Thanks to Shirley and the good people of Neeps, we’ve had several visitors lending a hand today with more promising to stop by at the weekend to help us catch up on the big jobs that my illness has prevent us from completing.
The first to arrive was Carol (Purpledragon) and her tribe of bairns. Carol was only here for a few minutes before whizzing into the job list with gusto. In fact, she’s one of the few people I’ve met who matches my work rate.
She had the raspberries weeded in no time, unloaded 15 20kg bags of barley from the Land Rover (and later emptied them into the storage bin) and then lent a hand with getting the gates and barriers sorted ready to move Graham and Doris (two of our Berkshires).
We were just finishing a cup of tea and soda bread (made by the Big Lad), when Shirley, other half David and their tribe arrived.
It was then all hands on deck to move the big pig ark - with Linda, Carol, David and Shirley inside carrying the weight while I stood outside and shouted directions.
A couple of bales of straw were then brought out and “fluffed up” for the pigs’ bed, the hut earthed up to prevent draughts, and then Graham and Doris were free to trot across to their winter quarters. They’ll remain there through January and February, and be joined by Dolores when Ginger is sold in a few weeks.
It was then time for Carol to depart, while Shirley and David helped plant a line of hawthorn, dog rose and sweet briar along the back of the muck boxes and the chicken breeding boxes.
We were very grateful for the help and managed to press a large bundle of carrots and a dozen eggs on Shirley and David, but Carol wouldn’t hear of sending me out for carrots so her help went unrewarded - this time…
It was a great day, with all the helpers meaning that Linda also had the time to get her own reward by making a well-deserved trip to the hairdressers while the work went on in her absence.
So, a very big thanks to all who turned out today, and to everyone on Selfsufficientish and Neeps for their messages and good wishes.
And finally, Stonehead Croft is known for its sighting of rare and reputedly mythical creatures…
…as David found when he apparently spotted a wee creature sporting a woolly hat lurking behind the holly bush. Could it be a rare gnome-ish?
You are more than welcome, and I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed my day, as did the kids. Laura was a wee bit disappointed to hear that we weren’t packing a piglet in the boot though
Well done folks! I am pleased that you could spare the time to help Stoney with his workload while he is crook.
I hope the Big Lad’s soda bread went down well too.
Linda’s “annual” hairdo would definitely have gone down well also.
Enjoyed reading your “thirteen trees later” musings. It looks so cold.
Cold? No, it’s unseasonally warm here at the moment. It should be about -3C during the day with at least a couple of feet of snow on the ground. Instead, it’s up around 6/7C!