December, 2007

At last the days of wind and rain have given way to clear sunny days. Youngest daughter jumped around the bed with glee this morning watching the huge pink ball of the sun rise from behind the purple hills.

The happy farmer is confined to barracks with the flu, as is Farmer T. They slave away in the lashing rain and gales only to be bedridden when the sun finally emerges. The extension walls are growing taller, although not as tall as they would have been had the weather been kinder.

There is a buzz in the air, the tree is all decked out with tinsel and decorations spanning the years we have been together, the angels and paper baubles from the children’s early primary years, the crystal angel from our baby’s very first Christmas, the white teddy bear my ‘pantomime’ pupils bought me when I first started teaching, the African decorations our friend sent over and the wooden teddy bears from our Russian holiday guests. All of these coupled with strings of tinsel in bright colours that don’t match. Youngest has had a field day carefully arranging it. The happy farmer and I have had an even bigger field day trying to tidy it up a bit, if spotted youngest gives us a row and starts again with her creative talents.

The happy farmer was out sorting a stob that had sprung in one of the fences today. He was bemoaning the fact that the ugliest sheep on the farm is taking advantage of the gap under the fence and frequenting pastures new at every given opportunity. She has taken to parading herself up and down the main road. Taking advantage of the better weather she has been spotted ‘sunning’ herself on the tarmac. The happy farmer is worried a sunbathing sheep may cause an accident and so has gone off to sort the damage. I was highly entertained at the thought that he rates his sheep in terms of their looks; you would have thought a more attractive one, maybe the one with the long curly eyelashes, could have taken herself off for a suntan instead?

To add to the festive spirit three more of the ‘ladies’ have let themselves into the happy farmer’s succulent hedgerow and are happily nibbling and nipping away, giving the hedge a trim, as they treat themselves to a little light girlie lunch.

Until next time…..