Hay the end

We finished hay making this afternoon and for once it wasn't under the menace of gathering storm clouds although the 30 degrees made it unpleasantly hot work.  The rain of a few nights ago didn't affect us too badly.  Around 200 bales went into the barn (you can barely crawl under the roof beams the stack is so high) 

and another 100 are waiting on the ground for a buyer who will hopefully take them directly off the field tomorrow.

Apart from the wheel on the mower dropping off in the hay on day one, the machinery worked fine and our new baler started behaving itself; today it only made two missed bales in 100 which is pretty acceptable for a 200€ machine.  The hay is very high quality and the smell coming off the barn is something to behold

Tomorrow is a bank holiday here so the project is to build a pontoon on the near side of the lake in this photo. The temperature is slowly climbing and we'll soon be able to swim (22 degrees and rising)

Hay making continued

Thus far all goes well, the hay is top quality and although there is less quantity than we hoped for in some fields (mostly due to the sheep being put onto it until relatively late) it is fantastic quality. 

These photos were taken yesterday late afternoon after the seemingly inevitable equipment breakdown.  This time it was the wheel that the hay cutter rides-on which had a huge bulge on the side so off Al went to the tractor shop to get a new tyre. once reassembled, the wheel, axle and bearings fell to bits in the cut hay.  After a lot of sacre bleus etc, all the bits were found, put back together with handfuls of grease, hope and prayer and the machine finished the job.

Al has since run the hay bob over it twice; once late yesterday and once this morning and in places it is already dry enough to put into rows for baling.

Last minute update, Al got caught in a rain shower while raking the corners back in tonight.  Bl***dy weather forecasts!

Hay making and ragwort (jacobskreuz)

We checked the weather forecast this evening and we have solid sunshine and 25-30 degree temperatures forecast for the next 6 days so there is no putting it off, we must start the next section of hay making tomorrow.

The grass is up to shoulder height in places;

The previous period went quite well, we cut our sloping field and a couple of fields that a neighbour kindly donated.  In total we made 400 quite light bales (average 15 kgs) which were stored in the top of the barn.  The hay was in perfect condition and smelled just like hay should.

We have recently been looking out for a plant called ragwort which is poisonous to horses causing serious liver problems and can even lead to death.  We have therefore both been walking the fields pulling it out so in order to be able to say we have done everything we can to horse owners that might buy our hay.

Al gathered this bunch in our 2 acre field this evening

Geese

Last year we adopted two geese supposedly a couple called Horace and Dorace; after waiting and waiting alas no eggs appeared.  What we suspected turned out to be true and they were indeed two boys so they were henceforth known as Horace and Boris.  So we purchased two female goslings and had kept them seperate from the boys up to today as they didn't have adult feathers to keep them waterproof. Today they were released for the first time and they seemed to get on fine during their first swimming lessons and they were welcomed by the boys.

Yesterday Al caught his first Ragondin in his humane trap and swiftly dispatched it with an air rifle shot

Wild Chanterelles

Picked these yesterday - this is the third batch.  We have eaten one batch in risottos and omelettes, dried one batch and these will be dried today.  It takes about 2 hours in an oven at 65degrees to dry the sliced washed mushrooms then to rehydrate soak in hot water for 30 mins, yum

Animals coming and going....

We had to laugh when we saw the photos of the titchy piglets on the last post - they are now 3 months old and HUGE and weigh at least 30kg.

Photos below are the piglets at a week old;

And below at 3 months in the pigsty......

Bit of a weird camera angle! The spotty female is on the left and the red & white male is on the right. The other male was traded with friends for a few hundred roof tiles and the 4th unfortunately didn't make it. The 2 males were castrated by the vet at 3 weeks old to avoid "boar taint". Al didn't faint when he assisted with the procedure but both he and vet had their legs crossed at the crucial moment.....

It was very hard trying to separate Rosie the sow from the piglets as she went from being a very docile pig to 250kg of protective angry Mum. We are considering retiring Rosie to chops and bacon and simply fattening up a couple of weaners each year as the reproduction side of things is complicated - we have to take Rosie to the boar and get the male piglets castrated. It isn't cost effective especially if there are only a few piglets. They also eat a lot!

The 2 piglets are currently in the pigsty as their potential buyers didn't turn up - having been separated from Rosie for sale she then wouldn't accept them back into the pig park and we had a near disaster as she turned on them. Lesson learnt - only sell to friends whom we know will definitely turn up!

Geese......

 

We adopted the beautiful couple Horace and Doris (?!) in November; they arrived unceremoniously in the boot of the car but soon made their presence known. They approach you with a menacing hiss and a honk but are not so tough - they waddle off flapping and squawking when they realise they are fairly low down on the food chain. We hasten to add these 2 aren't for the pot but we hope to have goslings in the spring. They are an excellent doorbell  - the postman looked relieved when he saw them in an enclosure.

Lambs....

2 out of 7 lambs born at the start of the year were ram lambs. They went in the freezer a few weeks back producing a whopping 25kg of meat each which is delicious. They represent a great return on a bit of grass and hay. After butchering 2 lambs we were finished though - we have a new-found respect for butchers! 

Rabbits.....

We swapped a cockerel for a rabbit recently and added Thumper to the menagerie  - a "Tete de Lion" crossbreed. The idea being we get a couple of does and start producing rabbit meat. Thumper is a keeper though - just look at that fluffiness!  He lives in a semi-open hutch within the chicken/geese enclosure. Those ears are just made for stroking....

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Goodbye Cooper...

What can we say? After a crazy 11 years of border collie madness, Cooper had to be put down in October after 2 operations. She had a kidney removed then a hind leg amputated. There was not much left of her by the time she succumbed to the inevitable. We planted a cherry tree on the driveway to remember her by and attached her medallion to it. Now she can survey the arrival of visitors just as she always did.

Welcome to the new canine adoptees....

It was far too quiet round here without a dog. After a few weeks of the cats thinking they were finally home free we went down towards to the Pyrenees to a dog refuge we had been in touch with to adopt a puppy. As with most of our past trips to animal refuges we returned with more than 1...

The fluffy and very naughty Iago is a 3 month old, Australian shepherd cross.  He will chew pretty much everything he isn't suppose to but is easily forgiven.  He looks a bit dim in this photo but has been busy honing his skills sliding across the kitchen floor and squaring up to the sheep beyond the garden fence (but running back between our legs when they stamp their feet at him).

 

Isa is a 10 month old Brittany spaniel who was living at the refuge manager's home (the refuge overspill). Al mentioned he was looking for a gun dog to train and we were taken straight to meet her.

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She had been rescued at the opening of the hunting season (either she got lost whilst hunting or was abandoned). The refuge manager told us she hopes she is rubbish at hunting but that we keep her anyway (the anti-hunt brigade!) So far she has chased the free-range chickens into the canal (we discovered chickens can swim) so it looks like she will be a hunter. In the meantime she is a foster-Mum to Iago and desperate to please us. She needn't worry - they are going to be spending their 1st of many Christmases with us very soon!

 

 

 

 

They do have their own beds but Iago is getting in practise for the day we get them bunkbeds...

 

Animal round-up complete!

 

 

Piglets at last

Right on her due date after 114 days of pregnancy Rosie the sow had her piglets.......

She had spent the last few days making her nest in the ark and her 14 enormous nipples were swollen with milk and hot (she still liked her belly scratched).

She had enjoyed the muddy wallow we kept waterlogged....

When she didn't amble over to the fence at breakfast time this morning and we heard rustling and grunting from the ark we knew something was up...

The first brave piglet emerges from the ark as Rosie comes out to feed.

Then another...

Then as the third piglet emerges they are hustled back inside by Mum.

Two sneaked out again but were soon called in for their curfew - and milk. Four happy piglets. We found a stillborn and another piglet that had died during the day but for a first litter, 4 healthy piglets is fine. 

The photos are from a distance as pigs need peace and tranquillity when farrowing so we stayed as far away as our will-power would allow but we look forward to getting up close in the next few days!

Well done Rosie!