Leaving

So here I am in York, back on campus and settled into my new house ready for my Masters (well, I'll keep telling myself that!). I got here last Wednesday, after packing all my things from the caravan and going out for dinner with everyone at the farm to the local Himalayan restaurant. It was an emotional goodbye, but I'm going back this coming weekend for a party so it's not as bad as it could be. I know I'll stay in touch and visit. I have had a truly terrific past six months at the farm; I have learnt crazy new skills I never even dreamed of learning, made great, fabulous friends and met Will. The experience has taught me a lot about the world of farming and country life, and given me a much better idea of the kind of life I want (which is something I was not necessarily expecting from the placement). I'll never forget my unbeatable summer at Turville Heath.

So here we are in September already?! Time has flown by since my last post. At the beginning of August, Gravelly Grazing had a stall at the Ibstone show and grazed some cattle on the Common there; that meant lots of preparation on our part and some hard earned relaxation afterward. During the week that the cows were there I was acting as 'security' (hilarious, I know) with the caravan pitched by the cows to deter unwanted attention from the cows and the craft tents. The day was a success, with lots of enquiries from the public and I made sure to have a good look around the show (I even won a coconut on the coconut shy).

The following Monday (my 22nd birthday), Will and I headed back to Broadstairs unannounced which came as quite a surprise! We had a lovely holiday back in Kent for the week, and it tied in with Broadstairs Folkweek rather nicely. We ate far too much good food, visited Monkton and saw some of the local sites. It was nice to be a tourist in my home town again.

So, back to the farm again, and I spent two weeks finishing odd jobs, moving sheep and milling about the farm. It was a bit more relaxed than I have been used to, with many of the big jobs finished off or the year. Towards the end of August I went to Uffington Country Show; it was a lovely day and we saw some crazy things, including ferret racing, pig racing and horse gymnastics! At the end of August, Will and I had a week in Pembrokeshire, Wales, visiting some of the most beautiul coastline I have ever been to. We visited all the little villages in the area, ate Welsh cakes and Barra Brith, went body boarding in the rather large waves and relaxed in the caravan. We also went to the 'Really Wild' festival in St Davids and saw yet more ferret racing!

So now I'm back at the farm again, clinging on to the time I have left before starting my Masters course next month. Since I've been back I have been working on a survey report, putting together the sightings we made on some recent environmental surveys. I have also learnt how to skin a deer, and moved about/put up some more fencing. Last weekend we all went to the Henley Show (yet more ferret racing was involved!) and Will got two ferrets (named Ronnie and Reggie, ha ha) which we had great fun playing with, once they stopped biting! This week we will be moving around sheep and preparing for tupping, when the rams are put in with the ewes, and figuring out where all the animals will be grazed over winter. I will also be finishing off the report I have been working on and tying up loose ends, and I am squeezing in a visit to York to view a house for this October (fingers crossed this time!). This weekend we are all going to the Royal Berkshire Show in Newbury, where you guessed it, there will be more ferret racing and interesting agricultural displays. I can't wait.

High Flyer

Time is just flying at the moment what with so much going on here at the farm. The last few weeks have in fact been a bit more relaxed as Robin was away for the week, but now the pace is picking up as we prepare for a grazing demonstration next month at the Ibstone Show. It is all very exciting; Will and I have been driving all over flyering for the event, trying to spread the word.

Rosy cow finally decided to have her calf (the day after Robin flew to Spain, typical!), however, some 30 or so minutes after it was born it suddenly dawned on me that the calf had no tail; photos will follow. 'Stumpy' was born completely without a tail (apparently something to do with incomplete development in the womb), which aside from looking rather odd is probably a bit annoying for the calf, leaving it unable to swat flies. We have some cow insect repellent and have been spraying him with that when close enough. I also got the chance to milk Rosy! She is a very friendly cow (sometimes too friendly, especially when I'm trying to shut the feed trough lid) a lets us milk her while she eats some cow nuts. It was great fun, hopefully we can get a reasonable amount and make something of it.

This weekend I am helping with preparations for the show and going back up to York to look for a house to ensure I actually have somewhere to live next year. Fingers crossed I get the house I have my eye on!

Back by Popular Demand ;)

I can't believe it has only been a month since I last wrote on here; so much has happened, I don't even know where to start!

Firstly, the Commons Day hosted here at the farm went really well, with over 75 people attending and several subsequent news articles in the Henley Standard. After the celebrations and a brief, hard-earned period of relaxation, it was back to the grind as we sheared the rest of the sheep and treated them to prevent fly strike. Since then we have been working on fencing for pigs, cows and sheep, as well as moving animals to various different places. I have also been surveying many different places with Tony and Will, where we saw interesting plants including four or so species of Orchid.

At the end of June I went back to Kent for the Monkton Nature Reserve AGM. It was nice to see everyone again and hear all the plans and hopes for the future. We had a barbeque and I took some photos with my film camera; fingers crossed they come out OK!

Will and I have been using the weekends to try different traditional skills and see new things in the area. We made some delicious Elderflower cordial using flowers from the common and some felt scarves (which we are yet to finish) using the wool from the shearing. They are pretty impressive, although I won't be able to wear it in any kind of wet weather for fear of smelling like a sheep! We also visited the Chilterns Open Air Museum for the heavy horse show. We are hoping to go fishing soon, a sport I am yet to try; photos will follow!



Most recently I have been redesigning the farm website with Will (see the link above). At the weekend I visited Henley for the Regatta when Fran came for a visit; it was a revealing day (some of the dresses truly were) with everyone in their best frocks, drinking in the sunshine and watching the boats.

Last night a brown long eared bat flew into the shed while I was getting ready for bed- it gave me quite a fright! It settled on a bucket and spade before flying off into the greenhouse (it obviously wasn't a good day for 'batty')! I hope it has left now, I'm certainly not looking forward to nightfall tonight.

Next week Robin and the family are off to Spain for their holidays and so Will and I shall be left to run the fort with Tony. We will be continuing our survey work if this glorious weather holds and writing an article for a land management publication.

Phew!

Fun in the Sun

This weekend Tony hosted the Buckinghamshire Invertebrate Group June field trip. I learnt a lot throughout the day and got to scrub bash for insects which involves hitting a tree with a special net laid beneath it. After lunch I went down to Northend for the annual inter-village rounders match. The weather was glorious and the game was good fun; we won and I didn't get batted out until right at the end! We had a barbeque and listened to some live jazz in the sunshine, before returning back to the farm for drinks on the deck. At midnight I walked across the common to find the B.I.G. crew mothing; we saw many, many species of moth (over 80 in fact) and I didn't get to bed until 2.30am! On Sunday we had a party for Leah's 21st birthday - we had yet another barbeque and made a water slide in the garden with plastic sheeting and washing-up liquid. It was great fun, although my ribs still hurt from launching myself at the slide! We finished the evening off with a chiminea and yet another late night. On Monday, Will and myself sheared the 5 rams and some of the wethers from the common. Shearing the king ram was quite an ordeal, with Will pinning him down and me shearing as fast as possible! The end result was rather handsome:



Yesterday I helped with some fencing and took some photos of the calves. Here is a photo of the second female to be born, shortly after bank holiday Monday. She is a beautiful brown calf (now one of four), from two black parents!



Today Will and I finished shearing the wethers from the common and returned them to a very grassy paddock across the common. We really are speeding up now, and with a new sharp cutter we were almost unstoppable!



Tomorrow we are clearing out the barn ready for next week and making some plates for the event from an old silver birch tree.

How Now Brown Cow?

I have had an amazing - and truly varied - past few days. Last Tuesday the first of the calves was born- we noticed the waters break and managed to watch the whole event. It was amazing to see the entire process; thankfully Cherry is a friendly cow and didn't mind us being nearby. There are now three lovely brown calves. Last Thursday I learnt how to weld and helped to fix the metal base on the flat bed trailer; that was great fun, and something I definitely didn't think about trying before coming here! On Saturday Will and I went to Pangbourne nature reserve to take some photos of the wildlife there, which will follow once they have been developed! On Sunday my mum and nan came to visit; we went for a drive to see the local sights and quaint villages, stopping for tea in Hambleden. Over the bank holiday we had a barbeque with all the family here, before I set back to work to finish the rest of the shearing with Will. We sheared the 11 sheep down in the lower meadow; they look very professional from only a small distance and we did start to speed up towards the end! This week we worked on the fencing at the local estate and laid out a pig pen ready to be set up. Tomorrow we are moving the sheep on the common and continuing with the preparation for the rapidly approaching Commons Day by clearing out the barn.

Shear beauty

I had the most fabulous of weekends. To kick it all off, Wonky-ear finally gave birth to two healthy lambs. Robin and myself went to the farm auction at Thame and saw all the quintessentially farmy sort; kicking the wheels of the tractors and chatting about the downfalls of certain items in the auction. On Sunday we were taught how to shear sheep by Tim, Robin's good friend and master stockman. It was great fun, albeit slightly terrifying when given the massive, heavy, 3200rpm razor-sharp shears!


The sheep Will and myself sheared looked pretty good given our inexperience, even if I do say so myself.



Today we moved the sheep on the common in the blistering heat, and sorted out a pen for a ewe that lambed this afternoon; the last of the lambing is done. Tomorrow Will and I have the hefty task of shearing the 11 sheep in the lower meadow; see you in New Zealand next year! ;)