First week over.

Well, M decided she didn’t like my design for the raised beds after all, so we went with the 2×2 square. I felt a pang of angry disappointment which I quickly recognised as something I often feel when an idea I have after getting enthusiastic about is rejected. It’s a problem I often had in bookselling – a combination of being over-sensitive and pig headed. Thankfully I kept it under control, which was not hard to do really – this is her farm and I’m here to learn from her – but it was interesting to note a ‘negative attitude’ coming to the fore so early on. I think it’s important for me to spot things like this which are obviously not context dependent and try understand them. Easier said than done…

More adventures on the orphan lambs front. Last night farmer Fred brought over a newborn but by the morning it was dead, so I was greeted to a small white corpse in a plastic bag before breakfast. M doesn’t ostensibly breed her animals for food and definitely doesn’t slaughter them on the site, so while I rationally know that the animals are all potentially food it’s not part of the plan here. The dead lamb wasn’t a shock but it wasn’t nice either. But, well, it happens.

Later, at dinner, Fred brought another lamb over. This one had been born last night and had gotten its first feed from the mother but had since been abandoned or was not fit enough to keep up with the mother, so he brought it over. This one is huge, for a lamb, and is already walking around.

The black lamb which arrived on Tuesday is still looking very weak and can’t stand well. We think it might be blind and M’s not sure it’ll survive. The other lambs flinch when you wave a hand in front of them, but Blackie doesn’t and he holds his head in a strange way. I hope he at least makes it outside. The other baby lamb, the beautiful one, is fine though still quite small.

By the end of the day, having made the frames of four raised beds, I was knackered and really felt like I’d done a good week’s work. My body was tired but my mind was good. I like this feeling and I shall sleep well tonight. It was sunny and hot again today but the wind is picking up. Where I was working it was very dry and dusty and I was sawing a lot of wood and everything was blowing around. The wind and the sun and dust really wore me down and while I got a lot done it was done steadily and at a good pace.

The eight beds I’ve made are not going to win any design awards and I doubt certain people would like them in their gardens, but they are made of random planks nailed together and are essentially free. I noticed that the more I made, the better they got (except the last one which was a total bodge using the last of the wood). Again with the learning process – all good.

The weekend is now mine to do with as I will. Rain is forecast and since this is an island it’s likely the strong winds in the Channel will not miss us, so I’m heading off to Newport all going to plan. I want to buy a cheapo bike and pay a visit to the reference library, ostensibly to see if they have free net access but also to see what’s going on on this island beyond the tourist traps. There’s also an arts centre which could be interesting. One of my long term plans is to get some experience in this field to benefit the BugPowder comics thangdango.