A Quiet and Normal Life (From Hereford Times)

Tales from the Rock

8:58pm Monday 23rd February 2009

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When we took on Rock HQ just over two years ago we knew exactly what we were letting ourselve in for. A life more in tune with nature, one where we moved with the seasons, ate what nature provided and sat around the range in the kitchen drinking home made cider whilst swapping tales of our harvest and natures bounty.

Well that was until the reality check caused by life broke our rose tinted specs and we quickly realised that any thoughts of a quiet and normal life for smallholders is just that.

Thoughts.

We are often asked how do we find time to fit it all in, I dont know, we just do and its great. We wouldnt change it for the world. You never know what will happen next and even when you make meticulous plans it can all go to pot in a matter of seconds. This week has been a pretty average week, if there is such a thing.

It started with me thinking our prize pedigree ram was terminally ill and unable to eat as he had no top teeth. 24 hours passed as I fretted over this and concocted various porridge like substances that I felt his toothless mouth could manage. Once I checked all our sheep and found all 15 were either mutants or more likely no sheep have top inscissor teeth and our boy was in fact just a bit thin but loving all the attention.

Then there are the goats, our latest charges, who will be the providers of milk and cheese. They are in kid and although they have given all the correct signs that led to yours truely and his beloved wife giving up sleeping for longer than three hours at a time checking their welfare they resolutely refuse to perform the miracle of birth. Every time I stagger bleary eyed into the stable my high hopes are dashed by the sight of our Old English goats thoughtfully chewing the cud and wondering why they are deserving so much of our attention.

As if we are not busy enough working full time and trying to conquer the perils of small scale farming we foster dogs for several animal rescue charities. The credit crunch has put the squeeze on a lot of people and its their pets that are the first to go. Currently we have an over anxious Rottweiller living with us who terrified of her own shadow and has very few social skills. On the lead the other day she was desperate to get to Tracey, my beautiful and oh so patient wife. In doing so she scythed my legs from under me and sent me rolling down the hill closely pursued by Trevor our miniature horse with a big attitude. To get over this trauma, incuding the terror caused by having to defend myself from an over amourous pony I went for a bath to soak away the aches and pains. Unfortunately my plan to have a liesurely soak was thwarted by the Berkshire pigs escape commitee who chose the exact moment that I was fully submersed to break out of thier pen and cause havoc in the garden. Our defenses in the garden are massive to prevent incusions by livestock, in fact we have to only goat proof fence in the world and its so big is visible from outer space.

On top of this Rene our Rx4 got well and truely stuck in a ditch whilst we were on another mercy mission to take fuel and food to our only neighbour who is in fact a hermit.

Smallholding is now our way of life, just as well really as you cant wake up one morning and decide not to do it. There are over 53 animals on our small plot all depending on us to get out of bed in the morning and meet their every needs. Organisation and routine are the bywords of the good smallholder, unfortunately they were missing from our dictionary when we started. So our best advice came from James Herriot novels, Tom and Barbera of The Good Life, a clutch of most unhelpful "How to..." books and Google. Mixed in with words of wisdom form the local sages like The Oracle, and help from craftsmen who all seem to be called Steve and fellow bloggers we have managed pretty well. In doing so we have put food on our table and put the joy back in our lives. We have also experienced some massive lows and tremendous highs, more of which I shall share with you next time.

You can, should you wish view our trials and tribulations, maybe even see the goats give birth on www.talesfromtherock.com its updated daily. Say hello if you visit.