Farm on the M62: He came, he sawed, he conquered - Jill Thorp
The half term holiday couldn’t have arrived soon enough for the little guy. The relief and change in his demeanour has been palpable allowing him to relax and be himself again. After a couple of market days with his Dad which saw him reduce his Zwartble flock considerably he quickly started thinking of ways he could make more money.
The relief and change in his demeanour has been palpable allowing him to relax and be himself again. After a couple of market days with his Dad which saw him reduce his Zwartble flock considerably he quickly started thinking of ways he could make more money.
Keen to upgrade his bike, the many ideas we suggested, were quickly disregarded as they would interfere with his half term holiday too much. However, when Paul set him the task of cutting up some old fencing posts for the fire, a little seed was planted in his head. Before his kindling operation had even begun, he’d advertised his services; a large bag of kindling delivered to your door, he’d sold more than he could keep up to. A great pile of pallets appeared under the porch and for most of his half term break, he wielded his axe with a steely determination. It came as no surprise that we were both roped in to helping out and by the fourth day of endless chopping and cutting I told him to take his advert down until we got caught up. Much to my horror, however, the following day his happy little face appeared on social media, next to a large pile of sticks and more orders rolled in. The pallet pile slowly disappeared along with his enthusiasm. The saw was no good, the axe blunt. So a new saw and axe were purchased and he set about filling bags with renewed vigour. It is at this stage that I should point out that I had been assigned the task of taking apart the pallets so he could cut them into sticks; a job I too was quickly losing enthusiasm for. The nails were determined to remain entrenched in the wood and despite the two of us developing a system of dismantling the pallets, sawing and axing, it took well over an hour to fill a bag. As it turned out, he made quite a tidy little profit with none of it going towards his staff who will no doubt be expected to fulfil his many orders now he has returned to school.
With a week or two of very wet and unsettled weather, we decided to bring the cows in. Paul waited for a dry and calm day and they were quite willing to follow him down to the shed. They’d ceased to roam and graze across the moors; the grass was about done and the storms had kept them down near the trees and their creep feeders. The area quickly turned to a muddy mess with heavy feet churning it up, so the decision was made.
The Leicester girls are now sporting brightly coloured rumps meaning the boys are finally doing their job. The raddle paint which is applied between the front legs and chest of the tup, marks the ewes as they are served, which lets us know things are happening! The last of our lambs and shearlings went to their new homes at the weekend and much to Paul’s relief, the sheep shed is looking fairly empty! Before we know it Christmas will be here followed by the countdown to lambing time and the arrival of new life.