Lazy hazy days....

And so another year, another decade, comes to an end..... time to reflect, to make resolutions, to consider the future, to plan, to go forward boldly.....

Into the uncertain fog of the future.

And, for the past five days that is how the world around us has been. Dull, damp and foggy. The air temperature has been warm so drawing the cold out of the ground and creating dense, dark foggy days. The pigs don't mind; they've been able to get their snouts into the ground for the first time in a month: the horses don't mind: they've been able to go out and gallop - albeit scarily slippily - around the fields for the first time in weeks; the ducks love it: they can get their beaks into the earth in search of those frozen worms, and even the chickens have been venturing outside and having a peck instead of looking at the white frozen wasteland that existed for the previous month and retreating indoors.....

So we should all be feeling very positive.
Resolutions should be tripping merrily off the tongue, left, right and centre. But - I've just reviewed those I made this time last year.... Uh Oh. So I'm not mentioning the ones I've made this evening. Instead I shall keep them to myself and report (positively) on their effects this time next year!

Instead a quick romp through the year that has just ended: the curly coat herd has grown from strength to strength. Linda reminded me yesterday that she first met us two and a half years ago when Ginger had her second litter: we've now had 15! - opportunities and problems in abundance! Last Christmas saw RectoryReserve attending its first ever market. Since then we've been at the whole gamut of events from markets to race days to food fairs to summer shows....... We're supplying some of the best Hotels in the land and our range of victuals has increased from basic to gourmet in several slick steps. The Big Boss's plans for 2011 will doubtless unfold in equally spectacular fashion. Watch this space!

RectoryReserve isn't all curly coats: Pilot's had his ups and downs, gained a few pounds and aches and pains and a new Best Friend. All balances out. Gunner, having endured a restful summer, has entered his third working season as a Real Teenager: knows it all better than Mum; listens as far as his confidence allows and manages to do the right thing in the end most of the time! Here's to his future....! Puddy Cat's maintained her demur control - of the household and The Boss - and grown in confidence accordingly. If I don't wake up on time in the morning, it's not uncommon for a little paw to pat me on the nose at the appropriate time. She's not even put out by the arrival of Pilot's New Best Friend.....

As for the horses: well, Rocco's busy year as a jumping and dressage pony ended with an extended break for the whole of the shooting season - something he was pretty pleased about a couple of months ago but is now banging his stable door and rebelling over..... he, for one, will be pleased when February comes..... Ritz and Max continue to enjoy their retirement although Max's arthritis is an increasing concern; he finds it difficult to get up after sleeping or rolling so the writing must soon be on the wall.... our problem, not his....

Finally, the ducks and chickens chunter on merrily; the old white duck is still with us despite my fears that she would freeze in the cold snap and one or two hens are still laying - not that that justifies the amount spent on corn and layer pellets....

So, I shall end with a pretty picture and a positive note: 2011 will be full of Good Things, Exciting Opportunites and Unmissable Events........... May all Resolutions be Resolute and all Chances be Lucky ones...............................

Merry Christmas everybody!

Well - here it is. The most Magical Day of The Year . The snow may be causing havoc but it certainly makes for an authentic White Christmas... So from all of us here at RectoryReserve to all of you out there -

"We wish you the merriest, happiest and most peaceful Christmas ever"! Enjoy

Almost Christmas

The cold spell continues to cause havoc: various parts of Britain remain in an icy gridlock which is already being called the worst winter for 100 years (and we thought that was last year!) creating all sorts of disruption to Christmas plans and preparations. Not least those of the The Pork Provisioner. The big Boss had planned for our attendance at a host of Christmas markets which, bar just three, were cancelled at short notice due to the bad weather and dangerous conditions underfoot. Plans and lists were made, unmade and remade causing increasingly furrowed brows.... and where we did attend, we froze for our art! Such Fun!

Yesterday we had the excitement of a total exclipse of the moon at daybreak - the first to coincide with the winter solstice in some 150 years. We awoke to the sight of the moon just beginning to darken and as I did the breakfast rounds the final sliver disappeared....... no dramatic red ball as was predicted..... just disappeared! Ah well: we've the excitement of Christmas to look forward to now! Still a bit of rushing around and preparation before we can crash out with our feet up in front of the fire and not have to find excuses for excess food and drink!

Today was out last shooting and beating day before the Holiday: This was the scene as yet more snow began to fall as I drove home at the end of the day. Unfortunately The Bestest Gundog in all the World hasn't been out with me this week. He was hopping lame on Sunday evening and even worse on Monday -necessitating a trip to the vet.

"Too swollen and painful for me to examine closely" that man said prescribing antibiotics and anti-inflammatories with instructions to return in 24 hours when hopefully "the swelling will have gone down enough to see what's going on".

Luckily the medication had the right effect and yesterday he was able to confirm no broken bones but the likelihood that the poor lad had severely bashed his toe on the hard ground causing the nail to push up into its sheath, resulting in a seriously painful bruise - "Rather like stubbing your toenail very, very hard" said the vet.

So it's a week of medication and house-arrest and then he should be fit and fine to go back to work next week! I have to admit that bush-beating without The Dog is not nearly so enjoyable as with him. For his part, he can't understand why he had to stay at home...... hurting his paw as bad enough but house-arrest on top of that? Surely he didn't deserve that. But a little Christmas holiday will do him good - he'll be able to attack the last month of the season with even more gusto!

Nature's Wonders

The snow has given rise to all kinds of problems and stories but for the past few days it's been thawing - with some interesting effects. The compacted snow on the village roads, which never receive the benefits of gritting, have turned to ice rinks. This is true of our drive also: unfortunately the result of tractors coming down in the heavy snow led to some truly very deep, and now very icey, ruts which means that it can only be navigated by 4-wheel drivers with steely nerves....... if you like dodgems, you'll love it! For the last couple of days it's even been all but impossible to walk up - so tiring and tiresome to keep slipping. And with yet more snow forecast for the end of the week it may get even more challenging in time for Christmas!

But it's not all bad news. Almost every evening has brought truly wonderful sunsets - even if the sun has been totally absent all day long the late afternoon sky provides an awesome backdrop to 'tea-time for animals'. When, for the umpteenth time, I exclaimed this evening: "Oh come and look at the sky!" the Big Boss could hardly stifle his 'What? Again?' sigh! It's as if the year is clearing out her cupboards, dusting off her party petticoats and hanging them out to billow in the crisp evening air. Photos really don't show the half of it.

Nature's also worked another little wonder since the onset of the 'cold spell'. About 3 weeks ago we heard a distinctive and plaintive "Miaow" from outside the kitchen window: a strange cat announcing her presence. We thought she'd just disappear again but the next morning I surprised her when I opened the Poultry Palace and, looking for eggs (in vain!), found her curled up on the straw in a corner. She quickly bolted for the door. "Oh well, gone for sure now" I thought.

But no. The next morning she was on the window sill again. "Miaow" - "Here I am" - "Miaow" - so we took some food out for her. Although nervous of me, her hunger was stronger and she slunk over and quickly bolted down the food. Then disappeared. Into a little outhouse we call The Pump Room. And that became the pattern for the next week or so.... "Miaow" on the window sill. Food delivered. Cat back to The Pump Room to sleep - in the box of straw which suddenly found its way there.........

Then one morning there was no "Miaow" on the window sill. And I was disappointed. But when I opened the scullery door to the porch - "Miaow". There she was. Clever cat had found her way in through the dog flap (something Puddy Cat would never deign to do!). And the next day the scullery door to the porch was left open and in came cat. And the next day we looked round and found she was asleep on the dogs' sofa in the kitchen; and so her gradual adoption of us has continued - today she was asleep on a chair in the sitting room....... Tomorrow? Probably upstairs on the bed.

We've named her Waifa: she's a waif and she was so thin. What's really amazing is that she quickly established herself as Pilots New Best Friend. Actually, his first ever Best Friend. He's never shown much interest in any of our other residents but seems most intrigued by Waifa. She winds herself around him and snuggles past him and he just stands, or lies, still and lets her, like in this photo of the pair of them in the study.

Then - "Look at the sofa." said The Boss when I came in from shopping this afternoon. Waifa and Pilot curled up asleep together.

If that's not one of Nature's Wonders nothing is!

A Winter Blunderland

The continuing cold spell will give rise to tales of devastation and derring-do for years to come: Mangal will recount the morning he saw Precious slide across the ice in the direction of her breakfast bowl: Ginger's piglets will believe forever that it was because they ventured out of their ark that The Great Boar made the world turn hard and white: Andromeda and her fellow Delinquents will dream of endlessly licking food-flavoured ice lollies off the ground whilst Samson will bore all his wives, not to mention the chaps next door, with homilies about how his was the only snout to discover what lay beneath the frozen wastes during The Pig Freeze.

The dog and I have tales too:

"Well you certainly won't be out bush beating today; snow may not stop the Guns but fog always does......".

Said the Big Boss on Friday morning as he supped his early morning cuppa in bed and gazed at the freeezing fog outside the window.

Just goes to prove that he too can be Wrong!

The Bestest Gundog in all the World and I trudged up to the village, again, to meet our colleagues at the appointed time, again: the relatively short journey setting the tone for the day; he fell in a snowdrift once and I floundered off my feet twice.

We started our beating day in the freezing fog and set off across a frozen landscape that few managed to negotiate without falling at least once. "We must be mad!" we all said when we finally reached the Cover crop.... "Totaly, utterly, barking mad!"

But then - that's a pre-requisite for bush beating.....

And it didn't get any better! Snow may make a winter wonderland --- and mask its numerous dips and undulations. But we found them! Boy did we find them! In fact we found them almost as well as The BGiatW and his colleagues found the birds (and hares) tucked up under its billowing duvet. To the unitiated - actually, to anyone ! - we looked like we'd all taken too many sips of certainly-not-tea! But we blundered on. And on. As a special treat - and for very good technical reasons too no doubt - our Kindly Keeper kept us at it without halt until the "day" finished in the early mid-afternoon! He's probably right - we couldn't have blundered along so easily with our tummies full of hot soup and revitalising goodies!

And it wasn't just the Dog's face which was covered in Frosticles: breath froze to beards and moustaches too and everyone with any length of hair had liberal quantities of icicle-tails hanging down..... all day long!

By close of play Humans and animals felt truly tested. Why do we continue? Well, there's the passion for the Sport and camaraderie of course but, Mad though we are, we get to see some utterly, eye-wateringly stunning scenery -panoramas that 'normal' people never witness -, we certainly get our share of fresh air and exercise and those of us who have them, gain a sobering appreciation of what the term "working dog" really means.

Mad? Yes: but blessed as well......

And still it snows.....

It continues to snow: this was the Church Field at breakfast time this morning..... just when we think "That's it!" it starts again..... everytime we go out, the footprints we made the previous time have been obliterated by further snow.

A farmer friend from the village delivered our newspaper on his tractor yesterday afternoon. "Bit Deep on your drive" he said and by evening his tracks had completely disappeared. But at least today it wasn't windy. Yesterday even when it wasn't snowing from above the wind blew the snow up and about and made it seem like it was falling........

Another friendly farmer from the village delivered some hay this afternoon as we were close to running out:

"Bit deep on your drive" he said "Won't be able to get your car out for a while, I shouldn't imagine" he said....

But now it's stopped snowing and this evening his tracks up the drive resemble the cresta run..... lethal frozen chasms between deep snow walls..... Not driving up there tomorrow....

With the exception of Puddy Cat ("What's all that cold stuff outside my door?") all the animals seem to rather enjoy it. The horses each had 5 minutes of rolling and romping in the snow yesterday, the pigs continue to rootle below the white stuff seemingly oblivious to the snow, the dogs leap through it like dolphins swimming in the sea (Gunner intent on finding yet another hare "somewhere under there") and Ginger's little ones venture out for vigorous spurts whenever they get the opportunity, though mostly it's a case of running around inside their ark whilst watching the snow tumbling past their doorway...... It's a beautiful winter wonderland.....