Long day in the field

There are doubtless many people who think we are absolutely crazy - even more so to enjoy it (!!!) and probably millions of others who don't even know that we do it but would think we were barking mad if they did.

But those of us who are fortunate enough

to be able to turn up from late September to end January and 'bush beat' or 'pick-up' on Shoots are privy to one of the finest ways of enjoying the countryside. The fact that the activity takes place in the Autumn and Winter adds to, rather than detracts from, its attraction. Clad in wind, weather and waterproof gear we happily traipse over any terrain and through any obstacle to ensure that the 'Guns' enjoy their sport to the maximum.

Of course, we are all just a little bit crazy so there's no shortage of humour to ease the slightly less exhilarating moments - like waiting seeming hours for the Guns to get to their pegs (or being severely and blasphemously berated by The Keeper for being in the wrong place at the wrong time doing absolutely the most wrong thing) -and since we are accompanied by some of the finest and keenest canine comrades there is much for even the most jaded soul to wonder at.

Now, it may just be me and The Dog who feel this way, but the evidence suggests otherwise!

So it was yesterday: the third of the Season so far and a 'Let' day - i.e. Visitors who have bought a day's shooting. The weather was about perfect - dry, slight wind, cool and mostly cloudy. The Dog and I turned up at our usual time and found the rest of the gang loaded and ready to go - another few minutes and we'd have missed them........ Two things about let days: Keeper wants them to enjoy themselves and get their money's worth and, secondly, it's their day so they do it their way. And yesterday that was "Slowly". The most heard phrase of the day was - "Haven't those guns got to their pegs yet" (or less polite variations of the same sentiment). Which meant we spent quite a bit of time hanging around waiting...

The Dog is most patient and really, really good at sitting still for a long time - so I couldn't really blame him for cheekily having a bit of his own sport with a suddenly upspringing hare when we finally got going...... but I did (one of my beater colleages later remarked that he'd never seen me "have words" with my dog before) because today's cheek could so easily turn into tomorrow's misbehaviour .... With all animals, but probably dogs more than most, consistency is everything..... 'wrong' is therefore always 'wrong'... and he was the epitome of best behaved dog for the remainder of the day.......

And a jolly long day it was - especially at lunch time: so someone said "

Who's for a game?" and off a load of them went to fling coins at a target and in the air and yell "heads" and "tails" and there were serious faces -the ones that weren't winning - and smiley faces - those that were......(there were some rules I believe!). And before we knew it nearly two hours had passed and the guns were ready to go again!

And we had our work cut out for the next two hours or more to help them make up for lost time....... One of Gunner's strengths (aside from retrieving) is finding and flushing birds from the heaviest cover - which at this stage of the season is Kale - and there was plenty of that during the afternoon.

So The Bestest Gundog in the World and I arrived home later, tireder and achier than expected ---- and in no time at all he was curled up on the sofa fast asleep and I was curled up next to him with a glass of very quaffable wine..... What more could one ask after a hard day's fun??

Split Personalities

You just never know with piglets!

Precious had her lot out and about in the pen within 3 days of entering the world. Delila, at the other extreme, is not at all in a hurry to have her brood out and exploring..... Until yesterday, 5 days from being born, none had ventured out of their cosy house. We were getting a little concerned until we reminded ourselves that that was the status quo with the first couple of litters to be born here! Clearly our expectations have increased in the intervening period!

Nonetheless, it was a great relief to see three of them happily trotting about and exploring everything and everyone yesterday afternoon...... Mavis and Maud were most inquisitive and the little ones were happy enough to snuffle them through the fence... until Delila, some distance away, gruntled protectively and called her young ones back....... Meanwhile, the other three seemed perfectly contented to be tucked up in the corner of their cosy house and not in the least interested in coming out to play when the other three came back in to entice them out!

Still, why should I expect all of them to do the same thing? It'll be interesting to see if they maintain such different desires as they grow......

Delila Delivers!

"No sign of Delila" said The Boss yesterday as I was getting the horses in from the field at tea time. "Perhaps she's had her piglets" I called back, jokingly - after all, we'd had the discussion only yesterday that it could be up to a week away judging from the look of her!

So, when the horses were in their stables I went back to look and, sure enough, there was a little piglet wriggling around in the entrance to the ark! By the time I'd clambered over the fence to get a closer look, all 6 - 2 red and 4 blonde - were attached to Delila and suckling for all they were worth....... one or two of them had their eyes firmly closed and didn't look as though they'd been out in the world for very long........ aaaahhhhhh. This photo was taken at breakfast this morning, which makes the little ones less than a day old........

It's all very worrying though...... The Boss accurately predicted the farrowing date for Precious and had also entered in the diary that Delila was due on the 29th, which was pretty darned close. It's almost as if he knows what's going on......

...and a time for every purpose under heaven..... (Eccl.3:1)

Hardly a drop of rain has fallen during September: the ground is baked hard and crops are struggling to poke their heads through the caked and crumbly soil: hedgerows are drooping under the weight of berries and birds have all but given up visiting the garden table - although there are daily queues for the bath!

Precious' piglets - now three weeks old - are flourishing in the unusually warm autumn sun. Having yet to experience rain or mud, their young life is an endless idyll of balmy days and - growing quickly - already they are nibbling mum's food to supplement her diminishing supply of milk.......

It's not just the sunshine which has been warming things up either: the imminent arrival of babies tends to increase the temperature levels too and Delila - the next in line to farrow - has been enjoying a few bespoke cooling sessions...... somehow wallows don't always hit the spot and a spraying hose is just what a woman needs at such delicate times.....

Meanwhile, the 5th season (shooting) has just come round again: at the end of January we wondered how we would pass the long months till the new season started.... plans to diversify into new areas with agility training never got off the ground as we decided to focus on honing hunting skills. To that end we took part in three Spaniel Working Tests as a prelude to becoming Field Trials Champions! A little more clued up now, we realise that may be a very distant dream. From the outset, Gunner's training has centred on turning him into the bestest (Beaters) Gundog in All the World. In that it has been very successful; but a Field Trial Dog is a totally different animal and one, I think, we can never turn him into. (But we will not entirely give up.......)

So, Friday saw us turn out for the first day of the New Shooting Season. As I pulled up in the Farmyard where we all meet he quite sat up in the back seat of the car! Once out in the yard he was his usual cautious self but far from shy in trotting up to greet everyone. In the Beater's bus he sat calmly upright and expectant. Waiting for the first drive he sat bolt upright: all a-quiver and nostrils dilating as his little tail dug a hole in the dusty stubble...... and when the work started he was away: alternately bouncing up to check where I was and nose down to suck the scents up into his quivering nostrils...... flushing the first bird was like the starting gun going off: suddenly he seemed to remember it all and he was away, confident, secure and happy as a lark. His enthusiasm was countered by a little more need for whistle control but is was delightful to see him work with such decision. Training paid off when he accurately picked a 'runner' from 3 or 400 yds off in a barren drilled field: insufficient training saw him told off when he wrongly pegged a poorly pheasant in the heavy Kale cover (how to teach a young dog to know the difference between a wounded running partridge and a sickly 'can't fly' pheasant remains a dilemma): got forgiven when he found two lost ducks after the pond drive...... was truly exhausted and could hardly put one foot in front of the other before that pond drive (thought he'd pulled a leg muscle, so difficult was it to put one in front of the other)....... collapsed in a contented heap under the table when we got home at the end of a warm, sunny, delightfully happy day.

Is there a life as good as a working spaniel's life......? Hunting being his bestest purpose under heaven, the next four months will doubtless pass like the merest puff of dust.......but then maybe the dog will realise that the seasons turn ...and return... and every year for the foreseeable future has five.......!

Season of mists ---- and Nuts!

The season of mists, mellow fruitfulness and inspiration, is almost upon us: the days, although growing shorter, have been almost summery but the nights are increasingly cold and Rocco (who came third in a class of 55 in his second jumping competition last Sunday! Clever thing) is already wearing a light rug overnight.

The customary Lincolnshire winds have blown very strongly for the past couple of weeks, causing the orchard floor to be littered with windfall apples and plums - much to the delight of the animals and poultry! The Aga has been in almost constant use, turning out jams and jellies of all descriptions (including from the 'best' crabapples we have ever had here) but now, almost out of jars and with the cupboards full, the fun will soon have to stop!

The (very) last swallows have spent this week having flying lessons from Max's stable and, though they still spend their nights on a beam in his stable, all but one are out and about most of the day. The solitary one must be the runt: he has spent most days alternately on the hay rack or a beam and is still being fed by the parent(s). Occasionally one of the others comes 'home' to sit with him awhile, but mostly he is alone.

Precious and her piglets continue to thrive; the little ones spend increasing amounts of time outside, rootling and gamboling and experimenting with what is, and is not, edible...... Incredible to think they are only 10 days old.

Already at just four days old one or two of them were bold enough to get up close and personal with Gunner --- he was probably giving them the low down on the quality of the herd they had been born into! Certainly nothing seems to phase them. Many new piglets 'arrived' and 'due' means much new fencing is needed and it is only when the contractor is working with his noisy drill that Precious herds her considerable brood back to the ark and gives instructions for them to stay there! She meanwhile happily digs, rootles and wallows whilst they sleep and grow! We think her litter is probably a record number for the breed but she is as laid back about this lot as she was with Bonnie and Clyde!

As ever, the naming of piglets has occupied the little grey cells: something seasonal seemed to be called for ...... and a sudden flash of inspiration led to a cry of

"What about Nuts!" ----- appropriate for more than just piglets some might say..... : thus we have:

Pine, Hazel, Pea, Brazil, Wal, Cashew, Pecan, Almond, Cob and Coco! We just don't know which is which yet! Except the one in the picture at the top, which is Coco: she is probably the 'best' little piglet we have seen on RectoryReserve.................... time will tell..............

Wrong again! - Again!!

"10" said The Big Boss, returning from the morning feed round on Wednesday.

"10 what?" said I - thinking either he'd lost the plot or forgotten that the answer to everything was 42 - in which case he'd defintely lost the plot.........

"Piglets" said he, face breaking into a huge grin......

"Naaah" said I "you probably counted one twice" (numbers being his strong suit, he was definitely not quite himself....)

"No doubt about about it - 10" he grinned emphatically.

So I had to go see for myself. And - of course - he was right. Ten little piglets all snuggled up cosily in the corner of the ark.

And on Thursday already (surely the most precocious of all the piglets so far) Precious had them all out first thing, proudly parading them around her domain, showing them all the nooks and crannies so they won't panic if they accidentally wander too far away from her - which, judging from the confidence they are already displaying, will happen more often than not!

Ginger and Mangal, at first quite curious about the newcomers, soon tired of the whole thing and retreated to the furthermost ark as if not in the slightest bit interested!

The little ones weren't in the least bit concerned, just kept sniffling and rootling and playing till Mum decided it was time for sustenance and lowered herself elegantly to the ground - where she waited patiently for several minutes till her brood (in no great hurry) gradually all attached themselves! It

was a bit chaotic as they tumbled and scrambled over each other but they all seemed quite contented enough and Precious just kept grunting gently whilst they suckled - although there was one sudden loud grunt when - I suspect - one pair of little teeth were too keen!

Precious Open Day

There we were on Saturday morning, rearranging the furniture and generally getting organised for the Open Day: and there was Precious collecting all manner of branches and sticks and leaves and hay and rearranging the furnishings inside the ark.

"It'll be today or tomorrow" said The Boss "she's just getting everything organised"

And then at breakfast time on Sunday she was at it again: so much so that I broke a load of low hanging branches off one of the ash trees in the Poultry pen and dropped them inside Precious' area: in no time at all she'd scooped them up and lumbered over to her ark, where she busily arranged them to make a cosy nest. And when she wasn't arranging the nest she was grovelling around in her wallow in an effort to cool down. The Boss says when the young ones are imminent, the sow's body temperature rises by a couple of degrees...... So, the time was definitely drawing close.....

And we continued to busy ourselves with arrangements for the Open Day. Guests arrived: supped, chatted and chewed and visited pigs. Precious attended a couple of the 'Meeting the pigs' sessions but then retired for a Siesta. We thought.

When almost everyone had gone home Linda went to feed the porcine herd...... and excitedly (slightly Big Grin on face), though really quite restrained nonetheless, strolled back to where a few of us were just finishing off the odd glass or nibble and quietly said:

"Looks like eight or nine! Just like that. No fuss or jumping around. Just "Possibly five or six white and two or three red" so we all carried on chewing and sipping and said "Well, fancy that: isn't that nice...." and then agreed that we should "leave Precious to it" - well, that's a lot of little bodies to get used to all in one go........ Anyway, I think she decided "Two's normal (that's what she had last time) but everyone else says 6 or 7 is normal so I'd better have them too"!!!!

She's been very protective: her nest includes a wonderful straw stack in one back corner and when she's out eating or wallowing the little ones tumble around on and in and over it. I was trying to get close enough to take some photos yesterday but, after a few moments, Precious came across and poked her considerable snout between my knees and very gently - but firmly - pushed me away from the ark. So fuzzy pictures is all we have for now...... But I'm sure she'll let me get closer later in the week......