Alarm goes off at 5am.
Time for a bleary-eyed cuppa and then out to get the day started,
walking two over-excited collies and a tired old husky, while Joey potters
around in the garden in his vacant state (to be rescued on our return from
whichever corner or nook he ends up stuck in).
Dogs returned to utility room, Joey given his first tablet,
and off down to the sheds.
First stop - top calves.
Put out feeding troughs and 1 bucket of calf cake…this shuts them up
(including the calf that sounds like a growling lion), but the cacophonous bleating
from elsewhere just rises in volume. Give a bucket of cake, water and some
silage to Mrs Sheep and Rachel the lamb (our sole lamb so far, Mrs Sheep having
been left behind when the earlies were transferred to Farmer Rob’s).
Empty water, snow or whatever out of the 10 ½ feeding
troughs in the bottom yard and the trough for the beastly ewe lambs in the top
yard. (Not quite sure where the
remaining ½ trough ended up.) Get out the tractor and leave it running to warm
up. Put out 2 ½ buckets of sheep cake
for the triples and mothers needing feeding up and let them out, keeping well
back. Scan rear ends for anything
unusual. Check water is running, silage
is at acceptable levels, and chuck down some more straw to keep things nice and
toasty. Put ½ bucket of sheep cake in
the top trough. Let the beastly ewe lambs
out into the top yard, add some straw to their pen and that of the two calves
who live next door, topping up everyone’s water and silage, and giving the
calves some cake. At least the beastly ewe lambs will be a bit quieter now…not
much, but a bit. Corral triples back
into their shed and shut the gate. Chase beastly ewe lambs around the top yard,
cursing, and finally encourage them to return home. Shut their gate and scowl menacingly at them.
Put out 1 ½ buckets of cake into the bottom yard, and let
out the singles (checking rear ends), shutting the main door so they can’t
escape up the alley. Help sheep get her
stuck head out of the feeder. Check their shed, silage, straw etc. Go back to the top calves, remove feeding
troughs and fork silage. Fill bags with
cake for outside ewe lambs (not pregnant), rams, ewes in Cleave Shed and the
new late lambers in 13 Acres that Farmer Ian bought the other day because
clearly we don’t have enough to do already.
Go back down and get the singles back into their shed. Put eye ointment in for ewe with silage-eye.
Chase single beastly ewe lamb back over the straw bale it
decided to jump onto to get into the triples.
Put out 5 ½ buckets of cake into the bottom alley (turning
off the tractor and shed lights en route). Let out the top shed doubles (all 120 of
them) and stand well back. Scan arses as
they passes. Check, silage, straw. Fill
cake bag with silage for the rams. Eventually
waft all of the doubles back in their shed and shut the gate.
Get out the bike and deliver cake to the outside ewe lambs
(far less beastly than the pregnant beastly ewe lambs). Drive down to the rams and give them their
cake and fill their feeder with silage, checking the Silage Pit calves on the
way. Back to the sheds, back to the
house to pick up Sonny and Ned, and then down to the quad bike again. Let the dogs run exuberantly across 13 Acres,
deliver cake to the new sheep and the late lambers in Cleave Shed, and zoom
back.
Arrive in the yard to find beastly ewe lambs wandering
about, the calves having chewed the baling twine that held their gate closed.
Get Sonny to do his thing. Second menacing
scowl of the day, and an admonishment that includes the words “mint sauce”.
Interspersed with all of this, at least 2 to 4 sheds will
need bales of silage and some skilful manoeuvring with the tractor, as well as
replacing broken buckets, and innumerable retracing of steps to pick up
forgotten keys, dropped gloves and various marbles.
Sheds done, come back up to the house, fill two hanging bird
feeders (Farmer Ian’s – he likes blue tits, but I am suspicious of their cuteness)
and scatter seed on the ground for the chaffinches, sparrows and
yellowhammers. Chase off the magpies.
Put out the bins or recycling as appropriate.
Unlock the back door and let Cody out for a pee. Take off hat, coat, boots and leggings, and
wash hands with antibacterial soap at least three times to get off all of the
muck (but unfortunately, not the smell).
Put all of the other shoes and boots back on the rack and try to match
up with insoles – Ned has a boot toss while waiting for his morning
farming. Pick up the various dog tins
scattered about (Ned, ditto).
Start the rigmarole of feeding the dogs. Give Joey his second tablet. Attempt to force feed Cody his two Tramadol
(failing back legs) – prizing open a husky’s mouth and shoving pills back far
enough that he does not spit them out is a fine art, and one that requires
muscle, diligence and a sheer cussedness to get it done. Putting the tablets in cheese does not work.
Put Ned’s untouched food in Sonny’s now empty bowl. Watch Ned eat the food, Sonny’s being far
higher quality than his own.
Turn on the computer to give it time to do its laborious
start up, turn on the kettle, have a wash and clean my teeth. Make the bed.
Put on some laundry.
Turn on underfloor heating.
Collies make themselves comfortable in the office. Make tea and toast
(the temerity of actually wanting to eat myself!) and take to my desk to start
the real job at 8am.
About 4pm da capo
- repeat the above from walking the dogs onwards. Exclude outside stock, but add in feeding the
cubicles calves cake and standing holding a ½ bucket of cake while the bull
gorges himself, trying to keep very insistent cows from stealing his tucker. Go to 7 acres to collect a few more bales of
silage to get a jump on tomorrow morning. Shut up the sheds, top gates included
if bad weather imminent.
After feeding the dogs, shower and start thinking about
dinner. Consider vacuuming up the spare
husky…go for it…only to have the wheel fall of the vacuum. Give it all up as a lost cause, open a bottle
of wine and fall asleep in front of the TV.
Of course, it’s all so much easier when there is snow around…not.
