65 acres of relaxation
Nora was looking fairly pregnant by 
the Beginning of May, she was (if it was a baby bump) in her final trimester and looking pretty
“Nippleicious “
Andy loves his piggy ,so she gets quite pampered and well looked after.. if I’m  honest she’s actually a  bit spoiled …
April turned out to be a very varied month, weather was very changeable and certainly lived up to the “April showers” title. 
At the beginning of the month Boaris went back to his farm after hopefully doing the deed with Nora !
We had seen  plenty of “pig porn action” whilst he was here.. so are hopeful that in June we will get some mini squeakers running about in the mud ..
Talking of mud ,The builders are making such a lot of it that boots are the footwear of choice for EVERY trip
out the door , hence my socks are getting some hammer and i’ve had to learn how to darn ! I can’t bring myself to give up on my lovely saddleworth wooly knit socks .. good socks are worth fixing I say x
Nora has had an internet acquaintance over 
for a sleepover !
She held out for a week and then had to give in to his charms .. floozy , but hopefully we have piglets on the way , thus..
“Nipple cream for our pig “
Apparently it’s the year of the pig ,and February it seems is definitely the month of the pig here at a Grobdale !
We had felt for a while that Nora needed some help on the fertility front,
she wasn’t showing any signs of coming into season so AI (artificial insemination) hasn’t been an option ,
We have found Social media to be a powerful tool and I’ve used it to sell and source all kinds if things including this time ,a loan Tamworth boar .
It took just over a week of messages and phone calls  .. on the journey I found her brother and her parents !
 January it seems is supposed to be when you stop eating and drinking .. kind of detoxing.. well pish to that !
In this house we are still guzzling the Christmas leftovers, the animals get the leftover leftovers and so, nobody is doing without really
.
kind of keeps them happy anyway as we move them about.. We seem to be  doing a lot of that this month !
The pigs were first, their pen really was looking a bit bare , and they love to forage; they had even been breaking out every now and then so it was time to move them to pastures new.
When we arrived at Grobdale we inherited a pigloo in one of the smaller paddocks , it seemed the perfect time to give its proper tenants and evict the ram 
lambs Henry and Harry , give them a grassier patch and move the bulldozers in ! Here’s the video Of us moving the lovelies .Â
How happy are they ..
Continue reading “Dry January my arse !or Bats in the Dairy ?”
Our second December here at Grobdale, and we feel settled , less fly by the seat of your pants, maybe even comfortable.. dont  get me wrong , every day has an out of your comfort zone moment or three but the majority of the time it’s jobs that we’ve done before or at least something similar ..For  instance painting 
your loan Tup with raddle  !
If you’ve followed the link above ( click on the underlined word raddle ) you’ve read that by putting a dye or raddle on Gibbs , 
makes sure that he leaves his mark on any of the girls he’s mounted , so we know who could well be  in lamb and who’s due first if she is pregnant. All good information to a good shepherdess (and I am trying to be).
The loan tup Gibbs was turning out to be rather lovely to deal with , hopefully he’ll be as easy to load and return to his owner at the beginning  of next month ..
So November’s here and the  pigs decided , between themselves one day 
that they needed a change of scenery ..
So one afternoon we decided to take them out down to the loch ,their  first walk out was hilarious they were just proper giddy pants.
The freedom caused them to work up a fair old appetite , as if they needed any encouragement and when they’re hungry the noise they generate is rather impressive compared to their size I can only compare it to
A hundred violins being played REALLY badly !
Continue reading “The world according to gin or maybe pigs !”
October started off well with a new addition 
to the livestock .. a good friend Jean had a pony that needed a home, so I couldn’t say no and when we met Gemma pony a  section A (tiny hardy sturdy little unit ) she seemed just the thing to keep Lotte company  … just got to get them used to each other and avoid the kicks !
so we are now a farm with 17 ducks, 16 sheep, 10 chickens , 5 pigs , 2 ponies and a dog !
I think that classes as a Farm now not a small holding ?
Ribs were healing well so my thoughts turned to 
getting back on Lotte , maybe not for anything too speedy but it was frustrating not being able to get out in the lovely autumn sunshine .
Body armour was my weapon of choice and I think it’s pretty sexy huh .. am hoping it will remind me to ride better and stay on !
How many September blogs,vlogs, diary posts or novels state this month to be when leaves change colour and temperatures drop ?…well Poo to that I hate to be a cliche, 
but I’m doing it too, there’s an avenue of Beech trees, on my route to most of everything that is stunning at all the spokes of the leaf colour wheel and right now it’s on the turn. There will be more photos as it transforms
I see cars stop all the time to capture the lovely canopy and it regularly stops me in my tracks ..
July ended in a downpour and a brilliant lightening storm that we soooo needed , the ground steamed, soaking up all that lovely rain and visibly heaved a huge sigh of relief.. The husband on the other hand got home one Friday night to find we’d 
actually finally run out of water just as the rain started ,so a man needs a shower .. what does he do ? You guessed it ,he showered naked in the rain ..
I so wish I had a naked husband shower photo to post here .
The rain didn’t last long though and within a few days we had our summer back .
Grobdale of girthon 