Walking on Thin Ice

I am beginning to think that I am being tested by someone above.
My life is like an adventure or thriller novel which ever way you want to look at it, I seem to have more than my fare share of near misses and catastrophes, I think someone else should take the lead for a short while and give me a rest.
Why I hear you ask?
As some of you may know we are in the grip of a cold Winter, luckily we have not had as much snow as the rest of the country, perhaps that's because we are sheltered by Creag Mhor or because we are at sea level, what ever the reason we seem to have had more Black Ice and flash freezing than anything else.
Well to start this from the beginning, yesterday my husband was away for the day, collecting cattle feed, it was quite a cold day but not as cold as today, I started to fill the buckets for the cattle coming in in the afternoon, I thought I would bring them in a little earlier as the clouds looked rather threatening in the sky.
So away I went across the Mointeach Mhor to bring them in, it was easy to walk down as everything is frozen solid including the peat bogs which you usually have to walk around.
As I got closer to the heard, one of the cows Rosie was on the other side of the river hooting and mo-owing, I looked around the heard and realised Rosie's calf was not amongst the calves, I ran towards the river which is frozen solid, about 3" of ice thick in places.
There was Rosie's calf Ruby, on the other side of the iced over river bank, she must have crossed over to be with mum and broke through the ice, but the bank was to high for her to climb out.
She was trying to get up the ever higher bank which was covered in gorse and heather making it very difficult for her to get a grip.
When she came to rest her head was perched on the ice that's all I could see, if she slipped off the ice she might have gone under and not been able to get back out.
I thought the best thing to do was to try and guide her back down a little way to a lower side of the bank, I knew I might be in for a wetting crossing the ice to help her, so I took of my big jacket, for two reasons, one to stop me sinking with the weight of it wet and two to have something dry to come home in just in case.
Well the just in case was right, as I crossed the iced over river, Ruby began to dance about, she caused the ice to fracture, then all of a sudden a four foot square piece gave away and tipped up in the air, I slipped off and into the water, what was worse was I did not realise it was so deep, I went up to my neck in the freezing water, I could only just touch the bottom, the gasp that I let out must have been heard in Glasgow.
Now in a way I know this might sound strange, but I expected it to be really cold, as years ago I used to do a lot of coastal Scuba Diving so I knew how cold it could be, but it was the shock of it and not being able to get a proper footing that worried me.
Anyway I give myself a second to collect my thoughts and decided what to do, I waded up to Ruby who was now calm she must have sensed I was in to help her, I grabbed her tail and pulled her around in a half circle to face her towards the lower bank, she was only being held up by the ice, as she could not touch the bottom at all, she was now wading in the water, and everything depended on her having the strength to pull herself up, the dogs were barking and whining, Rosie was really agitated be now, and I was absolutely freezing.
Well Ruby did it she scrambled her front half up and I shoved her from behind the rest of the way, she got up and ran to mum without a thank you or glance back to see if I was okay, that's gratitude for you.
Well I was so cold I had a bit of a time getting back on to the ice where I fell in, I was once told that if you fall into and iced over pond always try to get out where you went in as it carried your weight up until the point of entry so it was 99% guaranteed to hold your weight on the way out.
Well I managed to slide up onto the ice and roll over to the bank back where I came from, all the while the dogs were going mad.
I got onto the bank, freezing and shacking with the cold and shock, I stripped of my jumper and shirt and put on my jacket, my wellingtons which were more of a hindrance than a help under water were full, and I had a nightmare trying to get them off with the suction, I tipped out the water and put them back on.
I ran for home my teeth were knocking together so violently I thought they might push them back into my gums.
I managed to get home, and stripped off the wet and freezing clothing, the towel and coal fire where a blessing.
I found it hard to sleep last night with flash backs of the days events, I was also in agony, I have bruising covering the back of both my legs, from my bum to the back of my Knees.
But these will heal, the calf Ruby is well, she got a good rub down too, and a penicillin, just to make sure she does not go down with anything nasty.
As a result yes I was walking on thin ice and lost one of my nine lives, but all's well that end's well.

Upcoming Agricultural Events

For those of you who may be interested I have listings of some upcoming Agricultural Events.
These events need your support as more and more of them are disappearing due to one thing or another.
So if you have time on your hands then maybe you would be interested to see how much work and preparation goes into these events, not only by animal handlers and exhibitors like us, but behind the scenes too.
There is something for everyone and it makes a great day out for the family, the kids will get to see animals they never thought they would see close up.
Anyway that's enough of that, the listed shows are events my husband and I have visited ourselves or exhibited our livestock at over the years.
You never know you may bump into us at one of the Agricultural Shows.
If you want me to list any you know of in your area, then send me an email and I will see what I can do. I will list Event/Date and contact number.

Northumberland County Tynedale Park Corbridge 31 May 2010 Tel 01434 604216
Road To The Isles Show Camasdarach Arisaig 12 June 2010 Tel 01687 450655
Royal Highland Show Ingleston Edinburgh 24-27 June 2010 Tel 0131 3356212
The Great Yorkshire Show Harrogate 13-15 July 2010 Tel 01423 546231
Cumberland County Show Carlisle Racecourse 17 July 2010 Tel 01697 747397
Tiree Agricultural Society Show Rural Centre Isle of Tiree 23 July 2010 Tel 01879 220321
Sutherland Show The Links Dornoch Sutherland 24 July 2010 Tel 01862 810162
Biggar Show The Showfield Biggar 24 July 2010 Tel 01899 810262
Nairn Show Kinnude Farm Auldearn 31 July 2010 Tel 01309 641121
Turriff Show The Showfield The Haughs Turriff 1-2 August 2010 Tel 01888 568830
Black Isle Show Mannsfield Showground Muir of Ord 4-5 August 2010 Tel 01463 870870
Lorn Show Near Oban 7 August 2010 Tel 01631 770228
Grantown Show Heathfield Park Grantown on Spey 12 August 2010 Tel 01343 555113
Orkney Show Bignold Park Kirkwall Orkney 14 August 2010 Tel 01856 771441
Appin Show Stalker Croft Appin Date TBC Tel 01631 730365
Lochaber Show Torlund Home Farm Near Fort William Date TBC Tel 01397 708508
Christmas Classic Thainstone Centre Inverurie 29-30 November 2010 Tel 01467 623786

I look forward to seeing you there.

Catch up and a Happy New Year

Firstly I would like to wish my faithful followers a Peaceful and Prosperous 2010.
I have not published for a little while as those of you who follow will know, I have had a rubbish 2009.
My father is still very much in my everyday thoughts, not just because of this time of year but also because he would have been 70 years old on the 4th of January.
My illness is still hanging on and is getting to me, my fuse is a little shorter than it was before, because the specialists cannot seem to ease my problem.
But this year I have to move on one step at a time to get on top of all these soul destroying problems.

We had a quiet Christmas, not through choice I might add.
The snow started on Friday 18th December, we had a flurry of snow which persisted through the night.
Then after that we had snow on and off but not huge amounts like they had down south or in the North of Scotland.
But the problem became worse when we had low temperatures, this caused the dirt track to become an ice rink.
So luckily we did the Christmas food shopping in Fort William.
Because the weather was so unpredictable we decided to stay at home, there was nothing needed that was so important to risk life and limb for on the road.

We are having to let the cows out of the byre one at a time because it is so slippery under foot, once they get out on to the common grazing's they wander off for the day, the sun in the afternoon is melting the snow out there so they are finding something to pick at.
Once they come back in they get a good feed and a warm bed.
The young calves were fluke and mite dosed today, I must say they were really mild tempered, what a difference there is between calves weened in the winter and calves weened in the summer.
Winter calves are in the shed through the night so they get used to you being around them and will let you stroke them.
Summer calves are out on the common grazing's all of the time and do not have the human interaction so are a bit more fiery when you try to do anything with them.
So that is the calves in for the duration now once they are weened from mother.
The mothers are all in calve and some of them are due imminently.
One of the heifers "Pal" is due right now so we are up through the night checking her to make sure all is well.
The old crofters used to say that the cow will sometimes go into labour when the moon is at it's fullest, but Pal is still hanging in there.

Our sheep now nine of them are all in lamb, Sandy the Cheviot ram went out at the beginning of November and has worked well, lots of Green markings on rumps that's the main thing, so we should be expecting babies around about 1st April, (no it's not an April fool).

We lost poor old Snowy the big White Charolais this year, she went out on the common grazing's with the others in the morning and never came back in the evening, we went out to look for her and there she was, at first we thought she was a sleep, but she was not old age comes to us all we can never escape it.
She was one of my husbands father's last original cows, we both had a soft spot for her, she is missed even now, her great grand daughter "Pal" inherited her stall and she fills it just as much as Snowy did.
Lets hope she follows in her great grandmothers footsteps.
Penny one of our other heifers gave birth to a little boy a couple of months ago, not that he is so little, he is also Snowy's great grandson, he is a beautiful fawn coloured Charolais and we named him Tougs.
He is soft natured like granny, and full of mischief, nosey too.
When I get the camera down-loaded I will post pictures.

It will soon be time to take the tree down, it is beautiful, a traditional fat six footer
I will miss it this year, as it is one of the nicest trees I have had for a long time.
We are all snug this evening in front of a Peat burning open fire, as we have been through the Christmas holidays.
All that hard work in the spring has come to some use, Peat has a beautiful aroma when you go out into the night air, it reminds you of so many things from your child hood.

My New Year resolution is to keep blogging more frequently than I did last year.
Anyway I will close for now, wishing you all a Happy New Year and pop in anytime to find out what we are up to.

Blue Tongue Information

Yesterday I read an article in The Crofters a journal of the Scottish Crofting Foundation printed in Skye.
It was in connection with the Blue Tongue vaccination.

Alasdair MacMhaoirn is seeking information with regards to strange phenomenon's that have occurred in you animals that you believe may be as a result of the Blue Tongue vaccination.
With his kind permission I have copied his article below.
Heading effects of Blue Tongue vaccination.
Alasdair MacMhaoirn seeks more information.
From time to time there are reports in the news about alleged side effects related to the Blue Tongue vaccine.
In all cases these have been discounted by authorities, but still the stories persist.
Any perusal of the Internet will lead to numerous examples and one site in particular, http://www.campaignforliberty.com/, has some very interesting points; among them that our own midges may be different from foreign ones and our native breeds may have a resistance. Apparently all cases so far have involved imported animals.
My own interest began when I was speaking to a fellow Highland breeder who, for the first time, experienced unusual problems.
As he told me, he has been raising cattle for years in the same area, Easter Ross, and this past calving was the first time he encountered two unusual problems.
The first problem was that one of his calves had a malformation in the jaw.
The breeder said that he had never seen this before in his stock, so it is natural that he wondered why.
The other problem is called "brittle hoofs".
It was as if the calf's hoofs were to delicate to walk on.
Again, he had never encountered this problem before and wondered why it should suddenly arise.
In both cases, the only new factor was the administration of the Blue Tongue vaccination.
I mentioned the problems to a local vet who discounted them immediately.
However it occurred to me if possible indications of problems are ignored in the first instance, then there will never be an accurate record of possible side effects which may then be investigated.
For example, I believe that it is acknowledged that GP's under-report drug reactions within the yellow card system.
Consequently, I thought it might be interesting to invite readers to contact me if they suspect that the vaccine may be causing problems.
I'll collate what ever responses I get and see what can be made of the.
Names need not be mentioned if preferred.
Please let me know if you suspect any problems at: alternatives.clinic@toucansurf.com
or post to Alternatives 39 High Street, Tain, IV19 1AE.

I have reported a couple of instances myself, with in a month of the vaccine administration we lost a cow in calf, for no apparent reason, she dropped where she stood, no warning what so ever.
To this day it cannot be explained.
Smaller more insignificant but unusual, one of our calves who's parents were both black ended up with an unusual colour splash on her hind quarters, like a grey bleach splash on a totally black background.
A pure breed Cheviot also had the same thing across her rib cage but it was a dirty brown splash mark, like a negative of the calf's marking.
I know for a fact there are others out there that have had unusual problems also.
I think this is a worth while exercise of an independent kind, after all the ministry pooh pooh that their vaccine may be the reason for some of these problems, but until the information is gathered then how will you know that you may not be alone, there could be others that have suffered the same unusual occurrences for no apparent reason.
So no matter how small the phenomenon give Alasdair the information for him to collate.
Hopefully he will publish his findings in The Crofter.
Thank you for reading.

I had to let go

I have not posted anything on here for a little while, as we had a tragedy in our family a short while ago and it is taking me a while to come to terms with it.
My illness has also hindered me from doing certain things as well, but grief is a hard thing to live with.
This is a personal tribute to my father.
He died on 12 July aged 69 after a short illness and we said good bye to him on 21st July when he was laid to rest.
My father had a hard working life, he started in the coal mining industry at the age of 15.
From there he moved into farming.
He loved the label Countryman because that's what he was, he liked nothing better than rolling his sleeves up and mucking in.
He always had his shirt sleeves up, that was a habit he never got out of even at the end.
He was brought up on the fells in a place called Tindale Tarn. (See attached link)
From there he moved around and settled in Calthwaite near Penrith.
He worked on a farm which had a large Frisian dairy heard, Black face sheep and as I recall from childhood memory a large selection on bulls which were chained to the ground in the fields.
I believe they could have been Charolais which were part of an AI centre.
Growing up there as a young child held a lot of fond memories for me.
One of which was crossing the fields from our home which was Rose Cottage in Low Plains, to our soon to be new home which was Lott Cottage, as our family was about to receive a new arrival imminently.
Dad said he would take me to help or hinder tidying up the new home for the flit.
At the time I would have been just over 4 years old, it was cold and wintry, late November early December time, the snow against me was quite deep, over my wellingtons anyway, my knees were chapped with the cold snow wetting through my dungarees.
My father had a firm and yet comforting warm grip of my small hand.
I felt at the time that I was doing a marathon, "why do parents insist on walking so fast when you have to do three paces to their every one"?
I remember starting to sob under my breath, (big girls don't cry at least not in public anyway), because I was so cold and tired with the trek over the snow covered fields.
My father looked down and I felt a tug on my hand as he swung me into the air and lifted me onto his shoulders, "there" he said "is that better now you can see what I see".
He said something that always stuck in my head, which comes to mind now and again, it was something like, Mums and Dads are learners too."We don't get a manual when we arrive on the planet on how to do things in our lives, but we have a journal at the end of our lives when we leave".
I took it to mean sorry for dragging you through the snow I forgot I was bigger than you ; )
But what ever his meaning it stuck with me.
We arrived at our destination, at was a large cottage with two bedrooms an outside privy, and a shed for animals which was situated under the back bedroom.
When he opened the door about five sheep came scampering out and nearly flattened my dad.
I asked if they were living there too, dad said they were about to be chucked out.
The floor in the house was flagstones covered in sheep droppings.
There was a pot sink in the vestibule as you walked through the front door a fireplace in the living room and that was all.
It was dark and damp, but soon to be our new home.
This was the start of many happy memories for me, I loved Lott Cottage and hated it when we eventually left years later.
My father was a great personality he filled a room with his stories and reminiscences from old.
He believed in telling the truth as no good ever came of telling lies, however hurtful the truth could be, lies they always come back to haunt you.
He brought us up to speak our minds, never to be afraid of doing so.
He was a strong character, but towards the end he became agitated because people were doing things for him when his mind said you do it has body would not let him, it broke our hearts to see him suffering in such a cruel way, a strong willed man reduced to a broken spirited shell.

He was always there for all of his little girls when ever we had a problem or we just needed to talk to him he was there to listen and offer what advise he could.
It's been a short time since I said good bye and I still have to stop myself from picking up the telephone to speak to him.
Life still goes on sometimes it sweeps you along like a raging river whether you like it or not.
The grief will always be there sometimes like a dense cloud cover sometimes like a small cloud.
But never far away.
I had to say good bye to Dad which was heart breaking to do I had to let go of his warm comforting hand for what seemed like the first time in my life.

My Spoilt Brat

Well you better believe it Fraochan has turned in to a little brat ; )

He has taken over everything, even bossing cullan our collie dog about.

Even though he has been a great addition to our little family, he makes you smile even when you just look at him.

Fraochan has taken to sleeping between us in bed and if you do not make room for him he scratches your head until you do move to let him in.

He will not eat normal dog food he has decided that he will sit beneath the dinner table and bark until you give him something of yours from the plate.

He will dive into the dog dish when Cullen has finished eating everything and avidly scrape the sides of the bowl like he is starving, when you put something in the bowl for him he sniffs his nose at it and walks away. : (

He loves Malteser's and gets huffy if you come out of the shop without any in your pocket.

We found out he will attack you for an ice cream, the minute you get into the car with a cone in your hand he is on your knee trying to take a chunk out of the ice cream before you even get a taste of it.

He loves the bath but is not keen of the sea, I think he deliberately goes and gets dirty just so you can put him in the bath.

If he hears one of the Tornado planes shoot past over head he will come running in and jump on your knee for protection : 0

Mischief is his middle name, I can put something down and he will pick it up and run out into the garden with it, he has been caught burying his food in the garden as well as my socks.

Cullan has grown attached to him and very protective of the wee man.

He also runs along behind you and taps at the back of you ankles with his feet to pick him up, he likes to get a birds eye view of things rather than a view of tall grass only.

He makes us laugh out load sometimes, and it's hard to tell him off when he is naughty because he looks at you with those big brown eyes which would melt the hardest heart.

I have a screen saver with wee whiskey playing in the sea with cullan, I still miss him terribly and Fraochan will never replace him but he has filled a hurting heart.

Creag Mhor Caravan

I have added a link on the right hand side of this blog for our caravan. (See Creag Mhor Caravan) It gives an idea of the area that the van is situated.
I get many people ringing up and sending emails asking where we are and what it is like.
I do not mind explaining and going to the effort of letting them know we are not on the beach front.
They all appear to be exited and do not mind that we are not on the beach front in fact as they say it is just what they are looking for?
Well that is until I mention the fact that we live down what I call a dirt track, yes it is not a tarred road, but you do not need a pony and cart to get down the track either as someone once asked? a car is quite adequate I think ; )
So I decided to post a video of the caravan and part of the track it is not a great quality video but you should get the gist of it.

I have also posted a couple of pictures of the "dirt track" just for information below.
It is secluded and private, ideal for couples (although it will sleep six) who like peace and quiet away from the madding crowd.

The track goes all the way up to a place called Scammadale by Loch Morar.

It is a beautiful walk or maybe if you are energetic a bike ride.

There is great fishing in the area, and I have had many parties of anglers staying in the van, it is ideal for them to leave their fishing rods fully extended and left under the van without worrying about them getting damaged, lost or stolen.

Anyway see for yourselves, I am sure you will be more enlightened.

Phew

Well I appear to have been a bit remiss again?
I have had an illness I cannot seem to shake off.
It started with a very bad flu in February, and ever since then things have not been altogether right.
Things in my immune system did not go back to how they should, so since then I have been prodded and poked about by the doctors to try and get to the bottom of this cough which sounds like a hippos roar when he is in full charge if you know what I mean.
So I have not had the full lung power I should have, inhalers seem to have become a part of my life at the moment, lets hope not for ever, I feel a lot better that I first did, and hopefully I will be back at work with in the next week or so.
In the mean time I have had to stay away from animal foods, hay, straw, barley etc, even sprays such as deodorant can set of a chain reaction to misery.
So I have confined myself to outdoor things fresh air is the best cure so they say.
My husband and a friend have been busy cutting peat again this year whilst the weather is good, they went for it big style this year, we have a very large peat stack and a medium sized one that is still to finish.

Our Peat Stacks

The steam train crosses right behind our peat field, and every so often you can see a camera flash from the train, they must be taking photographs, as this is something you very rarely see on the mainland these days.
A couple of weeks ago the steam train went trundling past whilst we were beginning to stack the peat, my husband said that it was not going to make the bough of the hill to Arisaig Station, he was right, it had to come all the way back down the hill to build up steam to have another go.
We had a lot of people waving from the train and taking pictures, they probably thought we were nuts, or maybe some of them did not even have a clue what we were actually doing?
Anyway the train coincidentally driven by a cousin of my husbands, set off at a great pace, leaving behind him a fire on the track hillside, which tends to happen a lot in the hot weather, better for us if it happens on our side of the track as it burns the old bracken and heather away without us having to set the fires ourselves.
Anyway my husband said he was not going to make it again, and sure as anything here he came trundling back down the hill towards us, they stopped where the fire had started and some of the men piled off the train to put out the fire, whilst my hubby's cousin built up the steam on board the Jacobite ready for another go, mean while the natives on board the train were shouting out things like, "can we have a tow"? "do you take bed and breakfast" and such like, all good banter.
Once the fire was extinguished the Jacobite Steam Train was reversed down the track to the level crossing at the bottom of the hill.
Alec Iain my husbands cousin let off a loud whistle and the Jacobite Steam Train thundered into action she flew up the hill at a tremendous pace roaring all the way, she clanked and hissed past us in the peat field with great flutes of steam trailing behind her, there was no stopping her this time, Alec Iain saluted on the way past as she climbed the hill with great majesty, leaving behind her little pockets of fire on the banks of the railway track and a deadly silence after all the excitement.

Jacobite Steam Train behind our house.

Phew well she made it into the station after all the commotion, I bet the people on the train loved every minute of their train ride, it does not happen that often maybe two or three times a season when the weather is just right, the tracks become slippy with the heat and well you know the rest.

Stock Judging Event Torlundy Fort William

This is for the locals who read my blog and anyone else who may be in the area.
There will be a stock judging event in the auction mart at Tordundy this Friday 15th May 2009 at 7:00pm.
All those people who are interested please try to make an effort to go along and support it.
It is not often these events happen and they are getting less and less.
Local support and participation of these events is always needed or else we lose them.
Even if you have not got a clue or you have never clapped eyes on a sheep or cow, come along and have ago it is great fun even the kids would enjoy it.
A night out for all the family what more could you ask for?
Meet people old and new for a good old natter.
There is refreshments in the interval and raffle prizes to be won.
Nearly everyone goes home with something, even a big smile.
So come along and see what it's all about.

Look what I got

Awe look what I got.

His name is "fraochan" which is Gaelic for White Heather.

He is a 7 week old Jack Russell.

His colours are perfect, he has a little kink in his tail, he had his tail jammed in a door when he was a couple of weeks old.

After losing Whisky it has been a little hard for me to think of having another dog, but we really needed to jump in at the deep end because our collie Cullan was missing another dogs company.

He was looking unhappy when we were out and about with him, he was always looking for his pal.

He still sits by his grave on an evening in the garden, it was becoming heartbreaking watching him moon about.

So hence Fraoch, they both took to each other like ducks to water, and run around the garden like lunatics, not to mention the house, it is taking a bit of getting used to as Fraoch is small and follows you about everywhere, one minute he is over there next he is behind you feet, he moves like the wind.

We gave him Whisky's bed and he loves it, he dives in and digs around the edges hiding his dog biscuits is something else he has decided to do.

I suppose this comes from being part of a large litter, they are competitive for food.

Anyway we love him and so does Cullan that's the main thing.

He is so curious I introduced him the the sheep, he never batted an eye, that might be a good sign, he eats everything so he has to be watched all of the time.

He likes to lie down at the top of your head and curl up in a small ball.

He has such a good nature.

I will keep you posted with his exploits ; )