Daydream thread... without the rose-tinted specs

Rummer

My OH refuses to move at all and if I am honest I know that sensibly he is right. We have a nice house with a large garden in a safe area with good access to amenities and schools close to family and a 10 min train journey to the city centre. There are loads of parks and green spaces within walking distance and the coast and countryside are under an hour away.

On paper it sounds great and in the main it is fine however it is just not where I saw myself settling. Probably what I need to do is think about what I think moving would offer me and try to experience this things where I am now. I guess I am just feeling it more as I have had time to stop and think while at home with Rumlet and many of our friends have moved away many to other countries over the last few years to pursue their dreams.

Don't get me wrong I adore my family and we have a good life, I just feel unsettled and want to shake that feeling.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Alfie.... the 2 diff vets that came out ( from the same practice) said to keep them outside, for maximum ventilation...


Poor boglet is so coming on .. she is coming outside now and going to the main water drinker, she is still a little shaky on her pins, but considering the vet said.. it was touch and go for the few hours after she seen her...


I was home most of the day, and hubby will open up in work, and when I go in, he will come home to be on boglest watch....


Alfie, I haven't got a clue about sheep, but learning about them, as I wouldn't mind having a couple of lambs to rear for the freezer..I have heard if they are ill, then just sit down and die...??


Pigs, well you have seen our place, and how big our piggy pens are, when we can get some pennies together the land on the lane will be fenced..


One thing I have learned... it is expensive to feed pigs when they are growing... from weaning to 8- 9 months old they are just eating machines.. and you cant scrimp on this.... I know my limit on how many pigs I can afford to rear/have at any one time...

COOLTRIKERCHICK

Rummer..


I know exactly how you are feeling...


have you got a community farm near you, where maybe you can volunteer for a few hours a week?

Davesnave

I believe sheep should be about 7 to the acre, alfie, but there ought to be some rotation. Here, they just rotate off to somewhere else in the spring....;)

.....Which reminds me, I've been growing a fine hay crop, but where's Pete? I'm no expert, but to my eyes the grass was better 10 days ago, and so was the weather. It's looking now like it might 'go over.'

I'll not pass judgement yet, but Pete's absence has been worrying me. He's always been so reliable, but in the past year or so....I don't think he looks well either. :think:

Apparently he was pretty short with Horse Woman over her insistence that he cut her piddling 1/2 acre of hay, but then, everyone's short with her. She's as deaf as a post! :rotfl:Someone told me recently that she's almost 90. Can't vouch for their reliability, but I do know she drove over to Barnstaple yesterday to get her elixir of life, otherwise known as real cider vinegar.

ferretkeeper

Don't know what to say Rummer except :grouphug:

As a former RAF wife (and servicewoman ) I am used to moving around, sometimes at short notice and usually with little say in the matter. I just seemed to get on with it, not giving much thought to where we were etc...maybe because I knew it wasn't going to be forever. Plus I was always comfortable in that environment. In fact I miss that life, dreadfully at times, so maybe I do know how you're feeling?

Now we have our own place again but we moved here through necessity, again not much choice, two purchases fell through and this place was the only one we'd seen still on the market, we had a fortnight to leave our last place, nightmare situation.

A couple of times I've felt I wanted to leave but gradually I've made friends, got common interests and become part of the community and I'd happily stay here forever. This is the longest either of us has been in one place as it happens.

That has always been the key for me, getting involved in stuff locally, social clubs, getting on committees to organise events, a job where I was part of it all...I got pretty depressed when I wasn't able to do that sort of thing.

I don't know much about your private life but do you have mum and baby/toddler type groups around? Do you have time to go to a group following a hobby? Something to cement you into I the place you're in?

It's difficult to be practical when emotions are involved, try not to let it upset home life but definitely try and pin point what it is you aren't happy with and see if you can resolve it.

More hugs :A

ferretkeeper

Alfie

Yes I've got sheep and pigs, still going with the restaurant but it fluctuates with their business. I have several other outlets, again pub-restaurant type customers and it's not as regular as I would like but I can manage to sell all the bits of the pig that goes to slaughter! And farm gate sales are really good, lots of people calling by, but I live on a main road in a well populated village.

It's not easy to make money on pigs, or any livestock for that matter...I am so small scale I can only do it by selling direct to the end customer; market prices are pants and selling to the butcher or abattoir is not an option either.

Sheep, not so easy to tell you, I haven't taken any to finishing yet, I expect to get about £100 for a lamb or more likely a hogget, which is when they're over 12 months old. I have mainly small slow growing breeds although my best ram is a more typical welsh mountain type and his babies look awesome this year! I have 16 adults and 9 lambs on 7 acres roaming freely, once fencing is done I will rotate more formally. The pigs will have some of that fenced just for them and I'm reclaiming my veg field, so they will be on a smaller area, but I will bring them in for winter to rest the land.

alfie_1

aaah FK you are here ... what happened re all those piggies you bought/bred ? didnt you have a resteraunt contract or something ? wild boar or something ?:D ooops crossed posts !

alfie_1

ferretkeeper wrote: »

Alfie

Yes I've got sheep and pigs, still going with the restaurant but it fluctuates with their business. I have several other outlets, again pub-restaurant type customers and it's not as regular as I would like but I can manage to sell all the bits of the pig that goes to slaughter! And farm gate sales are really good, lots of people calling by, but I live on a main road in a well populated village.

It's not easy to make money on pigs, or any livestock for that matter...I am so small scale I can only do it by selling direct to the end customer; market prices are pants and selling to the butcher or abattoir is not an option either.

Sheep, not so easy to tell you, I haven't taken any to finishing yet, I expect to get about £100 for a lamb or more likely a hogget, which is when they're over 12 months old. I have mainly small slow growing breeds although my best ram is a more typical welsh mountain type and his babies look awesome this year! I have 16 adults and 9 lambs on 7 acres roaming freely, once fencing is done I will rotate more formally. The pigs will have some of that fenced just for them and I'm reclaiming my veg field, so they will be on a smaller area, but I will bring them in for winter to rest the land.

so how many piggies do you have and do you have various ages [i think CTC said they have to be a certain age, no older, for meat ?]

ferretkeeper

Alfie, yes I remember the pigs you're taking about, they were Iron Age pigs, which I took to slaughter. I then managed to buy their father so I have the boar here and he has fathered a litter since, as did one of his sons before he went!

I have all ages here, the breeding adults, some that are getting ready for slaughter and some that are growing on.

For you starting out I'd recommend getting in weaners, having just been weaned from their mother, they should be 8 weeks old and eating pig food. Don't get them much earlier or they may stop growing while they adjust to the change, older ones adapt better.

You generally take pigs on til 26 weeks old, but it really depends on the breed and how intensively you keep them, mine are not often ready that early but other breeds can be bigger quicker, particularly the commercial breeds kept indoors. It goes by weight more than age, I try and get mine to 50kg deadweight which is about 70kg live, and there's a way to measure them to assess the weight.

They can be older than that, the 50kg pigs are all round porkers, you can keep them on longer to go for bacon, you allow the pig to get much bigger so the loin is big enough for a good size bacon joint, they can be up to 90kg, but you have to be careful of them not getting too fat at older ages!

It's personal preference, I only keep rare breeds, I'm not really interested in commercial pigs, the way I see it why bother growing something you can buy in the shops? But if you try selling to butchers they won't be interested in the rare breed pigs, you won't get any more for them but they've cost you more to produce.

That's why I go straight to places I know will appreciate the difference and pay for the extra time etc it has taken to rear them.

Hope that helps, any specific q's please ask!

Davesnave

Damned difficult to make money from organic or rare breed pigs. Saw an article somewhere by enthusiasts, who broke down all their costs. They concluded that only by avoiding middle men and adding value themselves could such a venture be profitable.

Sounds like you're on the right track FK.

I've bought another eBay mower, hopefully to see this season out, and next, while I make up my mind over a ride-on. Pete's Mum's old mower is going to expire pretty soon, I think.:(

Here, we find collecting the clippings incredibly useful for mulching under hedges and around trees, where weeds would otherwise proliferate.

Meanwhile, I'm still trying to find a belt for my monster mower that just mulches, so I can get it on the Bay and get rid. :mad: