As a farming family, it’s not easy to get away for family holidays. There are cows to be milked, grass to be managed, younger stock to be herded and looked after, bulls to be fattened, dogs to be exercised and cuddled. We normally go away in January when the cows are dry (they don’t give milk for 6-8 weeks before calving), and as all the stock is indoors, they just have to be fed and checked which takes the contractor [...]
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, [...]
I went to the Royal Welsh Show for the first time on Monday. I’ve been to a couple of shows in the UK before: the Bath and West show many years ago when we lived over there, the Nantwich show about three years ago but this time I went with other women from the SE women in farming group and we went to see a few other things as well.
We travelled over by ferry which I was a bit apprehensive [...]
When I attended the #farm1916 commemmorations in Athenry last Friday (organised by Teagasc and a superb event), I was really excited to see this egg weighing scales. As you can see, a single egg sits neatly into it and the little dial goes up and down. The measurements are nearly worn away but I’m sure they were clear a century ago.
Getting away on holiday when you’re a farming family can be easier said than done, getting a farmer away on holiday isn’t just a case of booking time off and deciding where in the world you will go. There’s lots of obstacles not to mention excuses and yes, sometimes it seems farmers seem to be making them up on purpose! Examples will include:
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