Hello you lot,

The storm finally abated at 0600 this morning which means it had been howling for some 15 hours. I got very little sleep last night.

It wasn't just the wondering if/when the pine trees were going to crush the cottage (& me in my bed) but the sheer volume of noise.
I don't mind admitting it was scary.

Today, Eric said he was worried too.
Not about his lodger though but the pigs.
He was contemplating checking them at 0230to see if their hut had blown away.

As a result of my lack of sleep I found it very difficult to stay awake today.
I have passed up an invitation to some friends of the family for dinner & propose an early night after a very hot bath to try catch up on some sleep.

Today was very exciting at work.
At 2.15 a huge pine tree crashed to the ground in Spook's paddock. Spook is a pony stallion whose job is to 'check' if the mares are in season.

I feel sorry for Spook. The chaps give him a hard time & say he is grumpy but I have to say I don't blame him.

His only function is as a warm-up guy for His Royal Highness 'Van Nistlerooy' or 'Nissle' as he is now called.

Essentially, Spook gets a lifetime of foreplay & no relief. Now wonder he's grumpy.

Where was I ?

Ah, the tree. It came down right where he normally stands so he had a very lucky escape. It was about 200' tall & crashed through the electric fence.

Steve cut it into chunks with a chainsaw whilst Murray scooped up the bits in the tractor & made a huge pile of logs. I have to say Murray is a dab hand with a tractor & made it look very easy whilst I looked on enviously.

Did I tell you that I drove one of the farm tractors on Friday ? I can't remember.
There are 2, 1 is old & red & the other is posh, new & blue. Needless to say it was the red 1 I drove but it did have a huge trailer which empties hydraulically :)

I am now working on Murray to drive the blue one. He is a fan of my baking so there may be some blatant bribery involved.

When I asked him how long he had driven tractors for he said since 'he was in nappies' He asked if we had them in England ?

I told him most countries have nappies.

I must sign off for now, lots to sort on the pooter tonight.

Have just e-mailed Genevieve telling her all my news. Hope the e-mail doesn't get 'lost'

Bill sent me a photo of 'Emily Victoria' today along with a comment that she was more atttractive than a foal.

Strange some people.

Cx