Fun and Games with the horses

After managing to tempt Toby out of bed with a) a warm tasty Hot Cross Bun and b) imminent haircuts..it is vital to him that his hair maintains a no nonsense streamlined look we managed to get down riding this morning. After a short sharp stand off about exactly who was riding who and whose body armour was whose they managed to get mounted and after a whirl wind warm up session led by Toby they got some jumping done and had FUN!

Gymkhana Time

Piccies say it all really but it must be noted that Toby is on a lead rope for very good reasons. Unfilmed (by me anyway) Clyde had previously unseated Toby who re mounted only to be bucked and cantered wildly round the ring whilst staying seated For everyone's peace of mind a lead rope it was, the same with Rosie's mount Barra. They were both considerably disturbed by the presence of one of their friends dressed as a reindeer which set off all the trouble in the first place....Scary ears indeed.

Photos by Freya taken here on Saturday.

“Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.”

The above quotation has absolutely no relevance but I like it.
We have not had an animal tale for a while so here goes with the latest. One advantage with the early nightfall is that I can now send the offspring out to put the animals to bed. This can be a relatively quick task if all are behaving or a lengthy and dirty task if, well, they are not. There is a crucial window in the twilight zone of too much light, the geese etc refuse to go in the hut and too little one falls over roots, pigs, buckets and anything else unlucky enough to get in the way. Tonight the weather was cold and this is good as the mud is frozen and does not grip the welly in a vice like grip with every squelching halting step. So, Freya and Toby drew the short straws and trudged off first to Mrs Pig and the Piglets. This is the easy bit as the food is lobbed over the fence in the general direction of the trough with is usually covered in heaving, hairy piggy bodies which then get covered in food. No matter, it all gets eaten and then off to the other field where Mr Pig inevitably lurks by the gate. He is still a very gentle pig but HUGE now. He sets off with an enthusiastic trot to his trough as soon as you get in the field and I usually do the decent thing and get the food in the trough ASAP. Next the goats get their food; Poppy likes to pick at the best bits from Mr P and then goes to join Tabitha. The geese/ducks are then chivvied along, so far so good. Hens and the cockerel are usually in (we have a two day old chick in with her/his Mum who hover round the hut all day and so are fine). Then, as instructed the children check that the three older chicks that we hatched out in the incubator are in the hut but there is no sign but an ominous cheeping is coming from under the hut. There is then a few minutes of stretching and torch shining then two chicks are captured and returned to the hut. Eventually I wander out to see what is taking so long and to check on how many children I have left. The last chick is left up to me to capture. By this time Mr P has finished his tea and after investigating the yellow feed bucket noisily has come up to see just what I am doing lying on the frozen mud with both hands under the hut. I think that I did very well to not swear in the precise and terse instructions given to Freya. One well place boot to the neck (his not mine) and he was gently encouraged not to come any closer for the time being. As a footnote to this Mrs P is in season and he is well, a wee bit frustrated and there I will end. Suffice to say all chicks are safe and I escaped unharmed to fight another day. The same could not be said for poor Freya who dropped a large stone on her very cold fingers whilst putting the feed boxes away.

Happy Birthday Toby (yesterday)

Excuses Excuses Excuses.....read on

Shame on me...so long without a post but I do have an excuse or two honest! Firstly we had the sweaty, panicky downward slide to the Triathlon (hence the pictures)coupled with an end of season rush for rooms with some very nice guests indeed. You know who you are......So, back to the triathlon. The day was good with kind weather, just a bit of a breeze on the cycle. I had a better swim than I expected pulled along as I was in the wake of a friend and better swimmer. I hauled myself out for a rather frantic transition to bike losing precious seconds by forgetting to fasten my helmet strap, a big slap on the hands and an ignominious return to the bike racking if you try to set off on the cycle so woefully prepared. The cycle leg was so so 42 minutes with the usual leg crunching start to the run when one's thigh muscles become so disproportionately large and heavy that even a slow crawl along the pavement seems unachievable. Luckily after a km or so of torture it begins to subside and I finished in 34 minutes...oh blessed finish line. So, then we went to Liz's for a little glass or two of bubbly to celebrate and...Toby decided to round the evening off nicely by tripping outside and (we subsequently discovered) tear a tiny artery at the top of the nose. This naughty little blood vessel dominated my life over the next two weeks or so as it continued to bleed at varying degrees for the following week until a humongous eruption on Saturday night which saw us moving late at night from home to Dr's surgery to ambulance to ENT ward in Glasgow at a fast rate of knots. Our heads were reeling but not as much mine was 5 days later after several joyless nights sleeping in a hard chair by his bed. We actually reached discharge twice during the week but had to return.After numerous goes with a rigid scope the eventual cauterization was achieved with a GA. So, 5 days later a paler son (and mother) returned to the bosom of the family in time for Rosie's birthday on Friday.
We have now had several discussions on what not to say to complete strangers i.e "my mother was born in 1950" to the porter on the way to theatre and "do you know what you are doing" or words to that effect to the consultant surgeon just before theatre and (worst of all) "hospital food is really good". I hope I am forgiven for my absence.

Starry, Starry Night and the Light Fantasic.

At this time of year the darkening evenings are made more evident by the need to lock the birds up before the light drops to a certain level. At the moment this is about 8.15pm but by mid winter will be 4ish. Tonight I was on my ownesome with no one to try to persuade into accompanying me with the result that Mr Pig caused me a few problems as he was trying to get into the Hen House at the same time as I was trying to chivvy an errant hen in through the only open door. He luckily responds to a tap on the snout, luckily as he must weigh almost as much if not more than me. The earlier time means that the dogs get their walk later on which tonight was a pleasure,the afternoon drizzle has cleared beautifully and the stars are magically bright and clear above us. The effect is slightly marred, or enhanced depending on your view point by the bright lights of the Connect Festival 4 miles away to the west. It is quite a contrast depending on a turn of your head. Both my boys are there amongst the excitement tonight. Toby, predictably after having been told to text me every two hours has managed just one which bizarrely said "yes". Garret did manage a bit more contact with one phone call, battling against a dodgy connection and the noise with the news that he had caught a glimpse of son and heir and he is having fun...hmmmmmmmm.
I am official taxi driver tonight so Garret can give a considered opinion on the Loch Fyne Whisky on offer (amongst other things). This for a girl who likes to be asleep by 10pm is more of a sacrifice than most would imagine.I have done all the jobs and even brushed my teeth so as to save time between killing the car engine and sleepy time, I did contemplate putting on my dressing gown and pink slippers but best not. Toby would never forgive me (will be taxing various mates home too I suspect).

Our "competant seaman" is home.

After a good week sailing round Mull and the west coats The Weaver came sailing in exactly on time. they had a great time and saw five basking sharks and loads of porpoises and dolphins....caught a good few mackerel too. A happy boy, the icing on the cake was the PSP bought with his honest toil awaiting him in the car for the homeward trip.

The Working man in action

Toby hard at work at his second job doing some preparatory nail hammering prior to painting at Lyndsay's house in Furnace. it took him 3 1/2 hrs to prepare the first half of the job so full points for stickability!

The best Hot Chocolate EVER!