Wednesday 11 February 2015

The Quiet Time

In spite of the squally winter storms and frozen water pipes, this is a keeper's (and wife's) favourite time of year. Shoot season is over, but we haven't started catching up our laying hens yet. We have fewer responsibilities than any other time of the year, so it's our annual two week holiday. Work resumes on 14th February with our traditional Valentine's evening spent eating takeout while making wire tunnels for the pheasant catching pens.

The end of the season comes with its own ritual and tasks. I wash the dog coats and leashes, and drop off our tweeds to the Margaret at the feed store. She does a weekly run to the dry cleaners for those of us living out of town. It's so convenient and I can pick up sheep nuts and pig oil at the same time. Margaret used to keep the Queen's goat when he wasn't on duty, and still cares for a menagerie of rescued horses and donkeys. We have a quick chat, comparing notes on our animals and sharing treatment advice. Along with my tweeds, I drop off a few pheasant carcases as Margaret likes to feed a buzzard and a red kite that live in the area.

All the working dogs get an end-of-season refurbishment: bathed, nails clipped, wormed and flea-treated and a health check. At the moment we have one case of ear mites, one ear infection, one case of conjunctivitis, another of dandruff, two overweight dogs, and two underweight ones. And poor Dakota had a mild stroke a few days ago. She's recovered with no lasting effects. My morning routine now includes ear drops, eye drops, wipes, and stuffing pills into reluctant dogs, all before coffee.

The dogs go back to school now. I took Tinker and Molly to the dog trainer yesterday. Tinker did a few days' work at the end of the season. She's been a late bloomer, so we've taken it steady. She excelled at the trainer's yesterday.

On a shoot day, Tinker stands on Spud to get a better look

Molly is at the very beginning of her training, which is all done around her food: whistle to come in, whistle to sit, wait, command to eat. That, plus a couple of retrieves a day, is all she'll do for the next eight weeks. The rest of her time is spent playing or sleeping. The others will accompany me on walks in the Welsh hills.

Pip and Molly has devised a Stacking System for making best use of the couch

It's a pleasure to see all the birds that deftly avoided the guns now strutting about the estate. The cock pheasants are fighting and preening. The ducks are starting to pair up. We still keep the feeders full with wheat and maize to see them through the winter. Pigeons will start coming in to feed on farmers' crops and we'll try and put some of those pests in the freezer.

The boys are tackling our fox population, and I will make time to bag a couple of deer. This estate produces woodland products so deer are a nuisance. Deer and hare also attract poachers. Mike caught a poacher's dog but not the owners. He brought it home and put it in our kennels where it howled a protest all night long. He hoped the owners would claim it but they didn't so he handed it over to the police. Deer prices have doubled and there is a lot of rural poverty, so poaching is rife.

The hunt also came though this week. Kitty wasn't fit enough for a day's hunting, so we went on foot and waved off the field (ie the people on horseback).


Also Kitty, who lives out, is not quite as smartly turned out as the other horses -



Tomorrow's job is to gather up the pregnant ewes and give them their annual vaccine and a dose of wormer, and trim any overgrown feet. I want them ready and comfortable for motherhood. The farrier will drop in to do Kitty's feet at the same time. There's also wood to be split and stacked. We were so preoccupied with shooting that we let the heating oil run out, so we only have the wood stove and a little space heater, and no hot water until Monday.

Yup, this is our quiet time.

13 comments:

Unknown said...

lovely update!
how long does it take to train a gundog?

Christine said...

So sorry to hear about Dakota! Here's hoping she continues on with no symptoms, and all your dogs get better during their break.

That Queen's goat link was hilarious. A kashmere goat in the army. I wonder if anyone tries to collect his fiber for spinning.

Bag End Gardener said...

Lovely to read your update and see you all seem to be settling well at the new Estate.

Good luck with the ears, eyes and ewes. And extra hugs and scratches under the chin for Dakota :-}

And for you too, as you have no hot water :-{

Seester said...

Please can I have Tinker? I have a feeling she's not going to be the best working dog on the team, but she is a stellar snuggler! I can give her the life of spoiled leisure that she secretly craves. You know how much Tinky loves to be indoors on the couch.

Anonymous said...

WOW
You really know how to do a real Valentines Day nite!
Stay warm.
barb

Janice Bendixen said...

Oh, give Seester Tink! How can you deny that plaintive request? Freezing rain here in the sub-Arctic and three loads of wood cleared, hauled, split and stacked. Except it's mostly wet and green (spruce). We've been on wood heat since November, which at 7K sq ft and averaging -10 is a fulltime job. Good on you for the successful season. Sending my extra love to Dakota. Tinker just said she wants to go keep Seester company. And they would come home to visit. :-)

Jennifer Montero said...

Elsfield Chickens - Now that's a question! The short answer is: Depending on how trained you want your dog, and the dog's natural ability AND your ability as a trainer - anywhere between a year and 3 years. But as the dogs get past 6 years, they start to ignore commands as they know what they're doing. Most work until they are 10 or 12 years old.

Jennifer Montero said...

Christine - Dakota seems fine. She hasn't lost her appetite for food or murdering squirrels so she's still herself. I love the idea of a Queen's goat too.

Jennifer Montero said...

Jayne - It was completely our own fault, but heat and hot water is now restored. However, we've already run out of firewood and need to get chopping again!

Jennifer Montero said...

Seester - she IS a stellar snuggler. In fact, when she retrieves a bird, she has to crawl in your lap and have a hug before she will give it up. Unconventional, but endearing. You can have her when she's retired, and slower.

Jennifer Montero said...

Janice - Our heat needs are nothing compared to yours! I hope you are staying warm and dry.

Janice Bendixen said...

Well, apparently my complaining worked: We've set record temperatures this past week. I had 52F on Sunday and it poured rain yesterday. In the subarctic. In February. Most bizarre WX. I love your solution of retiring Tink to Seester's care. That should be quite acceptable for both of them, I'd think.

Josie said...

Awww, I love that picture of Pip and Molly snoozing!