THE PIGS ESCAPED

Finished sorting out the uni situation, she will have to try in Feb, but we are not sure if there will places then, UCAS system is a nightmare,be ok if you could apply whenever to whomever....OH that's the way it is,no point moaning....At present we are talking and collecting Laura from college, which is around a 2 hour round trip twice a day...can't wait until she can drive again. Amidst the ever changing madness, 10 mins before the school pickup Pete fed the Kune Kunes and realised there were 2 missing....they never miss their tea so we knew there was something up. Pete ran to get me, I thought "who was going to cover Steven...Laura cant drive and we have to get the pigs in....So dad to the rescue..thanks!...Meanwhile back at the ranch! Pete and I found Pixie and Woody in the woods,Luckily it wasn't another woods escapade with the rescue services involved....But they couldn't master the steps that would get them safely back in. I paced up and down the fence and at 74 steps I found a place we could cut and shove them back under....I know only I would count paces...but its really handy, saves duplicating stuff, you can then send someone to the exact area....Pete cut the fence and I ran the pigs up and we got them back in, we had to strengthen the area then, I think it could probably do with a bit more wood,but we are away tomorrow...later today with Steven, so will have to wait until we get back. Just hope they don't get out for hop along (Laura). Steven gets back, Dad checks if we need help, but all under control for a min. Steven goes up stairs only to find about a thousand feathers all over his room. The cats had sadly caught a bird, they don't usually do that, only voles and rodents, not a happy bunny.

WHAT A PREDICAMENT!

The electric was turned off for 6 hours and we were not told...we had pigs under heat lamps and trying to keep them warm and with the mum was a nightmare....The longest 6 hours in a while.....Meanwhile I think there is some one up there playing tricks...it seems like the more you cope and deal with...the more life throws at you. Pete and I were booked in at Woodhall Spa to watch a 2 day golf event for Steven at the weekend on Friday night through to Sunday late evening, and laura was going to cover the farm...simple you say.....then we open a letter from Kingston uni only to find she has an interview on Friday an I need to be London. ....Still not panicking too much...check out the train times...Laura could catch the 7pm one back whilst I caught another to Newark where Pete would get me...sorted.....Then we had an email the interview would take 3 hours, so this blew my train plan out the window as there are no matching later trains....Laura doesnt want to be in London on her own for 2 hours....so before I book the tickets we run it past Petes brother Colin....He kindly offers to meet us at Norbiton to stay with Laura so I can get my train and he will wait with her until hers arrives....See back to sorted again...Then I go to book the train tickets for the third unsuccessful time when the phone rings and Laura is in A & E...so I run down to Treliske and see what she has done. After a long wait and story she hadn't broke her foot it was a bad tendon strain.....so unsorted again...So now I have to try to get hold of the uni to see what they want to do and get hold of Colin to tell him....With all of this going on I also had to get cover for Bruce ...as he would need feeding hourly and the other animals.....but sadly Bruce passed away..so this situation changed too. I also had to drive back to get Auntie loo to come with me to drive Laura's car back from college as she couldn't drive....SO now I dont know what on earth is going on, I will have to wait and see what the uni says and replan tomorrow... What a day!!!!!OH I almost forgot I was on the radio this morning too...I must be famous, had a half hour interview!!!...Oh and I pulled a tree up right with the truck and re staked it with Geoff....Just thought you need to know that!

R.I.P BRUCE XXXXX

Dearest little Bruce feel asleep this morning after a roller coaster ride with life. We fed him every hour and gave him all the love that it take to survive but it wasn't meant to be. I had him with me all the time, in the lounge/computer everywhere actually, just cuddling him between feeds keeping him warm. But the little guy didn't make it .....XXXXX sleep wellXXXXX

NIGHT FEEDING!

Night feeds went quite well, Bruce didnt take as much as I would have liked but its a start and we will have to see what happens, I will give it my best shot and time will tell if it is meant to be. He does have a clef which I spotted, so this could be the problem, only a small one, but it is there.
He was then snugged up with his blanket. Sweet dreams Bruce!

UP TO NO GOOD?

The dogs have a bed each but these two felt the need to fight over one of them, and when I asked them what they were up to, butter wouldn't melt, they looked at me like I was talking nonsense...what?...me?...No...we are just sitting here nicely!!!! THINK NOT

THERES A LITTLE HOPE!

At 2pm we moved Bruce to a cat bed and blanket with his own teddy, and hospital Bruce was born! I managed to get a little more milk in him and by 5pm we really thought we had a chance. He was a lot better than the morning, which meant it was hourly night feed to try to save him....

NEARLY LOST HIM

Went down to check on Bruce this morning and he was so weak, I watched to see if he was breathing at all, I couldn't see anything I thought he was gone, lips and feet blue but he was under a heat lamp. We raced him back to the house to try to resuscitate him. There was no reflex at all no eye lid movement, no mouth or gag reflex, nothing. He was in a bad way. I wrapped him up and put him in the plate warmer in the Rayburn to try to help him, I put droplets of milk into his tiny body to try to stimulate him. Nothing was working, after an hour he was still taking very small shallow breaths. I moved him to the top of the rayburn, and warmed him more and over the next few hours put in droplet by droplet of milk replacement. At around 1.30pm he moved his eyelid, and gave me hope........Dear Bruce almighty XX

KEITH AND MYRNAS CAT

Just to confirm we are not the only ones who have crazy pets, Keith and Myrna who kindly stay with us regularly sent us a picture of there puss, I think hes in love with his scratching pole. He would fit in just fine here...What a shot!

SOOO SMALL

I took this picture of Bruce wondering around the kitchen ..only born Tuesday and he doesn't even reach the height of the plinth around the kitchen...and then he came for a kiss...hence close up shot...He's a bit of a poser....Tom Cruise of the Kune Kune world maybe...loves the camera, Hope he is still here in the morning.... I was just thinking we made up a 300ml feed for a pig the size of a small pasty!...Only in Cornwall could that comparison spring to mind...sorry....and no we don't eat our Kune Kunes, in case you were getting worried there!!!(not even in a pasty!!!)

BOTTLE DIDNT WORK

Needless to say Bruce didn't like the bottle, so I tried with a spoon and then with a plate, none was really that successful, so opted for a lock in or lock on should I say, with Dixie, to try to get something in him....He was wondering around the kitchen and I could have quite easily kept him up here, but it is best for him to try to get as much goodness as possible from his mum in order to survive, we will just try and help that situation....Lets hope...fingers crossed. GO BRUCE GO BRUCE!!!...Not sure we will be rehoming that one...don't tell Pete though eh?!!!

SPOKE TO VET!

Back from seeing vet now and Bruce has got to see if he can pull through he has antibiotics on board.... Back to bottle and milk and scales I am afraid....been here before ..... So the only bottle I had was a 1litre apple juice and the piglet is about a fifth of that size!!!....

BRUCE NOT DOING SO WELL

Dixie is trying her hardest to feed the piglets but for some reason little Bruce or Samson (haven't fully decided on a name yet) is losing weight not gaining weight, I am really worried about him, I have booked him into the vets at 4.40 tonight, hopefully Peter Chew will see him. Maybe I can hand rear if he is able to digest, we'll see, he's very weak. I delivered Bruce and he was always the weakest, bit I thought he would have picked up by now...he is so cute, this picture was taken yesterday and today he is even skinnier, he looks quite pathetic. Dixie either wants her babes or food, nothing else will do, she is a really good mum though and isnt too protective, at east we can handle the piglets and she wont go for you, not like the big pink ones we used to have Rosie was ok but Daisy could be terrible for that. The other 8 are doing well, there is a real big fat black one , she is a real bruiser, but they all are starting to have little personalities now....No I am not mad,,,, if you wee here you would agree....WOULDN"T YOU!!!

SMILE

Since Dixie has been famous on TV!!! she has got the hang of the paparazzi, every time I point a camera at her she smiles!!!!!....Mind you she has had a lot to smile about recently with all her new babies.

PURPLE PETE

You've heard of purple rain ...we now have purple Pete...could have been a whole lot worse if we had of had an argument before hand eh!!!....We were photographing the piglets for identification purposes and sraying their bellies with purple spray to stop any infection getting in their umbilical cords, but I think I got a bit carried away and sprayed Pete too! and it doesnt come off!!! Mind you I had a purple finger and had to go to a board of governors meeting..very professional....NOT!!!!!

SMARTIE IS GETTING IN THE XMAS SPIRIT!

Smartie is so cute, she helped me put up the decorations.....well not really she ran and leapt from a great distance, skidded across the new oak floor and ended up in a pile of tinsel, this seemed to keep her occupied for more than 2 hours, my tinsel is now very sparse and there are bits all over the house that used to make it fluffy.....You just got to love 'em!

PETES FRIEND!

Had to have the Mitzy serviced and was stranded in Falmouth for the day... Well thats a bit of a tall story...Pete rescued me to take me for coffee...although the shop never appeared, instead clients and deliveries happened!!!But I did visit a shop and bought a snowman...yeap you can never have too many snowmen, then I seat belted him in the back seat for Pete to take home...forgetting he had a meeting on the way home.....now they think he's crackers! (punn not intended!)

ON TV!!!!!!

Check out our 5 min story on www.mycornwall.tv and click the link that says woodmill farm on the right, there is a scroll bar if we are not on the front page.

We were approached by William Molesworth-St.Aubyn who started this internet TV channel for those who live or have lived or interested in Cornwall and us Cornish!! He wanted us to do a little 5 min video of our story. He felt we were unique....mmmm good or bad????

Anyway have a look and see what you think....We also have a one minute advert coming for our website.....

DAY INTERUPTED BY A BIRTH!!!! OR NINE

My day was panning out to be hectic, paper work to get in, Vat returns, availability to update, xmas decs to get out and up.....yeap they are late this year!!!....Then Pete went to check on Dixie and she was just starting to give birth. He raced up to get me, I was so excited I ran into tell Tim...(he works with us in Purl Design)....and shouted Dixie is giving birth!!!!...I didnt realise he was on the phone to a client!!! OH well, he'll get used to it.....We were lucky to be at the birth.....Dixie would most certainly not have made it, she had 3 piglets stuck and were coming back end first, she was getting tired...Rang the vet twice to get some help, but just as they were on the way we sorted it... I must do their heads in!!! Well I do pay alot in vet bills, so I guess its ok!! Anyway after pulling some free, Dixie was finally the mum of 9 healthy babies, she took a while to come around and didnt stand for quite some time, but she is now ok and has had a good meal. We'll check them again later and tomorrow figure out how many boys and girls we have. They are so cute and Tim had his first birthing experience... he didnt realise what he was getting his self into did he!!!

STRANGER IN THE CAMP!

This little cat comes to see us down by the pigs, she never comes too close, just sits and watches....I wonder where she lives and what she makes of us! She looks like Sassy but isn't...wonder what her name is...could be a him I guess!

PETES BEEN TILING

We tiled the kitchen this Saturday and I grouted it on Sunday whilst Pete and Steven were at golf!!!! Not as bad as it sounds, Steve had an important comp and Pete had to go with him....mmm now that I write it it sounds scam like doesn't it!!! Anyway, the kitchen looks great shame Pete doesn't in this picture....Tiled the floor......how did this happen???

SMUDGE

We have Shadow in for 10 days and now Smudge in for 10 days ... she has been suffering with a limp and has had 3 weeks of antibiotics now and still limping...so they operated to see if there was anything under the pad of the foot...But nothing, they ....the vets....still dont know whats wrong, we'll see if the labs come up with anything, but she is going nuts too, she has wrecked the carpet in the lounge trying to get out....and the arms of the sofa....and curtains...not doing well really are we? She looks fairly comfy here though!

FIREWORK NIGHT

Shadow is ok with the fireworks, she goes outside to watch them! But Gem and Lucky really dont like them, Lucky shakes and runs into the lounge for a cuddle...or is it just a big scam...mmm maybe. She was quite ok whilst I had her on my lap in the lounge! The horses were going crazy but I cant really fit them all in the lounge...Or can I??? Pete obvioulsy doesnt realise he is in this picture or he would have posed for it!!

BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ.....

OMG I didn't think Buzz had turned into a man yet..mind you he has got a smile on his face here!!!.....but I think he may have done 3 months 3 weeks and a few days ago!!! As Dixie looks decidedly heavily pregnant, either that or she has had one too many pies!! After Auntie Lou and I had fenced the woods to contain them for the winter and did a thorough job.....we then had to undo all our handy work to get Dixie down into the sty area with a heat lamp just in case she gave birth....How comes it always happens like that!!! I bet it will happen Sunday when Pete is at golf with Steven and I am home alone...that's when things usually go wrong!!! The picture was taken when the weather was better as its been quite bad the last few days, we are flooded in parts...still good for the ducks I guess....thats if they still have any land left tonight!!

SHADOW

Shadow has now been spayed and she has an infection after the op, so I hope she will be ok,she is driving me nuts actually, so far she has chewed a sponge or two, a boot,a welly, a mat, chair, dug 3 major holes in the garden, all because she isn't allowed out for a walk, she is a real pain...cant wait until she can go out for a walk again, roll on Monday!!

HEELLOOO SYLVIA

Well I know you havent been too well lately and I know you will sign in and read this...SO this is a little message from all of us to say we are thinking of you always and all will be ok....you'll see...chin up....happy thoughts allowed only!!!

BEEN REALLY BUSY SINCE WE GOT BACK

Back from Portugal and back to brush up proverbial back side and 3 sets of arms working independently! The stairs are in and the oak floor is laid.....slight problem with the balustrade that I designed.....it isn't coming...but wont go into that or I will see my stress levels rise rapidly.....The porch is now nearing completion, we have moved the front door...like you do!!!...but it does look rather cute now with a stable door to the outside of the cottage...and I have some really nice coat hooks too but you cant see them on this picture...I know...only I would get excited about coat hooks...Yeap your right.. I need to get out more eh!

THANKS TO MUM AND DAD

I am assuming nothing went tooooo wrong whilst we were in Portugal, well nothing Mum and Dad are owning up to anyhow!!! Mum had a couple of days off, dont know how she managed that, and think Dad was kept prisoner here for the whole week! But thanks for having all the animals and guests. Heres a few of their photos....not very good ones mum!!!!!

FUNNY THINGS

Things not to do in Portugal....and we did them all!

• Getting knocked out with a car park barrier...
• Ordering chips when the cafe doesn't sell them, so the guy cycles to get some...real embarrassed!
• Asked for gifts to be gift wrapped and watched for hours while this happened, thought she'd just put them in a bag.
• Getting jumped on by a wet walrus trainer, we were drenched.
• Hitting head on top of buggy 4 times in same place.
• Slipping over and hurting shoulder to the point I couldn't move it.
• Got very lost
• Getting a handle for our bag in a supermarket, but we didn't have a bag,,,the woman just gave us a handle?
• Laura walking into a fly net, thought her eyes had gone blurry..but it was actually a closed fly net.
• Steven walking into patio doors and bouncy back through the kitchen.
• Driving up one way street wrong way.
• Laura shouting I'm in the hedge whilst I was driving....I thought she meant she was too close and so moved over a bit more...when she really meant she needs to be by the hedge I was on the wrong side of the road!
• Bumps in road at high speed.

The list goes on, and really you had to be there to find it funny I guess, it was a daily occurrence!.. Laura did get to swim with the dolphins though which she loved, she has nabbed all the pictures, but I'll try to find something until I can scan in the real ones to show you.

BACK FROM PORTUGAL NOW!

Well it was a bit hectic before we went, what with staircases and painting floors etc...so didn't have time to update, and now I've forgotten what on earth happened!!! typical eh. Portugal went well, Steven qualified in a golf championship and therefore got through to the grand final in Portugal. I didn't think we were going to get there at one stage...the day before our flight Steven was sent home from school with a raging temperature and really poorly, I managed to sort that enough when we then had to take him to casualty as he had bent his finger. He had to have it put in a splint and it will be in one for 6-8 weeks, and maybe surgery after that!...So his golf final was looking pretty shaky. Nothing ever goes to plan here, it drives me nuts really, just crisis after crisis. Anyway got to Portugal and nearly had to get Steven into hospital, his temperature was out of control and if I couldn't get it down, he would go into convulsions. Ii wrapped him in wet towels and tried to figure out where I was and who I had to ring if it went pear shaped in the night. I managed to find a private number, so at least I had something. The night was a long one....but Steve wanted to play, so we filled him with paracetamols and put him in a golf buggy. He only jumped out to play him shots, but he managed. One finger strapped and feeling grim he shot his first round. The first of 5. The week went on and we were all poorly but the golf continued. We didn't expect him to win given the situation. But he did...Steve won the grand final...couldn't believe it.....