Hello you lot,

Blogging tonight listening to Tracey Chapman & eating a chocolate mousse.
Stu-did you kow that Bin & Stinca also look like Gianluca Vialli when they lick out
mousse & yoghurt pots ? And we thought it was just Barley.
A perfect end to a pretty sublime today & there's still England thrashing Samoa
to come. If I ever find myself having a bad day in future I will just recall today.

I have just returned from the paddocks & have been checking the aminals & feeding the pigs.

The Tanners are all away for the weekend & don't return until tomorrow am.

Eric's going away care & feeding instructions were,

'The dogs get this much, the chickens get this much, the cows & the sheep aren't
being fed anymore & if there's anything really serious, the vet's number is on the fridge. We don't call the vet for the sheep, the killing knife lives over there'

He was only half-joking.

Everything has gone smoothly, no fires, out of control or otherwise & only Inca has
given me any cause for concern. Twice today he has disappeared to be found
snuffling around in Clare & Ian's paddock looking for tasty treats like afterbirth or
lambs tails. The neighbours have threatened to shoot him which sounds severe
but is standard practice for dogs found worrying sheep. At least they have warned us that is what they will do. Most farmers would just shoot 1st with no warning.

I feel mean binning him up, especially as I let Bin stay out. Seemed unfair to banish
them both when Bin has been very good & not left his doggy hammock except to stretch his legs & get frequent drinks of water. Think I would rather be mean though, than explain to Eric that his dog had been shot whilst I was taking care of him.

Today has been very hot, 25 degrees on the deck, & the bikini has had an outing.
I am very oddly coloured, brown forearms & 'v' & face. Trying to even up the tan now.

When I fed the pigs this evening there was a bit of a breakthrough & the small black one (whose name escapes me) allowed me to scratch her all over. I sat on the floor in the paddock with them whilst they ate & I have done this every time I have fed them. Usually, when I reach out to touch them, they jump as if scalded & run away, no matter how delicately I touch them.

This evening however, I lightly scratched behind her ears whilst she had her nose stuck in the bottom of the scraps tub. Initially, she stiffened & I thought she was going to run away again, then she relaxed, realised it actually felt quite good & allowed me to rub her all over. The other pigs were all watching & looking wary as if to say 'no thanks'.

The pigs eat their food very systematically. They eat their pig nuts 1st, completely disregarding the much more appetising (to me anyway) table scraps. These can include anything, fruit & veg, bits of bread, trimmings & in today's case 2 eggs. Only when the last of the nuts has been hoovered up do they deign to examine the scraps.

The eggs were a 1st & only because I found them in the chichens run today. They had been out in the sun all day yesterday. I didn't fancy eating them but thought the pigs might appreciate them. Their reaction was very amusing. They regarded the eggs with deep suspicion & even when I made yummy little appetising noises they weren't convinced. They took large, elaborate strides around the eggs as if they were dangerous explosives which may go off unbidden at any moment.

Then one of the pigs stepped on an egg & cracked it. As soon as they got a whiff of its contents they hurled themselves upon it, sucking & slurping eagerly like alcoholics downing their 1st drink of the day. I thought the other egg would be despatched rapidly, now they were familiar with the contents. But no, there followed the same ritual of sniffing & looking at the 'dangerous' egg warily.

Finally, I held the egg out to the same one who had cracked the 1st one. Without any hesitation, she took it, cracked it & then fought the other 3 for the glutinous, yellow insides. Very amusing.

As I was feeding the pigs I was being watched by the cows & calves. The cows still hope to be fed by every human they see & so follow, just in case. I am very taken with most of the cows & needless to say, my calf Carol, is very beautiful. She has a gorgeous, pert face, very like the Jerseys so prolific here. The exceptions to the rule are 'Mad Petunia' & Evil Fu-Manchu calf or 'Saddle'. Petunia lost her calf who suffocated at birth & hasn't been 'right' since. She is prone to lungeing about in the most peculiar way & for no apparent reason, head lowered & rear hooves flailing wildly. The other cows give her a wide berth & I don't trust her as far as I could throw her.

The other calf isn't evil, like Petunia, he just looks it. He is a dead ringer for the baddie in Fu-Manchu movies with eyes which are sloping & heavily ringed with black kohl pencil. We will awake one day to find Petunia running the joint & Fu-Manchu as her henchman, I just know it. No pics of either for the time being as the laptop has gone away with the family & I can't download my pics to the desktop.

After the cows, I went & looked at the sheep. There are 38 at the moment, including 4 new-borns & 2 rams, Tua & Cyril. Tua is a big, handsome beast with a Roman nose. There are lots of leggy lambs with black faces this season. Cyril is past his prime & once Tua had kicked his butt to show him what was what, they settled down to a very peaceful existence together. Tua occasionally shoves him around a bit, Cyril offers no resistance & harmony is restored.

I think there are birds nesting in Eric's Range-Rover. I saw something swoop under the bonnet, from the corner of my eye today. It lies dormant in the front paddock, to Michelle's dismay, she says it gives the place a 'Steptoe & Son' air.
Eric says he will use it again when he has the parts it needs. In the meantime, I
am glad someone is using it for a home.

Bill & chums visited yesterday. He was accompanied by his skipper Dave & another PC, Mark. They were only able to stay an hour or so but it was enough time for 2 cups of tea & a very quick guided tour or Cedar Lodge. Bill is very settled as a traffic cop now, or 'snake', so much so, that when I asked if he wanted a tour he asked 'On foot ?'

They were shown all the relevant sites, including the pool, where the chichens live, & the remnants of 'The Fire'. They oohed & aahed in all the right places. They said what most people say, which is 'Wow - I fancy this lifestyle'. They were then cajoled into foties for Blog & on their way again.

It amused me to watch Bill & exactly the same dynamics at work as with his colleagues in the UK. Bill grabs the converstion & runs with it, not in a rude way, he just doesn't have time for your input. He was even finishing off my questions & then answering them himself & saying that I spoke too slowly now I live in the country. His 2 colleagues would try to interrupt his rapid flow of observations, accents, anecdotes & impressions. They would fail & sit back & listen, like me. Talk about a one-man band. Very funny, a great talker, not convinced he's a bloke really. Oh yes & he's grown since the last time I saw him ?

Bill, I am making bread at the moment. In the machine. That makes bread. Which gets used. And doesn't live in a cupboard.

Bill says he would like to take his house & put it at the top of the Tanner's driveway. Can't see it would be a problem, Eric works for the council after all, I'm sure the planning permission would be a doddle. Commute would be a b***er though.

Last night I set out to watch 3 rugby games back-to-back. Australia-v-Namibia, then Italy-v-Wales & finally Scotland-v-France. Did you see the Oz game ? Poor Namibia, how embarrassing. 142-0, if you didn't see it, more like a cull than a game. I thought their skipper was extremely dignified & tactful at the end-of-match interview, especially when the Aussie interviewer asked him ...

'Surely, it must be a great honour for your team to play the Wallabies ?'

Then Wales & Italy. I really wanted Wales to win. I don't think Italy merit a place even in 6 Nations. I was pleasantly surprised when Wales won so easily though, especially given their prop was Miss Piggy. Have you ever seen such girly hair on a rugby player, let alone a forward. I'd love to cut it all off whilst he's asleep.

Get your hair cut Duncan Jones ! Bring back national service, I say.

I was too bushed to watch the Scotland-France game & still don't know the score. Would I be making a very unfair assumption if I guessed that France won ?

Tonight is Argentina-v-Ireland at 8pm. No prizes for guessing who I'll be cheering for. Has Garth made it to OZ for the World Cup, Cocky ? Then England will be handing out the slaps to Samoa at 10.30pm. It would be nice to see a close, hard-fought game for a change. Not the England one though, obviously.

So we face the Welsh dragon on the 9th Nov in the 1/4 final. Can't see it being a tough game unless they arm the Welsh.

I heard something today which set my teeth on edge. Some band called 'No Doubt' who I seem to recall are headed by Gwen Stefani have covered Talk-Talks classic 'It's my life'. I have no gripe with Ms Stefani hersef & have liked some of her hip-hop stuff.

It's my Life

Funny how I find myself in love with you
If I could buy my reasoning I'd pay to lose
One half won't do
I've asked myself
How much do you commit yourself?

It's my life (Don't you forget)

Funny how I blind myself
I never knew if I was sometimes played upon
Afraid to lose, I'd tell myself what good you do
Convince myself

It's my life

How much do you commit yourself?

It's my life
Don't you forget
Caught in the crowd
It's my life



HOWEVER-I was 16, in 1984 when 'It's my life' was released & it seemed to sum up perfectly how I felt at the time. Anxious, lonely, unsure of myself, hormonal & very mixed up. A teenager, in short. It has always been a hugely evocative record for me & I have even tried to limit how many times I hear it, so that it never loses that appeal. I am very p***ed off that anyone should cover this record at all, but when the vocals are weak, reedy & breathy it just compounds the insult. Talk Talk had a clean, pure, understated sound which was very powerful because of it. No Doubt have taken the score & put jingly-jangly, LA pop, crappy guitars all over it. It is the most sucky cover in the whole sucky history of sucky covers. Ever.

And breathe.

Sorry, starting to sound like Q on a music-journo rave then.

Well, I have a few minutes before the Ire-Arg game so am going to grab some dinner & listen to a few Archers episodes.

Thank you for listening to my 'perfect day'.
It only needed a horse-ride to make it any better.
Oh yes - & the quarry lorries weren't running, the only noises I heard all day
were made by aminals.

Love to all,

Cx