I could kill myself...

It was raining as I left to go up to the farm, so I didn't take my camera AGAIN. So what happened? It stopped. Windy as hell, and some gusts nearly blew me off my feet as we walked the fields, but my pet Kite was undeterred, and bloody followed me again. I only had the Nokia. He actually was posing, hovering for me. I can't believe it. So angry with myself. I bet if I take it later (a) it will piss down and (b) obviously he will be nowhere to be seen. Grrrr.

Other excitement - saw my first swallow of the year. Yay. They don't come here, nowhere for them to nest of course, but plenty of places up at the farm. Hope they are sensible though and manage to make them out of the cats' reach.









It's hard to tell from these just how close he was, but believe me, I could almost touch him. No more than 12 feet at times. Sigh.

Squirt update

Just brought Squirt indoors to check on the tic situation. There was one on him still, but it was dead, shrivelled up but still kind of hanging on somehow. Squirt is a boy. He is so cute, really let me handle him ok tonight, didn't attempt to curl up, let me tickle his tummy believe it or not, awww bless him. Ran off of course when I put him back out. He was engaged in battle earlier with the other hoggy who is at present nameless. Will have to mark him too I guess. He's back right now. No sign of Colin since the sighting last week. Hope he's ok.

A tic-less Squirt, just returned to the dish again at 11pm

More fun at the farm

Why oh why didn't I take my proper camera? The Red Kite practically landed on me! He was flying over and around us whilst we walked round the field, I think maybe he was hoping we would frighten a rodent and he would spot it, or unless they feed on insects a bit like swallows. I could have wept, he was so close and so unafraid of me or the dogs.

Oh well, had to satisfy myself with the Donkeys, who all came across to see me, but soon lost interest when they saw I had no food! One of the farm cats (sorry pusscat, I can never remember your name) appeared at the top end of the field, and walked with us. So funny because Emma has always been taught to chase cats out of my garden, but she is so good and knows that she's not to touch these. The cat was going right up to her sniffing and she was jumping away. I managed to get them to pose a bit, hilarious photos. The second one looks like Emma is just about to take a chunk out of his back!

Also spotted to my amazement two Canada Geese in the next field. Wow. They are mere dots though on my photo taken with the Nokia. Sigh.

Feeding the lambs was fun as always, and the male kitty (Biggun) always follows me about and was sitting on a bale watching. Frank the ram gave him a good sniffing too. Started to rain when I'd finished so I shut the lambs and the three mums in the barn. Kate asked me to shut them in later anyway as it's still so cold at night, and I didn't want them getting soaking wet. Course, then it stopped and now feel guilty as they all wanted to go back out in the field. Oh well, saves me the job later I suppose, it won't hurt them to be in, they've got all they need.

















My favourite, little Daisy

The return of Squirt

Was so thrilled to see the little one on the dish last night, he came about 9.50, thank god I marked him. No sign at all of any tics, yay, the ones I daubed with the cooking oil must've fallen off as planned. He had been feeding for about 5 minutes, when the other larger hog appeared. At first he/she cowered, but then they fed together for another ten minutes, what a lovely sight. I tried to blog this last night but blogger must've been having a tantrum because it kept refusing to upload the photos.

Oh and the date was ok. A really nice guy. Not instant attraction from me, but then at our age it's not often going to happen in reality is it? Will be seeing him again to be sure and take it from there. Friendship is more important at this stage and we do have loads in common, so a good basis. We chatted for over an hour again, he had been out and didn't come online just as I was about to go to bed at 10.30.

So I've got the farm from this lunchtime, all day tomorrow and possibly Sunday, won't know for definite about Sunday until tomorrow night if they decide they are too knackered to drive home!

Meet Squirt

I've just spent near on an hour trying to get tics from around the face area of one of my hogs. I noticed on the cam last couple of nights that he/she had a few, and went to try and get him/her last night, and immediately curled up so tight, I gave up. But not tonight I made a good attempt and got 15 of the bastards off. Some were huge. This hog is only little, there are at least another 6 on that I just couldn't get. I've bunged a load of oil with the paintbrush in the right sort of area and just hope maybe they will fall off, but the poor thing was so traumatised by then, I have my doubts whether it will ever come back to be honest. I've done a white humbrol spot mid-centre of the back to be able to identify if it does. Poor little bugger. I think there's a couple of tiny tics right by the eyes, there's no way I could get them, I didn't want to blind the poor thing. I should think it's feeling very seasick right now, the amount of jiggling I had to do to get it to open up. Ouch my hands are prickled to bits, but you can't use tweezers and paint brushes with gloves on. Well I can't. I don't like killing anything, but I make an exception with these sodding things (and fleas)

Oh dear, a week gone by..

I don't seem to have had the time or the inclination to update this really, have been busy but nothing much to talk about on here that's much different to normal. Basically, I've been going up to the farm every afternoon about 3.15 to help Kate with the lamb feeds and walking the dogs, have a chat and a coffee after, and come home. Other than that, just normal stuff, shopping and housework. I did last Saturday night for them as they went out for the evening, and I've got this weekend booked from Friday lunchtime to Sunday morning. Also first week in June booked, but the lambs should be off the bottle feeds by then, so it will just be the normal stuff to do up there.

Kate has taken pity on me and my diet of ready meals, and has been making me things to bring home to eat lol. Very nice of her. I've got a lovely fish pie waiting to be eaten tomorrow now, because I already had something in the fridge that I had to eat tonight else it may have gone off. She's never eaten a ready meal in her life, and loves to cook, so who am I to complain. I only eat the healthy options, low cal, low fat, low salt ones, and often add my own fresh vegetables to it, but still. My dieting is going well still, losing a bit more each week. Ideally, I'd still like to lose another half stone, but if it doesn't happen, well I will still be pretty pleased with what I have lost, and I'm not finding it a struggle at all, I am eating plenty enough not to feel hungry, but do miss my cakes still, but as long as I can stop myself eating them too often, the occasional one may be in order now and then. I've now lost 35lbs since I started last year, and am back to what I was three years ago now. I actually found my 2006 calendar this morning when I was doing some sorting, and saw that I actually put on 2 stone in 18 months, not good, just by eating the sort of thing that normal people eat. Someone said "you're not still on your diet are you?" But the thing is, I think I need to be permanently on some sort of one, otherwise it just piles on. So unfair.

Okay so the main news is that I am meeting a guy on Thursday that I've been chatting with virtually every night now for a week, we must have spent around 20 hours in conversation now, and he sounds great. Just hope I am not disappointed when we meet up, been there, got the t-shirt 5 years ago. I've learned loads about him, and very much like what I know, but whether there is going to be anything in it I won't know till we meet. People aren't perfect, I am far from it I know, but there could well be something that I won't like, or he about me, so will just have to wait and see. I am such a pessimist! He is fairly local, about 20 miles away at a guess, but we are meeting in town, which is about half way for both of us. Watch this space!

Today

Pat and Ben came today which made a lovely change, had loads to talk about as we haven't seen each other for a while, and played some cds and my Michael Bolton dvd, wow that guy is fantastic. So glad I discovered him again after all these years. Can't believe it, he is 55 years old, and still drop dead gorgeous! I just love his voice.

Anyway, we decided to take the dogs to the park, just got in the car and we had a hailstone storm! Carried on anyway, and got there and it was fine, nice walk round the park.

Dropped Pat off to pick her car up from the garage, and then decided to shoot up to see Kate and the lambs. I didn't think Emma would want to walk again, but bless her she plodded up the lane, trailing behind of course, but as the dogs had been out with Kate all day around the farm, we only walked a short way.

I fed little Daisy and Frank (who is her brother) and then had a coffee and a chat with Kate, got home not long ago now, so had another nice day today.

Looking forward now to watching Man U on Sky tonight. I'm glad I am quite back into football again, I sort of lost interest but now I'm paying a small fortune to Sky for the Sports package, I need to get my money's worth!

Yesterday

Been too busy to blog about yesterday, nothing overly exciting except to say that it was a gorgeous spring day here, after an early frost, not used to breaking ice on the bird drinking dishes now!

I had to get a few things done, which involved going to the doctors, getting in some bird food, paying bills etc. I needed to go to the pet food warehouse at Cilgerran, so decided Emma would get her walk along the river there for a change.

The little grave that I saw last year and wondered what it was for had been tended to and a sort of grave stone erected. Very sad, I must try and find out whether it was just someone's favourite place and they had their ashes scattered there, or whether it's just a memorial and the person actually drowned there or something!

We had a picnic lunch sat at the tables, and it was a nice, relaxing day out.

Last night enjoyed watching the football and cheered on Liverpool, and then spent two and a half hours chatting to someone who's contacted me from one of the dating sites. He seems very nice, I don't want to say loads about him on here though because it may not lead anywhere, and also, maybe one day I will want to show him my blog or at least post links to it so he can see what I get up to, and I think it would be too embarrassing to have discussed the poor guy on here. Just see how it goes for now. ;o)

That should be better ...

Just moved the dishes and webcams, had a practice run! :o)

I went outside, was going to renew the bedding in the hog box, but there's a resident! Hope I didn't scare it too much and he won't go back in tonight. I was pulling all the straw away and there was this little prickly body right down deep inside, awwwww. I just went ooops sorry and replaced it all quickly.

More from today

Well the weather turned out lovely, bitter cold wind, but blue sky and sunshine for the most part, had a couple of flurries of sleety/snow which lasted about 3 or 4 minutes but nothing to worry about. I went shopping, needed lots of bits and pieces, and wanted to get a new mp3 player for in the car. The one I have is crap, doesn't hold enough songs, and keeps mucking me about, I don't need the aggro when I'm driving, having to look at menus!

Got everything and timed the journey back to end up at the farm for a walk with Kate, and to feed the lambs.

We took the dogs up the fields, got back to the barn area, and Terence had made up a barricade so that the lambs could come out into the big wide world for the first time, and see grass and sunshine etc. It was so funny, they saw me and Kate and started to run at the fencing. Next thing, two of them were through and came straight to me! They managed to jump through the bars, lol. So Kate was going to feed the dogs, I said I'd go make up the bottles, and then three lambs followed me up the steps and tried to come into the house! They had never seen Emma before, but weren't at all worried about her, they sniffed each other, and Emma was thinking oh these are funny dogs! Anyway, Kate managed to encourage them off, I did the milk, and then we fed them outside for the first time. Terence got the camera and took some photos and they got me to pick up Daisy and he took a photo of me cuddling her. Luckily, she was clean, cos I had my best coat on!

I took a few shots of the pair of Goldfinches on the feeders this morning, only through the window though, but not bad shots really. There are four actually coming now, and I have two pairs of Siskins too, lovely to see them. No Nuthatches or Coal Tits though, ever since they cut the trees down last year. :o(

Well time to plug in the cams and see if the three hedgehogs come back tonight. Have my doubts, it is so cold out there, but then they will need to eat I guess. It was great to see Colin back, so lovely to know that he made it through hibernation. I feel very sad for all the poor little birds and hedgehogs in other bits of the UK today that have had lots of snow.

OMG!

Opened the door to let Emma out for a wee at 7.30am to this -







No laughing OC! It's been sunny since and most melted, but we've just had another blizzard. Clear again now and sun out. Weird. First snow of the winter here. Hope it's the last too. It's gone from T-shirt weather to thermals needed in two days. Ridiculous!

There's more...

Firstly, went out to do bird feeders, and there's hog poo everywhere! Either he'e been saving it up and had a lot to get rid of or I do have more than one. Will put the cam on tonight anyway, maybe have to sort out running the two again, although of course, one is pretty useless in the dark, but at least I can make out that there is a hog there lol.

Secondly, I knew I had a pair of Blackbirds nesting in the large bush in the front garden. Been seeing them coming and going for a week or so now. Well I noticed the hen round the back feeding so thought I'd take a sneaky look, the photo below shows the nest with four lovely eggs, bless. I am going to move my cat scarer round there, although I won't be able to cover all the area, but it may help. Not sure which male is her partner, but the hen is the one I was calling Golden Chest, she's one of last years youngsters.

Thirdly, Kate phoned. They got home at 3am, and she is thrilled with all I've done, which is a relief. She wants me to go up this afternoon for a coffee - she's brought me back something from Spain which she thinks I'll like - hope it's a Spanish man. :o)

They are going back in May, so will need me again then, yay, only a few weeks away. It's because they are buying a villa and need to be on hand to sign paperwork etc. The lambs will probably be down to two feeds a day by then though, and will be outside, so not so much work to do. Oh and they will be keeping all the ewes, phew, relief, and they had chosen a different name for Daisy, but said they will keep Daisy, awww.

So now I've run the hoover round, done some washing, so am going to chill till 3.15 and watch the footie on the tv. Can't decide whether to stick with WBA v Portsmouth (come on Harry...) or watch Arsenal v Pepe Reina, erm I mean Liverpool ;o)

Thought so...

Last couple of nights, the birds' food dishes that I leave out overnight have been empty at 7am and also have been moved a bit, was hoping it wasn't rats, didn't think so because the dishes are heavy.

Last night, let Emma out for a wee just before bed about 11.30pm. Looked up the path next door, and saw a hoggy eating something that the old lady next door had thrown out of the window. So quickly topped up my dish mainly with peanut halves.

Woke up in the night needing a wee, so Emma wanted to go out too, but although I was half asleep, thought would check the dish in the porch, didn't want her barking the place down. And YAY! It's Middy, you can clearly see the mark on the left side. Not a brilliant shot but didn't want to move my chair and scare him to death. Middy was the bully, who was always barging Colin and Speedy, remember? So chuffed one of them made it anyway. Wonder if I shall get the other two back, hope so.

Bored already, don't know what I'm going to do all day. The thought of housework is very unappealing. Can't face shopping on a Saturday, and the weather isn't good enough to go to the coast or anything.





Oh it was 3.40 am btw, funny time to be grabbing the camera!

The Farm, Day 6 - last day

Woke up to thick fog, good job it's not far to go, could see about 100 yards though so not too bad really. The Red Kite was sitting in the tree near the nest this morning, so I slowed right down, and it stayed put, so I opened the sun roof and took a pic!

Walked the dogs, what a difference from yesterday, although still not what you'd call cold, but couldn't even see across the field. I took a change of clothes with me, and shot down to Morrisons straight from there. Got home, unpacked the shopping, did my birds, and just had time to grab a coffee before I went back to the farm for the 12 oclock feed. I got Kate and Terrence some milk and bread, and a few apples so they have something to eat and drink when they get back. Had a text from Kate this morning, they should be in the air right now I think on their way home.

Took some last pictures. Feel so sad, I almost wish it was a full time job, yet at the beginning of the week, I thought oh my god how am I going to do this for 6 days? I must admit I still struggled with the first thing bit, getting up there for about 7.45, and then so much to do, and the dog walk was the hardest bit, but I definitely got fitter as the week went on. I shall miss the little lambs, I just hope and pray they will be keeping the little ewe lambs.

Tonight there was a couple of bats swooping around, quite large ones, so not the normal pipistrelles which is what I normally have here.

Oh well, back to normal then next week. I have some stuff I must get done though, my car is in a hell of a state, filthy dirty now, and I have two almost bald tyres on the front! I wasn't getting new ones fitted this week though to travel up and down that farm track, full of potholes and rocks. Brakes are a bit iffy too. Sigh. Need to get to the doctors next week too, and get some housework done. How exciting.

Watched the last episode of Torchwood tonight, a real tearjerker, cried my eyes out lol. Love that programme. Dr Who starts tomorrow but its on so early, will have to record it I guess and watch it a bit later on. Mind you, that really is for kids I think, Torchwood is by far my favourite. So that's all my three best progs now off, Lost, Torchwood, and the Welsh Soap seems to have gone too. Oh well, at least the Speedway has started again on Sky Sports...



The female kitten, still not tame, only saw her twice all week

Biggun, the male kitten, they are now 6 months old. He's such a character, so funny, followed me everywhere, and the lambs were fascinated by him.

The Farm, Days 4 & 5

Well not much to report really, everything going along quite well. Felt really tired yesterday, but okay again today. I am a bit overdue for my B12 injection I think, which doesn't help, coupled with the clocks altering, and then of course having to get up at a set time, not used to it, and keep waking in the night afraid I've not heard the alarm etc.

The weather today has been unbelievable. I walked the dogs round the field this afternoon and was boiling in a t-shirt. When you bear in mind that it's high up there and always a bit breezy you will understand that it was HOT! I looked on my thermo behind the aviary, in the sun of course, but it was 82f at 3.30pm! WOW. I see that we are forecast sub zeros and bloody snow again next week though, that will be very unpleasant for all the young animals and birds.

I took three photos of views of the surrounding area as I walked the lane this afternoon. Scenery to die for. Why would I want to move ever? Well can you imagine looking at those hills and picturing 110 metre high Wind turbines, spaced all the way round? Because if we lose our battle, that's exactly what we will be seeing. Makes me want to cry. Just the sight of them really, without the implications with the noise, and killing lots of birds. The pair of Red Kites I've been seeing will be prime candidates. How will they see the blades when they rotate at 120mph, when they are looking down for prey on the ground, especially as they feed on carrion, and there will likely be a lot of that from other birds laying beneath which have been mashed. Doesn't bear thinking about.

One bit of other news, I have been chatting with a guy a couple of times now on MSN messenger from one of the dating sites. He seems really nice, still early days, no photo as yet, but he says I can see his webcam - oooer, dare I risk it, lol? I said is he like Iolo Williams and he says a bit, so I am quite excited, ha ha. He's younger than me, which is cool, 6ft tall, black hair, and likes quite a lot of the same things as me, and he doesn't live a million miles away either, about 40, which isn't too terrible. We shall see.... ;)

I need to get to the shops, am suffering withdrawal symptoms, have a mind to go tonight after the 8 o'clock feed, or maybe tomorrow night, not sure yet, I must be a food-shop-a-holic! I have run out of apples. Disaster!

The Farm, Day 3

Lots more bird sightings today. Fabulous Great Spotted Woodpecker, on the peanut and fat ball feeders. As soon as I even thought about taking a photo though it was off. Gave up after three attempts. Could hear him hammering in a tree behind the barn though. Also disturbed a Sparrow Hawk (good) The Red Kite was on top of the pole again. I got within about 15 feet of it, raised the camera, and it went, bugger!

I have a favourite lamb. I hope they are going to keep the girls, else I will be even more upset. Trying not to think about Frank. I've named her Daisy, dunno why, just sometimes I look and a name comes to me with animals/birds. It was instantly Daisy. Perhaps they have named them already and it will be something different. She is the quiet one, the only one without any facial or body spots or marks. She sometimes doesn't want her bottle or not all of it. So it worries me. I always go for the weaklings. She isn't putting on weight as much as the others, but think she will be fine. She didn't want any of her last feed last night, but today had all of them okay.

Everything else went very smoothly today, weather fantastic again. Getting into the routine a bit easier now, thoroughly enjoying myself. Last night was so knackered, time I got home and got changed, made a drink, it was gone 9 oclock, went to bed at 10! Trouble was then I woke up way too early, 5.30, and only dozed then, so am going to try my normal time tonight and hope I sleep through. So on that note, yawn....


Daisy



Daisy again

Hendrix

Barra

More donkeys