The Ides of March plan The Great Adventure

 The Ides of March are just three weeks old and, in the manner of those before them, they are now planning The Great Adventure....... Since the weekend they have been exploring further and further away from their ark and this afternoon they were right across their pen snuffling in all the mud..... luckily the ferocious winds we've been experiencing over the last week have dried the ground out so they are able to get around without getting too grubby.
Which is lucky because the first step in their Adventure is to find a way out of their pen..... a big enough gap under the gate or maybe they'll 

discover they're still small enough to walk straight through the fence..... then it'll be off up to Samson & Delila or round to visit Ginger & Mangal, or maybe down to the Playpen to see all the girls down there....... and anywhere else that catches their fancy.............
Andromeda, good mother though she is, will be relieved to have a little time to herself instead of having them climb all over her - literally. We will smile to see them trotting all over the estate - until, that is, they start making a mess with their 9x4 trotters!!!! And the Bestest Pigdog will have his paws full keeping an eye on them and making sure they don't wander beyond RectoryReserve boundaries. Ahhhh, business as usual then.....

The study of understudies

 "So here I am, a mature (and some say handsome) workin gundog - with a few other little jobs on the side and, it would seem, I need to pass on some of the wisdom to make the world a better place - or somethin....

So, She who must be obeyed and The Big Boss go off in search of a suitable vessel (vassal?) and come back with this funny little black&white thing who then proceeds to pull all my hangin' bits - and a few that aren't. And I'm wonderin' - how does that get to be an Understudy? I mean, how d'you teach a little thing like that anything that could be remotely useful? Months have gone by since he arrived and I have to admit that he's growin' up pretty smart and learns a lot faster than seems decent sometimes and I begin to wonder if it won't be possible to officially have him on my side?

It's satisfying to see that he looks up to me and tends to take what I say is the way things should be done around here as THE way things SHOULD be done around here.  But there's a lack of structure in his approach to life - I mean he flips around all over the place and picks things up and drops them as if it don't matter and when it comes to givin' stuff to Her - well he picks and chooses a bit. Now; I know that's not right, and She knows that's not right. But what's to be done?

I must be gettin' old.... 'cos why didn't I remember. Him. Of course.  She Must be Obeyed but Him? Well, that's another bag of balls (if you'll pardon my analogy) altogether. Of course. Now it all seems obvious.

In order to turn Gunner into the Gundog we had to spend some "Quality (£££) time" with Him-the-Trainer. Good job She hadn't forgotten that. So, 6 weeks ago it was the would-be-Understudy's turn to visit Him-t-T. And I'm pleased  to say he passed muster; even (though I have to say this behind my paws and very quietly) lighting up Him-t-T's little eyes in a way I never could. Allegedly He even mentioned the F.....T.... words. On Jaunty's first visit - Well, I have to say a chap could get a little - just a little - miffed at that. If one were so inclined, which of course I am emphatically Not.

So away they came - She who etc and the would-be-understudy from that first encounter with Him-t-T full of hope and aspiration. Now, I wouldn't like to have it said that I know anythin' about sour grapes but their 2nd session was an entirely different affair. Why? Well I'll tell you. In the intervening period the little Gem had gone from very good butter-wouldn't-melt into a gonna-be-delinquent with all his own ideas about when to listen and when not to listen and She despaired of ever turning him into anythin' - never mind anthin' that might vaguely resemble a gundog...

So the 2nd session started with Her explaining what was happenin and the would-be-understudy giving a very good demonstration of what she meant!

Well, I was not there so I don't know the detail of what happened in the next hour but those of you who followed my early career from Gunner to Gundog on this very blog (goin back 5 years or so) will have an inklin'. Jaunty said the Man was Awesome and Scary and Serious and gave a whole new meaning to "You will listen to what I tell you to do" - and all that rubbed off on She-who-must-be-obeyed.

And, you know what? That little would-be-delinquent has been the best little gonna-be-Gunner's-understudy ever since........

But will it last? Now there's the question...................... Watch this space....................."

Meet Ant and Dec

Quick update on Albert and Alberto at Elsham: the very next morning we had a message from Pirjo, their very nice and very fit new Lady keeper, to say Ant and Dec had spent a very comfortable night under their fresh new straw... and the following day we learned from Rachel - their assistant new-keeper - that they had already sussed out the meaning of the blue bucket (no prizes for guessing - it's the feed bucket) and were straight across to the gate for their breakfast.
They are going to do well in their new home I think!!!

Forthcoming attraction

 Sitting here watching the rain pouring down outside, it is difficult to believe that Spring has arrived and summer will be following. However, it was appropriately sunny for a brief interlude yesterday as Victoria's two weanlings - Albert and Alberto - were taken by The Big Boss to their summer home. They are to be one of the unmissable attractions at Elsham Hall this year and will carry the flag for curly coat pigs as their precedessors have each year for the past five.  They've been indoors with Truffle's weanlings for the past few weeks and were understandably delighted to feel the dirt under their trotters again

They'll have a couple of weeks to settle in before the visitor season proper opens at the Easter weekend. By then they'll be sporting new monikers because, as Pirjo - their very nice keeper-lady - said, two Alberts is "just two confusing"!
Whatever their names, their public will love them.......

The coldest March day for 27 years

Who took the sun?

I know it's down there somewhere

Andromeda's litter - The Ides of March - are a week old and already they've experienced the climactic extremes which make our weather the most common topic of conversation! Last week they were sleeping outside the entrance to their ark in glorious sunshine under a cloudless blue sky. Seven days later they have been exploring a vastly different world on the coldest March day for 27 years. Gale force winds from the North East have been blowing blustery blizzards of icy fine snow alternating, with alarming rapidity, with piercingly bright sunshiny spells. One minute I was sitting on the hurdle outside Andromeda's pen admiring the view - the next I was struggling with head down in driving snow to make my way back to the barn!
Curiously the animals (with the exception of the chickens) don't seem to have minded the confusing  conditions. The Flowers in the above photo have spent much of their day exploring the world under the surface of their pens while the smaller girls next door were busy tossing turf every which way (which is why we end up with the puddled ground that you can see in the foreground!). More surprisingly the horses too, whose backs you can just see the tops of on the other side of the fence, spent the whole day happily grazing in the sun or sheltering from the whitefalls in the lee of the hedge. When I brought them up for tea they were amazingly toasty under their rugs. The same could not be said for their handler!!

The dogs too experienced the flip flop conditions: The Bestest Gundog was doing his duty of clearing the rabbits from the 'New Spaniel Training Ground' in a blizzard just 15 minutes ahead of his Understudy looking for those same rabbits in glorious sunshine.  Oh to be in England.....................

6th Birthday Celebrations

Flower powered gundog

Seeking them here

Time passes so quickly.... seems like only yesterday we were off to Danby in Yorkshire to collect a young pup who'd come all the way down from Inverness.... and  in the blink of an eye here he is 6 years later! It was The Bestest Gundog's birthday on

Seeking them there

Friday. It was not the nicest of days. So we cancelled the half

.....and there

planned trip to the beach and went on a celebratory rabbit hunt instead. We didn't find a single rabbit but he had a lot of fun looking..... later on there were extra special chewie treats then some very tasty liver and heart for dinner....... followed by a

Seeking them pesky rabbits everywhere

A lesson in rat-hunting

long sleep .... perhaps to dream of hunting .... and shooting...... and then later still he had very serious business in the feed room giving the young Understudy a lesson in rat-hunting.....   altogether not a bad birthday for a spaniel....... I suppose it might have been improved by the addition of a pork pie but a chap has to have something to look forward to next year..............................

Welcome to the Ides of March

The Ides of March

Unfazed by the paparazza

To Andromeda & Samson a litter of 9 bouncing piglets......
"She's due tomorrow" said Linda as she left yesterday afternoon. "See you Tuesday" I replied "Have a relaxing day off."

This morning Andromeda came out very promptly for her breakfast but that's not unusual. So I thought no more of it and the Big Boss and I left here around 0830, returning around mid-day. As I went about the chores - which, in view of the warm sunshine and busy twittering of birds everywhere - were a delight for once, I mused to myself that it was an ideal day to bring piglets into the world.
Gunner was the first to spot the new arrivals - as I trundled past Andromeda's pen with the muck-cart he made a bee-line for a viewpoint into her ark and then looked back at me very meaningfully. He's invariably right about these things. I stopped what I was doing and went to look. Definitely piglets squiggling inside. Typical sow to have them whilst there was nobody about. And it's amazing just how often they farrow on Linda's day off!
Since Andromeda was keeping them all warm and snug I couldn't really see much at all but when she came out for tea this afternoon she let me have a look at her new family.  "What are we going to call them?" I said to the Big Boss when I came in for tea ...."How about The Ides of March" he said.
So that's it then: Welcome to The Ides of March.

Never a dull moment

What a lot of goodies to choose from.....

After a blissful long break (since Christmas) we were back in full market mode yesterday at Market Rasen. It was a bit of a shock to the system after a two month absence but fortunately there was dawn till dusk sunshine and everyone was in carefree mood. We had a good day and were home with the sun still shining. After unloading and counting and clearing stuff away we were feeling just a little weary so we planned a quiet evening by the fire with just something quick and simple for dinner. Whilst the Big Boss settled down with a glass of white I took the Bestest Gundog and Pilot for a quick run and then took The Understudy to Playschool for 20 minutes. By which time it was dusk and shutting-up-chickens hour.

Oh dear, oh dear - this hole wasn't here last time I looked...

Jaunty was being very grown up and helping me all on his own. As we did the rounds I suddenly became aware of angry pig noises. Peering into the dusk it gradually dawned on me where they were coming from. I made my way anxiously to the source of the disturbance near Mangal's pen where my heart sank as I realised my fears were well-founded. There in the dusk was Truffle, having clearly escaped from the barn where she'd continued to live since being weaned from her piglets earlier in the week.... rampaging up and down; she'd tipped over a feed bin outside the other girls' pen which really upset them. Her being in season got Mangal all excited .... and Ginger was just a little displeased that Her mate was paying more attention to the young flibbettyjib than was decent....
"Hmph" I thought to myself grabbing my mobile phone to ring The Boss before realising it would be a hell of a lot quicker to run to the house and talk to him than to phone..... Dragging poor Jaunty behind me I got as much of a wiggle on as I could, arriving breathless in the snug - still in wellies and overcoat --- "We have a situation" I said as calmly (I thought) as I could. With one look at my face, The Boss made his way purposefully towards the outdoors somehow managing to don his shoes en route and we devised A Plan as we walked. It was a little more complicated since, by now, it was well dark and there are no lights in the fields! Our aim was to contain the rampaging sow in the field for the night (since there was no hope of loading her into the trailer in the dark with just the two of us!) and prevent her moving in with Mangal!. We also needed to return the four loose ladies, that Truffle had persuaded to climb through their fence (remember the tipped up feed bin?), back into their pen.

What's this barrier doing here.....?

By the light of a single small torch we spent the next couple of hours hithering and thithering. Several yards of baler twine and all the loose hurdles we could lay our hands on made as secure a pen for Truffle as was possible  - we had a bit of a laugh about not being able to see her in the dark (if it hadn't been for the fact that she kept grumping at us, she could have been on the other side!) We separated Ginger from Mangal to ensure she had a peaceful night and gave everyone a much needed drink. They then all overturned their water containers in typical pig fashion! Clearly they weren't as pleased with the new arrangments as we were. 
I finished shutting up the chickens, we switched all the lights off in the barns and wearily retired to the fireside for the much delayed, well-earned drink!
At dawn this morning, when I took a quick peek whilst taking the dogs for their early morning p's & poos, Truffle was fast asleep in her make-shift pen with Mangal standing guard over her from the other side of the reinforced raised fence!  So I imagine she had a more peaceful night than I did! Relating the story to Linda when she arrived this afternoon, we agreed that, having been weaned from her piglets on Wednesday, Trufffle had now come into season and, in a hormonal rage, had gone in search of  a boar.... So, not her fault at all.....and she'd cleverly picked her moment - after Linda had left and before I shut up the chickens.....    "Never a dull moment!" said Linda going about her chores....