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....

Victoria returns to The Black Banana

 Four days or so after weaning, the Sow comes back in season and is ready to entertain the boar. Victoria's little 'Alberts' were successfully (for us, if not them!) weaned on Wednesday so we decided to move her back to The Black Banana on Friday to give them a few days to reacquaint themselves before he starts leaping all over her.

First though we had to move Merkel the Ferkel, aka Mrs Merkel, away from Banana to her farrowing pen as she is due shortly before Easter. Her new pen had a bespoke house in it - new and unused - but it wasn't built with her in mind and we felt it might be a little small to share with piglets. So a bigger house had to be moved first.
 Gunner and The Big Boss supervised operations  and in no time at all - thanks to John and his Manitou - a had-been-redundant ark was soon in place and furnished with plenty of fluffy straw to welcome Mrs Merkel.

Pigs are funny things. She's been happily mucking about with Banana these past few months but when the gate was opened and a feed bowl rattled under her snout she was away without a backward glance.  I don't think he

 noticed her leave either - too busy with the little bit of feed Linda had put down to distract him. Mrs Merkel didn't exactly hop onto the trailer but it was not a very long job to persuade her up the unfamiliar ramp. Transportation to her new premises took all of two minutes - hardly time to empty her bowl really - but when we let down the ramp she happily trotted out and ran the 20 or so metres to her new pen. And kept on running... round and round, up and down, inspecting the new neighbours and admiring the view.  She's seen nothing but mud and trees for a few months so it must have been a real treat to feel firm grass

 under her trotters.
Then she settled down to the serious business of eating.
Saturday morning we could see her from our bedroom window (a first) happily mooching about in the early morning light - rootling here and there, pursued by a little flock of birds doubtless after any little morsel she might have overlooked. As if!

Having successfuly moved Mrs Merkel we turned our attention to the Beuatiful Blonde Victoria. She's been cooped up in the stalls since

before Christmas so she was not unhappy to leave. Again, it took a little coaxing to get her up the ramp onto the trailer but at the other end she trotted off and positively charged up the path to her old pen....... and kept on charging....and then floundering as she sank in the mud! We let out a collective "Ohhh" as her beautiful blonde coat became offset by black mud. She didn't seem to care at all. She galumphed round the whole pen. We opened the gate separating her from Banana and in no time he was all over her: "So very pleased to have you back again" I believe he was saying - or was it something a little more earthy!  In no time at all she was a piebald piggie but she didn't seem to care. They clearly recognised each other and soon settled down together ..... Saturday morning they came running out of their ark like they'd never been parted......... and by this (Sunday) morning they were running rings roud each other as he was gamely trying to leap on her back....... won't be long before she's in the family way again......

"Hang on - this isn't what we meant.."

"OK, the joke's over; you can open the gates up now.
We'd quite like to get out on the other side and
run around the place a bit; we've had a rest and it'd be good to play with our mates and see some of the others...."

"Hey, anybody out there? You listening to us? We're shouting as loud as we can....  COULD YOU OPEN UP PLEASE???  There's nothing to do in here and we're not hungry cos we haven't been anywhere to work up an appetite....."

"It's no good mate; they don't seem to understand what we're saying. Much as I like you, brother, your conversation's gettin' just a tad repetitive and I could do with a different point of view. Wonder what happened to Mum .... haven't heard her little grunts for a while now...... where d'you think she's gone.... P'raps if they let us out of here we could go find her.... I almost miss her..."
"HELLO! Anybody listening out there, we want to go visit our mum now. How loud do we have to shout? P'raps you could at least send in reinforcements ..... those other chaps keep runnin' past; why won't someone open up so they can get in or, better still, we can get out.
This really isn't what we meant ..... not what we meant at all................"

"That's odd"

 "Hmmmmmmph.  Look at this will you?"
"Oh. Well, I don't know. What's it mean?"
"Well: it's a bit odd isn't it? I could've sworn the Big Boar said this was a special new housing for us littl'uns - you  know, when life with mum and all her nagging get too boring."
"Then what's those chaps doing in there? And just look at it - they've got loads of fluffy clean straw - ...."
"Yes; and look here - they've got their own food

buckets - this one still has some snacky bits stuck on the bottom - look, look .....Oh!  Whoops, all gone now..."
"I don't care about food just now.... I just want to know what we're s'posed to do. I mean, I was just getting used to the idea we could get away to a place of our own from time to time  and now it looks like these chaps have taken over - and how'd they get in there anyhow?"
"I don't know - I never saw them running around the place. Perhaps they flew here?"
"Tell you what.......Let's go back home and have a little chat with um - perhaps she'll know something......"

In search of the new youth hostel....

"They were talking about making us a new youth hostel.....
Well... we better have a little trottle around and see what we can find..."

"There's a brick place up there... d'you s'pose that's what they meant?"
"Nah... c'mon.... that doesn't look at all like a youth hostel........."

"What about this then?"
"Let me see ... move over...... Nah, that can't be it - got no hole for trotting in and out......"

"Hmmm..... come over here and have a sniff .... this seems much more like it... got a big hole to go in and out and some of  those gappy things mum has in her house......"

"Yep; you know what... it's pretty interesting in there....I think I found something to nibble on the ground too .... what d'you think the others'll make of it?"

"Dunno.  Let's go and check it out with mum and then tell the others to come round and have a look.... there's plenty of room for us all .... we could have a party and make real pigs of ourselves........."