June 2024

3rd

Today. having signed a Secure Tenancy Agreement I am no longer homeless, for the first day in very long, traumatising, and at times life threatening twenty years. I have waited to be rehoused residing in emergency accommodation, a flat located in Hawick since November 2022; and from today I now have a place I can make my home.

2nd

We had planned to rest this Sunday, but we both set to work on weeding our Kitchen Garden.

The garden was overgrown with dock leaves, nettles, cleavers and another unknown weed, it took us two hours to complete the job; then we set about sowing seeds.

Several potato plants from last year are growing again, and carrot, turnip and parsnip have flowered and will be shortly going to seed.

This year we're planting beetroot, runner beans, onion, broccoli, and potatoes, allotting space to grow spinach and a culinary herb garden. BTW we've a Common rider scarecrow.

The cade lambs were cooling down within the shadow of Woodburn farm house.

With our Kitchen garden weeded and seeds sown, we pulled out and lit our barbecue; and enjoyed sizzling chicken, mushroom, pepper and bacon roast spits.

I am not used to cooking barbecues, a steep learning curve for me having been vegetarian / vegan for thirty years; but Charlie seems to like my outdoor cooking.

During the evening we visited a friend, Charlie sheared one of his Hebridean sheep and two of our sheep, Teeswater and Zwartble Mother ewes.

Charlie taught our friend how to shear, he was eager to learn; despite being bothered by an onslaught of midges; the breeze is a blessing this time of year within the Craik Forest.

1st

A lamb has died at grass keep, squashed, we suspect the mother ewe of sitting on this lamb. We packed sheep welfare equipment into our truck, and drove to Selkirk grass keep to collect the dead lamb.

We arrived to find the lambs eyes had gone, red lines falling over the lambs face were high in contrast to the back drop of pale cream wool. How could the lamb bleed so much if it were not alive when the eyes were taken out I asked.

I'd read that the birds wait for a while after a animal dies before they feed from it, but Charlie said this lambs was still warm, when the lamb was found.

The day was warm, Charlie was worried about the smell from the lamb decaying in the boot of our truck; as I thought about potential flies homing in.

Tomorrow we'll call out the knacker man to fetch the dead lamb from Woodburn, he drives a red and white lorry with a red and black bull logo, uncanny. Charlie opened the field gate and beckoned ewes and lambs with lamb pellets, they are attracted by the crumple sound of the plastic bag.

Only half the flock came to feed, most of the lambs were duly suspicious, irony for us as we wanted to worm these lambs for fluke. I took lots of shearing footage in portrait view but this Linux video editor does not want to resize and render in a viewable website format. On the way to Denholm, passing a horse box we watched a farmer bailing silage.

There was a Common Riding gathering at Denholm village green; but why should we bother with that I thought, we're English.

This afternoon I accompanied Charlie to his work place, today we are driving a tractor through the fields, turning silage.

He struggled with the silage turner, having to return to the farm yard twice before fixing the problem. The first field took forty-five minutes to turn, the second thirty minutes, in-between these two fields Charlie fed the coos whilst I took photographs.

Whilst waiting for Charlie I noticed the Common riding on the hillside, presumably the Denholm ride out, riding near Rubis Law, out hunting English people on horse back.

Fy, Fa and fum,
I smell the blood of an Englishman

Returning to Hawick we noticed the Common riding had gathered at Hornshole to celebrate the slaughter of English men in their sleep; Charlie stated he found the event distasteful; witnessing the "dark tourism" spectacle twisted my stomach. We enjoyed fish and chips from Tony's fish bar in Burnfoot, then crashed out as if we'd been drugged. Charlie had to travelled twenty miles after 10pm to feed the sheep, he was so tired when he returned; I was sprawled on the bed.