Things I learnt From Farm and Lake Adventures

 

In the late autumn of 2022, I set out with my sister to do something I would have previously considered unthinkable. To go without the comfort blanket of my parents to a place I'd never been, to do work I'd never done. Farm sitting, with a friend I'd technically only known 3 weeks and a few days.

And it was Wonderful.

I was so nervous to go that many times I had thoughts of backing out, making excuses and staying put. 

But I didn't.

And I am so Grateful.

We arrived at a place we'd never even heard of in the Yorkshire peaks. A small Farm with roughly 30 cows, 100 sheep, 300 chickens and 4 sheepdogs. It was stunning, being set almost halfway up one side of a ridge of the snaking valley. The Pretty Stone farmhouse was beautiful too with its homely lived-in feel. There was a long table where we could sit outside in the fine weather evenings, watching the sunset over the valley.

And now to the work...

Each morning, we got up at half 7, or 8ish and shared out the duties guided by our Friend in charge.

Firstly there was mucking out the shallow bed system for the cows, and checking their haylidge supply if full, much funner than you may think when you're laughing with friends.

(Try this in warm rain and it's almost even funner! not being sarcastic either with friends it really makes it fun).

Then we would go to each of the chicken huts spread out over the Farm acreage to collect the eggs and feed and water them. Then back to the house to scrub and sort the eggs ready for sale.

Then we would either let the Dogs out for a run or get the Quadbike out and measure feed to go top up the sheep feeders in the fields, which were a couple of miles apart from each other.

After that, it was usually morning coffee or tea break time so we'd go relax for a bit.

Then for lunch prep, when you're outdoors you get hungry, so this was often something really filling like scrambled eggs on toast or a large plate of cheesy, chickeny, or bacony or creamy pasta. *chef's kiss*

After lunch, we were usually off to the sheep, checking on them and topping things up and then we might have a quiet hour or so to chat and check our devices. Then about 4 or 5ish we'd be out to muck out the cows again... 30 cows get very messy very quickly, after which we'd make a hearty and filling dinner and sit together while we worked though out LOTR marathon of the Extended editions. Till 8:00pm where we would go out to do the chickens, check their food and water and collect up any more eggs, which we would then clean, after which we would tot up the final egg count for the day and mark it in the book. By this time, it was usually time to start thinking of bed as we aimed to never stay up past 10:00pm.

So that was the general gist of the beautiful routine of the farm.

On the last night, though, we decided to try and climb the steep hill ridge up the back of the house before 10pm. Unfortunately, it was harder than expected and I was not very fit so after several stops of me flopping and panting to the ground for a rest we decided we'd leave the summit this time. Instead, we sat or lay, stargazing, listening to music before half walking, half sliding down the steep hill just in time for bed, pre 10pm curfew. 

It was sad to leave the Yorkshire farm, but we were in for more fun as we were going back to my friend's house and her own smallholding of sheep. When we got there, we were welcomed heartily by the rest of the family before we got on to a new fun task

Tail Dagging.

The Sheep were needing to be rounded up and their tails shorn before winter to keep them clean, and some of them needed feet checking. This was a new experience indeed. We rounded up the sheep into a large pen, where I was given the task of getting 2 sheep at a time from the pen into the race system. I had to keep on my toes, at first I was a bit slow and let through 3 or 4 at a time, much to my own embarrassment and I felt like I couldn't keep up with the fast pace of the Job to the point of me feeling very upset though I was shown over and over. I felt like I'd never get it and I'd always been used to just letting someone better do it when I felt no good at something, so I felt unhappy to continue doing something I was bad at, because I didn't want to be a burden... But then I talked to my friend and she explained that in her farming life, she was used to people's strong and even harsh criticism of her work and saw it as a good thing that they wanted her to improve. This was a lightbulb moment for me: I realised that even if I appear to be irritating someone by my slowness, to pick something up, it's because that person's goal is success which is a very good thing. And then I realised that my unhappiness had come from Self-Pity; it was just me feeling sorry for myself. And now I'm so happy about that tough experience, because it made me a tiny bit stronger. And though I still often feel Self-Pity, I hope that I'll be improving each and every day because it's not going to help anything or anyone.

After that the next day we had a wonderful day at the Westmoreland show before heading back to dinner, where my mum had arrived the next day. We went to the Beatrix Potter sights around the lake and then the morning after we headed back down the 3 and a half hours to home.

But that's not the end of My Lake/Farming adventures...

No, because April 2023 we headed back up this time with a new fear of mine to conquer...

Trains.

Unfortunately for me, this one rather confirmed my fears of trains.

As my grandparents had driven into Sheffield station, where we were booked to go on our train to Carnforth via Manchester, the train was pulling out of the station, requiring us to buy new tickets entirely. Then as my grandparents left us to await the next train, I couldn't help shedding a few tears. Once on our train, I felt happier as we sat and ended up chatting with a train driver, who was catching a lift to his next schedule. His friendliness distracted me from my worries. And he helpfully told us where to head for our next train but when we got there, although we ran for it, the train once again pulled out just before we got to it. We asked where to go for the next one and sat on our suitcases and as I sat, I couldn't help but burst into tears again. My sister struck up a friendly conversation with a Lady and as she was going part of the way with us, we sat and chatted on the train. She was local and told us where the trains for Carnforth usually came in and out of platforms but when we switched trains again she was not there to guide us. This time, I was very stressed so I asked the ticket lady which platform the Carnforth and she was a real blessing: she announced over the speakers which platform our specific train was on and how long we had to get to it. So at last we finally got on our last train and when we tumbled out onto the Carnforth platform we were greeted by My friend and her brother who'd timed being there just perfectly.

After that, the fun began.

We were again at their house and smallholding and also with their Aunt and Uncles adjoining, so there was plenty of farm work to do. Whilst there, I also learned to spin and weave, bottle feed lambs and, funniest of all, sail!

We even had a sailing race on lake Windermere.

Good times.

My Weaving!

My Spinning!

Me with a Lamb!