Brian and I were discussing recently how Sundays have changed since we were children, not to mention how Sundays have changed since we were PAYE workers. Regarding the latter, Sunday was either a day for decorating followed by a dinner in a local pub or a day to head to somewhere like the New Forest for a pub lunch and a long walk. When I was a student in the UK, I got a job in Sainsbury’s on Sunday mornings, [...]
About 14 years ago, I was teaching Communication Studies at a third level college. I brought a t-shirt into one seminar, asking students to discuss how they would regard a person wearing it as it bore the slogan “High Fertility, No Bull”. I didn’t show them the front which showed the logo of the Artificial Insemination company but as it happened, I don’t think they would have recognised the name anyway as none came from farms. Their interpretations were varied [...]
When I think back over my childhood in terms of farming, it’s my dad who features in most of my memories. Even though I wasn’t the kind of kid who lived for farming (I lived for books to be honest), I spent a lot of time with him – because he was a farmer.
Lots of dads spend more time now with kids than they used to, it’s often dads that bring the children to activities, they bath them, they read [...]
Telepathy fails sometimes doesn’t it? Even on farms? So what do you need instead? I’ve concluded a dog and a mobile phone are essential requirements. Although we have to bear in mind that a mobile phone doesn’t always work. A dog? Well, that’s up to you to ensure you have a good one – or at least know its weaknesses.
These events happened a couple of months ago, late March and early April, when the cows were out but it was [...]
Not everything in farming is exciting. There’s plenty of jobs that can be repetitive, not necessarily boring but one is able to daydream a bit while doing them. The problem is, I tend to let my mind wander quite a bit sometimes particularly in the evenings if I’m tired.
Part of our farm is separated from the rest [...]
