THE MAYS 2001

 

For those of you who were wondering as to whether I had learnt my lesson from the previous New Year, yes I had! Hogmanay was spent at the pub and then just a single spot of first footing so we paced ourselves! Much more fun. This also meant that I was in a fit state to accept other invitations, unfortunately minus Stew, as he had succumbed to a cold, no, sorry, it was flu at the very least! May be this year will be third time lucky and we can both have a good time. Generally the year started off well; we were at last free from the tyranny of a mortgage and, shush-whispers only- beginning to have savings.

 

February brought FMD and serious snow. Throughout the FMD crisis we were lucky that the nearest outbreaks were some three hundred and fifty miles away: This did not stop the worry nor the concern for those who lost their stock, nor the frustration at the appalling way it was all handled. The snow was somewhat nearer; surprise, surprise even the landrover could not get through the three foot drift encountered on the bend in the farm lane. I did not see anyone for three days except our star of a neighbour who battled across the fields into a gale with sleet to meet me carrying post and milk, only to be babbled at by me, well even the dogs had given up pretending to listen to me! Once the weather lifted the same star came and flattened the snow with his tractor and then we dug the landrover out. Shopping had never been so much fun!

 

Because of the concerns re FMD, March and April were spent in virtual isolation; I just did not want to take any unnecessary risks. Given the rules re the contiguous cull and the way stock from several farms are housed together at the largest steading on the island if a single farm on the island contacted FMD then most if not all of the farms on the island would have been taken out. All in all it was a very worrying time.

 

May brought our first lambing and Stew home full time. Lambing went pretty much OK. The last ewe to lamb produced twins late at night with the sea fog-haar- rolling and forgot to let down her milk. Getting them inside would have meant moving everyone in – chasing black sheep in the dark, mm – so Stew spent a couple of hours sat in the pen with the lambs stuffed inside his coat while I ran back and forth mixing up some colostrum replacement for the lambs and trying to keep it warm. The ewe remembered at last about her milk so we put the liveliest lamb with her. She did OK so we then tried the weaker one and I am glad to tell you that they both have done just fine. We also formally began converting the farm to organic status from 1 May.

 

Circumstances were such that we thought that we would take a chance to try to get Stew based at home full time or at least predominantly based here. It worked! Stew has continued to do work for New Holland Tractors and does a couple of days a week for AEA at Thurso- so I still get a bit of peace and quiet! We are also starting to install various energy efficient systems such as ground source heat pumps. This led us to having the opportunity to present a talk on the Energy Day of the Orkney Science Festival. The day was held at Balfour Castle here on Shapinsay. Balfour Castle was built in the mid 19C and is more of a stately home than a castle. It was a lovely day with the group of people who had come across from mainland Orkney to listen to a diverse range of talks staying together for the whole day. The atmosphere was very relaxed and friendly, so much so that there was someone snoring loudly through the last talk!

 

Calving happened at the end of June. It was amazing going across the fields to check the girls at midnight and it still was light. Unfortunately we lost the first calf. There must have been something in the air that day; two other farms on the island had difficult calvings and lost both cow and calf. Fortunately the heifer-Nina- took to a foster calf well. He was a two-month-old Charolais cross- not quite what she was expecting. Daisy did the decent thing and produced a bull calf a couple of days later. As Daisy’s calf was mainly white the two calves looked like the “before and after” from the Persil advert.

 

Harvesting was hectic to say the least. Along with all other farms in the area the crop was double that of the previous year but the weather never stayed dry enough long enough to get the job done easily. Also our machinery can only cope with a lightish crop so that added to the problems. Still we battled through and got the job done. The cattle and the horses are thriving on the produce of that harvest so we must have done a good enough job.

 

All the agricultural shows on Orkney were cancelled because of concerns re FMD. It was mid summer before the riding club and the carriage-driving club got going so all in all it was a very quite year for the horses-not that they were complaining! At the end of September I gave a talk to the Shapinsay Heritage Group on the history of the Shetland cattle, Hebridean sheep and Eriskay ponies. Originally it was just to be about the cattle but I didn’t fancy talking about just the cattle to a group of beef farmers! The histories were very interesting and when I get this thing called time I will write them up and put it on the farm’s web site. Stew also did a talk for the vintage club AGM. Now that meeting went well-something to do with the whisky bottle that was brought out at half time and again at the end of the meeting! Only problem was that someone remembered the last time they saw me drinking whisky, whoops!

 

We put our first steer away to Orkney Meats at the end of September. We took him in ourselves which meant that he was not kept waiting around. The meat was then hung for over two weeksand was finally processed by a family business on mainland Orkney. I had sold a hindquarter locally and luckily Stew was making a trip south so he was able to take some meat with him. It has had rave reviews all round which is great. Guess what we have a freezer full of and, yep,what we are having for Christmas dinner!

 

Winter started off very wet- one or two locals are saying that it’s the wettest they have seen it for this time of year. I did escape for the first week of December, just down to 10 or 12 miles north of Aberdeen, leaving Stew in charge. I used the week to brush up on my riding at a classical riding centre in the area, which was great fun. I stayed in a very comfortable B & B where I was spoilt rotten and decided that this holiday lark was worth getting used to! The only problem with going away then it has completely scuppered arrangements for Christmas- there is no tree yet and the turkey isn’t ordered. We are going to have a night on mainland Orkney next Friday for our works Christmas do. We have been invited to the Christmas do at AEA but unfortunately the ferry is fully booked and so, as one of the guys on the island has already agreed to look after everything, including the dogs, we have decided to have a night across, a good meal and go to the Harry Potter film.

 

Since the trip to Aberdeen we have been basking in the most glorious spell of weather; dry, flat calm and mild -long may it continue.

 

We have produced a calendar for 2002, for business purposes, using photos taken here. If any of the computer buffs would like a copy it is in pdf format so send me your email address- nickie@markcool.ltd.uk- and I will send it onto you. If you want to see the place in the “flesh” –bring wellies! & whisky, adds Stew.