Monday: So today I started on some outstanding paperwork, paying some bills etc then I decided to give my website a long overdue update, 4 hrs later I was still trying to get to grips with ‘widgets’ that was after an hour or so on the support line trying to log in first. Anyway http://www.frieslandfarm.co.uk is up and running still needs a bit of work but I have even managed to link the blog through it 😀
Tuesday: Man this cold is an absolute stinker I think I have sinusitis as well, felt so ill in the night that I contemplated needing a hospital bed! Still I have to get up and get on this morning, that’s the thing when animals are relying on you there is no time to wallow in self pity, oh ok, I am wallowing now but they are all fed and watered so it’s allowed. Dead rat discovered this morning out the back by the wood pile, however it’s not the one I saw in the back area as this one is much smaller, probably a relative though 😜 We are due a dump truck full of rain ☔️ sometime soon, joy, it was just drying out nicely, still at least the temps are getting a bit warmer even if it’s only short lived. The little Tete a Tete daffodils have their buds, swollen pods of colourful promise, I will have a huge smile when they start to unfold, they are one of my favourite spring flowers, small but mighty 🌼 I still have more paperwork to do this week, the VAT quarter, I won’t be sorry to see the end of that particular chore when John goes on his own, VAT, CITB, RTI, CIS, PAYE goodbye, hello more time for gardening 😀
Wednesday: The winds overnight have knocked the egg shed over, luckily there was only one box in there, still a bit of a mess though. First job after doing the animals is to move the shed around so that the prevailing winds can’t knock it over again. Of course IF John had done what I asked in the first place it wouldn’t have gone over. I asked him to secure the shed to the fence as it was leaning forwards, instead he shoved two bits of wood under the front to make it upright again, yes it stopped the shed leaning but I had visions of someone pulling the door open and it flattening them which is why I asked for it to be secured. Then when I say ‘I told you so’ it’s classed as nagging, I would have thought that nearly 34 years together he worked have worked out that I’m always right 😂😂
Other jobs today include cleaning the bathroom and making bread, I still have this awful head cold but am trying to ignore it.
The gander bit me this afternoon, my fault I forgot to turn on the eyes in the back of my head, to be fair they are quite aggressive at this time of year due to mating and egg laying, I should be more careful.
SOAP BOX ALERT: to be honest I no longer have the energy or inclination these days to bother with topics that wind me up or debates, I seek a quieter life. Don’t be fooled I have in the past had my say and stood my ground but I like think I was always fair and would consider the opposing arguments and maybe even concede some points when seen from a different point of view. What has got me all up in arms…..The Food Standard Agency, I have read two reports this week of the proposals to license and therefore charge ALL food providers, if you think that doesn’t cover you think again, the proposals will include all those fundraising cake stalls and village fete jam makers etc. A nominal charge maybe, nope, £300 twice a year to inspect the kitchens the produce is prepared in, if it’s not right and they make a return visit they will charge you for having to come back, if this isn’t a Sheriff of Nottingham type of activity I don’t know what is, soon you will have to have a licence to have guests round for dinner or for kiddies birthday parties. What really winds me up is that there is hardly any representation for the small guy, most of the panel in this instance is made up of representatives from the big names, as usual they bully their way into getting what they want in place, corporates my pet hate, throw their weight and their money around will little regard to individuality and think that’s ok. At this point I have to break off otherwise this would turn into a piece of writing of dissertation proportions, covering greed, stupidity and the grating of life so that everyone fits the same spec. And breathe………
Thursday: Storm Doris! Sure is windy out there, to be honest I couldn’t give a monkeys, this bloody virus thing has seen fit to give me extras this morning, conjunctivitis and blocked ears as well as blocked nostrils and sinuses, the ibrufen or paracetamol are hardly touching the symptoms and due to regular meds I can’t take cold and flu stuff. I can mostly just hear ringing in my ears due to the tinnitus and all other sounds being blocked out by bunged up ears, feeling very sorry for myself today, very sorry indeed.
On the up side the Tete a Tete are flowering, I will try to get a photo later if I remember
Spent most of the day doing end of month paperwork and VAT, the straw delivery arrived and then just as I thought the winds were easing off they began to pick up. As I write this I can hear the wind moaning constantly, apparently a tree has gone over down the road and there are things rolling round the yard. I have been out and picked up the garden furniture and noticed that the brassica cage is down and the side of the fruit cage is going over 😖 I don’t mind telling you I’m a little bit scared as I sit here writing this, hope it settles down soon. Don’t suppose there is much point putting the dustbins out!
Friday: Up early to get the bins out now the storm has subsided, I noticed a pair of sparrows have decided my bird box on the front of the house will make a good nest 😀usually it has blue tits but ‘you snooze you lose’ 😝 Sent John off to get more rat poison, honestly they are relentless, you just get rid of one lot and another lot move in, might have to think about getting a terrier at this rate be cheaper in the long run and more environmentally friendly 😜
John and I took a walk round the far back paddocks to inspect the boundary fences/walls we hadn’t realised how bad they had got over the last year, the stone wall has collapsed in a couple of places and there are rotten tree branches causing problems as well, all this is pushing the post and rail fencing over, this will be a big job taking a good few weeks to sort out! Meanwhile there are a fair few rails need replacing and posts that need bracing, that’s this weekends work sorted then 😝 hope the weather is good.
Saturday: We did exactly what we planned to do, the fences in the middle, back paddock, so they are safe again now and the weather held although the wind was a tad cold. Then onto clearing up some rubbish and burning odds and sods, I did a bit of raking up leaves in my garden area and took branches that the SEB cut down round to be burnt, pretty good day all in all.
Sunday: More fixing to be done, the corner posts in the jump paddock and a couple of rails, then onto the ménage gates that blew open in storm Doris and bent the hinges plus took out the hook up post. After that it John went to fix the back door so that it locks again while I cleaned out (and got a soaking from the hose which became detached from the nozzle, just what you want on a winters day) and disinfected the quail cage to get it ready for the hatchlings. I dug out the heat lamp to make sure it works and the chick feeder, plus made some steps up to the water bottle as they will be very tiny when they first hatch, don’t be fooled though they soon now how to get in the feeder and flick it all around the cage 😝I’m just hoping it will be warm enough for them, it is draught free though so should be fine. Then John fixed the light in the back toilet which has been on the floor for a good couple of months after he tried to fix it before! It turns out the light fitting was faulty but we tried the bulb, then the switch first no joy, then he stripped out the wires thinking they had been chewed, they hadn’t and so the lot sat on the floor until today, but all fixed now, oh yes while he was doing that I unblocked the utility room sink which became blocked, I took the trap off and gave it a clean out, draining beautifully now.
We decided that after the quail have hatched we will set some ducks eggs for incubation as they are laying nearly a dozen a day now, ah ducklings (smelly but cute).
The chickens will not be going out any time soon, it appears we are in a high risk zone, it’s all bloody poppycock really as we are only just inside the zone, a mile up the road the zone finishes so anyone outside that area can let theirs out, what’s to stop a wild bird flying a mile up the road and infecting a flock for goodness sake, nothing that’s what, the usual clap trap from an organisation that couldn’t organise a piss up in a brewery, honestly the people in these jobs want certifying I swear, complete madness.
We had chicken all weekend, I bought one Friday, roasted it and we have been feasting on it since then, sandwiches etc so tonight we are having a nice piece of sirloin, it would be nice to raise our own meat chickens again but in the current climate we don’t have room so it will have to wait a while, in the meantime I still have ducks to cull and prep, I have a feeling we will be sick of duck by the end of the year lol. By the way if anyone ever wants a lesson in preparing a bird for the oven from start to finish give me a shout, I’m happy to help.
And into the next week 😜
frieslandfarm (flowers) 