Nip Nips and beyond

For the first time since I can remember it's been just me and Sid for Christmas. Or more correctly, Sid and I. Absolute bliss. No in laws to entertain, nobody else's agenda to pursue but our own, nobody's whims to accommodate but those of myself, one French person (much easier to deal with in the singular than in packs) and those of the 5000 creatures we share our lives with. The fact that I am attending to 4 horses, 3 goats, 6 chickens, a dog and 5 cats on my jack has meant that there's been ample opportunity to streamline the daily doings, all in pursuit of the pressing requirement to sit on my arse. Speaking of arses, it also means that I can now reliably discuss what it feels like to have a chicken peck you on the arse while you're skipping out a stable. The answer, lest anyone be concerned for the wellbeing of said arse, is that it's not as painful as one might anticipate, although the coldness of the weather and resulting gluteal numbness should be taken into account. Were one to submit this to the rigours of a mathematical formula to determine the exact pain level, there would be a definite requirement to include a numbness quotient based on ambient external temperature, gluteal surface area and layers and thickness of clothing. For the sake of accuracy one might also need to consider the type of peck involved. An investigative peck for example brings to bear rather less force (where F=MA) than would a determined peck of the sort that would occur were one for some reason to find oneself wearing pants made of the finest corn, although I'm not convinced that we need to concern ourselves at this stage with these rather less likely events and would do better to concentrate on more regular clothing such as breeches or jeans.

In the French tradition we had our main meal on Christmas Eve, and it was probably the best meal I've ever eaten. It was also a complete treat not to have to lift a finger and be served with a startling array of gorgeous grub. I can see that there's going to be a lot more home made pasta in our immediate future! Clearly it was a Good Day for cooking and Sid bless him cooked out of his skin to produce such a glory of fine food. We don't really do presents any more but concentrate instead on enjoying good food and being here at the farm, which is essentially a lifetime's worth of Christmases and birthdays all rolled into one.

We had friends round on Christmas night which made for another epic and a 2:30am close. Blast my eyes, all I can think about is having to get up early to do breakfasts when I get past a certain point. Notwithstanding that it was a really good night and has given me some food for thought about some changes that I need to make for the next stage in my life.

Because the fields are frozen solid and icy in places we kept the boys in last night, and this morning my plan was to place a line of electric rope across just outside the stable to give them access to outside but not the whole field. So I dutifully got out the fencing kit and fiddled around putting the line across Q's fence, and tied plastic bags on it to make more of a visible barrier. Ha! Let Q out and he went charging out at full pelt, striaght through the fence as though it wasn't there. Arses. Luckily he didn't do himself a mischief and it kind of reaffirmed my thoughts that it's probably safer to leave them free access so they come and go calmly, than keeping them in. Can't wait for the thaw though and I've put down some old hay and poo on his regular path to give a bit more traction.

In spite of this I felt it was worth trying with T, so off I went with the fencing kit and fiddled around putting the line across T's fence, and tied plastic bags on it to make more of a visible barrier. This time I led T out and let him have a sniff before taking off his headcollar, at which he ducked his head and walked straight under the line as though it wasn't there. *sigh*

So they're out with a big pile of haylage, and the girls are in the picadeiro, where Q can keep an eye on them.

Meanwhile my plans to get up to see my folks have fallen by the wayside because the ovlov's head gasket hasn't been fixed and it is locked in the garage for the duration. Sid is thrilled because it doesn't mean he has to stay home and minister to 4 horses, 3 goats, 6 chickens, a dog and 5 cats all by himself.

Still no riding. The yard is an ice rink, but I'm hopeful for Tuesday when we are expecting temperatures of around 10 degrees - a veritable heatwave!