Postal Orders

Spook commented to Our Princess recently that he’d hardly spent any money over lockdown. She stared in disbelief, as a non-stop trail of delivery people and exhausted Posties have beaten a path to our doorstep. Tractor hubs, tyres, Subaru subframe, nuts bolts, cables, power washer, hoses, wine making equipment……..the list goes on. Truly, it is myself who has done the least shopping. As lockdown stretches on, Ive spent hours watching the garden birds, and getting to know the Robin family with 3 Bairns, and then the Chaffinches with their 3.

Spook has become fond of Yaffle the Woodpecker even though he’s become a wee bit demanding when the fat balls run out. He sounds like a squeaky toy and lets us know when he’s there and the table is bare. I’m a bit worried he’s forgotten how to peck a tree. And the Woodpecker has been demanding too.
Thanks to my friend M2N, who is an amazing Grower (and Painter) over in Pittenweem, I have fantastic salad leaves growing in the poly tunnel. Whatever seeds he sent me just grow. Stunning. And my tattie patch has finally begun to flourish. I feel empowered.

Of course the tunnel continues to be a glorified rabbit hutch and since I blocked off the rabbit holes the rabbits are inside and can’t get out. I daresay they’ll just dig another hole. I have had to net or raise everything that’s in there. No wonder they like it - I like it myself, in its different moods.

Yesterday morning, and this morning however, it was me who received a delivery - which blocked both the normal delivery van AND the Postie. Yesterday’s delivery only stayed where it was meant to for about 2 minutes. Which is better than our pigs a few years ago as they only managed about 20 seconds. So we’re improving.

There then followed a very arduous day of emergency fencing by the delivery man who is the Goat Ladies husband - GLH. He and she are relocating from a fairly isolated to Glen to an extremely isolated loch side. The lochside is not ready for goats…..or a donkey…..

Mr Brown

The question is - are WE ready for goats and a donkey. Well, thanks to GLH and Mrs Goat Lady, we are at least a bit closer to it now. The Donkey sustained major carpet burn from the back of the float, so we had to call upon Mr and Mrs McFarmer from next door, who turned up with some anti-biotic spray. It took Princess and myself hanging onto his head collar at the sides, GLH blocking a frontal escape and Mrs Goat Lady chasing behind with the spray can,( having warned us that Mr Brown was able to kick frontwards and backwards,) to finally make his red bottom turn blue. Very reassuring. Mr and Mrs McFarmer stayed on the otherside of the gate. They do sheep, cows, deer, dogs, cats. Not, as yet, donkeys or goats. But they are willing and welcome supporters and will be watching their neighbours with interest.

I was wondering if I could get close enough to paint a wee saltire on there. Maybe not.

Goats and donkey reunited after a day apart, on separate sides of the road, did inspire a lot of noisy braying to acknowledge that Mr Brown had seen them. I’m going to assume that the braying will now stop and all will be peaceful. GLH has done a great job of the extremely wobbly and useless fence.

And yet, the beautiful green field is not what interests them. Everything outside of the field looks far more tastier. When I first met these goats and the donkey in their quiet glen, they seemed so easy going…

The Goat Lady made it all look fun.

Now she is leaving us with them until she and GLH can get their shed rebuilt in it’s new location and all I have to do is keep them alive and out of the neighbours gardens.

The calm and reassuring presence of GLH and the Goat Lady have gone now. There’s my reassuring but utterly manufactured appearance in work ready dungarees, and there is Princess and her fast, goat and donkey chasing legs. Spook is planning to electrify every tree and bush around the fence line - these are not the first goats he’s had to live with and he has a look of trepidation. I’m glad to say that, although I may have recieved the delivery, and whilst I couldn’t quite say he’d ordered it, he did give it full approval. No going back now, Spooky.