244

Silage

The damp weather does have the effect of lowering Mr Crofter's morale a tad - which is unfortunate because it seems to be damp or wet most of the time at present. If only we could export the water we have the SE of England, we'd be made!

So, the relentless march of feeding times for the animules continues.At least The Crofter has some toys to drive to keep him happy - ish.

243

The Crofter

It's wet.
Wetter than yesterday morning it looks like. I have not ventured out yet. My waterproofs are hanging waiting for me to don them and tootle down The Croft to see what mayhem is happening down there, Mud I suspect!

The darkroom beckoned yesterday - it's warmer and dryer in there - and not much darker either. The Crofter appeared on the paper after some fancy hand-work. It must have been sunny then. No idea when that was, I can't think that far back.

242

Lucy

Just in case you were worried about her, Lucy is having make-over inside the ex-feed room. New paint and possibly the engine will work too. All things are possible !

241

Convoy

The Crofter is happy. I can assure you of that. Maybe it's because I was away for 10 days recently. Maybe it was because I bought eggs from him today, maybe it was because I let him have my home-made dental sand-blaster I found whilst clearing out my late mother's house or more likely it was because things were going well down on t'croft - despite the inclement weather. To be honest, when I arrived for a visitation, the sun was shining but it soon deteriorated into the usual snow/hail shower. Anyway, the old tractor was coaxed into life, the trailer hitched up and something horrible was taken from there to - somewhere else. Somewhere I don't know. But it helped make the great man happy. As you can see !

240

 Sorting Silage

... for the coows

 ... and piggie might get some too

But not if Diogenes has anything to do with it

Yes, I know it's ages since I've posted here. Apologies but the rain here has been persistent that if one ventures on the the croft one is likely to disappear under the mud! We did have one day of less than all day rain - the sun even came out for a while so I went down t'road to see how grumpy The Crofter was. He wasn't grumpy at all. Probably due to the warmth of his house now the heating has been sorted and the fact that Pater Crofter was doing the feeding up.

239

Love of Satellite 

"It's the only pleasure I have" the Crofter tried to convince me as Dad Crofter teetered on the top of the ladder trying to wedge a piece of wood behind the bracket so that Liverpool FC might score in sunshine rather than the pixelated snowstorm of late [they did score as it happens but their opponents - Bolton youth reserve team scored three times ! ]. Note how The Crofter directed affairs from the safety of the solid ground. I suppose, when the only pleasure you have is watching TV, one has to be careful.

238

Despite the coming rain, I took myself off to see The Crofter. He was putting the starting touches to some dental prosthetic work [that actually earns him dosh ] before doing something croft. Dad Crofter was strolling up t'road after moving the car, dressed in his warm winter gear. It seems there was as some grit type stuff going free so the old trailer needed emptying and refitting with its sides so that the grit stuff wouldn't be spread the length of the village. Apparently the Crofter has a spot of muddiness in the ex-lawn area where the tractor is now parked. And we wouldn't want to get the tractor tyres muddy would we? No is the answer you are looking for. So, while the Crofter and his Dad man-handled the metal coow keepy-backy bits off the trailer, I took some snaps. As you do.