Carnival Week at Fowey.

The week of Matthews party coincided with Fowey carnival week.
The week always starts with a firework display. Hundreds of people come for many miles to enjoy this treat. The setting over the river Fowey is fantastic.
Of course the sailing is very popular and boats come from far and wide to race.
Wednesday is carnival day. Various brass bands for which Cornwall is famous parade through the narrow streets. The carnival Queen looked very beautiful with her two attendants. All in all it was a noisy fun evening.
Thursday evening is the highlight of the week. The famous red arrows give their annual display over the harbour.
Cars began arriving at 1pm for the six o clock performance. Everyone wants to be sure of a good viewing spot.By 4pm the roads were almost gridlocked. Farmers opened fields to the public,there were thousands of cars.
At exactly 6pm the Arrows arrived swooping low over the river. They were soon into their heart stopping routine, criss crossing each other only a few feet apart. The unique thing about the display here is that you are looking down on the planes instead of looking up. It was fantastic. I am hoping someone has a good photograph I can post for you. I tried to take one but ended up with just the sky.
Another even bigger firework display ends the week on the Saturday but unfortunately it was a bit foggy this year and that marred the display somewhat.

The harvest is in.

The weather finally became sunny and the combine rolled out to work again. Nigel spent many hours a day in the combine harvesting the wheat.

The grain is smaller than usual but we have heard that it is the same all over the country. We are very relieved to have our grain safe in the store.at least we will have enough to see us through the Winter and some to spare.

Simon followed the combine with the baler. Straw will be in short supply as well this Winter so we wanted to make sure we harvested it before it rained again.



We have had a very busy week. Matthew came down from Essex to celebrate his 40th birthday with all his friends and family.

Lorna spent two very busy days cooking a magnificent feast for a hundred people. Friends arrived from London and Essex. Some camped on the lawn and some put a sleeping bag on the farmhouse floor.

The old grain store was brushed out and decorated with posters, it looked quite smart.

Julian brought his big gas barbique and Barry brought the music.

We all had a great time. The younger members of the family danced

until three am. I think there were a few sore heads the next day, and everyone was tired. Luckily there were a few pasties left so we finished them up for lunch.

Foot and mouth .

The dreaded foot and mouth has hit England again. I wonder who is at fault this time. No doubt the government will find someone to blame. Although we are a long way from the outbreak we are still under restrictions. Our main concern is that we cannot put cattle across the road to fresh pastures. They can see and smell the new grass but cannot eat it. They are pacing up and down the hedgerow, not happy animals at all.

Simon and Nigel are working all hours trying to harvest the wheat before the storms are due to hit us tonight. Last night the combine engine roared well into the night. There are three fields left to do and not many hours left.
The wheat sample is small this year but if it is going to be scarce every grain will count.
Simon is also trying to keep up with the bailing. He hardly has a minute to spare.
The dryer has been working day and night .The grain must be stored with a moisture content of less than 15% or it will heat up and spoil.
You just wouldn't believe it, the cantankerous machine that is the combine harvester has broken down. It's water pump has gone wrong the weather is going to win.

As I got closer it edged its feet over the edge and was going to jump. I decided I was going to take thr dogs back to frogmore and hoped that by leaving it to calm down it would come back from the edge. After a cup of coffee I went back and she was still threatening to jump, she was certenly going to be a problem. Her head was held very high and her eyes were very twitchy. This means that her calcium levels where dangerously low and any kind of shock would mean that she would drop down dead. A ewe can get very low calcium levels by being worried when they are pregnant.
I phoned Simon who was at Polperro and he came back at once. Lorna, Chris, Simon and I went down to lantivet bay with the tractor and ropes. It was pouring with rain and everywhere was muddy and slippery. I was quit worried about the whole thing. It wasn't any good calling the coastguard because if the ewe saw a stranger she would certainly jump.
Simon got over the fence and slid along on his stomach, the ewe looked back but didn't see him because calcium deficiency can cause blindness. He made a grab for her back leg just as she jumped, thank goodness he is really strong as he managed to hold on and gradually pull her up.
I had a large syringe of calcium waiting for her and injected it under the skin. We took her up to the farm and examined her. Her ears had been bitten and were bleeding and one will always be fat and droopy. She had an injection of penicillin to stop infection in her wounds. We will keep her housed until she lambs in February, hopefully they will be alive.
I have heard people say my dog wasn't attacking the sheep it was only playing with them. I wish they would realise that the trauma of being chased and cornereed is enough to kill them.
The cows are due to begin calving now; it's always worrying until you see the first safely delivered, hopefully without any help from us. I like to go early in the morning and hear the the lovely, gentle soung a mother makes to her calf. It's always exciting to see if baby looks like mum or dad, last year they all had a white face like the bull. We have bought a new young bull.
We bought his mother as well so his growth wouldn't be stunted by weaning.
He will stay and suckle her until he is almost a year old. That should ensure that he has strong bones. I have decided to call him Ronald. Next year when the vet comes to do our TT test he will put a ring in his nose. I hope he proves to be a quiet sort of chap!
The weatehr forecast is saying we are going to have severe storms and heavy rain followed by very cold weather. I hope it's not as bad as the forecast. We all have too many hills for snow and ice.

How we used to do it!