Diolch yn fawr, Mary!

I am writing this to express my thanks to Mary of Windy Meadows Farm (windymeadowsfarm.blogspot.com) who so kindly reads my efforts and sends me lovely responses to which, due to a technological ineptitude on my part I am unable to reply (also I think Blogspot has something to do with it!). Mary, thank you for taking the time to comment on my posts, it means a lot. I guess our lives, while so many miles apart on different continents and in different cultures, are similar in lots of ways in that we both love family life on the farm and enjoying the seasonal round of the countryside. Farmers all over the world share so many common experiences and it is always fascinatiing to hear about the trials and tribulations, and of course the joys, familiar to us all. Diolch yn fawr! As you may realise I live in 'Welsh Wales', in this part of Wales particularly, Welsh is the first language and though I am not Welsh-speaking myself (despite having lived in Wales all my life and being taught the language at school!)I can get the gist of what is being said in a conversation though cannot join in, which is a great flaw in myself. The Farmer is fluent and both the Sons speak Welsh as & when they need to. The grandchildren go to 'Category A' schools which means they are taught through the medium of Welsh with English being a second language. If children are taught languages from an early age they master them effortlessly and so many children in Wales are bi-lingual from the start. Welsh is an ancient language possibly dating back about 4.000 years with its current form appearing between 400 and 700AD with the earliest written poetry in Welsh. It is one of the oldest languages in Europe and survives here in the far west, but only just. Just under 30% of the population speak the language and it survives in the agricultural heartlands though I know more Welsh is spoken in Cardiff now than when I was growing up there. In fact as a child I never heard Welsh spoken other than in my Welsh langauge classes in school. It was quite a surprise to me when I came to live in west Wales to realise that many people here conduct their whole lives speaking Welsh, using English but rarely. They are getting rarer now with the passage of time but there are still a few very old people who can remember being reprimanded for speaking Welsh in school as children. There was a move to eradicate the language starting hundreds of years ago. In 1536 Henry V111 pased an Act of Union prohibiting the use of Welsh in public administration and the legal system. However, the language managed to survive due in large part to the 1588 translation of the bible by one Rev.William Morgan until 19th century but during that era there were heavy-handed efforts to wipe it out including the 1870 Compulsory English Education Act in primary education. The continued anti-Welsh language onslaught went on in many forms until 1992 when the Welsh Language Bill gave equal status to Welsh with English in all spheres of life in Wales. There is a drive now get a million Welsh speakers by 2050.

No Farmers, No Food! , Welsh Farmers Protest

NO FARMERS, NO FOOD! Wales is a country of proud farmers and over the past years our government has been steadily working towards our elimination. This situation has now come to a head with the proposed Sustainable Farming Scheme which although is is still in'consultation' mode is being presented to us as a near fait accompli. However, the farmers of Wales have now had enough and we are making a stand against the bullying tactics of the Senedd (the Welsh Government). Two days this week the Farmer I have attended meetings at which the anger and sorrow of the farming community has been made very clear. The first meeting, held locally, was a 'consultation' (that word again) in which we were given a presentation by three civil servants up from Cardiff explaining the new proposals. This is a very complicated issue and I am only able to give a very simplistic account of what is being felt and said.The meeting became very heated and there was lot of anger expressed. One topic that upsets everyone is the proposal that every farm in Wales has to have 10% tree cover. For us at Penyrallt that is not too much of a problem as we have many acres of woodland but for those farmers on the mountains or along the coast it almost impossible to grow trees to the required 3metres in height. The proposals seem to have been drawn up with 'one size fits all' attitude and just underlines how removed from the reality of the agriculture industry the government is. No account seems to have taken of the topography of Wales which ranges from lush fertile lowlands to steep harsh mountain & moorland to windswept coastline. The idea that every single farm in the country has to grow trees while taking 10% of the land out of food production is lunatic. I spoke to one farmer from Pembrokeshire who farms right on the coast and he was deeply worried about this as it is impossible for him to grow trees on his land and the effect of this inability would seriously impact his livlihood. The feeling in the room became increasingly angry and the frustration was palpable when it was clear that the civil servants were not actually listening to us though they assured us that they would report our views back to the minister in Cardiff. No notes were taken by them throughout the meeting. A number of attendees walked out in disgust. It seems this same scenario has been played out all over Wales at other 'consultation' meetings. As result a meeting was held last night up in mid-Wales by farmers to discuss what action we need to take to make the government listen. The Farmer & I made the near 3 hour drive up to Welshpool yesterday afternoon and joined the 1,100+ strong crowd to hear what had to be said. It was an amazing evening with so many farmers and non-farmer supporters gathered together. It was emotional at times as farmers expressed their fears that there will be no future for their families on the land (in many cases, as with us, it is many generations of farming expertise and knowledge under threat) and it was encouraging that there were so many young people at the meeting, many in their twenties & thirties who are passionate about their roles in agriculture. There was also much anger that our elected representatives have become so dictatorial and out of touch with the people who put them in a position of trust and repsonsibility under the illusion that they were concerned for the agricultural communities of Wales. There is to be another meeting in few days time nearer home which we shall go to and hopefully the Sons will accomapany us. An action plan is being drawn up and we shall do whatever is required. Much is said about how food can be imported therefore the need to have farmers in Wales is reduced...how can supposedly sensible, intelligent people even think that this is a realistic approach to feeding a nation? Buy Local is mantra that needs to be emphasised everywhere and as a leading Welsh farmer, Gareth Wyn Jones says 'You need a farmer three times a day!' >Dim Ffermwyr, Dim Bwyd! No Farmers, No Food!

Cottage refubishment finished!

After the excitment of two days of real hard frost, ice and snow we are now back to the normality of rain and more rain, bu the birds are singing so it not all gloom. The work on the holiday cottage is nearing completion, just fiddly little details to be done and then we are ready for the guests of 2024. At the moment the the first booking is at the end of March but one can hope that someone somewhere may like an early spring break before then. Whatever, the cottage is pristine and ready for whoever may turn up. The Farmer has worked very hard making the new kitchen and installing lights and a dishwasher and building new beds and generally doing A Great Job. The photos below do not really do it justice. The whole thing has been a bit like moving house with having had to pack up every single thing and put them into storage for two months and then of course everything has to be washed before being put back in place, so it has been a lot of work all round.

Winter Weather but Spring is on the Way

We have snow! It has been only a light fall but enough to excite the children and to send them off to the slopiest field with their toboggans. It has been three years since the last snow show so the delight when everyone woke up this morning to a gleaming white world was immense. A sprinkling like this is lovely...it does not disrupt the running of the farm other than a few frozen water pipes which soon thaw out once the sun moves round. In fact as I write the tap in my kitchen is starting to drip as the pipes to the house start to thaw so I will be able to wash up the breakfast dishes before too long! We have had cold weather for the past few days which is a blessed relief after the persistent rain of the last months but not cold enough to freeze pipes until now. Work on the holiday cottage is going well with the end in sight. My painter/decorator finished last week and I'm steadily getting the place sorted out and back to a livable space. It is looking lovely with its newly painted ceilings and fresh colour schemes. As soon as I have photographs I will post them up here. The whole process has been just like moving house again as of course everything had to be packed away, all the china, glass etc. and having new carpet laid, new beds and a new kitchen (courtesy of the Farmer!) but it is well worth the effort. Despite the wintry weather there are clear signs that spring is not too far away. Yesterday I found the first snowdrops in flower and daffodils are sending their sage-green shoots up everywhere and the crosuses on the lawns are promising a great display later on. On a jaunt down to Pembrokeshire at the beginning of the week we saw many daffodils already in flower - it is a much milder climate down there and things are usually well ahead of us here. The birds are starting to sing and I have already seen some of our summer-visiting mallards returning to one of the ponds from their winter quarters down on the river.

The Farmer is keeping busy processing firewood to build up the supply for next yearand even the year after. We have a lot of trees down with ash-dieback and when the trees are brought up to the timber yard they are processed into wood fit for planking to be made into furniture at a later date or what is fit only for firewood. Whether the wood is destined for carpentry or firewood it all needs to be well seasoned so we have sheds full of stacked planks well-sticked for even drying and other sheds full of mountains of logs alsoseasoning for the wood stoves. Burning green wood is a complete no-no so it is left for at least two years to ensure we get the most efficiently made heat from the logs.

Happy New Year

Blwyddyn Newydd Hapus i Pawb. A Happy New Year to All. The first day of 2024 and it is Not Raining! Yes, once agin I am talking about the weather but after months of rain to be able to say we start the new year with a dry morning is cause for celebration. It is a relief to just be able to fetch logs from the shed across our yard without having to put on a coat, though I do still need to don wellies, but not to have a curtain of rain to dash through is wonderful! Christmas week has gone by with family gatherings and visits to & from friends & neighbours which has been lovely and shows that we do live in community that enjoys each others company although we do not meet up very often. On the farm the daily routines continue no matter what day is showing on the calendar and calves are being born increasing the feeding times as the numbers increase. We have had a cow develop milk fever, which does not happen too often, thank goodness, but a quick dose of calcium soon puts things right and the cow recovers well in just few hours. Having passed the Shortest Day or Winter Solstice just a week or so ago, amazingly the hens are starting to lay again...the smallest increase in daylight makes all the difference and it is good to have our own eggs again. As well a being New Year's Day it is also one of our younger grandchildren's birthday...Arthur is 3 today and we will go celebrate with all the family at tea-time this afternoon with cake and jollity and hopefully not too many upsets by over-excited small people!

Christmas weather, Boxing Day Hunt

I would have liked to show you a real frosty or even snowy wintery scene but alas our Christmas weather is hideous, wet, blowy and too warm, so here is a view of one the farm's ancient trackways in its winter leaflessness. Having had a lovely family Christmas complete with home-grown turkey,happy children, sweet babies and too much rich food the week is progressing towards the New Year in a bluster of winds and heavy rain and little light. Yesterday, Boxing Day,(not so wet or windy) the Farmer and I went off to our local village to support the hunt in its Boxing Day meet. There was large turnout of locals and a field of about twenty horses all gathered outside the biggest pub in the village along with the hounds and it was quite a sight as they moved off to do a circuit of the village and then head off to our own little valley for their day's activities. These gatherings are what rurual communities are all about (one could get very sentimental about the traditions and ways of life which do actually have validity), but they are under attack by animal-rights activists who have no understanding of what hunting is all about. The emotive talk of the cruelty of foxes being chased by hounds and then 'ripped to pieces' is designed to whip up a reaction whereas the reality is of control of a predator in the most efficient way possible with any fox caught despatched humanely before the hounds get it. Whilst we all admire the beauty and elegance of the fox if one has seen the devastation caused by a fox in a chicken run one's view is somewhat less than fluffy. What an irony it is that it is considered entertainment to watch a wildlife documentary on television where wolves bring down a deer or a lion stalk a gazelle where the prey is quite literally ripped to pieces, yet for foxes to be hunted is seen as cruel and against nature!

After the meet the Farmer and I headed for the hills with a picnic of turkey sandwiches and went up into the superb empty landscapes of the Berwyn mountains. We had a lovely day seeing very few other people and were thrilled to glimpse for the first time in forty years, a pair of roe deer who crossed the road in front of us having come up for the valley bottom heading for higher ground in the forestry. We also saw a pair of herons, usually solitary, so to see two of them flying across a river was wonderful with their long-legged stately flight.

When Hollywood came to Penyrallt

Yesterday the Farmer and I travelled down to Pembrokeshire to attend the funeral of an old friend, the film director, Carol Byrne Jones. We first met Carol some thirty years ago when she chose to make her Welsh feature film 'Tan ar y Comin' here at Penyrallt. The film was based on a well-known Welsh children's book by the renowned children's author T. Llew Jones. It is the story of a gypsy boy and his horse and the filming of it was fascinating. The arrival of huge film crew opened up a whole new world to us here on the farm and gave us an insight to the complexities of film-making as well as being a lot of fun for us and our boys who were very young at the time. The production took over the farmhouse, yards and some buildings and so for many weeks we were actually living on a film set as they redecorated and turned the house back in time to the 1930's. Elder Son & the Farmer both became 'supporting artists' or extras for a couple of days in the sequence filmed in our local market town and castle where an old-fashioned fairground was created and involved many of the townspeople. Carol made the film in conjunction with an American production company which meant it was filmed 'back-to-back' in both Welsh and English and starred the English actor Edward Woodward and the American star James Coburn, with the English version being directed by the Hollywood actor and director David Hemmings...Hollywood came to Penyrallt which was not as overwhelming as one would think! Watching David Hemmings work was extraordinary and the efficiency with which the crew got on with it all was impressive though much of of it appeared to be like herding cats!! Carol was an academic and respected director and writer and poet and we were privileged to have known her. The book 'Tan ar y Comin' was translated into English by Carol and is known as 'Gypsy Fires' and the English version of the film is titled 'A Christmas Reunion'(1994). It is available on Youtube.

Winter Weather

We've just had a few days of lovely frosty weather with glorious crisp mornings and glittering grass, but it did result in us having no water in the house and cattle sheds. An unexpected major problem as we had not anticipated it to be so cold that night. Usually we are better prepared and leave taps just running a thin thread of water which is sufficient to stop it freezing. We just had to have patience waiting for the sun to move round to where it will thaw frozen pipes. Now we are back to milder temperatures and rain and mud once more. Despite the inconveniences of freezing temperatures it is so lovely to have dry crisp weather. Apparently, however, more northern parts of the country are blanketed in snow...the north/south didvide is surely emphasised by the weather! The Farmer & I have both had heavy flu-like colds for the past week so have been spending much time in front of the fire with hot drinks and doing only the most essential chores but hopefully we are now on the home run & beginning to feel more like ourselves. On the farm things are busy with calves being born and constant supervision of the cows who are due to calve. Elder Son has equipped each cow with an electronic collar that records her every move including a rise in temperature that can indicate the start of labour or if she is not in calf can tell him where she is in her oestrus cycle so that she can be inseminated. It all very clever and has proved a valuable tool, though The Farmer says, in a typical grumpy-previous-generation way, that he managed to run the herd just as efficiently without the expensive technology! However, we move with the times and it is certainly interesting to see the new technologies being applied.

Over the weekend my painter-and-decorators turned up and they have made a good start on the refurbishment of the holiday cottage. The Farmer has been working hard over the past month building a new kitchen and I'm now waiting for the new tiles to arrive and once the painters have finished in the bedrooms they will start on the kitchen/sitting room. As I'm having all the wood-lined ceilings painted it not an easy job as the ceilings are sloping steeply and go to a very high apex but it will be worth the effort and will make the cottage much lighter.