I do love the sunshine, it gives me energy and enthusiasm hence the new addition to the sidebar. I have started Novel 2. Admittedly only a couple of pages but I have ideas floating about that want to get on the page.

All I have to do now is keep up with the second draft of Novel 1!!!!!

We have also made progress on the home front. The utility room [in the extension] is finished and we are now using it as a temporary kitchen. It is decidedly better than the old kitchen even though it is quite small. A definite improvement and we are getting on with the new kitchen, although this is being delayed by a problem with our four wheel drive car, we can't get to the wood yard with the trailor, but we'll sort that out soon.

So although March is nearly over we are making progress. And tomorrow there is a big wine event in a nearby village which should be very enjoyable. And we can walk there so no problems with over indulging not that we would!!!!!

Now it's time for a run, and that's going well too. Always easier running in the sunshine.

Blogsplash

2010-03-01T05:25:00.000-08:00

This should be the first page of Fiona Robyn's new novel but I haven't managed to copy it so I will just give you the link to her blog. You can read THAW here .

Please do go and read the first entry of Ruth's diary[Thaw] and then follow events as they unfold daily over the next three months. Take advantage of this amazing opportunity.

There once was an Ugly Duckling!

2010-02-22T01:25:00.000-08:00

Well a duck actually. As you can see he/she is different from the other wild ducks. They are on the River Aude where I often go running/cycling and just before Christmas this unusual duck appeared. I have tried looking in my bird book but cannot find the species so if anyone out there recognises it do leave a comment. I have named the duck Dab Dab after the duck in Doctor Dolittle and have taken to feeding them when I cycle along the river.

The locals probably think I'm mad as the only reason they would feed the ducks would be to fatten them up ready for the pot!!!

At last the weather here seems to be warming up, we have already had two lots of snow this year and it has been really cold, down to -8 deg C overnight and not much warmer during the day. Not what we expected when we moved south!!!!! However over the weekend the temp reached 16 deg C with lovely warm sun so fingers crossed that it stays like this. I always have more energy and enthusiasm when the sun shines so am intending to start on the second draft this week before I forget what the novel is about.

Isabel Allende and me!

2010-01-26T01:58:00.000-08:00

Before I tell you what Isabel Allende and I have in common [apart from writing] I want to thank P&D from TW for acknowledging my wearing of and dancing in High Heels on New Year's Eve, see comments in last post. However the OH wants to know what you mean by S&M, was it just a typo or is he missing something!!!!!!!!

In my last post I didn't make it clear that it was in fact my Blogiversary on the 8th January, three years to the day. I think I have mentionned before that I get an e-mail every day from The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor. It has a poem and gives the birthdays of poets and writers from around the world along with interesting facts about them. It was from this that I read about Virginia Dare[see previous post,btw how can I put in a link to a previous post can anyone advise me?] Anyway in the e-mail for the 8th January there was a piece about Isabel Allende, already one of my favourite authors. On the 8th January 1981 she heard that her beloved Grandfather was dying so she sat down to write him a letter, it became the novel 'The House of Spirits.' Since then it has become a sacred day for her to start a new book, apparently she gets up early and goes alone to her office and lights candles for the 'spirits and muses'. She surrounds herself with fresh flowers and incense and meditates then tries to write the first sentence in a trance as if somebody else is writing through her. That first sentence opens a door into an unknown world that she must explore with her characters. She doesn't have an outline and doesn't look back at what she has written until the first draft is finished. She starts a new novel every 8th January!! She carries a notebook with her at all times and constantly takes notes, keeps interesting newspaper articles and writes down stories other people tell her, then she looks at all her notes for inspiration.
Oh if only I could say that my 8th January was as productive, but reading about how she prepares herself for a new work is inspirational and instructive. I have read many of her books including Paula, a memoir she wrote for her daughter who lay dying in hospital.
On a lighter note we have atleast one other thing in common a love of food and cooking, and cooking for love. Her delicious book 'Aphrodite, a memoir of the senses[1997]' is a cookery book with a difference. It incites the senses with its beautiful language and sensuality and the recipes are to be prepared with love for lovers. Even without the recipes this is a book to savour again and again. That book was published in her 55th year and she is still writing amazing books. Such a talented lady.

A New Year and a new look.

2010-01-08T03:55:00.000-08:00

As you can see from the second photo, which is the view from my desk,we have lots of snow here and having nearly completed this post the electricity went off and I lost everything. Now I shall save as I go along oh my grasp of technology is still very limited!! For this reason I have only made small changes to my blog and will make further changes gradually.

I started this blog three years ago so that I could join the Novel Racers, I hoped it would help me get my novel moving forwards and give me confidence in exposing my writing to strangers. I think it has done both and I have encountered lots of lovely people via this blog who have given me lots of encouragement.

The three years have been a roller coaster of ups, finishing the first draft of my novel in November 2009 and moving house, and a terrible down which will be with us always. Now a new year stretches ahead which we look forward to positively. I have a second draft to complete and a new novel to start, plus other ideas.

Last year I wrote a list of things I wanted to do before a milestone birthday in 2011. I am pleased to say that I accomplished two of them on New Years Eve. I wore high heels for the first time in many years and I danced the Paso Doble [amongst lots of other dances] with the OH. No photo of the dancing but I do have witnesses who will hopefully leave a comment to that effect. I hope to cross off more from my list this year, watch this space!

So my first post of 2010 and I wish everyone a very Happy and Creative New Year. Good luck with everything you do.

Happy Christmas everyone.

2009-12-24T00:46:00.000-08:00

Sorry I haven't been around much over the past few weeks, we have been busy trying to make the house look presentable for the festivities. Not an easy task but it doesn't look bad now.
Christmas is still a difficult time of the year for us but we manage the best we can. Keeping busy helps as does a few glasses of wine.
I hope to be more consistent with my blog next year and shall be updating you on the progress of the second draft of my novel.
So to all the Novel Racers and other visitors to this blog have a lovely Christmas and a creative 2010.
See you all in the New Year.

First draft finished, well sort of !!!!

2009-11-08T09:01:00.000-08:00

Now I am not claiming victory in the mini race with JJ, who by the way has done really well this week, but I have been struggling all week and have come to the conclusion that I have gone as far as I can for the time being. I have a bit over 70000 words and I have four pieces of research to pull together, which will get me close to my target of 85000 words. Now I have to start the second draft. It has taken me three years to get to this point and I feel the need to take a fresh look at the whole ms. It has to be a complete overhaul and I think I need to step back for a while before starting again. I also have a lot of other work to be doing over the next few weeks leading up to Christmas.
So I am taking some time off from my wip and I shall start the second draft in the new year. This will give me some time to do some other bits and pieces of writing and blog a bit more hopefully.
Sorry to leave the race early JJ but I shall be following your progress and will not accept any slacking. Perhaps you in turn will ensure that I get back to my wip in the New Year and not allow any bleating from me!!!!
Maybe we can have a race for second draft finished, no only kidding, one thing at a time, no multi tasking on the wip front. Although I might just make the odd note for my next wip.

Sunday word count 8

2009-11-01T07:50:00.000-08:00

Oh dear a very bad week, only 500 words and they felt like pulling teeth. I seem to have reached a bit of an impasse. I have been writing this first draft for THREE YEARS [started October 2006!!!!] and it has been written as and when an idea comes to me. Now I am not quite sure where I am. Finding where the continuity is missing is proving hard work. So like JJ I have to spend some time working through what I have already written and filling in the missing bits plus a bit more research to do. Atleast for that I have some friends in England who have very kindly agreed to help.
I think next week will be hard too but I am determined to sort myself out and get the rest of the draft finished.

Sunday word count 7

2009-10-25T05:55:00.000-07:00

Well another week gone by in a flash, where do the days go? I did another coffee morning for the Novel Racers last Friday which is my excuse for not posting here.
Now I won hands down last week but it was a rather hollow victory as JJ has been in England looking after her parents, and she may still be there. Where are you JJ?
Anyway my words for last week a reasonable but not spectacular 2800. This gets me over the 70000 mark so I really feel as if I am on the home stretch.
Just a few more weeks and I will have the Holy Grail, a first draft of my first novel woopee!!!!!!
There's no stopping me now, but a few cheers along the way will still be very welcome.

Sunday word count 6

2009-10-18T04:55:00.001-07:00

A better week even though I didn't manage a post about the builders, I did host the Novel Racers coffee morning on Friday. I have got a bit stuck with some research I need to actually finish my wip so asked for help from the Novel Racers. They have given me some good ideas about where to go for help. So hopefully next week will see more progress.
Anyway back to the word count, I managed 2800 words, better than last week but not as many as I would have liked. So over to you JJ how was your week. Not too stressful I hope.

Sunday word count 5

2009-10-11T06:44:00.000-07:00

It's been a terrible week due to Builders which I will post about tomorrow, I have only managed a paultry 1000 words this week and even that was hard going, so it's a win for JJ this week but only just. So back on the treadmill tomorrow.

Sunday word count no. 4

2009-10-04T05:14:00.000-07:00

Where does the time go ,it's Sunday already and I am hoping for another win over JJ I had a slow start to the week but then got on a bit of a roll when I saw JJ spending valuable writing time shopping, again!!!!

So a bit of a drum roll for a magnificent 3900 words this week. Beat that Bangkok tea drinker!!!

A blog award

2009-10-01T04:11:00.000-07:00

I got this award from the lovely DJ The "Your Blog is Fabulous!" Award stands for: Integrity. Commitment to Excellence. Stubbornly Optimistic.The Rules:List five current obsessions: (What, only five?)

[I seem to have lost the award somewhere in the ether, never been very good with technical things, oh well it's the thought that counts. If you want to see what it looks like pop over to DJ's blog.]

My current obessions in no particular order are:

The Builders, if they don't finish soon they will probably take up residence. They started in Feb and should have finished in April, enough said. It's just as well they are nice people otherwise I would have buried them in their own concrete by now.

The mini-race with JJ this has really got me back at my desk. I am a very competitive person and I just hate losing, so watch out JJ.

Running. I run 5 times a week and get very grouchy if I don't get my regular fix. I have been running since I saw the first London Marathon and decided I wanted to do that. I competed in and finished the Race in 1989. I won't say how long it took me!!

Cooking. I just love cooking, I make my own sausages, bacon, ham etc. Plus all sorts of pies and pastries. When I've got my new kitchen up and running I shall be in seventh heaven.

Reading. Never without atleast two books on the go, and have the luxury of a decent TBR pile at the moment, so lots of choice.

Sunday word count and Village fete

2009-09-27T04:10:00.000-07:00

Well I've just about managed to beat JJ this week, but only just. I have written 3100 words so have fallen 400 short of my weekly target. I could blame the fact that we are spending several hours every day putting up HUGE sheets of plasterboard, getting covered in the stuff I use to stick the boards to the walls and ending up looking like Mr Pastry[who is he you are probably wondering, but I am not going to show my age by telling you] or that it's our village fete which lasts for three days and involves live music in the square every evening starting at 10.30pm and going on til 2 or 3am !!!!! But to be perfectly honest I got a bit bogged down with some research.
So next week I will have to keep my head down and try and do better.
Still it's good to be a winner again and I understand that JJ has another busy week coming up, oh dear [smirks quietly] of course she could be trying to lull me into a false sense of security.
So another evening of dancing and music then back to the grindstone tomorrow.

Sunday word count

2009-09-20T01:10:00.000-07:00

Well another on target week with just over 3500 words. Considering the noise and mess the builders have been making I am quite pleased with the weeks work. However I know that it's going to get harder the closer I get to finishing. Because then I will have to do something with it!!!! While it's not finished I can keep it under wraps and keep those demons at bay. You know the ones, sit on your shoulder and tell you what rubbish it all is and you can't possibly let anyone else read this twaddle.
Still a way to go before that, so JJ how has your week been. And shouldn't you be with your family instead of indulging yourself in a Starbucks??????
I'm off to market now for a bit of people watching, so catch you later JJ.

Building work continues

2009-09-17T01:10:00.000-07:00

Before and after photos of the new extension at the back of the house which will eventually be our new kitchen. The OH did the demolition of the old sheds, it was quite a job as the previous owner had used enormous beams for his construction, and all held together with 6 inch nails!!!!

I start a mini race with JJ and the builders return with a vengence. They have been replacing the tiles and some of the timbers on the old part of the house and at times the noise is too much to bear. It sounds like a herd of elephants with clogs on tap dancing!!!!!! And every job seems to be more complicated than anticipated, due I think to some previous rather eclectic building methods. Still the builders assure us it will all be alright in the end!!!!

Yesterday was so bad I took myself off for a walk, found a bench in the sun overlooking the village and managed about 700 words. Not bad in the circumstances. Today is not much better so may try the same again. At least the weather is on our side. Lovely warm sunny days.

I just can't wait for them to be finished and gone. Now I must try and do some of my wip.

Sunday word count

2009-09-13T00:44:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all the enthusiastic comments, as the weeks go on I shall need all the help I can get to keep going. I know what I'm like so all "boots up bum" will be gratefully accepted.

So the first week went well, just about 3300 words which is close to my target of 3500 words a week for ten weeks. I also had a few ideas while I was out running yesterday which is encouraging. All I have to do now is keep it up for the next NINE WEEKS and who knows I might win the mini race. Although as Chris H said we both win if it helps us finish our wips.

Anyway it's a day off from writing today as I don't normally write at weekends but if JJ gets too far in the lead I may have to!!!!

Must go and check on the opposition now, see what sort of week JJ has had. Now if she's had a bad writing week do I have to offer her encouragement[while quietly sniggering]? Yes of course I do, and I'll try not to gloat.

Mini race with JJ

2009-09-07T02:13:00.000-07:00

JJ and I have decided on a mini race to try and finish our respective wips before the end of the year. I have updated my word count to include recently typed words plus approx 3500 words written but not yet typed up. Now I need to get my head down and aim for 3500 words per week for 10 weeks which will get me to 85ooo by the end of November.

This may be wishful thinking on my part as the builders have just returned to replace the roof of the old part of the house. They haven't quite finished the extensions yet so I have to hope that they get a move on and leave me in peace as quickly as possible.

So I suppose I had better go and make a start. Now where's my notebook as I haven't seen it in a while!!

Virginia Dare

2009-09-03T06:14:00.000-07:00

Every day I receive to my inbox The Writers Almanac with Garrison Keillor which is basically a poem and a list of birthdays of writers, poets and other significant people with a short precis of their lives and achievements. It gives me the opportunity to read a diverse range of Poets and to come across some interesting and original people. And it sometimes sparks a creative idea.

A couple of weeks ago it gave the birthday of Virginia Dare. The first recorded birth of a child to white parents on the North American continent. She was born to a colony of more than 100 men women and children who were trying to establish themselves on Roanoke Island off the coast of N.Carolina. The date was recorded because her Grandfather was the Governor of the colony and returned to England for more supplies. To cut a long story short his return to the colony was delayed by three years and when he did finally make it he found no trace of the Colony.

The disappearance of "The Lost Colony" and of Virginia Dare has been the subject of countless books and films and has passed into American Folklore.

I found this story very intriguing and this poem came to me:

Virginia Dare or The Birth of a Nation

Born 18th August 1587
A tiny mewling baby all red and splotchy
And already fiercely independant.
What joy filled their hearts as her cries
Drifted on the scented air.
So many hopes and fears swaddled tight,
One small bundle with the future of a nation
Grasped briefly in her chubby pink fingers.

What became of Virginia Dare
And the others of the "Lost Colony"?
How long did they search
With no trace ever found.
Only the grey eyed Indians
Perhaps held the key.
How long did she live?

Such an heroic name for little Virginia Dare
One name remembered amongst a multitude
Of others long forgotten.

And I thought I was quite brave moving to France and taking up Sheep farming.

One long year

2009-07-20T01:36:00.000-07:00

A year ago our son died suddenly it was Sunday 20th July. We had spent the morning at our local market, drinking a beer at the cafe and watching the world go by. When we got home we had a phone call that no-one should ever have to take. Our lives changed that day and it has been a long and painful journey for us.

I have found it hard to blog or do much writing but fellow bloggers and Novel Racers have been very supportive for which I thank you. I am hopeful that my writing is getting back on track and that one of these days I will finally finish the first draft of my wip. It has been a long time coming!! I have been writing some short stories and of course some poems. The poems have been my way of grieving, words that have demanded to be written.

I wrote this poem last September.

I was not there

I was not there when death came on silent wings
I was not there to hold your hand or ease the pain
As an icy hand gripped your heart and held it til it was still.
I was not there to say a last goodbye
I was not there as your soul
Slipped it's earthly bonds.
I was not there.

I was not there as they sang "Jerusalem"
And "All things bright and beautiful"
I was not there as my tears fell silently.
I was not there as they lowered your body
Into the dark earth.
My soul had slipped its bonds
And was searching desperately for you
But you were not there.
My body called me back.
But I was not there as the sad procession
Walked slowly away
Leaving us alone.

Now all I have are memories
I must not let them slip
From my grasp
As I let you slip.

I was not there.

TBR pile and book review

2009-07-16T00:43:00.001-07:00

For once I have a fabulous tbr pile of books. The most I have ever had and it's amazing to have such a choice. I have met someone here who runs an english language bookstall where you can borrow books. All secondhand that generally she gets given , so it is basically recycling. When she found out my passion for books she very kindly bought me a whole carrier bagful of books she thought i might like. How kind is that? And to add to that i had visited some charity shops with an old schoolfriend while in England and picked up half a dozen books plus some friends brought me the new books I had ordered at Xmas from Amazon. So I have this wonderful selection some picked by me some by an old friend and some by a new friend who has the same feelings towards books as I have so I have lent her a couple of mine as I know she will take care of them. When i have some more time I will put up a list of what I am reading at the moment and what else is in my lovely tbr pile.

I have only just received Black Boxes that i ordered at xmas so here is my review.

Black Boxes by Caroline Smailes.

I wondered how Caroline would follow such an original work as In Search of Adam but she has certainly achieved it with Black Boxes. It is another difficult read with a harrowing storyline but with her perceptive use of the English language it is very readable. It is not a book to "enjoy" because of the subject matter: bullying at school, post-natal depression, the break up of families. It takes you out of your comfort zone and brings you face to face with other peoples misery. The tension she engenders is palpable, her descriptions of the daughters life are heart-rending and realistic and leave you with a feeling of anger and impotence. The attention to detail with the sign language suggests to me a very intelligent and imaginative lady. Her characters come alive and die on the page and you care about them. It leaves you with unanswered questions and I will definitely re-read Black Boxes as I did In Search of Adam, as there are subtelties that demand another read. It has left me impatient for her next novel.

Now I have a lovely dilemma which book shall I read next?

Snails at play

2009-06-26T06:34:00.001-07:00

We have enormous snails in our garden, and couldn't resist a photo of this amorous pair! Hope I didn't put them off although I'm not sure if I want all those baby snails.

Bittersweet tears

2009-06-22T01:26:00.000-07:00

Hi I've been intending to write this post for some time now but decided to wait til after my trip to England. As followers of this blog know my son died suddenly last July. He left behind two young children from his first marriage and a second wife whom he had been married to for 5 years. Shortly after his funeral his wife found out that she was expecting their first child. She was so pleased that she would have something so tangible to remember my son by but I have to say that I was devestated by the news. I was obviously delighted for her but all I could think was what my son was going to miss and of a child who would never know their Father. It added to my grief and this is what I wrote at the time.

I am lost

From his death there is a beginning
A new life has grown from his seed.
Her heart filling with joy and love
As her cheeks bloom and her belly blossoms.
But my heart is splitting in many fragments.
I should be happy
But the pain is still too strong.
I am lost
Floundering in a well
Of sorrow
I have not yet said farewell
How can I now say welcome?
I am overwhelmed with sadness
For you.

At the beginning of April our daughter-in-law gave birth to a healthy baby boy. A very healthy 9lb 5oz. At the beginning of June we went back to England for the first time since the funeral. We were going to see his children from his first marriage and of course the new baby, and we were going to visit our son. The whole trip was so hard, the plane, the drive down to Devon, trying to hold myself together for the grandchildren and for our daughter-in-law who has been amazingly strong. The baby is a lovely happy baby and I know that he will come to know his father through his mother his friends and of course us. But even writing this is bringing tears to my eyes.

We then went to the graveyard. As I said before it is set in open fields and is a beautiful place, he is laid under a tree. But on that day the heavens had opened.

We stood before the place where our son lay
A dead threatening sky enveloped us
An unrelenting gloom, no glimmer of light
No words can describe the feeling of utter desolation
My tears mingled with the dark curtain of rain
And seeped into the earth around him.
I did not want to leave him.

It will soon be a year since he died and I know it will be another difficult milestone to cope with. Everyone deals with grief differently and for me putting some of my poems and feelings on this blog has helped.

Allen Ginsberg wrote " Poetry is the outlet for people to say in public what is known in private."

Poetry is my "other" me, my private face in public.

Time shifts and building works.

2009-05-26T06:28:00.000-07:00

Well that's the only way I can describe the speed with which time is flying by at the moment!!! No update for nearly two months. The builders are making good progress but we will be very pleased whan they finally leave us in peace. It's amazing how much it disturbs our routines and then of course there is the noise and dirt. But it will be worth all the aggro in the long run. But once the builders have finished then the hard work will really start. We are aiming to do the finishing works ourselves, and "flushed" with the success of the new plumbing we are raring to go.

And the sunny weather is finally with us, it's been an iffy spring but now the sun has reappeared with a real warmth in it and the promise of much more to come and good dry weather will make our work easier.

As for my wip I have barely looked at it for weeks but once I get back after my trip to England next week I shall be buckling down to it again. Well at least that's the idea, I just hope I haven't forgotten what it's about!! So just a quick update and more to come soon.

Sunshine, builders and phone.

2009-04-06T02:37:00.001-07:00

What more could I ask for? After another week with no phone or internet, "they" finally seem to have got their act together and we have our own phone number back and internet. Only three weeks messing us about!!! The builder has returned with the sunshine and the plumbing is going well. We have a working wash basin for the new loo, and soon a wash basin in the bedroom plus a shower. I have been very impressed by the OH's prowess with a blowtorch!!

All I need now is to knuckle down to my wip. I haven't done anything to it for some time but I have been trying some short stories and poems, which counts as writing doesn't it?

Some thoughts while out running:

Often when I run
I have moments of lucidity.
Ideas crowd my mind
Sentences beg to be written.
But when I return home
They are wiped away
With the sweat!
--------------
Why is a blank page so terrifying?
Anxious vanity and fear of ridicule
Check the pen from moving.
--------------
On my desk there stands a mug
Full of pens all different hues,
Jostling for my attention.
Which one will it be today?
Choose me, choose me they cry.
One insinuates it's way into my hand,
Willing to slide and slither across the page,
Giving substance to the ideas and images
That wait for life and form
In the jumbled recesses of my mind.

Okay, enough of this, I'm off for a run now and you never know I might just get some new ideas.

Pay it forwards.

2009-03-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago the lovely Caroline offered to send small gifts of friendship to the first three bloggers to leave a comment on her blog. This idea had come via JJ, I had missed that opportunity so was pleased when I was the third blogger. Well my lovely little gifts arrived last week and they proved again what a very thoughtful and kind person Caroline is.

My little parcel contained a beautiful Momiji doll with a secret message from Caroline tucked inside her Kimono. A Sheep Poo Paper book mark, which is exactly what it says it is, from Welsh sheep, and a little magic wand to help all my dreams come true.

I'm not sure I can manage anything quite so exciting but if any of you would like to join in this Pay it forwards then all you need to do is leave a comment asking to join in, then you will need to send me your name and address and I will send you a small gift of friendship. All you then have to do is do a blog about it and link back to me. If you wish to continue the Pay it forwards then that would be entirely up to you. I offer this to the first three bloggers to leave a comment, there is no cost to you and the gift will be small, just a token of friendship and good wishes from one blogger to another.

Now an update on Builders and phones. No builders yet and we still have someone elses phone number, a Technician is due to call Thursday afternoon. That will be two weeks of utter annoyance.

Sorry another rant required!!!

2009-03-20T07:50:00.000-07:00

I had intended to do a blog about the lovely Caroline today but I have been exasperated by phone problems. Unbelievably our phone number has been replaced by somebody else's, so we have been receiving somebody else's calls!!!!!. For the past two days we have been able to dial out but not receive calls to our number, I had phoned to complain and been told that this was being looked into. Then this morning we started to get someone elses calls. So I made yet another phone call which lasted for about 16 minutes with me trying to convince the technician that if I did as he said and disconnected the phone line I would not be able to continue the conversation with him!!!! Eventually he recognised the difficulty, now we have to wait for a text message to our mobile to inform us when the problem is resolved. In the meantime we can phone out but only receive someone elses calls, and the poor lady whose phone number we now have has no phone or internet. She phoned me earlier after a friend told her about getting hold of me on her number and all in French of course.

Confused, yes and so are we!!!! All I wanted was to save us some money. I wonder if I could write a short story about this, no it's too far fetched for anyone to believe.
Normal service will resume soon, I hope!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Incommunicado for a week!!!!

2009-03-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

It has been very stressful in our household for over a week now. I made the mistake of trying to save us some money by changing our phone and internet provider. Oh dear oh dear, and it's just aswell you couldn't hear what I was saying over the last few days. It wasn't very ladylike I'm afraid and I think I have a lot more grey hairs!!!!

We lost the phone and internet last Thursday and I have been on the mobile for what seems like hours trying to get through to a human being. If I hear anymore recorded messages I shall not be responsible for my behaviour. And for the first time in our lives we had to resort to an internet cafe!!!! Ooh that was interesting.

Finally yesterday we were reconnected but still cannot receive incoming calls. So yet another call this morning and we have to wait for another technician to visit.

Oh and the builder has been awol since last Thursday although he has promised to return tomorrow. We shall see!

Anyway enough of this rant, tomorrows post will be a much happier one as I have received my lovely surprises from Caroline so I will tell you about that then, I just had to have a virtual scream before getting back to normal.

Update on building work!

2009-03-11T02:35:00.001-07:00

This is the two storey extension we are having built at the front of the house. The builders are making good progress.

If only writing was as simple as bricklaying, well I suppose it is in a way, just one word at a time and before you know it you have a novel. Okay I'm off to write todays word!!!!

In memory of The Hesitant Scribe

2009-02-11T05:54:00.000-08:00

This should have todays date the 12th February.
The photo makes me feel peaceful and I know that Lisa is at peace now. She lost her battle last Thursday. I didn't know Lisa except through the Novel Racers and her blog but I admired her courage and I am thinking of her family on this very difficult day for them all.

It has started!!

2009-02-03T01:10:00.001-08:00

Yesterday the builder started. Woopeeee!!!!! Finally we shall see some progress with the extensions to the house. Yesterday and today we have the sound of a pneumatic drill pounding in our ears but we are not complaining. We have also started on the bathroom, so far we have removed the old [navy blue] suite and all the [navy blue] tiles from the walls and ceiling!!!! so now we have bare walls that we will plasterboard then make a partition for the new loo. The middle bedroom will have an en-suite shower and basin leaving a larger more open landing. Well thats the theory!!!! The OH will attempt the plumbing with my invaluable advice and assistance so that any problems are down to both of us. We have miles or is that kms of copper piping and a shiny new blow torch and of course a cunning plan to avoid leaks. What cunning plan I hear you ask? A devilishly simple one ................we don't connect the water!!!!!!!! It will all be for show and guests will be required to use the outside loo and garden hose. He he he he.
Seriously though we are glad to be getting on with constructive work again. Oh and did I say it's snowing here. Nothing like poor old England but the hills are white in the distance.
At the moment I am sitting at the kitchen table because I can't use my laptop at my desk at the top of the house, I have earphones on with music to try and cut out the noise. However the other day as I was staring out of my little window this poem popped into my head.

My small window

Seated at my small window high above the village
From the deepening gloom lights spring forth.
The streets are glistenning from the rain
Car lights gleam briefly then retreat.
The tall conifer stands sentinel
Silhouetted against the distant hills.
Grey clouds heavy with expectation
Wallow slowly across the horizon
Catching the smoke that rises from the chimneys.
Darkness now envelopes the houses
Interspersed by pools of neon yellow,
Halos of light blossom above the lamp posts.
The temperature drops quickly
As the shutters are slammed shut.
Will the stars appear tonight
Or will they be obscured from view.
-------------------
One of my bright stars has gone forever and it still hurts.

When I heard about our fellow racer who has such a desperate fight ahead of her this came to me because I know that we all guilty of wasting time.

Precious time

As the darkness folds in on itself
To make way for a new day
And the first tendrils of light
Creep along the edges of the earth
The world shakes the sleep
From its eyes
And promises renewed hope.
And as I get to glimpse another day
I am grateful.
But each new day
Means one less for me.
I have so little time to do
Everything I have dreamed of.
Yet when the days stretched
Endlessly before me
I was lazy and wasteful.
Now those precious moments
Have gone for good
Never to be retrieved.
So I must kidnap
The days that are left
Hold them tightly in both hands
And make of them what I can.
--------------
Pain and deep sorrow focus the mind
Fearing our own mortality
Concentrates our thoughts.
From grief and anguish ideas blossom and grow.

I have no idea whether these poems have any merit but it doesn't really matter. Atleast it feels creative so I let myself be led by the thoughts that come to me at all times of the day or night. Now I'm off to type up some of my wip as I don't think I can be very creative with the amount of noise around me at the moment.

My window on the world

2009-01-27T03:21:00.000-08:00

As we are renovating our entire house I have been relegated to a little space at the top of the house for writing. It is basically the landing to which the OH has added a small desk[piece of board balanced on the bannister] plus a comfy swivel chair. The walls are bare as we have stripped them ready for a new window and redecoration of the landing and stairs. As with everything here each job takes longer than anticipated due to a variety of complications. It's only saving grace is the small window which allows me to look out over the village and it's quiet, no disturbances up there, and I can leave my notebooks out. This morning I managed about 2000 words of my wip which are the first I've written this year. I have also written a few poems and a short story which I will post when I have tidied them up a bit.

The builder has promised he will start here on Thursday but we will believe him when we see him. Watch this space!!!

Oh and I have updated my wordcount and I am over halfway with some still to type up. Yippeee it's downhill all the way now, just hope I don't crash headlong into a blockade.

A New Year and a fresh start.

2009-01-04T23:08:00.000-08:00

Thankyou again to everyone who has left messages of support, it really does help to know that we are in your thoughts.
Christmas has been a difficult time and I am glad it is over and that we made it through.
When our son died suddenly 5 months ago it left us stunned and bewildered. Since then I think we have been treading water, going through the motions of living, marking time as we tried to come to terms with our terrible loss.
Now with the start of a new year I feel as if our spirits have lifted and that we have regained some enthusiasm. I feel stronger and ready to try and move on with our lives. We have lots to do.
I know there will still be events and anniversaries and black days to cope with but I think I can say that we are truly looking forward to 2009.

I hope that this year treats you all kindly too.

Happy Christmas

2008-12-24T07:46:00.000-08:00

I just want to wish all Novel Racers and fellow bloggers a Happy Christmas and a creative New Year. I haven't felt much like blogging recently as I am finding the idea of Christmas quite difficult to deal with but I expect to be back blogging soon. I may even accomplish one or two items from my to do list over the next few days/weeks!!!! You can have a guess at which things may be possible at this time of year!!!

So have a good holiday and I will catch up with you all in the new year.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T01:51:00.001-08:00

OOPS

To all our American bloggers have a great day.

Early morning thoughts

2008-11-20T02:47:00.000-08:00

I still have nights when I don't sleep well and I often have thoughts in my head that I just have to get up and write down. If I don't write them down there and then they have often gone by the morning or I don't remember them as I want to. The same thing happens sometimes when I am out running which is a bit trickier as I have to keep the thoughts in my head till I get home.

4th October running along by the river:

I lift my face to the sun and feel it's warmth
The river flows over my feet and it is icy cold.
I am held between light and warmth
Cold and dark.
I cannot move.
----------------------
11th November early morning:

There are two mes

There is the me who each morning
Along with her clothes
Puts on her public face.
The public me whose smile
Just avoids the eyes.
"How are you?" they say
And the public me says "I'm fine"
But the other me
Whose private face
Is sad and bewildered
Is Crying.
The other me who wants to say
My son is dead, grieve with me.
The other me who cannot understand
Why?
But the public me just says
"I'm fine."

I have a notebook where I write down all these thoughts, it helps to have them in one place.

sheep for sheepish and check out my word count!!!

2008-11-10T05:27:00.000-08:00

What a lovely surprise in the post this morning, jj sent me these gorgeous little sheep to add to my collection of anything "sheepish." In case you can't see they are book marks so will feel very much at home with my sheep books and mugs. It has helped me a lot to know that I have been in my fellow bloggers thoughts over the past three long months. Life here moves on slowly.

I have been under the weather for the past three weeks so have not managed any writing but I have typed up some previous work and to my surprise my word count is now up to 40000 words with more still to type. It has given me some encouragement and I hope to get back to my wip this week as I think I am finally on the mend. It's the OH's turn now and we all know what men are like when they are ill!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you have ever seen "Open all Hours" with Ronnie Barker I am threatening him with Nurse Gladys Emmanuel if he stays in bed too long!!!!

We are still waiting for a start date for the Builder, are they the same the world over? The weather is sunny and warm most days so I hope to be back running and cycling this week.

Of photos and e-mails

2008-10-28T03:56:00.000-07:00

The very helpful Zinnia told me how to add a photo to my profile and I have also decided to add an e-mail address. Is there no end to the resoucefulness of us woolly creatures?

I shall now sit back and wait for lots of e-mails and compliments for my new photo.

Strictly come dancing and anonymous poets!!

2008-10-23T03:13:00.000-07:00

I'm rather under the weather at the moment with a stinker of a cold, sore throat, chesty cough etc. So I've not managed to do much at all this week. No running, no cycling,no writing, just feeling sorry for myself. However I do want to thank Anonymous for the lovely poem she/he left in a comment on my last post, do let me know who you are.

I have managed to plant some lovely Pansies that we bought at the Market on Sunday [not a good photo but it was the best I could manage today] some delicate colours to brighten up the Winter, although the weather has been glorious for the last few weeks, warm sunny days and mild nights. We are still waiting to hear when the builder is going to start, two or three weeks we hope, it will probably start raining then!!!!

A couple of weeks ago the OH and I started Dance classes in the nearby town. The OH wants to learn to jive and we thought it would be a good way to meet people. We have signed up for Latin American starting with Salsa and Pasa Doble this term, jive comes later. It is proving to be good fun but much more difficult than we anticipated. We go on a Thursday evening from 9pm to 10pm, we go with a couple of English friends but the rest of the wannabe dancers are all French. Luckily we all seem to be blessed with two left feet so nobody stands out. We have a couple of drinks at a local bar first just to loosen up, tongues and feet!!! It has done us good to make the effort and our friends appreciate me translating for them. I think it will be hard work tonight but I daren't miss a lesson.

Today I am going to try and get some more of my wip typed up so I can update my word counter. It will be good to see it moving forward again.

Evenings and early mornings

2008-10-16T03:09:00.000-07:00

In the early evening I like to sit at the front of our house reading or just sitting as the last of the days sun sinks behind the hill opposite. We are on the edge of the village with just a few neighbours so its very peaceful especially at this time of day.

As the sun dips behind the hill
The last rays are warm on my skin
Muted sounds rise up from the village
People on their way home from work
Voices in the distance, ordinary sounds
That wash over me
Leaving me alone with my thoughts.
Leaves rustling, wood pigeons cooing
Soothing my heavy emotions.
The jarring sounds of crows
Heading home to roost
Interrupts the growing stillness.
The sun disappears and the sky
Turns from hot blue to cool.
Vapour trails from a distant plane disect
The cloudless sky but do not linger.
As night descends the village settles
Into its quiet time.
Shutters closed, fires lit
Time to reflect.

5.00am

Awake in the soft darkness of the night
Hearing nothing but the shallow breathing by my side
Watching grey light seep through the shutters
Listening for the first sounds from the village
Waiting for the slow dawn of a new day.

Sad Sundays

2008-09-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

Our son died on a Sunday morning, he had gone to work as he did every Sunday to do the milking for a farmer that he had worked for for many years. He knew the herd very well and had assisted more than a few of them into this world. Amongst them was his favourite cow, Whiskey. This is how I think about that morning.

Sunday Morning

Soft mist over cool green Devon fields
Dew sparkling in the early morning sun
A gentle breeze murmuring through the hedges.
Cows with kindly brown eyes
Stand in silent confusion, heavy with milk,
First a patient lowing then
A shifting of their hooves
A quickening of their breath
A snort, a nudge.
But still the steady drone of the tractor
Stopped forever in a moment of time.

Then the sound of sirens, all peace destroyed
The herd scatters, then when all is quiet
They return silently
Carefully probing the empty tractor.
For a moment they are lost
Something has changed.
But the call of the Milking Parlour is strong
And they must answer.
Only one remains
Whiskey remembers.

A gentle day out

2008-09-25T08:09:00.000-07:00

Last wednesday we loaded up the bikes and went off to the Canal du Midi for a bike ride followed by lunch. It was a lovely sunny day, well we don't do bike rides otherwise!! The photo was taken during the ride, I really wasn't sure if the barge was going to fit under the bridge, they had already had to take a load of water to lower the boat. But it just made it.

For a surprise I had decided to take the OH to a restaurant that we first visited 20 years ago when we had our first holiday on the Canal. It could have turned out badly as I didn't even know if the restaurant was still there, we had not been back since. But luckily for me it was and I had even found a photo of our visit in June 1988, I can safely say we don't look a day older. Well I can say that because I'm not showing you the photo, or the one that the proprietor took 20 years later. By the way it was the same owner although he didn't remember us!!!

We had a lovely lunch on the terrace overlooking the Canal. It was that holiday on the Canal that inspired us to buy a property in France and we haven't fallen out of love with France or the Canal since. For more info and some stunning photos about this amazing feat of engineering go to http://www.canalmidi.com/ . We had a lovely day out.

Life continues even though there are bad times we manage some good times aswell. We have lots to be getting on with here, demolition to do before the builders start, stripping walls ready for redecorating, and the OH has started on some retaining walls to stop the garden falling onto the shed he wants to build. And I have managed to write a bit more of my wip, so I think we are moving forward slowly. I will post some photos soon of the work we have been doing. Also some more poems because they help. Then one day back to some farm tales.

Two months gone

2008-09-16T03:02:00.000-07:00

Thanks again for all your lovely comments and for sharing this time with us.

It has been two months since our son died. Sometimes it seems like a lifetime ago or that it happenned to someone else. I don't really want to accept that he died. It goes against the natural order of things to bury your children.

I know that I was at his funeral but it feels as if it was someone else there not me. That I was a spectator not a participant. I find it very hard to explain my feelings but utter helplessness comes closest.

Usually I feel in control of the events in my life but now I am powerless, absolutely nothing I can do except find a way forward. Which I am trying to do but it's hard, very hard.

I have managed to start reading again which I wasn't able to do for about 6 weeks and this morning I have managed about 250 words of my wip. I am determined more than ever to finish my novel and dedicate it to the memory of my son.

These are some of the poems that I write in the small hours when I cannot sleep.

I am numb.

I sleepwalk through the waking hours
Shuffling slowly with leaden feet.
Then when the night comes
I lay watchful with sad heart.
Sleep eludes me as images
And thoughts crowd my mind.
So the days and nights pass slowly by.

--------

In the daylight hours I banish thoughts of you
Then when I lay down at night
Your voice and face come unbidden
But they are welcome.
The edges of reality are blurred
Tears fall silently to ease the pain
Are you really gone?

Finally sleep comes
But in the morning
You are gone
And I am desolate.

----------

I hear his voice in the dark "Hiya Mum"
I reach out to touch him
But he is not there, he is gone.

It helps to put my thoughts on paper as I can't express them out loud.
Now I am off for a run which also helps me get things in perspective and I shall be visiting blogs and catching up with the recent innovations here which seem to have passed me by.

Heartfelt thanks

2008-08-27T01:57:00.000-07:00

I just want to offer my heartfelt thanks to all my fellow Novel racers who have taken the time to leave a message for us in this very difficult time, and to all our friends who sent cards and offers of support it has all been very much appreciated.

We are still struggling to come to terms with the death of our son and realise that it will take a lot of time. We are trying to get on with our lives, as we must, but it is hard to get through the days.

I have decided to share with you some of my feelings in the hope that putting my thoughts in black and white may help me.

Our son's funeral was in a beautiful village church in Devon, it was full with his family and friends. Grown men cried which showed me how much he was loved and appreciated. He was buried in a little graveyard surrounded by open fields and trees. For someone whose working life had been dedicated to farming this was as perfect as it could be. One day I will find comfort in knowing where he was laid to rest although for now such beauty just makes me cry.

After the funeral we all went to one of his favourite village pubs to celebrate his life. We had written a few words between us about our son which my husband very courageously spoke. This is what he said:

Our son was a decent and honest bloke and didn't deserve to have his young life cut short in this way. He was extremely happy with his lot and together with his wife was living life to the maximum. Even through the hard times in agriculture he managed to keep the dream alive and his new milking contract was going to give them a more secure future.
He worked hard and of course played hard when the opportunity was right. He was as fit as a fiddle which makes the circumstances of his death even more difficult to understand and we feel very angry and hurt by that. Whoever or whatever decides these things gave him a bum script.
At a young age he told us he wanted to go to Brymore[agricultural boarding school] and since then he has followed his dream. He was at his happiest working amongst the farming community in this village, working long hours when needed and caring for your cows as if they were his own, especially Whiskey[his favourite milker].
I can claim to have taught him the indispensable skill of drinking large quantities of beer, we even managed to play rugby in the same 7 a side team. And his Mum taught him the equally important rudiments of skinning and gutting a lamb. What more could a young man expect from his parents. And we were even happier with what he gave us.
However none of us will miss the unmistakeable smell of his very own eau de cologne, a mixture of cow shit and sweat. But when he had had a shower and got dressed up he was a match for anyone, especially on Karaoke night!!!!
Nothing was ever too much trouble for him. If a friend or client had an emergency or a problem he was always the first to help out if he could and we will all be the poorer for the loss of his generosity of spirit, a rare and valued gift.
He died doing what he loved best at the farm he loved best. He will be sorely missed by one and all and that is perhaps the best testament and celebration of life and the affect he had on everyone who knew him.
He will never ever be forgotten.

Just a few words to try and describe a very good person.

Since his death I have been writing my feelings down, just raw emotion really but thats all there is at the moment. These are the words I wrote on the card with the flowers for his coffin:

I have cried a sea of tears for you
But it is not enough.
Your dad feels his grief in other ways
But I can see the hurt in his eyes.
We try to smile for you
But it is so so hard
And we are weary beyond words.

And this is what went in his coffin:

Life is grey without you
Even though the sun is shining
The sparkle has gone out of our lives.
We are weary as we watch the minutes
Drag slowly through the long days.
Life will go on without you
But it is on hold for now.
We are not ready yet to let you go
The pain is too great
We are not ready.
Sleep does not come easily
Images crowd my mind
And will not let me rest.
I am overwhelmed by grief
You should not have died.

Thank-you for sharing this with us. I will hope to resume some blogging soon although I hope you will allow me to continue to share my emotions with you. It helps me to express them in this way.

Devestating news

2008-07-28T02:34:00.000-07:00

I shall be away from the blog world for a while as we have had some devestating news. Our son died suddenly from a massive heart attack last Sunday the 20th July. He leaves a wife, two young children and us.

For now I have no words only emptiness and pain. We are getting through each day as best we can but it is very hard

When I am able to I will write about him as he was a wonderful son but for now I cannot bear it.

To anonymous of Tunbridge Wells.

2008-06-27T02:21:00.000-07:00

I can't believe thats it's over a month since my last post. Firstly thanks to all who made suggestions for combining my wish list. I particularly liked Lanes idea, lie down and eat more cake, and I think I can avoid spilling any wine. And to anonymous don't think I haven't guessed who you are!! And you are way off with your thoughts on wish no.10 but you are free to keep trying.
Since my last post the weather here has finally taken off and we have been basking in temperatures of 30+ and I have been taking full advantage of it. Although running in this heat will take me a while to get used to, particularly as I always run at midday.[Mad dogs and Englishmen etc] So another excuse for not much writing or blogging. Although this week I have finally managed a few thousand words and shall try for some more today, I must get the recent work typed up so that I can update my word count.
Tonight we are off to Toulouse to watch England take on France at Rugby league which should be good. It's a warm up match before the World Cup in Australia in October. French Rugby League has been coming on in leaps and bounds since the Catalan Dragons joined the Super League three years ago so we are looking forward to a close match.
On the house front we have just about finished the first bedroom with en-suite bathroom and have moved in to it. Now we can start the next room which is also at the top of the house and will be for storage, something we desperately need. We have also agreed with a local builder for the extensions which he will start in September. Before then we have quite a large demolition job to undertake, so thats August taken care of. That will leave July for a bit of R&R, well we mustn't overdo things!!!
And we have eaten the first peaches from the tree we planted back in March, we also planted a Cherry tree but will have to wait til next year for fruit from it. We are lucky in already having Figs, Plums, Almonds and Walnuts all ripening nicely. The down side is knowing what to do with vast quantities of Figs as eating too many is not a good idea!!! Sensible suggestions will be welcome.
And I really will continue my sheep stories very soon, I still have some tales to tell.
So I'm off for a run now, sweat off some of the wine I consumed last night!!!

Combining my Wish List

2008-05-20T09:06:00.000-07:00

One or two people, JJ for instance have suggested I could combine some of the items on my Wish List. She suggested wearing high heels while doing a Triathlon!!!!!! Someone else suggested wearing some of the clothes seen at my local market and joining the musicians, with or without high heels. I thought of learning to dance while wearing skis but that might prove very dangerous for a lot of people. I could of course wear high heels whilst visiting Venice but I may not manage much sight-seeing.

Any suggestions will be given serious consideration!!!!!! In the meantime I am desperately trying to get back to my wip, it is proving difficult to get into any sort of routine. There are far too many distractions here, including the odd trip to the local drinking establishments, all in the interest of meeting people of course, plus we just had to see what the local race course is like. Not bad by the way and we had a few winners. And then there is the DIY we have nearly got a new en-suite bathroom [just one or two tiny tiny leaks!!!!] and the bedroom will be ready to move into soon. That just leaves the rest of the house and summer is coming. Oh well mustn't rush these things.

Must be nearly time for a glass of wine then I can give my wip my "full attention". Well maybe not today maybe tomorrow!!!!!!! Me procrastinate no surely not.

Ten things I want to do before the next big 0!

2008-04-23T00:46:00.000-07:00

Not an original idea but one that I borrowed from Caroline (of "in search of Adam" fame) read it here who in turn borrowed it from "40 things to do before I'm 40."read it here. So as I have another biggy coming up in three years I thought I would give myself a wish list. I don 't want to be greedy so just 10 things I want to do before the next big one.
Oh and I'm not telling you how old maybe I will when I make it!!!

1 Finish my novel and get it published. This one is maybe too easy but I thought I should include it!!!!!!!
2 Try cross-country skiing. We are only about 1 hour from the Pyrenees so that shouldn't be too difficult to achieve.
3 Visit Venice.
4 Wear high heels again. I seem to have lived in wellies for the past 15 years and it has played havoc with my feet. But I haven't worn wellies for 6 weeks now so it's looking more hopeful.
5 Join a Salsa band. This may be a bit trickier as I have no rhythm and I'm tone deaf but they might let me have a triangle or a tambourine!!!
6 Learn to dance. Proper dancing such as latin american jive etc.
7 See an Ashes tour in Australia or the Cricket World cup somewhere exotic. Now I don't like long flights as I am Claustrophobic but I reckon some tranquilisers such as I gave the dogs should do the trick, in fact I've got a few tablets left so that's okay.
8 Go to the Super League Grand Final between the Leeds Rhinos and anybody else. Obviously I need Leeds to help with this one.
9 Do a Triathlon. Just a short one, I already run, I cycle a bit in the summer and I swim but only breaststroke. But hey I only want to finish I don't expect to win.
10 This one is for my eyes only but I may tell all when I reach the big one!!!!

So there it is my wish list for the next three years. Now all I need is some cooperation from the OH and for me to stop procrastinating and they should all be possible. I will try and put a short list in my sidebar to keep you up to date as to how I am getting on. So wish me luck and if you want leave your wish list.

Sunday Market

2008-04-16T07:59:00.000-07:00

As promised here are some photos I took last Sunday. One of the musicians is sporting a fine example of a mullet and the stalls are all in addition to the usual wonderful selection of fresh fruit and veg, flowers, cheeses, charcuterie, wines, hardware goods, more conventional clothes and shoes and much more. It really is a fabulous Market that runs throughout the year although it is obviously much busier in the summer months.

Settling in.

2008-04-08T01:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who have welcomed me back to the blogging world, it's good to be back. It hardly seems possible but we have been here over 4 weeks already!! So it really is time to stop my favourite past-time of PROCRASTINATION and start blogging and more importantly writing again. I have been sitting at my laptop for the past hour messing around, deleting e-mails, checking out other websites, you know how it goes, anything to avoid actually doing anything remotely connected with blogging or writing. Anyway I have finally run out of things to distract me so here goes: blog number two in our new house.

A few words about where we came from and where we are now. We had been living in the Poitou-Charentes region of France for the past 18 years, sheepfarming, hence the title of the blog!! Our farm was completely isolated which suited us very well, but eventually we decided that we were ready for a bit more life without having to drive 30/40 minutes. So now we have moved to the Aude departement, we have settled in a large village about 40 minutes south of Carcassonne. What a contrast!!! We are only about an hour from the Pyrenees and the Med and so not far from Spain either. We are looking forward to wine buying trips across the border.

We are within walking distance of 3 BARS plus all the other shops etc, but we are on the edge of the village and manage to have found a really tranquil setting. The house requires a lot of work including a extension to provide a new kitchen, but we enjoy a challenge and have already started on the top bedroom. In the meantime we are fairly cramped compared to what we had before, lots of boxes will not be opened for some time and we have a lot of furniture in store, where it will stay until the extension is ready.

Luckily the village provides ample distractions for when we get fed up with DIY. Every Sunday morning there is a huge Market with people pouring in from miles around. Market stalls selling everything you can imagine plus quite a few selling the unimaginable. The village and surrounding area has a large hippy population which means the Market is very 'colourful'!!!! I have never seen so many mullets, on the young and not so young!!!! I have suggested the OH grows his hair so that he can blend in . We shall also look out our Indian cotton dresses[for me] and shirts[for him] plus anything else from the dressing up box. It does however give me an incredible range of characters that I can draw on for my wip. I always have my notebook handy when we stop for a beer or two, all in the name of research of course. I will take some photos of the more colourful stalls to give an idea what it's like here.

It looks like we are in for a tough life here but hey we'll do our best to cope!!!! More Sheep stories will appear from time to time along with updates on life amongst the Beautiful People.

MOVING WAS HELL!!!!!!!

2008-03-26T09:40:00.000-07:00

First of all thankyou to everyone who left encouraging comments.

It proved far worse than I could have imagined. Having spent nearly two years with our farm up for sale I thought I would be so relieved to be moving that it wouldn't matter how stressful it was. I had intended to do progress blogs but there was never enough time or energy, the timescale of just 6 weeks to pack up our farm was far too short and it descended rapidly into a frantic race against the clock. The last couple of weeks were a complete nightmare and we were only saved by an extra week before completion.

The OH did 5 round trips of 1200 km with loads of furniture and boxes, I don't know how he did it. We finally moved on the 7th March. The OH was driving the 4x4 plus a trailer load full of so many odds and ends, he also had the two dogs whom I had tranquilized as they are very poor travellers. I was driving our toyota MR2 also filled with more odds and ends, plus I had the cat, also tranquilized, in a cat box and our two goldfish, in a plastic bag in a plastic container!! In the event the OH arrived before me as I had to make several stops to squeeze the cat back into her box and to stop the water slopping out of the goldfish bag!!!!!!

But it was such a relief to finally arrive here, never mind the fact that until we get the extension built half of our furniture is stored in a garage, and half of our belongings will have to stay in boxes until we can get some serious decorating finished, plus a bathroom or two.

We are now back on line and have somewhere to sit and watch tele, and I have just about enough room in the kitchen to rustle up reasonable meals. The wine racks are full and we have already been taking advantage of the fact that we can now walk to a bar or three for a bit of company if we feel like it. And the complete novelty of being able to walk to the boulangerie for a baguette or the little supermarche for just about anything. The dogs are settling in well as is the cat, all very new for them too.

It has taken me this long to feel able to write a few words for my blog, lack of sleep and the stress of moving left me physically and emotionally exhausted. But I am getting back to normal and will be trying to catch up with all my favourite bloggers, not an easy task but I will do my best as I have missed them.

I intend to carry on with my farming tales but also hope to give progress reports on the work we are doing to our house. All we need now is for the weather to improve, we did not expect snow but that is what we have had over the past few days, and it has been cold. So roll on the sunny days when we can throw open the doors and spend lots of time outside. Now it's time for a glass of wine, so cheers to you all.

On The Move!!!

2008-01-16T06:08:00.000-08:00

Firstly I would like to wish all visitors and fellow bloggers a happy and creative New Year.

Fleur and Tigger have no idea of what the New Year is going to bring and I would guess they don't really care. Life is good for them.

After last years disappointment when the sale of our farm fell through it now looks as if we have genuine buyers. We signed the Compromis de Vente [provisional contract] last Saturday morning and we are due to sign the Acte de Vente on the 28th February. That gives us 6 weeks to pack up everything and move to our house in the Aude region of France. OH BLOODY HELL !!!!!!!

Never mind it won't give me too much time to worry about it all. The OH has gone off this morning with the first trailer load of garden equipment plus a car load of spare duvets, curtains towels etc, and so it begins. So much to do and so little time to do it all.

In between I shall try and keep up my blog and my wip as we have started a new race this year and I am determined to finish the first draft [ this year atleast].

We are looking forward to starting a new chapter but it is going to be quite a wrench to leave some very good friends behind, and we have been very happy in this house for the past 17 years but all things move on and now it is time for us to move on.

Look out for progress reports and signs of impending madness as the time flies by.

Oh dear it's Christmas!!!

2007-12-23T09:39:00.000-08:00

Well there is no such thing as a free lunch and they had fun while it lasted.

Wishing all fellow bloggers and readers a very Happy Christmas and a creative New Year.

Normal blogging will resume in January.

Death in the Afternoon

2007-11-28T06:12:00.000-08:00

AND THE END OF THE AFFAIR.

It was April the 18th and we were about to move the ewes and lambs on to Far field, as this field was closest to the neighbours with the dogs, we phoned them to say that we were about to move the sheep. They assured us that the dogs were under control at all times.

April 19 morning, we moved the ewes and lambs to their fresh grazing and very happy they were to, lots of lush grass and Spring sunshine. One of the real pleasures of sheep farming is to watch the young lambs playing tag, they are like unruly school children who have just been let out at break time. Charging at full pelt from one end of the field to the other, rushing up the banks, jumping onto the fallen trees to play King of the Castle. I have spent some hours watching spellbound by their absolute exhuberance for life. And even the ewes will rush onto fresh pasture jumping into the air like lambs themselves, having headbutting contests over the juiciest patches , and moving quickly eating as they go, worrying that there might be even better grass further into the field. Not wanting to miss out on anything.

And so it was that morning. We walked back to the house happy to have seen such obvious enjoyment from the ewes and lambs.

April 19 afternoon, we took a leisurely stroll across to Far field with the milk for the Orphan lambs, the sun was still shining, it had been a lovely day. As we approached the field we heard the distinctive bleating of ewes and lambs in distress, in the distance TWO DOGS running away fast across our neighbours field.

In the middle of our field A EWE WITH HER TWIN LAMBS PAWING AT HER DEAD BODY. There were no other ewes or lambs in sight. We spent the next hour rounding up the flock from all corners of the adjoining fields,they had crashed through barbed wire fences, ploughed through streams, jumped wide ditches and generally scattered in all directions.

TWO LAMBS were so badly injured that the OH had to kill them in the ditches where they lay, one other was in a bad way but we brought her home in the hope we might be able to save her. Many of the ewes and lambs had rips and scratches from their flight through the undergrowth and the barbed wire fences. And lovely G74 was dead, there were no marks on her so she must have had a heart attack whilst defending her lambs from the dogs, so we had two more orphan lambs. And having rounded up the ewes and lambs we were still missing one lamb. The OH spent another hour trying to find the lamb as it could have been injured or even dead somewhere, eventually he gave up that day as we had to move the flock and tend to the wounded. As you can imagine we were in a state of shock and so unbelievably angry that the dogs had been allowed to wreak more carnage on our sheep.

It was too late to do anything that evening but first thing next day we called the farmers. One of them arranged to call on us with his Insurance agent. Later that morning when they came he was visibly shocked by the trailer load of bloodied corpses.

Now this may seem harsh to some people but we now insisted that both dogs should be shot otherwise we would take our complaint to the Gendarmes. The farmers agreed relunctantly, one claiming that the dog was his little boys but we could not risk the lives of anymore of our flock, nor could we live with the uncertainty that they might strike again. I felt so strongly about this that we even insisted on seeing the dead dogs, it was the only way we could be sure that they had carried out our demands.
Two happier endings, we found the lost lamb, the OH spent several hours beating through the undergrowth and eventually found one very frightened, hungry lamb who was very pleased to be reunited with his mum and the badly injured lamb recovered and was able to rejoin the flock.

The whole dreadful episode had lasted from the first attack on November 26th to the last on April 19th, approximately five months of constant worrying.We had lost FOUR EWES and TWO LAMBS plus all the losses at lambing time and without our willingness to seek veterinary attention and spend a lot of time treating the injured we would have lost more.

Probably the worst experiences we have encountered in our time as Sheep farmers.

So maybe HEIFERS would be less stressful!!!!!!!!!!

When dogs go bad.

2007-11-05T01:05:00.000-08:00

Days such as the 8th December leave you feeling completely drained and wondering why you spend so much effort looking after the flock only to have it ravaged in that appalling way. When the OH returned we went to all the local farms again and further afield in an effort to trace the dog[s] responsible.
We couldn't rest easy knowing that at any moment there could be another attack. We didn't want to leave the farm for any length of time and spent a lot of time checking the ewes. I was still treating Autumn and the other ewe but they would survive which was in itself a small miracle.
On the 20th December we were treating one group of ewes in our Bergerie when suddenly the other group of ewes came charging down the field and trying to leap over the fence, two dogs were behind them. And behind the two dogs a man and a boy were trying to catch them!!! It looked very much like we had found the culprits. The man was someone we had already spoken to and he lived across from our top fields were the previous attacks had taken place. Apparently one of the dogs was his and the other belonged to a neighbouring farmer. The problems occurred when the two dogs got together. And to answer JJ these were ordinary domestic dogs, a family pet and a farm dog that went wild when they got together.
We went to see both owners and left them in no doubt that if were any further attacks we would go to the Gendarmes to get the dogs destroyed. They assured us that the dogs would be kept under controll, in the meantime their insurance would cover our losses to date. We also pointed out that our ewes were all in lamb and we could well experience further losses before or at lambing time. They agreed that we would also be compensated for unusual losses of lambs.
The compensation did not of course make up for the ordeal we and the ewes had been through but we felt that with the dogs identified we would have no further trouble!!!!!
Lambing in 2000 started in January and our worst fears were realised, all the trauma the ewes had suffered had a pretty devestating effect. Ewes were lambing up to a week prematurely, this may not sound much but a lot of the lambs growth occurs in the last few weeks, so we had lots of small weak lambs and many didn't survive. We had quite a lot of lambs born dead, and it was obvious they had been dead in the womb for some time, there were also more breech births which meant we had to be even more vigilant than normal. We had several cases of mastitis and one ewe died. There were also a number of ewes that should have lambed but must have aborted after the first attacks.
If I say that our mortality rate is usually about 3or 4% then 16% that year was APPALLING and that didn't included the losses from the aborted lambs. We found it quite devestating to be continually burying dead lambs. We were compensated for the losses but not for the heartache, all that effort and the sleepless nights only to deliver another dead and sometimes rotting lamb. By the time we were nearing the end of lambing we felt completely exhausted, physically and emotionally. We had just a few of the agnelles left to lamb, it was April and the days were getting longer and warmer, the ewes and lambs were enjoying the Spring sunshine.
We hoped that that was the end of our troubles, we needed a rest.

Will she live?

2007-10-29T02:37:00.000-07:00

Sorry to JJ, Zinnia Cyclamen and Lane for leaving you in suspense but I have to get readers somehow!!!
The vet was not too optimistic on Autumns chances of survival, her back legs had big holes which went right through the muscles, he said the biggest threat would be from infection, if I was prepared to wash out the wounds twice a day for two weeks she might have a chance, he also put her on large doses of anti-inflammatories and antibiotics. He also said that the wounds had almost certainly been caused by a dog and we would have to be vigilant as once a dog had tasted BLOOD it would be back!!! If we could move the sheep to another field as far away as possible it might prevent another attack.
I returned home and put Autumn and her mum in a pen so I could treat her, we had to hope that she was a fighter. It was too late to move the ewes then so we would do it first thing next day. Everything seemed calm and we hoped that it was a one off.
Next morning we went out to the field to move the ewes, they seemed nervous and distracted but that was only to be expected, we did our usual walk round to check that they were all together. Over by a hedge we saw a ewe stretched out and not moving, we ran over to her, she was alive but had an enormous chunk of skin that had been RIPPED away leaving an expanse of FLESH exposed. The OH ran to fetch the jeep and once again I was on the way to the vet, he moved the ewes to our farthest field.
Again the problem would be infection, the vet decided to stitch the flap of skin back in the hope that it would act like a sterile bandage that would keep the wound clean while it healed. He was not that hopeful but it was her only chance. She also needed high doses of anti-inflammatories which he warned us would cause the loss of any lambs she was probably carrying.
I had to hold her down as he stitched her, the STOICISM of sheep never ceases to amaze me. What they can endure and survive is incredible.
I took her home and put her in another pen where I could treat her aswell. Only time would tell whether either of them would live. In the meantime we went to see the Gendarmes. They were sympathetic but could do nothing unless we found the owner of the dog[s]. They also told us that we didn't have the right to shoot a dog if we found it worrying our sheep, but if no-one knew --------?
We decided to visit our nearest neighbours to see if any of them had seen any stray dogs around, no-one had but all said they would keep their eyes open. We are the only sheep farmers round here so there had been no other incidents.
We also visited the President of the local chasse, he was sure that the dog[s] would not be hunting dogs as they are trained to ignore all farm animals, but nevertheless he would be on the lookout for any stray dogs. And that was as much as we could do.
We spent the next week checking the ewes several times a day, all seemed quiet. Autumn was making progress, the wounds were healing although I don't think she ever forgave me for the pain I must have caused her as I washed them twice a day, she has always been wary of me. And the other ewe was recovering too, the flap of skin stayed in place long enough for new skin to grow back and she was able to go back with the flock.
THEN the OH had to go back to England and we had to move the ewes to a field nearer to where they had been attacked!!!!! It was an unavoidable move. Everything remained calm.
On the 8th of December I spent a very enjoyable few hours in our nearest town doing some Christmas shopping. I arrived home at about 3pm and as I parked the car I knew immediately that something was WRONG, the ewes had broken out of the field and were milling around the farm buildiings and I could feel their DISTRESS, it was hanging over them. I had been in such a good mood. I got them back into the field and spotted a small group of sheep huddled by the ram paddock. I ran over and found one ewe who appeared to be okay with THREE AGNELLES ONE WAS DEAD AND THE OTHER TWO WERE BADLY INJURED. And I was on my own. I managed to get the two injured sheep into the jeep and sped off to the vet. There was nothing he could do for them, so I brought them home again. I phoned a friend who came out and shot them for me.
Now you may be surprised by what I did next. I skinned them and gutted them and hung them. It seemed right not to WASTE them, I didn't want to THROW them away. I cried all the time I was doing this but it just seemed the right thing to do. It helped me to have something to do, it took my mind off the terrible events of that day.
Something else has remained with me from that day. When I found the dead and injured agnelles I said there was a ewe with them, she was unhurt. I made a note of her number so that I could check her properly later. When I looked at the tag numbers of the dead agnelles I realised why the ewe had stayed with them, they were HER LAMBS. All the other ewes had ran in terror but her instincts had kept her with them, she hadn't been able to save them but she had stayed with them. I shed another tear for that ewe.

It would not be my last TEARS.

Now where was I? Autumn the Lamb and DOGS.

2007-10-24T07:21:00.001-07:00

It seems a long time since my last post about Mist. I have been seduced by big cities and having fun now it's back to the laptop and writing. My typing has lapsed aswell so this is going to take a while!!

I'll start again in Autumn 1999. The rams had been in with the ewes since September and done their work well, but one of the ewes who had until then always been served without a problem had not been covered. On looking at her a little more closely it was obvious that she was already pregnant. Shock horror I hear you say, well may be not, but we were surprised. The rams are kept away from the ewes except at tupping(when they strut their stuff] so how was she in lamb? And when would she be due? Then we remembered that one of the rams by the name of Wally [by name but obviously not nature] had been in with the ewes for a few weeks in May. Now normally ewes would not be receptive in May but there is the exception to every rule and Number 8 was it!! One mystery solved and it also meant we would have some idea of when the ewe would lamb.
On the 12 of October we bought the ewe into one of the buildings so that we could keep a closer eye on her. During that night I woke up and felt that I might aswell go and check on the ewe, and I'm glad I did. She had started lambing and when I checked her the lamb was in the breech position, i.e. back legs coming first.With this presentation it's imperative to get the lamb out as quickly as possible otherwise it risks drowning in it's birth fluid, this is because the cord breaks before the head is out of the birth canal and the lamb takes it's first breath. So I grabbed hold of the legs and pulled the lamb out, cleared its mouth and it was fine. Luckily for me and the lamb the ewe was quite happy for me to assist her in this way. If I had had to go for help from the OH it may well have been too late! Waking up in the middle of the night was also very lucky.
So one healthy lamb. After a few days in to get aquainted we let Mum and lamb out with the other ewes, we named the lamb Autumn, well you would wouldn't you? I think it confused the other ewes to see a lamb at that time of year and the Agnelles[that seasons ewe lambs] were very taken with this funny looking creature. Life was proceeding smoothly the weather was mild and we were enjoying one of the more peaceful times on the farm.
Then on the 26th November the NIGHTMARE began. We were working outside when the ewes started bleating loudly, and not a bleating that we recognised. You may think that one bleat sounds much like another but this is not the case, we had learnt to recognise the usual calls that the ewes made to each other but this sound was very different, it was urgent and you could hear distress in it. We ran to the field and found the ewes huddled in one corner and in a far corner Number 8 was standing by Autumn who was laid out in the grass, we thought she was dead. Her back legs were covered in BLOOD but she was still breathing, when we looked closely she had big holes and tears in both hind legs. We took her straight to the Vet fearing the worst, and not knowing what animal had caused the damage.

Back to reality.

2007-10-13T03:03:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we were in Marseille for the quarter final between England and Austalia. It was AMAZING. We have had an AMAZING few weeks. I have never been to any Internatinal Sporting events before and have been bowled over by the whole experience. Rugby has a reputation for good natured rivalry between fans and so it has proved.

On Saturday we were surrounded by Aussie fans but they took DEFEAT very well. Oh it was just so good. They beat us at everything normally but atlast it was our turn.

In the evening we sat in a Bar in Marseille and cheered on the French to their victory over the All Blacks, even more AMAZING.

Now we are back home and preparing to watch tonights match "LE CRUNCH" and whoever wins we shall have a team to support in the final.

You may think I have been a bit liberal with the word AMAZING but it sums up the last few weeks perfectly. We are in a very rural part of France so visiting Toulouse, Nantes and Marseille in the space of four weeks has been tiring but brilliant.

And without our good friends who have been looking after our animals in our absence it would not have been possible. THANKYOU.

Normal service will be resumed next week. Whatever that means!!!!!!!

Home then off again!!!

2007-09-21T01:31:00.000-07:00

Just a fleeting visit to say that the Sheeps tale will continue after the Rugby!!!

The picture shows the first match with Fiji doing their version of the Haka to Japan, the stadium was packed, a sellout as was France v Namibia.

The first matches we saw were brilliant, the atmosphere was electric. I have never been to World Cups in any sport so it is an amazing experience. So far the organisation has been spot on with Free Parking and Shuttle buses to the Stadium. I am very impressed. Tomorrow we are off to Nantes to watch England play Samoa, a game they must win. It should be another cliff hanger.

All the travelling does take up quite a lot of time and energy so writing and blogging has to take second place for the moment. I will pop in on fellow Racers when I have the time.

Off to the Rugby World Cup

2007-09-10T12:41:00.000-07:00

We have tickets to watch six Rugby Matches over the next month, mostly in Toulouse but also one in Nantes and a Quarter-final in Marseille, so I will be off-line on and off over the next few weeks. Will pop in on other blogs when I can, see you all soon.

The Sheepdog's Tale Part 2

2007-09-05T02:51:00.000-07:00

As a puppy I fitted in to my new home very quickly. At the beginning I was on my own but in my first Summer another puppy arrived. I've never seen anything quite so funny. Her name was Fleur, well that was funny for a start, then there was her shape, short legs, a long body, very long ears and she always looked sad even if she wasn't and she had a very funny accent. She said she was a Basset Hound from England. I'll let her tell you about all the fun we had and the mischief she got me into!!!

Now I was growing up and was getting impatient to start work. I sometimes went with the Boss to check on the sheep but just as I would be about to go and round them up she would call me away. I didn't understand what the problem was until the day she said we were going to "school" for ME to learn to work with sheep. It wasn't me that needed lessons, it was MY SHEPHERD who didn't know what to do!!!!!

I must admit the first day was a bit scary. She gave me a pill to calm me down for the trip in the "metal box"[ I still hate them now] but I think she should have had one aswell. When we arrived at the "school" I had to wait in the "box" all morning, apparently the Shepherds were signing up for the lessons[I knew it was for them!] And talking about their dogs and their experience. There were lots of other dogs in their "boxes "but they were all those black and white collie types so I was going to stand out, but I didn't mind. I was confident but I don't think she was judging by her face when she came to fetch me!!!!!!

We went into a field to start the lessons. All the other Shepherds were males and the collies were sniggering amongst themselves. "Have you seen the size of that bitch[me] and she's so old[2 years] and her Shepherds a female, oh this is going to be fun to watch." They [the dogs and shepherds] were all waiting for us to make fools of ourselves.

The first task was the RECALL, well how simple is that, or so I thought. But only the second Collie to be tested, a male with other things on his mind and a totally ineffective Shepherd, took off and kept running. He was put on his lead when they finally caught him, how embarrassing. I had a little smile at that. Then it was our turn. I could see how nervous she was, all those males looking at her, waiting for a mistake, waiting for me to run off. But of course I didn't, I went straight to her and waited for my next command. That kept them quiet. After that we were given a bit more respect.

As the weeks passed she was really getting the hang of the commands and we had just started working with small groups of sheep. She was still a bit nervous about letting me work but I was beginning to enjoy myself, atlast I was doing what I had been born for.

Then DISASTER STRUCK.

Our flock of sheep where attacked by MARAUDING DOGS, and they became terrified at the sight of any dog, me included. They started running for their lives as soon as they saw me. I tried to reassure them but the trauma they had suffered was too great and they would't listen. She said I had to leave them alone until they had recovered. No more fun for me. It was a long time before she was able to let me help her again.

I think Number One is going to tell you all about those TERRIBLE DAYS as I didn't see what happenned to them.

Review of Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann

2007-09-03T02:11:00.000-07:00

As The Guardian said "the best sheep detective novel you'll read all year"
It's a very entertaining book and it's obvious to me as a Shepherd that Leonie Swann has done her homework on the ways of sheep. I particularly like how the sheep use their superior sense of smell. You may think it strange for George the Shepherd to read aloud to his flock but I regularly talk to mine and know that atleast some of them understand perfectly what I tell them!!!

The discovery of Georges body, apparently murdered, sets the sheep on the trail of the Murderer. There are some clever twists and turns, some very funny bits and good observation of the human condition. Some of the ways the sheep use to find out information are a bit contrived but hey this is fiction!! A very original take on a detective novel, and as we all know there are only a finite number of stories so finding a new angle is important if you want to be published. I also like the addition of the sheep on the bottom of each page, if you flick the pages the sheep gambol, a nice touch. All in all a good read especially for sheep lovers. And always a good sign for me I will read it again. Just wish I'd thought of it first!!!!

The Sheepdogs Tale

2007-08-31T01:24:00.000-07:00

I have recently read a book called "Three Bags Full" by Leonie Swann, I will write a review soon, but it set me thinking. I have been rather authoritarian in telling all my stories myself, there are others involved who should perhaps be given a voice. It would also allow me to concentrate on my wip for a while, if it doesn't work then I won't have lost anything, except my fellow bloggers maybe!!!!

So here goes, over to you Mist, you can go first.

Woof woof woof, oh sorry I got a bit excited then, forgot you lot have a funny language, luckily us sheepdogs learn it an early age, at our Mama's knee to be precise. Sheepdogs are born not made, it's in the blood. Anyway this is my story, from the day I was born, how I came here and what I do every day.

Mama is a Belgian Sheep Dog, type Malinois, now I know that lots of you will be surprised to learn that I am a sheep dog[I know she was] as you will be more used to those black and white Collie types, they are not bad at the job but they don't have our presence. You never see a sheep talk back to us! Papa was a lurcher, "flighty" Maman called him but luckily the only traits I inherited from him were speed and the dislike of being treated for anything!!!

There were just two of us puppies, born in November 1996, Maman called us the "Chosen Ones" I'm not sure why.[*Note from Sheepish: there were actually 13 puppies but only homes for two so only two survived, I never told Mist.]

We had a great time ,free to roam the farmyard from daybreak to nightfall, as much milk as we could drink, bedtime stories from Maman, the occasional visit from Papa but he was always in a hurry. It was Maman who taught us our manners, what to do around the humans, they had to be obeyed, but they were fair and mostly left us alone. That is until the day they came with more humans, Maman told us to be brave as we now had to leave her for a life elsewhere. We would be working for these other humans who, if we behaved ourselves, would look after us.[* Collected at six weeks old from the Pig farmers.]

So that was when I first met them. It wasn't a good start. The first thing they did was put me in a big metal box[*a landrover] that seemed to float and bump over the ground, we sped away from the farm and I could see the fields moving up and down, closer and further away, it was a nightmare. I'm afraid to say that I disgraced myself I couldn't help it. I felt so dejected by the time the box stopped moving, but they were very kind, no raised voices or slaps on the nose. Maman had warned me what would happen if I didn't do as I was told.

I soon worked out that she was the Shepherd and she was the one I had to obey, she was the Boss and obediance is what I do. She was surprised at how quickly I learnt, I couldn't understand why until the other puppy [*a Basset Hound] arrived from England, but then that's her story. It did explain though why she was so delighted with my desire to please her!!!!!I had my own place in the Barn, they seemed to know that us working dogs need a space to call our own, where you can relax but be ready for any job that comes up. I like my freedom, come and go as I please, and because I know my boundaries I do not abuse this freedom. Unlike some dogs I could name!!!

I like the summer best when I can wander in and out of the space they call the kitchen, I have to knock in winter, they are not very hardy and have to shut the wind out. I am getting older now and spend more time with them than I used to when I was young, there were always so many exciting things to do then. I will have to tell you another day as I have some work to do now, she who must be obeyed is calling, and I must go. Back soon I hope.

Back to work. Morning Pages.

2007-08-29T01:34:00.000-07:00

Monday morning I celebrated an anniversary.
On Monday the 26th of August 2006 I started writing Morning Pages, basically two or three pages of whatever came into my mind, every morning except Sunday. And one year on I am still writing my Morning Pages. I am quite proud of this because as an inveterate procrastinator it is an achievement for me to stick to something for so long.
I came across the idea of these pages via Fiona Robyn's Creative Living blog www.creative-living.blogspot.com although I think it is recommended by several writers. The idea is just to help the creative juices to flow by sitting down every day and writing two or three pages of whatever comes into your head. And to make a habit of it so that it becomes second nature to you. And that's what I have been doing for the past year.
I have to say that what goes on the page is quite often of very little consequence, in fact it's very often complete drivel but it's words and it's a good habit. I also use them to set myself targets each week in an attempt to keep the PROCRASTINATOR in me at bay. It works sometimes, not always of course, but sometimes is better than not at all!!!!
So I'm back from my holiday and ready, more or less, to get back to work. I have set myself some new targets which I shall rely on my fellow www.novelracers.blogspot.com to help me achieve.
Target 1: 1st draft of Novel [90,000 words] to be finished by the end of November. That is basically 5,000 words a week.
Target 2: Blogging back on track, aim for two posts a week.

There I've said them out loud and I am hoping that the act of committing my desires to the page will help my motivation. Feel free to berate me if I appear to be failing, but be gentle as I am hard enough with myself.

"Goals are simply dreams with a deadline" www.nancymorris.com So I have set my dreams a deadline.

Taking a break

2007-08-06T01:54:00.000-07:00

Just to say that we are off to our house near Carcassonne towards the end of this week, we shall be away for about 10 days and do not have internet down there yet so will be silent for a while. We have some friends arriving tomorrow who will be looking after the animals while we are away. One of the downsides of sheepfarming is not being able to go away without organising sheepsitters.

I expect to return with a renewed enthusiasm for my blog and my novel both of which have suffered recently.

I hope that the foot and mouth outbreak in England will soon be over as the last outbreak was devestating. I can imagine the heartbreak of seeing your livelihood destroyed in front of you, and I know that for many farmers it is their lifes work and not just a job. I can remember the feeling of panic when some cases appeared in France, the thought that I might lose my flock was very stressful. Atleast this time all exports have already been stopped. I fervently hope that the outbreak has been contained.

Anyway I'm off to pack my bucket and spade see you all soon.

Pedicure for 70, oh dear!!!

2007-07-23T01:08:00.000-07:00

One of the hardest jobs we have to do with the sheep is foot trimming, which is done twice a year along with worming.

The photo shows our sheep turner, complete with sheep to model it, which is probably the most useful piece of equipment we have bought over the past years of farming. When we first started we had to physically turn each sheep over, then trim their feet which required leaning over the animal, this was back breaking work and very tiring. I would trim the feet and administer the wormer while the OH restrained the ewe. As the size of our flock increased it became our most dreaded job. At a Sheep show we visited we saw a sheep turner being demonstrated, it seemed to be the answer to one of our most difficult jobs. As these pieces of equipment are quite expensive I decided that I needed to try it first to make sure that it was as easy as it looked. As was always the case 10 or so years ago I would be the only woman asking questions or demanding demos, so it was with some trepidation that I stepped up to the man who was handling the equipment. I could feel all the farmers looking at me as he showed me what to do. I succeded in pushing the sheep into the turner and then pulled the various levers that lock the ewe in position, and then with a bit of effort I managed to swivel the ewe back into the work postion. A small round of applause followed at which I turned a delicate shade of pink.

It was after that demo that we bought our own sheep turner and now cannot imagine having to do 70 or more ewes without it. Admittedly we still have something of a struggle to get some of the bigger ladies in, we really must put them on a diet!!However you can see from the photo that once they are in they are quite calm and it actually makes trimming their feet much quicker for all concerned. At the same time as the pedicure they also receive a routine worming.

However an even worse job that has to be done sometimes is dagging, this involves cutting away "dirty" wool from around their tails. We used to do all the ewes before lambing but as numbers increased it became impossible so only the ones at risk are done now. Dagging is neccessary in Spring to avoid "Fly strike" a very unpleasant problem that can occur before shearing. As I have explained before a particular type of fly lays its eggs in the wool and these turn into maggots which feed on the animal. They can also affect their feet which is one reason why we have to keep them trimmed. Often the first indication of "Fly strike" is when the ewe becomes depressed and stops eating and often moves away from the flock. It can take several weeks of care to get the animal back on form so it is obviously better to avoid the problem if at all possible.

We have noticed over the years that the ewes have become more demanding and are no longer content with a simple pedicure and haircut they now want red nail polish and a blow dry. We think we are too soft with them sometimes, although we have drawn the line at botox and colonic irrigation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lets face it the rams don't care what they look like.

A Pink Quill, a surprise gift.

2007-07-11T01:45:00.000-07:00

I had a lovely surprise last week, a dear friend who had gone back to England for a few days saw this beautiful plant called a Pink Quill [Tillandsia] and thought of me and my efforts at writing, perhaps she hoped it would inspire me. So she bought it back for me. It now has pride of place amongst my virtual sheep. I can see it from my desk[aka the dining table] and it has already inspired this post so it must be working! It is a really amazing plant, the gorgous pink quill has a succession of deep violet small flowers along each side of the quill. The photograph doesn't do the colours justice. Nature never ceases to amaze me with it's truly infinite variety.

Thank you again to my very thoughtful friend.

In Search of Adam

2007-07-07T02:25:00.001-07:00

I have just finished reading the novel by Caroline Smailes. I can honestly say I was blown away by it. I had avoided reading other peoples reviews until I had read it myself as I didn't want to be influenced or have other peoples views of it. I was also a little nervous about what I would do if I didn't think it was good, I think I would have had to keep quiet. But it is good, very good.
It is not an easy read because of the subject, child abuse, but Caroline has an amazing way with words that draw you into the book from the first paragraph and holds you til the last, in spite of some very difficult scenes. You want to fold Jude in your arms and make life better for her, she is as real as your own child and her pain is very hard to bear. This is a very unusual book in its perspective, told from the childs point of view, and with unique use of language which works so well. You never question that it is Jude a small child telling her story. Despite some very harrowing scenes it is never gratuitous and the other characters are very well drawn, you can picture them all, they come alive on the page.
Caroline has achieved a remarquable first novel and I shall look forward with impatience for her next book.

What Daisy did next?

2007-07-02T02:22:00.000-07:00

Actually there were lots of FLAWS but the main oversight was the fact that the piglets were not used to coming down into the building and would not follow me under any circumstances, not even for the yummiest of apples!!!!. So the plan failed at the first hurdle. Caroline you were right about it being the piglets but you weren't very specific so no prize for you. And Zinnia would probably have been right aswell if we had got as far as the Oak door!!!!
So that attempt was abandonned, our friends went home pigletless. We never did find out what the two townies intended to do with the huge gloves as they had returned to England before we made another attempt to remove the piglets.
I spent several days coaxing the little dears into the building so that when we tried again they were quite happy to follow me. The rest of the CUNNING PLAN went quite well. The OH had modified the door so that it had a handle he could hang onto and it was wedged against the outer wall of the building so that Daisy was pushing against the wall not just the OH!!!!. The piglets went into the horsebox with a bit of prompting and our friends duly drove off with them all.
Daisy calmed down in a few hours and stopped calling for her little ones. She was happy to eat that evening and two days later we brought our two piglets back and kept them out of earshot as planned.

However it had all been pretty traumatic and we weren't sure if we were prepared to keep animals that could do us considerable harm if they felt like it. At that time we made one of the few big mistakes in our farming life. We decided to get rid of Daisy. If we had thought about it more rationally we would have realised that her behaviour would have improved with time. It had been her first farrowing and she was learning as much as we were. But we didn't give ourselves enough time to reflect and not long after we had taken the piglets away we sold Daisy.
I am sorry to say that she went for slaughter. As I say it was a big mistake. We reared the piglets as planned and had them slaughtered at the farm by our friendly retired butcher.

It was 6 years before we decided to keep pigs again. All our friends were encouraging us because of the truly wonderful taste of home grown pork. So we took the plunge again and made another big mistake but that's another story.

I think it's time to get back to the sheep as I seem to have been neglecting their story. So the next post will be a footy tale!

Now where was I ? Oh yes, the CUNNING PLAN!!!!! BUT DON'T MESS WITH DAISY!!!

2007-06-23T02:34:00.001-07:00

We had to find a way to get Daisy's piglets out of her sight and earshot without being mortally injured by a very large very angry mummy pig.

The CUNNING PLAN included the following elements [in no particular order] : a large HORSEBOX, four enthusiastic friends [2 farmers and 2 townies], 2 pairs of HUGE PADDED GLOVES [used for handling liquid nitrogen], a NIMBLE OH [hummmmm], a large heavy OAK DOOR ,copious amounts of APPLES, 4 cooperative PIGLETS [aaarh!] oh and ME!!!! Plus a building through which we intended to move the piglets[ from their playground].

The CUNNING PLAN went something like this, in principal anyway: four friends arrive with their horsebox and park it in our back drive by the door to the building [which by the way had no doors!!!!] but leads past the pigsty to Daisy's outside run. I use the bucket of apples to lure the piglets through the doorway[no door] past the pigsty and out towards the horsebox. The OH hauls the very large and very heavy oak door across the doorway and uses his considerable strength to stop Daisy barging through the said doorway after her little ones. He weighs about 170 lbs she weighed about 350lbs. Meanwhile the four friends are there to ensure that the piglets calmly follow me up the ramp into the horsebox.

With me so far, now do pay attention, as I shall be asking questions!!!!!!!

The friends then drive away with all the piglets to their farm. I take the bucket of apples round to Daisy as a treat, she has barely noticed that her precious darlings are missing. The following day we drive over to our friends farm to fetch back our two piglets and put them in the wood out of Daisy's sight and hearing.

SIMPLE I HEAR YOU SAY! What could possibly go wrong?

Answers on a postcard to a very sheepish via the comments please.

If you can see any possible FLAWS then you can advise on future CUNNING PLANS.

Little Bo Peep lost her sheep!!!!

2007-06-04T02:43:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday we went off for a cycle ride in the morning, we usually drive somewhere with the bikes on the back of the car. This is because its very hilly where we live and we are not sadists!!! We did a 2 hour cycle route around part of the Marais Poitevin also known as the Venise Verte, its very beautiful, tranquil and more importantly flat. The weather was changeable and we only just avoided being drenched by sheltering under some very convenient trees. After the ride we always stop for lunch, there has to be some recompense for all that exercise. There are lots of very pretty villages dotted along the rivers and canals that make up the Marais, and plenty of restaurants and bars as it is a popular tourist area. At this time of year it is fairly quiet and more enjoyable than in July or August. We arrived home about 4pm with weary legs but it had been very pleasant. If you want to know more about this lovely region then go to this site, its in French but there are lots of photos. www.parc-marais-poitevin.fr

I spent the rest of the afternoon making a large raised Veal and Ham pie for a friends picnic that we were going to on Saturday. At about 6pm I went to check on the ewes. They were nowhere to be seen. Now this happens from time to time, one of the ewes gets wanderlust and the rest [being sheep] have to follow!!!!!!!!

Over the years we have got used to the various ways they go and we had a good idea where they would be. I had by this time collected reinforcements i.e. the OH. We set off round the field they had disappeared from to find the tell-tale gap in the hedge. NO GAP!!! I would just add that its a 3 HECTARE FIELD[about 7.5 acres]. There was no sign of them. We had to go on instinct alone. We went back to the house and got in the car to check the neighbouring farmers land. Still no sign. The OH took the car back and I walked back through the woods to check for woollies there. NOTHING not a baaa anywhere. I trudged wearily back towards the house wondering where we could look next. It was already 7.30 pm and my legs were protesting. As I walked past the field which is directly behind the house and next to the field the sheep had been in I caught a glimpse of something WHITE AND WOOLLY!!!!!! At that moment I heard the OH calling that he had found them. They had been in Home field all along. No we are not blind but the grass in that field is very long and they had been lying down and completely invisible.

We had spent nearly 2 hours looking for sheep that were in the adjoining field. I then had to count them to make sure they were all there. That wasn't easy either.

Oh the joy of being a Sheep farmer.

Piglets

2007-05-25T01:23:00.000-07:00

Continuing with the story of the piglets, after a few days Daisy became less precious about her babies and the OH managed to take the dead piglets away. Then she would come away to eat and we were able to see what we had got, 4 females and 2 males.

The book explained how to castrate the little boys but we didn't like the sound of it, no anaesthetic and the swift use of a scalpel. We could of course have taken them to the vet but I'm afraid cost has to be considered.

We decided to overcome the castration problem in what we thought was a fairly novel way. We would EAT them before they got too big, ie as suckling pigs. We arranged for our friendly retired butcher to come and slaughter them. However we didn't want Daisy to know what was happening to them and we were worried about Daisy's reaction if she heard them squealing, we could imagine her chasing us and the butcher until she got them back, and an angry pig is not to be trifled with.

Another novel solution was required, the answer was to take them out of her earshot. SIMPLE!!! Well not that simple actually. What we came up with was to load them up in our stock box and drive them into the wood, where we would get the butcher to do the deed!

The only problem was explaining to the butcher that we wanted him to go into the woods with us!!!!! He looked somewhat bemused at us not wanting Daisy to be upset but luckily he had got used to our strange English ways and was happy to do as requested. We had 2 lovely suckling pigs which we popped in the freezer until we were ready to eat them, and Daisy still had her 4 little girls to look after.

The photo was taken shortly before the boys had to leave, they were enjoying a family wallow in the mud. Some friends wanted 2 piglets to fatten for themselves which would leave us with 2, perfect as this meant none of the piglets would have to go to the abattoir!! The only difficulty would be getting them away from Mum.

Yet another novel solution would be required but it was going to prove much more problematic. See the next post for our ingenious efforts and whether they worked!!!

Daisy does it all by herself!!!!!!

2007-05-16T02:48:00.000-07:00

Back to Daisy's story, we had made her a really nice farrowing pen complete with rail to stop little piglets being squashed by rather large mummy pig. Unfortunately she didn't like it, maybe it was the Nursery rhyme wallpaper or lack of satellite TV, who knows but she wouldn't stay in it and if a very large pig decides not to stay in a pen then she doesn't and that was that.

We left the gate to the pen open and fed her in there in the hope that she might decide to avail herself of the facilities we had laid on, but no. And she gave us a lesson in the real nature of pigs.
She made herself a nest in a thick patch of brambles and other shrubs, she had made a tunnel through the undergrowth and there was only one way in, which she could easily defend!!! The nest was scooped out of the soil, and because of the thick undergrowth even when it rained she didn't get wet. What a very clever pig!! But then why not it's what pigs or any other animal knows how to do instinctively, otherwise they wouldn't suvive.

July 3rd 1997 and Daisy starts farrowing, we were very excited, and watched what was going on from a distance, she wouldn't let us get very close. Little pink piglets kept popping out effortlessly and seemed to know what to do, how to find a teat and hang on. We couldn't see exactly how many because Daisy got upset if we tried to approach. In fact we felt pretty helpless especially when she inadvertently squashed three of the piglets. We couldn't even get the bodies away!!! She had made her nest safe from predators and she counted us amongst them.

Now as you know I am a great believer in books and despite the panic that the Pig book had caused me previously[see The three big pigs], I had studied the book for farrowing tips. It recommended iron injections for the newborn piglets, so I had collected the appropriate solution from the vet. It also recommended cutting the piglets tails short to avoid tail biting, and of course castrating the male pigs to avoid tainted meat. This is where luck and Daisy came into the equation. We were quite prepared to attempt the first two recommendations but Daisy was having none of it. She was not letting her little darlings out of her sight, and although the OH had managed to remove the dead piglets [I haven't seen him run as fast since!!!!] we had no chance of sneaking the live ones away even one at a time. I think I have mentionned the noise a piglet can make.

They can SQUEAL TO OLYMPIC STANDARD.

And as it turned out there was absolutely no need for iron, they were free range getting all the minerals they needed from the soil, and they weren't interested in biting each others tails as they had lots of other fun things to play with outdoors. Such problems only affected housed piglets but the book didn't mention that!!!! So lucky for the piglets that mum knew best.

And as for CASTRATION we only had two males and I'll come back to them later.

But once again I had been led astray by a book, and the moral of this tale is leave nature alone as she generally knows best.

Ironing Ducks

2007-05-08T06:20:00.000-07:00

Just to let you know that the ewe is recovering from her nasty experience with the flies and all the rest are okay at the moment, so fingers crossed.

Now to something funny as requested by Sylvie from the Ile de Re.

Having successfully kept Hens and Turkeys we decided to keep some ducks, for the table of course, so off to the local market where we bought 6 ducklings. Oh they were so sweet, little yellow fluffy things, to die for. How would I ever let the OH kill them? I had the feeling that we would have those ducklings for life.

To start with they were in an outbuilding with straw in one corner and a little tray of water, then as soon as they had settled in we began to let them out into a courtyard during the day. While they were small everything was fine but as they grew, which was very quickly, they were like naughty children,making as much mess as possible.They had graduated from a small tray of water to a large bowl and they paddled the water and other unmentionables everywhere!!!!!!!. Wherever they went a trail of smelly mud followed them. It was impossible to keep the area clean.
I began to count the days to when they would be big enough to slaughter, so much for keeping them forever, I couldn't wait to be rid of them!!!
The day finally arrived for the little dears to meet their maker and as usual we had a book to tell us what to do, "Poultry Keeping for Peasants" or something like that!!

The OH ignored the method given to dispatch the ducks because it looked too awful, instead he used his tried and trusted method[no I won't go into details but it's quick and painless].
Then we did the plucking, we had a duck each and quickly got rid of the feathers,or so we thought. Ducks being water birds have a layer of very fine down to protect them from the cold, and these fine feathers were resisting our efforts . I went back to the book to see if there were any hints on removing these feathers.

This was going to be another occasion when I was glad we had no neighbours. I read with disbelief the instructions for removing down feathers, but felt I had to give it a try.

I followed the instructions to the letter: take the duck and lay it on a flat surface, cover it with a clean cloth, take a moderately hot iron and IRON your DUCK!!!!!!

Yes I know what you're thinking, did she really do that? YES I DID. And I ended up with a duck with perfect CREASES and nicely ironed DOWN FEATHERS!!!!! Of course it didn't work, how could I have thought it would?

I always meant to write to the Author of that book to ask him if he had ever IRONED A DUCK but I suppose I didn't want to admit that I had tried it.

The moral of this tale is don't believe everything you read in books!! And to prevent any of you from trying the above method a blow torch quickly and easily singes off the down feathers!!!!

We haven't kept ducks since!

Flystrike strikes

2007-05-01T03:04:00.000-07:00

One of the most appalling problems that sheep encounter is something called Flystrike[Myiasis].This occurs in spring and autumn when the weather is wet and warm and the sheep have long woolly coats. At this time of year it occurs before the shearer has been and in the autumn it's when the coat is growing for the winter.

There is one species of fly that lays it's eggs in the damp wool of sheep, the eggs turn into larvae that feed on the wool, these then turn into maggots that feed on the flesh of the poor unfortunate sheep. If it's not detected quickly enough the animal will literally be eaten alive. So at this time of year we are constantly on the lookout for the first signs of flystrike, this is usually a ewe looking miserable and not staying close to the rest, dark stains also appear on the wool.

I was checking the flock as usual yesterday when I noticed one of the oldies looking depressed, I went to check her and there were the telltale signs I hate to see. I went back to fetch the OH and the scissors, antibiotic spray and fly reppellant. To treat the problem you have to cut away all the wool that is infested with eggs and maggots, then spray the whole area with the antibiotic spray and finally put on the special fly repellant. It's one of the most unpleasant, no disgusting jobs that I have to do for the sheep but if it's left untreated it must be the most horrendous death imaginable. You can understand where the saying "to make your flesh crawl"comes from. It makes me shudder just writing about it. I finished cleaning her up and had a good look at all the other ewes but they seem to be okay. We left her in the field with the flock. I went out later to check on her and as she was still looking very sorry for herself I decided to bring her in for the night, it would make it easier to keep an eye on her. I also brought in Number One with her to keep her company.

She looks clear of any reinfestation this morning so we put the two ewes in a small paddock where we can keep a close eye on her for the next few days. Now we know that the flies are about we shall have to be extra vigilant until they are shorn. Luckily the flies need atleast 2 ins of wool to lay their eggs so the sheep are safe for the summer months. If it's a mild wet autumn then we treat all the ewes with the fly repellant, it's expensive but worth it for the peace of mind.

I remember Tony Robinson used to do a TV series called "the worst jobs in the world" and cleaning up sheep with flystrike was one of them, and I would agree whole-heartedly. I hope that this will be the only case this year but it's unlikely considering the warm weather we are having at the moment.

One of the least pleasurable aspects of sheep farming!!

A beautiful day

2007-04-29T03:32:00.000-07:00

The bottom photo was taken in our wood this spring, it's wonderful to be able to walk amongst the wild flowers with just the sound of birds singing and the occasional bark of a deer as it takes off in fright. Sometimes I am quiet enough to see a group of two or three deer grazing close by but usually I have the dogs with me which sends any wildlife fleeing in panic. There are Red squirrels in the wood and the mad March hares have been having fun. I wonder sometimes why we are moving when we live in such beautiful surroundings. But I know the answer and it is time to move on to pastures new.

The top photo is my two horses taken in the field in front of our house.
Not a bad life really!!

Daisy does it!

2007-04-27T05:45:00.000-07:00

Congrats to Cally you were pretty well spot on although I think Caroline and Ms M were on the right lines, although I did give you a big clue. Yes the pretty curly pink thingamy is for introducing the sperm into the sow, and yes apparently Boars, as well as having curly tails have CURLY WILLIES!!!

The AI man introduces the tube into the sow using a clockwise[or is it anti-clockwise] movement, another little known fact for the uninitiated and possibly where the phrase `a good screw` comes from!!!!!!!!!!!,the sperm is then squirted in from a small plastic bottle on the end of the tube. It's all over in seconds. Not exactly romantic and poor Daisy hardly knew what had happened.

When I asked the AI man if he had a photo of the Boar so that Daisy would have something to remember he gave me a very strange look. He wasn't sure if I was being serious or not!!

The whole process has to be repeated the next day and normally the AI man would leave another tube of sperm for the farmer to do himself, but he said as it was our first time he would return himself. I think both Daisy and I were quite relieved.

We then had to wait 3months 3 weeks and 3 days, or thereabouts, for the arrival of the piglets, assuming that all had gone well with the little PINK THINGAMY! We could expect a litter of anything between 2 and 20 , but 6 to 10 would be more likely for a first litter.

In the intervening weeks Daisy and I read the book from cover to cover and did all the breathing exercises and watched her diet. The OH put a farrowing bar in the sty where she was due to give birth[to stop her inadvertently squashing any little piglets] and all seemed set for the great day.

What is this object?

2007-04-25T10:21:00.000-07:00

Answers on a postcard to Sheepish or better still please leave a comment, but I reserve the right to censor!!!!!

As a clue refer to previous post!!!!

Riding Miss Daisy

2007-04-24T05:34:00.000-07:00

Finally back to the pig tale! Daisy spent the Winter in a paddock at the back of our farmhouse. We made her a shelter from breeze blocks and a corrugated tin roof and filled it with straw and she seemed very happy. She had a voracious appetite and we were glad of stale bread and windfall apples that our friends continued to supply, Daisy of course had top quality feed!!! She spent her days rooting around in the undergrowth and the nights tucked up in her little house.

The only time we were concerned for her was when the temperature dropped to - 12 centigrade, however she had plenty of fat to keep her warm and the only inconvenience for her was walking on the frozen ground, imagine a large pig on stilettos and you get the picture.

Spring arrived and it was time to think about a nice young boar for her. We went to see the Pig farmer and he told us that Daisy would have to make do with AI[artificial insemination] no nice boar for her. She was disappointed of course but there was no choice. The farmer also told us how to judge when Daisy was ready for the AI man to call.

Now a sow will only accept a boar [or AI man] for approximately 2 1/2 days so its vital to call him in as soon as the sow is ready. This was when we began to suspect that the farmer was having a joke at our expense!!!!!

Apparently you know when the sow is ready when SHE LETS YOU RIDE HER. OMG. Did he really think we'd fall for that one. After we had fallen about laughing the farmer assured us that he was not joking.

Now you all know who gets the really plum jobs on this farm!!!!!!!! Yup the OH was going to do the pig riding. He had to go out each day and attempt to RIDE DAISY. This was another instance when we were so pleased not to have any neighbours, as we were not entirely convinced it wasn't a "blague" and that Candid Camera were hiding somewhere closeby.

I thought it could be grounds for divorce. But one morning he came in with a smug grin "come and see this, it's amazing!" The farmer had been telling the truth Daisy was more than happy to be ridden. We then knew that we could call in the AI man 21 days later when Daisy would be ready again. And that's another story!!!!!

Back to normal!!! Well almost.

2007-04-23T02:03:00.000-07:00

I was all set to get back to normal posts last week after the disappointment of the sale falling through when we lost the internet for two whole days!!!!!

It's not until you haven't got something that you realise just how much you rely on it. And trying to get through on the phone for help can be a nightmare and add to that the problem of me looking at a screen in English while the procedures to be carried out are in French and even worse the fact that I am virtually computer illiterate and it wasn't much FUN.

I love computers while they work but absolutely hate them when they don't.

It all means that I haven't made any progress with my WIP or done any 'proper' blogs, but I am determined that I shall get back on track this week.

I refuse to let the set back with our proposed move interfere anymore.

LIMBO is good, long live LIMBO. I will be creative in limbo. Is it a place? No it's a state of mind and I am in charge of it!!!!!

Now I'm off to check out some of the other Novel Racers to see how they are doing.

Farm sale collapses

2007-04-18T07:22:00.000-07:00

I feel really depressed because the sale of our farm has fallen through. The prospective purchasors couldn't come up with the money. It wouldn't be quite so bad if it hadn't taken 6 weeks to get to this point. Now we have to start all over again.

I find it really hard to keep the house gleaming and then there is the garden, everything is growing like mad at the moment and gardening essentially for other people is not one of my favourite pastimes.

Once you have made up your mind to move on then all you want is to get on with it. It's hard to concentrate when all you can think about is the next viewing.

Anyway enough moaning. Back to normal posts tomorrow or Friday. Easter Bunnies and lambs.

The Three Big Pigs

2007-04-11T06:14:00.000-07:00

First a word about the house sale. SCREAM no news!!!!! We still don't know whether the sale will go ahead, but we will definitely know by the weekend. This is proving very unsettling and is affecting my ability to concentrate on anything, and thats bad enough at the best of times! So fingers crossed for good news soon.

Back to the Three Little Pigs.

By October we had three BIG pigs and as I said last time all good things must come to an end. We had found a retired butcher who had already slaughtered some lambs for us and he would come to the farm to slaughter and butcher two of the pigs .

Caroline, vegetarians and people of a sensitive nature should read no further!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As I mentionned before I like to read up on a subject first and killing a pig was no different. I was however rather worried by the description in the book. I know that pigs in slaughter houses, after being killed by a captive bolt, are dipped briefly into boiling water to get rid of the bristles. The book gave the slaughter method as follows: place the pig on the slaughter table and slit its throat, catch the much prized blood[for black pudding] in a bucket, then using a block and tackle lower the pig into a large oil drum full of nearly boiling water to remove the bristles, having heated the water by means of a large wood fire round the drum to a fairly specific temperature!!!!

I could see immediate problems with everything except the block and tackle[we had a front end loader on the tractor which would lift the pig carcass with ease] everything else looked like the stuff of nightmares!!!!! I have already said that a pig will squeal if you just look at it so the thought of trying to manhandle a large screaming pig onto a table seemed an impossibility. And how could we find a large enough oil drum let alone get it filled with nearly boiling water? The Butcher had not asked for anything special for the day he was due to come so I had to hope that he would bring whatever was neccessary, but I spent many sleepless nights worrying about the whole terrifying scenario as described in the book and the thought of a nasty end for our two pigs.

The day finally arrived, we had bought one of the pigs in to a pigsty overnight and we awaited the Butcher. I felt awful, my imagination was running away with me and it seemed impossible that the pig could be dealt with humanely, my main concern was that the pig should not suffer because of our ineptitude.

Not for the first[or last] time I had worried for nothing. The most traumatic moment of the whole event was the OH trying to slip a rope round the back leg of the pig. Not because the pig objected particularly but because the OH is left handed or should that be cack handed and made a real meal of this simple task. After that the pig followed me out of the sty and as she was eating an apple the Butcher dispatched her instantly with a captive bolt. She didn't feel a thing and hadn't squealed at all. Removing the bristles was equally simple, he used a large gas powered blow torch!!!!

All my panicking had been completely unneccessary. The Butcher returned next day to turn the carcass into chops, joints, sausage meat and all manner of delicious goodies. The second pig was slaughtered a few weeks later leaving us with Daisy to breed from the following year.

Our friends were very happy to help us eat the large amount of meat that comes from a pig and were astounded by the flavour of naturally reared and humanely slaughtered meat. It has to be tasted to be appreciated and is far superior to mass reared meat.

I could accept the slaughter of our animals at the farm because I knew that they had a good quality of life and that the end was swift, painless and stress free. It was more difficult to send animals away to the Abbatoir but with the lambs it was unavoidable. When it came to sending a pig then that proved distressing, but more of that later.

For the time being we had a freezer full of delicious meat and a sow who would provide us with piglets. Now where is that book, what do we do next?