FARMERS BLOG !

ANOTHER YEAR BEGINS IN OUR POPULAR FARMERS DIARY !!

December was a particularly snowy month although much fun was had by the dogs, horses and the children ! ( They tell me you're never too old to have fun in the snow !!)

Jeni and Margaret playing with a snow ball !!!! Poor Jeni tried soooo hard to find the ball to bring it back to Margaret !!!! She searched for ages !!!

The horses doing 100mph on their first turn out in the snow !!!                                The horses trying on full alert ..... trying to see the one blade of grass in
Farmer Tom was delighted about all the mess they made of the field !!                     the field that they didn't manage to destroy !!!

The end of the year also saw us attending our sons 3rd awards ceremony of achievements in joinery this year. Delighted for him !
This time we had to go to the Holyrood Parliament Buildings in Edinburgh !!
Very posh !

Well done Gavin !!

Christmas was a really strange time for us all this year, as it was our first without my mum. Many traditions were upheld, and we all had a lovely time. With thanks to my large extended family.
31st December Had a good old Hogmanay Party for some friends tonight. Lots of fun and nonsense ! Just the way I like it !! I think the last to leave was about 4am !!
1st Jan 2012 Up and on with the chores first thing. Pretty tired, that's for sure !! We had our first 'First Footers' at 11am ,( traditionally friends and neighbours come to visit bringing good wishes for the year ahead, along with a lump of coal (to wish you warmth), and alcohol to toast the New Year. Man, I like Scotland !! This is how you celebrate the birth of a New Year !! The second round of ' First Footers piled in around mid day. Some friends are staying with us for a few days, so the house was once again full to bursting, and the chat was really good !! More farm chores in the afternoon followed by more visitors in the evening. The chat was really, really good by now !! Bed 3am.

Some New Years nonsense in some matching cardigans that we found !!

2nd Jan Bit slow with the chores this morning !! Gave the dog a brisk walk in strong winds and hailstones this afternoon. Feel I have had a very natural facial exfoliation !!!!!! My goodness it's getting wild out there !!
Target was to finish a 500 piece jigsaw between us all, before our friends went home. It's funny, when we started everyone was only half heartedly doing it, then, as it got nearer completion, everyone became jigsaw demons !! What a hoot. Everyone away home tonight. House very quiet !! Miss the company !! My liver has had a right good workout and I should now be diabetic for the amount of sugar and good food I have eaten over the last few days !! Have hidden the bathroom scales !!!!!!
3rd Jan My goodness. Wind moving up a gear now. Won't be surprises if some of our buildings suffer some damage. Lights were flickering as we mucked out this morning so we had to hurry in case we were plunged into darkness. Not funny when you are in beside all the animals !! Power finally went off about 8am and didn't come back on . We are relatively well covered for these events, with camping lights, cookers and the coal fire for heat. Had a small generator for a while to run the TV, so not too bad.
4th Jan Power back on. We are some of the lucky ones. Others still out. Had to go out and tie the horsebox down as the wind had tried to 'take it' !! Wind died down now and we seem to have suffered only light damage. We were lucky. A local farmer's shed fell down, killing some of the animals inside. Absolutely devastating news!
7th Jan One of our friends had a 'Big Birthday' during the storms, so went to visit tonight to celebrate. Great fun !
9th Jan Our Visit Scotland inspection today. Woman was very thorough !! But we managed to retain our lovely 4 stars !! Delighted !!
10th Jan Started back dog agility training with Jeni tonight. Yip, we are coming along nicely !! Not quite ready for Crufts though .........................
13th Jan We went to a Burns Supper tonight with friends. An evening dedicated to our National poet Rabbie Burns, with guest speakers, poems and Scottish music. What a lovely meal we had. Scotch Broth soup, then haggis, turnip and potatoes, then steak pie potatoes and peas, then biscuits and cheese. All big portions too !! We were all fit to burst !! Biggest laugh was, my sister and her boyfriend (who hadn't been before, and didn't know how big the meal was ) had had a chicken curry just before they had come out !!!!!!!!!!
15th Jan Went to the beach with the horses today !! Absolutely magic fun !!!!

20th Jan Have had some lovely sunrises this week.

This .......................................................................................... became this, within about 15 minutes on the 19th of January ! Beautiful !!!

21st Jan The kids bull Darren went to a new home today. A nice local farm, so they can pop in and see him whenever they want. He now has over 100 new friends today !!!!

Our handsome boy - Darren.

25th Jan Our first new calf of the year has been born !! She is lovely !!
26th Jan Oh dear ! Snow started again this afternoon ! Great big flakes that lay really quickly.

Look closely and you will see the size of the flakes !!                                            Non slippery tracks had appeared on the roads by the afternoon so we were able to ride !!
28th Jan

                                                                              We are truly blessed !!! This was our sunrise this morning !! Isn't it absolutely beautiful ???

31st Jan Quite a lot of frost around at the moment, so a good chance to empty the midden and get all the dung spread on the fields. Not perhaps the cleanest of jobs, but necessary for the growth of the spring grass.

The dung is loaded into the dung spreader and then spread on the fields around the farm.

5th Feb Well, that's all of the inside of the lodge been painted and new curtains etc all put in, ready for the new season !! We have guests coming in next week. I hope they like it !!