March 2010

If the sun is shining I like March. If it's raining and dark it feels like a dragging on of winter. This year March has been glorious (mostly) and we can all feel Spring in the air.

We were blessed by the company of a Swiss family who came to stay for the best part of the month. They were with us as part of the WWOOF scheme and brought their camper van as there was not enough room in the house to sleep them. Sonja and Peter, the parents, and Jana and Nino, the two children. We were a little uncertain as to how things might work with two small children on the farm, but they were an absolute delight. They live a town life in Switzerland and this "holiday" was an opportunity to not only see some of the UK but also to get out onto the land. They put up a wonderful new fence around our chicken paddock which will certainly deter the fox and keep the feathered ones in the right place. Peter had great fun driving the tractor when he went out and harrowed a field. He turned his GPS on and we have a great image of his lovely straight lines! Peter also sells games as a hobby and his luggage contained 2 weeks worth of toys which we were drip fed, one after supper every evening. As you might imagine there was a lot of laughter and we enjoyed each other's company very much.

Talking of WWOOFers... as you know, Dougal is still with us and he underwent a startling transformation this month from a full face beard that would put Old Father Time to shame and full head of hair, to NOTHING!!! One morning this being appeared at the breakfast table who we didn't recognise. If it weren't for the fact that he was wearing Dougal's clothes and in the house at breakfast we would have expected an intruder. He's currently having a lot of fun watching people's reactions as they discover who this newcomer to the farm is.

And talking of Dougal... he bought a welder last year and has been experimenting but not been totally happy with the results. Peter could weld, so they went out and bought a second welding mask and did some metalwork together. Now if you're metal and not already nailed or welded down, you might be in trouble! A really useful skill to have, especially on a farm where there's so much metalwork in varying states of disrepair.

Three of our older cows have been giving us cause for concern, looking in poorer condition than we'd expect. Patsy, who usually looks pregnant with twins, even just after she's given birth; Venus, who's a bit lame with, we think, arthritis in her hips; and Rabbit. Of course, like us, as animals get older, they get more frail, are possibly more susceptible to injury or illness and will die. I still can't decide if the opportunity to "put an animal down" makes it easier or harder. I understand the balance sheet implications, but I'm talking about the emotional impact of such an act. One morning, Patsy was found flat on the ground in the back yard, her legs having given way underneath her. The tractor was employed to lift her from there to a barn where she could lie quietly. She was lifted and moved without any complaint or apparent distress. Her calf of 5 weeks old was unpeturbed by the whole procedure and the disappearance of her mum. We called the vet, gave her lots of arnica, TLC and choice food, propped her up, kept her clean and spent two days nursing her. She was not going to get up in a hurry. Perhaps she really enjoyed being looked after so totally, but I think she had really hurt herself. I returned, tired and windswept from the farmer's market on Sunday afternoon, sat with her and cried. She was such a frail shadow of an animal who had always had something to say and been such a robust member of the herd. What was all this nursing about? Perhaps it would take several weeks or even months before she could get up, perhaps it wouldn't happen. If she got up, would she be strong enough to carry the weight of the bull and continue to be a productive member of the herd? She was 12, a reasonable age for a commercial cow. We decided that putting her (and us) through the uncertain healing process was not really on and the hard decision of calling in the slaughterman was made. I was with her when he came. She was calm and settled, we said goodbye... and I cried. What an undignified way to go, dragged onto the back of the incinerator waggon by a rope and a winch. The cows in the yard struck up a farewell chorus, with the excepetion of Cumulus, who thought the whole things was outrageous and growled loudly. She is missed and will be remembered as the wonderful round and forthright animal that she was and we are blessed to have had her as one of our teachers on the farm.

On the day that Patsy left the farm, Anenome gave birth to a girl calf.

And so the circle of life continues.