Scotland: At Home on the Farm

Farms have always held a very large place in my heart. I'm guessing it's because I was born in rural Vermont in the midst of so many historic family farms. I am drawn to the countryside, the barns, the animals, the kitchens, etc. I suppose I probably wouldn't be able to handle the physical stress of it all, but I like to dream that I would enjoy it.

So, of course, it was an added bonus that the house we rented in Scotland (Melville Lodge) was right next to a working farm! Even better, the farmers were so very friendly to us!

Soon the kids knew these sheep by name: Spike (a Jacob), Clive (a Texel), (a Zwartble), Demetri (a Romanov), Rupert (a Riland Brown), and Golden (a Texel).

I can never resist cows. In fact, I once carried around an antique wooden cow my mom had and pretended it was a doll. I guess there is something to that saying "big brown eyes."

 I think I could be quite happy mucking about the farmyard in wellies and jeans as my daily uniform. Of course, real farmers would just laugh reading this -- real farm work is hard!

 

In Scotland walkers are free to roam anywhere -- isn't that nice? But the farmers were happy for us to explore even without that law. 

One Saturday we were invited to help move the sheep from the lower fields to the barnyard. Best fun ever!

Apparently, this moving procedure can take a whole lot of time. In the end, because there were so many of us, it took longer to explain what we were going to do than to actually do it!

And here they are up in the barnyard!

A happy shepherd in training:

A moment of satisfaction that everything went well!

When the sun shines, this land is just beautiful!

It was pheasant season and we saw them everywhere, including the garden of our rented house!

I think everyone's favorite sheep turned out to be Spike. The farmer brought him over to say goodbye before we left. I couldn't leave the farmer out of the picture!!

Some of the sheep stayed up by the house and were fun to feed by hand:

Oh yes, you can't resist digging your fingers deep into that woolly coat!

Look at their sweet faces:

One day the kids decided to catch chickens:

 Learning something from the farmer:

Feeding the chickens:

I liked this one with his feathery feet!

A fresh egg to take home and eat!

Caught one!

Below the house where we stayed was this large pasture filled with curious sheep:

And one more close up of Spike:

I had to include a few videos to give you not only the sight but also the sounds:

In case you are interested to know more about this farm, you can check out their Facebook Page: Clive The-Tup or their other page Bluestone Rare Breeds.

I've just finished a wonderful book on shepherding in the English Lake District which I highly recommend:

The Shepherd's Life: Modern Dispatches from an Ancient Landscape by James Rebanks is written by a man who is currently living in the Lake District and shepherding flocks of Herdwick sheep (sheep native to that area and the kind that Beatrix Potter raised as well). I love reading about his family history of generation after generation shepherding this land as well as what the day to day struggles and joys are like. (Please be aware that this book does contain a fair amount of language.)

Rebanks title is a throw-back to a book written nearly 100 years ago by an English shepherd:


A Shepherd's Life: Impressions of the South Wiltshire Downs by W. H. Hudson. I've just started this, and it is not as easy reading as Rebanks but no doubt it will be good in its own way. Rebooks said it was such an inspiration to him.

That's all for now about farms and sheep!

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A Visit to our Amish Friends

Staying overnight at our Amish friends was one of the highlights of our summer! We met our friends in the ICU at Riley and have kept in touch since. They invited us up to see their farm and we decided to make that part of our vacation.

I couldn't take any pictures of our friends, but I do have a few of us to share. Believe me, my mind was constantly trying to capture every photogenic moment I saw since that was the only way I could remember it for the future.

After lunch we all went on an hour and a half buggy ride to see the surrounding countryside. The parents and the babies rode in the big buggy and all the rest of the kids rode in the pony cart! I wish you could have seen the fathers in the front seat, the mothers in the back seat with our babies, and all the rest driving behind having a fun time of their own! (Our friends also have 5 children of similar ages to ours).

Our kids spent as much time as they could in the barn, swinging on the rope swing. It made me so happy to see them enjoying a farm!

Here is a view from the barn toward the neighbors.

A little chick was discovered in the bowels of the barn and brought out for James to hold.

Everyone headed to the barn at chore time to either help or watch. And, yes, several people were barefoot!

Here is the milk for the calves being mixed up.

Our friends raise calves which, when grown, are shipped to Turkey to become milk cows. The calves begin by being fed from these bottles:

Rachel was eager to jump right in and even got up the next morning at 4 am so she could help with the morning chores.

Here are the calves:

And there were some goats as well. Our friends drink goats milk and James got to try milking the goat.
The family dog:

The were two new kids who had just been separated from their mother and had to be fed with bottles.

Our friends also raise pigs and this is the pig barn, smellier than you would imagine!

The most fun of all was had on the pony cart, which was kept hitched up all day long. Is that not the most adorable thing?!!

I finally broke down and asked if I could have my turn.

Rachel was quite at home by the time we left and even started wearing her hair up!

Riding the ponies bareback was also fun:

After we said goodbye to our friends, we headed north into more Amish country.

We drove through a few "touristy" towns:

stopped to let the kids ride on a merrygoround:

And then went to tour the Menno-Hof Mennonite Museum. It dawned on me, while paying for our tickets, that maybe they might carry the Mennonite Girls Can Cook. I looked up and there it was on the shelf in front of me!

The museum was very helpful, attention-keeping and well-done. We all enjoyed it.

We ended our time with a donut from one of the big bakeries.

And then we were off to our next visit, which I will tell about next time.

We are just so thankful for such a wonderful time with our friends. I was so happy for the kids to experience a farm, and it was fascinating to learn about the way others live, and yet also to see how very much the same our families are in so many ways. We all can't wait to go again!