5 January 2012

Rain rain and more rain. The Makuri stream was up to the bridge and broke its banks in places. Ruth has to hold back moving ducks out as the worst thing for young ducks is heavy rain - yes i know everyone says" great weather for ducks" NOT. Until ducks get their full feathers and make oil for themselves and not from mum they are very vulnerable. Mean while we have lost older ones to ferrets, losing 7 in one night. Today i managed to trap an in-milk female ferret, i now need to get her man and kids.

You know running Avonstour is like a game of 3 level chess - on one level you are playing with the natural world, on another level you are playing the food bills finance and the like and on the bottom level others trying to take your share push you out and down. Thank goodness there are good players as well as bad ones. But the worst are the ones that are like the good looking ferret who wants to cuddle up and take your life blood.

Unfortunately the Austin Gipsy has got a deep knock in the motor that came all of a sudden so that has slowed things up as the mechanic in town is still on holiday. So i have been on foot all week shifting stock and pulling weeds. It needs fixing ASAP as we are organizing another bonfire BBQ and we need to cart wood and the Shepherd wagon is well on the way to being finished and we need the Gipsy to pull it into place.

Beate has settled in well, got over the Jet lag. The pigs are looking great, VERY well cared for and we have been well cared for as well with our windows cleaned and some nice vegetarian meals as Beate was a vegetarian but now is an ethicatarian eating our meat.

Stella the Canterbury blue sow has had her pigs. I say pigs as she only had two, we just could not believe it TWO. But two of the prettiest pigs i have seen, they are by the Euro boar and have the stripes nose to tail as wild boar have but with a sheen of blue hairs and blue points. There is a dark sow and a light boar, they will get the royal treatment i can tell you.

Beate took Ruth and i to the Stratford club for New Years night. There was a great solo playing great dance music who was really good and about every half hour John from town walked in and played the bagpipes, that was also fantastic. But few people were there and none except Wayne and us three were dancing. The night would have made a really good episode of the Vicar of Dibbly with us and the few older regulars and the odd young one calling in to play the pokey machines. It was good to catch up with the locals.

The new years Market was DEAD. Thank goodness for you regulars I really mean it you are the life blood of what we do THANKS.

Please send this to all you can, even get people to email so they can go on the list. We really need to get more out there not only for the courses and markets