Léonie Cooper

Charlie, Ninestanes Rig, 13th August 2023

August 2023

15th

Charlie loaded / transported five tup lambs to Longtown C & D Auctions this morning. One tup lamb dropped out with a bad eye, another two ewe lambs from this flock were also kept behind. We plan to keep the weaned lambs on the paddock due to high mortality rate at two of our grasskeeps.

Arriving we were shocked to hear somebody had wrongfully insinuated us wasting two full breakfasts at the auction café. I replied that last week a friend had come with us, had left the most part of a small breakfast, not being able to finish it. Other than that, we [me and Charlie] enjoy breakfast here, finishing our plates clean; beggars belief how lies continue to incur social ruin, everywhere I go. Incremental but sustained defamation of character [civil] or moreover malicious communications [criminal], Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm.

Some quality sheep were in the pens, awaiting auction. An elderly couple received a silver trophy in the auction room, although I am not sure what exactly for; although I'll this research later. There was an incredibly rusty, old tractor parked in the auction car park, I took some pictures as I wondered if this vehicle was still fit for use.

I thought this International Harvester 484 may have been used on a beach, maybe to rake sand, or to pull boats but Charlie believes this 50 hp early 1980s tractor to have been used as a scrapper.

We arrived and seated ourselves outside the auction ring. Sheep altogether were bid as single sheep multipled by their quantity. The first two sheep to enter looked sick, I can't recall how much they made but one flock, of about one-hundred sheep, were sold at £169 each.

Via returning to Hawick, along the A7, near Teviothead Charlie decided we'd stop to visit the Celtic Blacksmith. The jewelry was outstanding in detail, although beyond affordablity for us without first saving some pennies.

We loaded chaff into a container, the contents will be incrimentally fed to the sheep throughout the coming winter months.

Soon, a few more months they'll return to the farmhouse from grasskeep, and stay in the sheltered warmth of a poly tunnel. This year the flock will be halved from sixty to thirty, because of condensation we are also improving ventilation.

Leaving Bowden I got Charlie to stop the 4x4 and took a picture of a combine harvest, Charlie remarked at the width of the header, remembering his old combine was only 8ft in width.

Along the A7 between a road closure there was a serious road traffic accident. Arriving at Selkirk we spoke to a traffic officer who confirmed the ettrick road an OK diversion to get to Ashkirk. Along the hillside I took some pictures.

Charlie knows these pretty blue flowers as Grandmothers Bonnet but information on the internet reads different. My plant mobile phone app recognised these bonnie blue flowers name to be Harebell.

Today was long, and tonight I there are many auditory hallucinations chanting negative obscenity through my mind.

13th

My new iPhone 14 arrived via courier today… I took a panoramic picture of our farm with the camera this morning. The phone is new, but the model is now a year old, this is the most recent iPhone I've owned. My last iPhone was 11.

Early afternoon we weaned lambs from our grass keep, here there are two fenced areas we are using, the area they was in was out of grass so there was not much trouble moving them. We are keeping two ewe lambs from this flock, and auctioning four tups as store lambs.

The mother ewes were slightly stressed at having their lambs taken, but after ten minutes they were busy eating grass as if nothing had happened.

Driving though the forest tracks, breaking grit, we noticed a disused station; Charlie said spite had closed the railway line to inflict poverty by cutting off economic prosperity; telling that people had historically placed their livelihood upon the train carriages.

We noticed and stopped to take a picture of huge shaddy ink cap mushrooms growing from the gravel track.

The track came to an end, about one-thousand yards from Ninestanes Rig. We walked over felled trees and then down a marshy footpath towards the circle stones.

“At the Skelf-hill, the cauldron still
The men of Liddesdale can show
And on the spot, where they boiled the pot,
The spreat and the deer-hair ne'er shall grow.”.

Charlie at the Ninestanes Rig.

These are the lambs we transported today from Denholm.

We are keeping two ewe lambs, the other remaining four are going to auction as store lambs.

12th

We, Charlie and a friend, drove through heavy rain to visit the Craik forest, and commenced a brisk two-mile walk to burn off some troublesome excess weight. The forest was verdant, and there were no midges present.

Incredible amount of peaty foam building up here, has the appearance of frothy coffee.

I could not figure why they'd taken the bridge down, other than suspecting that maybe something terrible might have happened here.

I am at the farmhouse by an open fire this evening, enjoying the brush of wild wind racing through this hillside of the Scottish Borders countryside.

9th

Today I taught myself how to wind a bobbin, on my classic Singer sewing machine. How late this learning has arrived in my life, I'm almost fifty years old!

Watching back I see I'd not loop the thread properly.

Initially I am using this machine to mend clothes, although I plan to make a dress for ceilidh, and also making curtain / cushions for the farmhouse.

8th

Charlie loaded six tup lambs and one old cast ewe [who I'd named big bag] for transportation to Longtown as store lambs [one month fattened up for slaughter]. We had planned to take eleven, but two lambs dropped out with orf that had manifest onto their mouths, and another inflicted with anterior uveitis infection. One of the mother ewes watched as her two tup lambs were being loaded, herself only recently recovering from anterior uveitis, rendering her almost blind in both eyes. She rocked bleating in anguish; a farm is rarely distraught.

We enjoyed a full breakfast at the mart cafe then showed our friend around the pens. We searched for sometime for our sheep, until overhearing Big Bag twenty pens away. We often stop for a rest, take our woes to the riverside, by Eweswater. This length of river is scenic, and often used by holiday makers as a free overnight parkup.

Driving from Langholm to Roberton, Charlie stopped at a gravestone, he wrongly presumed was errected for somebody's pet but found out to be in memory of poet Henry Scott Riddell (1798-1870), a native of Sorbie, north of Langholm, Dumfries & Galloway, and author [while out for a walk in a lonely glen at Teviothead] of Scotland Yet:

Charlie went to work in the afternoon, whilst I attacked the dock leaf infestation with both lawn mower and strimmer. During the evening we drove the 4x4 into the Craik Forest, just for a small drive to wind down from the day.

Returning to the farmhouse, we noticed an angry woman walking alone; we reversed our 4x4 to enquire if she was OK, maybe needed a lift? She admitted she was angry and upset, but did not require any assistance. I said to Charlie that just by offering her help could prevent a suicide attempt, knowing that somebody cares enough to be concern about another.

7th

We invited our friend over to the farmhouse, she cooked us curry. Quite upset that the council have rehoused her into a flat with nothing in it, no cooker, fridge, washing machine, not even a carpet. She has been waiting for almost two months for these items, of which she's entitled, to be delivered.

6th

Rested today, one of the lambs has maggot infestation, Charlie treated her with Jeyes Fluid, as the fly spray [Crovect] doesn't appear to be shifting them, contrary to the instruction claim displayed on the rear of the bottle. Some days its OK not to post any pictures, or write much here during days that take leave from me.