January 2004

A job we were not looking forward to this month was the castrating and tagging of Patties little calf. We neuter our bull calves by putting a small rubber ring around their testicles so they just drop off, but this needs to be done when they're just a few days old. Armed with the relevant implements, we threw some delicious cabbages into the yard for Prospect and the mums and whilst they were happily chomping on something green and delicious, we flipped the little calf over to find not nuts but nipples - it's a girl! We're very happy. We got the tagging job done and embarked on collecting suitable names for this rather beautiful little creature. Aimee, the daughter of our friend Jules, suggested Elegance, and so she is. She's growing at a fast rate of knots, looking so bright white and fluffy and you can't help but melt when she looks at you with her big black eyes with long lashes. She looks so small against her dad, Propect - currently only a little bigger than his head!

After a delightfully restful Christmas "break", we were catapulted back into action with our first Farmers Market of the year at Devizes on 3rd January. It was a rather chilly and unpromising day, but this, along with the other markets of the month turned out to be really rather abundant... a blessing given that we have been faced with some rather large bills.

Technology and machinery was in fighting mode towards the end of the month. Mark's computer, a laptop he'd bought several years ago, just died one morning. He's in the process of developing a rather snazzy database for the Wiltshire Farmers Markets association and was attending a meeting to show it off, needed it right there and then... you know the sort of story I'm sure. A new laptop was acquired and that crisis managed... to be closely followed by...

Whilst we aspire to a sleek 4 wheel drive tractor (with or without go faster stripes!), we are still working with an old little yellow Leyland 702 - 2 wheel drive, gets stuck in the mud, no tread on the tyres, leaky hydraulics & radiator... got the picture?! Mark was negotiating the mud around the horses hay feeder when one of the front wheels broke. Yes, I do mean broke. Most of the hub and the nuts were still attached to the axle, but the wheel rim and tyre were broken off and buried in the mud. We called the guardian angel of all things tractor-wise, Paul, and he promptly arrived to resolve the problem, whilst Mark went to our neighbours, Ian & Mark Bevin to borrow their Manatou (nice, 4 wheel drive, air conditioned, non-leaky, suspension in the seat, air-conditioned, radio & working windscreen wiper!), to feed the rest of the animals and lift the tractor onto blocks so it could be fixed. In the process of connecting and disconnecting hydraulic leads on the Manatu's grab, one of the connectors popped off and was not going to be persuaded to work again. We were left feeding animals by hand (thank goodness for small bales of hay)... and Mark needed to do some pretty speedy chasing around early the following morning to get the parts, to fix the Manatu, so the Bevins could use it in their busy day. Those of you who know Mark will attest that he's a gentle and careful man. He is not in the habit of being irresponsible or breaking things and this last incident, especially on top of such a 24 hours of "breakdowns" rather dented his sense of self.

January was completed with the celebration of Lorraine's birthday. 44 this year... isn't that a wonderful number? Our friend Jules and her family looked after the farm for the day and, after Mark had sourced and sorted the new parts for the Manatu, we went to London to meet Anna, Emily and Lorraine's Mum and Dad at the Royal Albert Hall for a performance of Cirque de Soleil. What a heart warming and breath taking experience that was, a true gift of spirit, talent and beauty. A wonderful day finished off with a birthday dinner at the Rotisserie in Hatch End which Anna manages.

The year has started with mixed fortunes but another reminder of how far we have come in our journey at Vowley.