November, 2004

The abundant apple harvest has pleased the pigs greatly! A customer at the farmers markets wanted a home for the apples that were falling from her tree. I suggested chutneys and juices, but she's now got a cupboard full of both and the fruit just keeps coming. So we offered to take some for the pigs and she arrived with 4 black bin liners full! The pigs are VERY happy!

We had a big change this month... Our friend Jules, who has been a key supporter since we moved here, has bought a field of her own and she and her horses moved out this month, shrinking our herd from 10 to 6. Millie, the beautiful coloured horse in our fields, has also moved on to pastures new. Sarah has been doing a wonderful job looking after her here, but her owner wanted her nearer home, so she's now living in London! Sort of leaves a gap in our lives and our finances which will be interesting to watch and work with.

In the middle of the month, our second daughter, Emily, turned 21. We celebrated with an evening of tiara's and helium balloons on the farm and surprised her with a party of friends and family... and some delicious roast Gloucester Old Spot pork - from Vowley Farm of course! We slow roasted a whole shoulder on the bone... for a day... and in the evening, the crackling was crispy and the meat just fell off the bone. We gave everyone a spoon and a bun, topped the whole thing with some delicious apple sauce (recipe from Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's meat book) and went to heaven!

Other than that, we've had a string of "incidences" this month which leave us questioning our direction and focus:

• Daffy, our Ixworth chick who hatched in the airing cupboard in September, has gone. He's been living under a heat lamp in the greenhouse and one morning, he wasn't there and there was a hole in the back wall... did he make a bid for freedom or did he get help from a bushy tailed hunter... we don't know.
• Lorraine's had another bout of severe stomach pains and is awaiting a scan for gall stones... she also took sick with chronic back pain which left her unable to walk unaided for a few days... thank goodness for the heroic work of David West, Chiropractor extra-ordinaire who visited and, quite literally, put her together again.
• Prospect, the resident, magnificent British White bull went lame. Mark dealt with all this whilst Lorraine was flat on her back. The hoof care man came to see him and decided it was an abscess on one of the toes and promptly put a pad on the other toe to ease the pressure. In fact he's still in a lot of pain when he's limping around and we are most concerned about how and when this will resolve itself.
• On top of that, we received a letter of accusation and assumption from our neighbours about what we're doing and how we're being here. Given how much of our time is spent in mindfulness of those around us, it was most upsetting and hurtful. We continue to work towards settlement but sometimes it's very hard to stay open when our experience is of being so attacked.