And then there's the new Des Res...

It's all the fault of Delila, of course.

Although we know Ginger has a bit of the Home Stylist about her. After all - she did decide that she wanted that window in her ark -so that she could watch the sunset, and Mangal, whilst she was nursing her last litter.

Equally, it could have been Samson's fault. If he hadn't got his tusks severely stuck in the fence on Tuesday morning whilst flossing (boars use stock wire like we use dental floss) and made such an horrendous screaming noise that sent the whole herd into paroxysms of fright and panic, Mangal might never have acceded to Ginger's demands for further home improvements.

Or it might have been down to Precious who, having been abandoned by her, Samson was simply trying to lure back with a super clean Dinner Service.

Whatever the goad was, the fact remains that on Tuesday morning - at the same time that we were trying to extricate Samson from the fence, Mangal set about modifying his and Ginger's Ark. They can see Delila from where they are. Her temporary new home is totally open plan. Delila simply breaks open another bale of straw each time she fancies building up her bed, or sectioning off the garden terrace. There are no unnecessary walls or doorways. So, Ginger being Ginger clearly decided that her pad was a little old fashioned.

Nothing for it; what was needed was a modern approach. A Vista. Fresh Air. A Terrace even..... No unnecessary obstructions. Just her and Mangal and an unrestricted observatory above their ever-growing family framed within the undulating panorama of the Wolds.

Thus, amidst the extremely vocal groans emitted by Samson, we were distinctly aware of a steady "riipppp rirrppppp" going on in the background.

And when Samson was freed and his fence secured again and we went to investigate, we discovered Mangal and Ginger At Home in their unique Des Res...........................

And just for good measure, since it's not working consistently, Mangal ripped out the automatic water drinker ---- again. "No use having unnecessary clutter around" you could almost hear him think to himself.

Aaahhhh!

To Precious and Samson, 9 Little Gems..... born evening of Tuesday 23 February......

We knew something was afoot when she didn't appear for tea.... "Think it's piglet time" said Linda....

Precious had already taken in all the sticks and twigs I'd given her the day before - a sure sign that the time was coming - so Linda dashed off to fetch some fresh straw and then we left her to it.

By the time I went out before bedtime, there was the unmistakeable combination of gruntles and squeaks coming from her ark. And at breakfast this morning Precious was more than happy to let me have a look at her family whilst she tucked in to her breakfast - which included eggs freshly laid for her by the ducks........

Now, that's a proper Baby Shower........

On the move again

Sometimes we wake up in the morning and have nothing to do.

But that's when we're away on holiday!

Ahh, happy days..................

Otherwise, it just doesn't happen.... when things are getting a little bit quiet and humdrum a "MOVE" can be guaranteed to be on the cards!

Like last Friday.......

Precious is due to have her piglets any day now so had to leave Samson - that was the previous Friday's fun. It went quite smoothly apart from the distinct similarity to the slalom at Whistler when The Boss was trying to maneouvre the trailer in the Church Field to line the ramp up with the entrance/exit to the pens! Heavy trailer on slippery ground is one thing, but factor a very heavily pregnant sow into the equation and things become a whole lot more interesting...... But he managed it - just.

This week's portion of fun featured: Mavis and Maud, shortly due to depart this earth, need to be moved from the field to the stalls: Delila is imminently due to have piglets so must leave Clyde and go to her farrowing pen in the field: Brandy has spent far too long in the stalls (mainly thanks to the weather) and needs to replace Delila as Clyde's consort in the woods: Whiskey's not 'good enough' to join the breeding programme so her fate has been sealed: Nigella has gone way past her 'due' date and is being a real 'pig' to the little weaners whom she's been sharing her quarters with since breaking through the intervening fence. So her fate's been decided too.

Which all added up to a lot of MOVES!

And they were all supposed to happen on Friday. But with ground conditions worse than the previous week, The Boss decided one attempt at the Whistler experience was enough and stuck to those maneouvres which didn't involve the field. So, Delila to temporary quarters (second photo): Brandy to Clyde: Nigella to the stalls. All achieved according to plan in just 15 minutes longer than the allotted time, which was thanks to Nigella deciding to choose her own path to the trailer rather than the one we'd mapped out...... There were one or two expletives (particularly at the point when she eventually was almost on the trailer but then decided to hang about and test the ground and the ramp and the hurdles and anything else she could put her snout on) but - as Con said - "With pigs you just have to stay calm and relaxed and eventually they do what you want them to do!"

Mavis and Maud may think mud's not much fun anymore but if they knew that it had granted them a stay of execution for at least one week I'm sure they'd be bouncing around with more than their usual glee................

I remember the winter of .....

Folklore is framed by memories and memories are tinted by perspective: "Where were you when Kennedy was shot?/The first man stepped on the moon/Elvis died/During the Gales of '87/When The Tsunami struck?" people will go on asking for years to come.

Likewise, different people will remember the winter of 09/10 for the longest cold spell since records began/the worst forest fires for decades/the most horrendous mudslides/the deepest snow for 70 years etc etc etc.

Piglore develops like that too.....

Ask Mangal and he will tell you of the day he put extra feedbowls in his ark and Ginger returned to him. He will reminisce about the summer he taught horses to love pigs...... and the warmest winter on record when he lay in his pen watching the primroses waving in the November breeze. "I remember the winter of 2007" he used to say to the little piglets.

Today though he will tell you of the wettest and muddiest winter since pigs first trotted on this earth.. More snow and rain than ever pigs have lived through. More dreadlocks than can ever be called attractive. More mud than would be needed to sustain a 100-strong herd through the driest summer. And it's not over yet.

They may not be able to fly - yet - but the RectoryReserve herd have elevated swine swimming to a new art.

Luckily Ginger's last litter had a few dry days after they were born in November otherwise their only knowledge of the world would be of endless mud and gloop. Delila's weanlings got so fed up with swimming round in their pen (first photo) that they managed to persuade Nigella next door to open up the fence between them so that they could get to higher ground! It was drier but with 6 extra sets of trotters running around, not least at feed times, it's now just as bad as ever theirs was.

We used to have a little joke here that whenever we put fertiliser or seed down on the pastures we got no rain for 6 weeks....... So, we stopped doing it. Next month, however, we are definitely going to put some fertiliser - no, lots of fertiliser - down....... it'll take far longer than 6 weeks to dry out the pigs' quarters...................

Failing that.... swan husbandry sounds a very attractive alternative..... This photo was taken on the last day of the shooting season.... the swans will doubtless remember the winter of 09/10 as the one when all their favourite ponds and rivers were deliciously full................

Seasons come......and go

All this week I've been catching up on the numerous things that have been left undone over the past 4 months..... and all this week The Bestest Gundog in all the World has been catching up on some much-needed rest.

As well he might: he's bounded effortlessly, eagerly and energetically through 38 mostly 6-hour - but some longer - working days on 4 different shoots since the season started. He's proved again to be everybody's favourite dog..... as one young girl said:

"How is it Gunner always does what he's told and none of the other dogs do?"

He got a little over-excited mid season and started to 'run-in' (dash out of the beating line to fetch a bird which he'd marked when the Gun shot) ---- but he soon got the message when I shook him by the ears the 2nd time he did it and he never tried again...

The problem only arose, I think, because one of the Shoots was short of 'Picker-uppers' one day and they asked us to step in. It's very different from beating. Rather than dashing madly hither and thither in the beating line, he had to sit way back behind the Guns until told to fetch. He quickly made the association: man-with-gun shoots bird, bird drops, dog retrieves birds. Most birds are picked up at the end of the 'drive' when the shooting stops - although runners and some birds that might otherwise be lost in particularly heavy cover can be picked during the shooting if safe to do so: he immediately grasped the need to sit still and watch and wait until, or unless, told to "Fetch" - not an easy thing for any dog, never mind a young one, to do. As one Keeper said to me: "You need a different dog to do each job". Naturally, when he returned to beating next time he made the same 'Bang/drop/fetch' association! Until reminded that that wasn't his job today! Confused? Not him. Instead, if we were beating in sight of the Guns and one shot a bird which the dog could see, he'd stop and turn to look at me as if to say: "Want me to fetch that?" A dog with a brain like that is worth more than his weight in gold........

Over the course of the season he not only honed his skills but also the unique Gunner Trade Mark: whenever we were in the Beater's wagon he'd completely switch off - just like a computer logging off - standing, never sitting, sometimes with his eyes shut. But as soon as the wagon stopped moving he'd snap to attention and look at me as if to say "We off now?" Such a gem. And at the end of the day I'd put his fleece jacket on as soon as he got in the car and, when we got home, he'd eat a huge dinner and then sleep for the rest of the night and on one occasion through the whole of the next day! In the thick of the season we were doing 3 or 4 days a week and there were occasions when, with adrenalin still pumping, he woke up howling in the middle of the night. One night he couldn't stop till I let him come up and lie next to our bed! The work was hard but he never tired of it. Early on in the season, he stopped coming out to do morning poultry, pony and pig chores but as soon as he saw me put on the Beating jacket he was up and ready to run!

He was never sick or sorry, not even after hunting through the truly horrendously thick brambles (honestly, brambles like nobody would ever ask any animal to go through under normal circumstances) in the woods around Woodhall Spa which, till his skin had hardened to it, made him pretty bloody on his legs and some other rather delicate places! One of the Guns, remarking on the amount of blood one day, got short shrift: "You'd look a lot more bloody if you'd just bounded through a load of tough brambles with nothing on!"

It looked a whole lot worse on the snowy days - the amount of feathering on a Spaniel tends to make the snow 'ball up' between and round their legs. Gunner was the only dog with red snow balls!!! As some wag remarked: "Looks like you forgot to take down the Christmas decorations!"

Thanks to the dog we've also enjoyed some rather delicious meals: woodcock is now a firm favourite, but we've also eaten coot, waterhen and hare for the first time as well as the old staples of rabbit, partridge, duck and pheasant. And we've enough frozen game to keep us going till next Season starts!! And - thanks to the local Keeper loading my arms at the end of Cocking Day (The traditional last day of the season when only Cocks and poor hens are shot and the Keeper invites his 'friends and helpers' to shoot) - almost a week on, I still have several birds to pluck......and plans to make for next season.... when there's talk of a 'wife' for The Bestest Dog... she's the little spaniel bitch on the man's left side in the last photo...... and then there's what to do for the summer months......But there'll be no more talk of Field Trial training because The Bestest Gundog in All the World has proved himself far too good for that............