A glimpse to the future

In writing the last entry for 2005 I could retell of the highs and lows we experienced throughout the year but I think now is a time for looking ahead to the forthcoming year. True so much happened last year and the experiences were never dull and seemed to be non-stop after a mostly uneventful February. What I do know is that the experiences where a great deal more intense in that the good times were amazingly good and the bad times were just that.
Overall a mixture but the time seems to be well and truly gone now where days just seem to blend into one with the same routine happenings of a 9-5 existence with bills to be paid being the priorities in life. That's not to say that we have forgotten what happened and the enormous amount of lessons we learned along the way. Strange how you often learn more from the bad times but equally the good times re-enforce that what you are doing suits you.
9 days into 2006 and plans are already being drawn up for the year ahead. A lot of building work to carry out on projects that we have thought about for a while now. So many that I am beginning to think that they may not all be completed this year, but will mean that at no point will I ever be bored or looking for something to do.
Several small extensions on the house should provide us with a small area to use as a utility room rather than our main entrance being the place where wellie boots are just kicked off still covered in mud. They do however provide an exciting obstacle course when you need to reach the bathroom! This should also help with a little more draught proofing as each winter produces what seems like howling gales coming through the old wooden door, not to mention the rain seeping in if the wind blows it in the wrong direction.
Out back hopefully a small conservatory area to benefit from the hours of searing sunshine we have each summer time! Seriously it will give more room to enjoy the views across the countryside and help to heat those old stonewalls. I hope to incorporate a solar water heating system into the fabric of the extension to provide hot water instead of needing to light up the Rayburn as it seems to go non-stop over winter and deserves a little holiday of it's own.
More piglets may be arriving soon and we will most likely end 2006 with 3 litters in total, 2 of which should be pedigree Large Black pigs. Although we have found them to be of a temperament that suits us over the Tamworth's they do seem to grow at a slower pace, although the Tamworth and Tamworth large Black crosses we have at the moment are being reared over the winter months, which we know will extend the growing time by around 3 months to a good porker size.
What seems to be true though is that no matter how long they take to grow the resulting produce is much appreciated by those who have tried them. To the extent that I cannot keep up with demand. But we remain firm in the view that the main objective is for ourselves to have the best quality pork we can achieve.
At the present time the ram is with the ewes and has turned their bums red, which should hopefully convert to some beautiful Suffolk lambs in May and June. We are very fortunate in that again the priority is our own consumption and the creation of our own home born flock. We have kept 2 ewe lambs from last year and shall hopefully add to them this year maybe even achieving the six that would in two years time complete our own home born flock. The ewes we are using at the present time are now 3 year old so may either be sold on or used to produce good quality mutton.
Last year we enjoyed the mutton produced from one of the flock and in some respects I personally found it superior to that of lamb meat. It does seem a shame that it is not something widely available to folk to enjoy but I would imagine that financially it would be a non-starter in a commercial setting. The ram lambs we had from last year are just about ready to be finished and should produce a nice carcass again. I think some folk will be wondering why we have kept them until now but we have had a great deal of varied meat products and still do in the freezer so there really was no point in finishing them earlier, rather let them put a little more weight on. Apart from needing housed separately from the ewes they have not really caused any problems at all as the cost implications of hay are not something we care to worry about.
Our poultry stocks for this year are at a level were we should have a healthy supply of chicken meat from summer onwards whilst eggs will hopefully seem like a never-ending supply. I may even look at selling regularly as even living rurally there always seems to be a demand.
We currently have a pair of luvie duvie pekin ducks who will take a while to produce anywhere near the produce expected from the chickens but we are happy to give them time to see how they perform over the year. After all it's not like we are desperate of eggs! The Embden cross geese as well remain tight lipped about what sex they are. I did buy them on the pretext that it was a trio but again time will tell and they should at least be coming into lay sometime next month. Hopefully no 3 goose egg days or else!
After last years disasters with the polytunnel I can now say with a little more confidence that it is there to stay as we have had a few gales over the last couple of months and it still remains quite tightly wrapped around the frame. This is one area for 2006 that I really need to invest time as most of my merge efforts have resulted in pretty poor crops. So this year shall hopefully be known as our year for veggies! We have started scanning different books and articles to hopefully have an organised system producing vegetables all year round. Nothing fancy just vegetables that we know we like and use a lot of, and the last bit on veggie growing for now not to plant a whole crop at once rather a little and often. The amount of cabbage for example that has been left for the pigs or composting has been disappointing.
Lastly and in some ways maybe a little premature, but being as excited as I am I shall include it here. I am hopefully within the next few days going to undertake a major career change from the part time nursing job, which, has over the last near 20 years provided me well and without which I could not be where I am today. That said and without sounding too depressing about health care in this country I am in the position now where I just can't take any more of the situation where money comes above standards of care. Too much beaurocracy, and too many pen pushers are not new concepts to most folk, the difference for me which stems from a good few years is that I feel it affects actual hands on care in an ever increasing way. Rest assured that many, many caring folk work their hardest to do their best, but my shackles are just getting too heavy to make a difference anymore and so it's time to jump ship and move to pastures new.
I shall end by wishing you all a hopefully fruitful 2006, jam packed with those good times and remember you only get one shot so make the most of it.