A bit seldom on the picture front

Well, I dunno what happened today with the photographs but there’s precious little of them, which is a shame because it was a fairly busy and action packed day. I may have picked up many of my fathers traits from his genes, like an obsession with rinsing the washing up, a maniacal urge to hoover up and a penchant for picking things up wrongly. However his Sunday ritual of reading the papers from cover to cover never washed off on me, come to think of it he never to my knowledge read the sports pages, so perhaps not entirely ‘cover to cover’. That’s one thing I did inherit from him, a total disinterest in sport, I just don’t get the ‘tribal’ team stuff of ‘my teams better than yours’ when 90% of the players aren’t speaking their native language let alone from the town they play for.

Anyway, Sunday has always been a busy day for me and today was no exception, first off it was out to do a partial feed of the sixteen wains, leading the Tammies into the barn and shutting them in. The spotties were a little more reluctant to go inside due to all the exciting ‘sniffs’ around the workshop and feed store. As the Tammies had been living in the barn up until yesterday they ‘knew the score’ but it was uncharted territory for the nine spotties and it was far too interesting to go and get shut in a barn.

I had planned to get them all in the barn to worm them but that obviously wasn’t going to happen, so once the seven Tamworth piglets were shut in I coaxed the spotties back into their own  field by loudly depositing feed in a metal trough. I’d deal with them all a little later when they were a little hungrier. After breakfast it was over to the hens to collect soiled bedding for some friends and their gardens.

Wood shavings and hen pooh make a great mulch, some say it’s too strong but it’s never done our garden any harm, so If you want any just ask the Postwoman

The marathon worming started after breakfast, firstly in the barn with the seven Tamorth’s and seven syringes containing 1ml of ‘Panomec’. It’s far easier to have all the syringes pre loaded for the subcutaneous injection than to mess about reloading and changing needles. It’s also good sense to spray paint the ones you’ve done so they don’t get done twice. Funnily enough the wee darlings seem to dislike being sprayed with an aerosol more than jagged by a needle!! Mind you after 20 seconds they’re back round you feet again looking for food so they’re hardly stressed.

The spotties we did in their ark, something I’ve never done before but we figured it wise to do the whole herd at once and that was where they were. First of all I screwed a sheet of plywood over the doorway from the outside leaving just enough room for me to climb in, wifey stayed outside armed with the preloaded syringes and marker paint. The spotties, a far friendlier bunch were much easier to jag and no sooner had they been ‘stuck and painted’ than they were round again sniffing at my oilskins that the Tamworths had peed all over.

The larger pigs we do with an ‘in feed’ wormer as they’re much harder to inject than the wains. Ellie was first with 13g of Flubenol powder nicely disguised inside a banana coated in molasses, the others we’ll do one at a time, it’s far better that way, then at least you know they’ve all got the right amount.

 

It was whilst inside one of my many sheds looking for cable to wire up my inverter that I heard a strange noise on the roof!! At point there were seven of them on the roof, I dunno what they’d discovered up there but they were certainly making a racket on the tin roof.

The one on the left having just laid an egg before going to join her pals.

A spell in the workshop tidying up was followed by a trip up to the new house site to wire up my inverter, my most satisfying job of the day but I forgot the camera to record my handiwork

Land Rover for sale

Not the ‘Old girl’ right enough but my mates 1999? 90 Defender hardtop which he’s had almost as long as I’ve had mine.

Used, but not abused this fine TD5 comes with diff guards, Polybushes , JATE rings, rock sliders, and a whole load of extras

and could be yours for £4750.

Please buy it quick because the wife is looking at it and the last thing I need right now is another Land Rover

Tel Raasay 01478 660 315 and leave a message.

Well, that’s about it really so I’ll just leave you with the weather, which has been pretty boodly good really.

Though I’m a little dubious about 200mm of rainfall, there’s hardly been a drop, and none during daylight.