Today was Pig Move Day. Every time we move the pigs we learn something new, get a bit better, realise we still have not cracked it. First though Ady and I went down to the freezer to get pheasants (from Muck) our for dinner and see if Sandy had any suitable plumbing bits to borrow to sort out the washing machine. Ady found something which may work but we will raid B&Q next week to get a proper supply of suitable things to rig it up once and for all.
Back at home Ady fired up the strimmer to clear the path for the electric fence while I started working on closing up the side they have been on and is now a mud bath. It has only been 3 weeks but they have already totally trashed the area we moved them to just before Christmas, reminding me of just how wet this last few weeks have been. After some debate we decided to give them the whole area to the edge of the fence which will mean they have traveled along the length of the croft since we got them. It’s a pretty big area but means we can use two sides of the croft boundary fence and our animal sitters next week will be able to feed them without actually having to set foot on the croft at all; we have put the feed bin outside the croft so they can walk the nature trail and feed them over the fence. Perfect.
Ady strimmed, I faffed with fencing – my new electric fence reel is indeed revolutionary – I balked a little at spending over a tenner on an empty plastic reel but actually it makes winding up and dispensing fence so easy it was worth every penny 🙂 Mel and Em walked past so we stopped for a chat with them and arranged for them to take a turn in the rota of Croft 3 animal looking after next week – Mel & Em, Mike & Debs and Vikki are all dealing with the pigs and birds, Lesley is Humphrey sitting (2 years old at Christmas so an old man these days) and Mike & Casey are Bonnie sitting.
We hit a point of being ready to cut the old fence which put them on a very small area briefly and called lunchtime as it seemed a logical natural break. Back up to the static for lunch where the kids were engrossed in Scribblenauts – a DS game they both got for Christmas and is responsible for Scarlett’s leaps forward in reading and writing 🙂 After lunch Ady and I went back down and the kids decided to go and visit with Mike & Casey who got back on Tuesday’s boat and they have missed loads. I said they had to wash up first but Ady let them off doing it until later so they went off with Bonnie.
We were doing really well and at 230 were well ahead of schedule and pausing to watch an eagle circling over the croft which we spotted before the chickens so took great enjoyment in then watching the chickens to see when they all stood to attention having finally spotted it. Ady, me and all the birds looking skywards we missed Vikki approaching from the top of the croft! 🙂 She started to help move bits and then suddenly we saw big clouds coming in and rain started spotting so as we were ahead we called teabreak time and headed up to the static to get the kettle on. Just as Vikki and I got in so Mike & Debs appeared from the top trail too. Ady joined us shortly afterwards for coffee, chats and welcoming Debs to the island and Mike back after several weeks off for Christmas. It was ace to see them all, although I cursed the kids for going off without washing up and Ady for letting them! Then as it hit 4pm everyone realised they needed to head off before dark, Davies, Scarlett and Bonnie came home and Ady and I went to try and hurriedly finish the pig pen. Of course we didn’t. We lost the light, Barbara and one of the little boys kept getting out and in the end we gave up for today. I reckon if we’d had that hour we spent drinking tea and chatting we might have finished it all but actually I’d rather have friends drop in for a chat and a cup of tea and carry over the last hour til tomorrow.
Ady and I headed down to collect veg and any post (amazon subscribe and save delivery of conditioner, ketchup and cooking oil, – rock n roll) before coming back home. I cooked dinner – roast pheasant, potato gratin thanks to some out of date double cream Jinty was giving away and tinned veg. Was delicious and frugal and quite local.
I’ve heard back from Big Lunch that they are sorting out our car hire and will be able to reimburse our expenses next weekend so we’ll not be out of pocket for very long at all which is a relief. Still waiting on that winkle cheque arriving in our bank account though…
You’re coming off island???
Comment by Mich — 10 January 2014 @ 11:13 pm