Sam, our almost 14 year old collie, died last Tuesday, 1st June.
We got Sam from a neighbour and he has been the last surviving dog from the litter for a couple of years, two of his siblings went blind but he has always been in the best of health. He’s only ever had three trips to the vet: for the snip, for a suspected concussion when kicked by a bullock, and for an injury to his neck (the bucket of [...]
Can you believe that it is almost October? I can’t. We had lovely summery weather until a week ago and suddenly, the cold temperatures of winter are here. The bonus, of course, is that I am lighting the fire every evening and enjoying sitting in front of it with a cuppa and either a good book or my crochet. This is the first winter in four years that we haven’t had a building project going on and while we might [...]
There I was, wearing a shapeless milking gown with (I discovered later) a splash of cow muck across my face, not exactly looking my most sophisticated or glamourous when Brian called me to get my thoughts on a decision regarding our ESB connection being converted to 3 Phase. The ESB guy said to me “there’s not many women doing what you do”. I looked at him, totally confused. “Doing what?” He flung his arm back to indicate the milking parlour. [...]
It’s easy to spot a farmer out and about when in their working clothes. Items like boots or wellies, mud splattered clothes, sitting in a tractor or jeep, the working dog alongside, bulging pockets (not with money but with nuts, bolts, baler twine, keys, receipts and a battered cheque book) and perhaps even the whiff of slurry or silage all tend to give it away without having to look too closely. But what about when they are dressed up and [...]
Without wanting to sound too morose and, dare I say it, a ‘stereotypically grumpy farmer’, it has been a tough year for farmers this year. Between the late, very wet, very cold spring which meant winter extended into May, and then a drought during the summer, it’s been a year that involved a lot of extra work as we were still doing winter work for weeks during the heatwave. Without even thinking about the bank balance, a lot of farmers [...]
