Donna Matthews

Category: Mother Nature

  • Cornwall continued

    We set off on our adventure, not knowing where we were going to end up but it didn’t matter as long as this sunshine continued.  We reach Rock and decided to take the ferry across to Padstow.  Still not believing our luck with the weather we enjoyed the trip across the open water.  Padstow was busier than we would thought. The galleries, gift shops and pasty shops were open and doing a good business. We walked through the streets and popped into the shops just enjoying this lovely place without the crowds that would soon arrive as the weather gets warmer.  After a few hours we head back to our little cottage. Pam’s scones and homemade jam were calling our names.  Champagne opened we sit down to have a wonderful cream tea.  Later it is up to the sitting room (which Pam transformed with lit candles) to have a chat.  We could not believe how cosy this little cottage had become just by having people in it. The fresh air was doing its trick and everyone was content and ready for a relaxing evening.  For the next few hours we sat in the candle light drinking Baily’s and swapping stories.  I looked around the room and again the magnitude of how good my life is hit me.  Sitting in a cottage on the Cornish coast with my beautiful Pam and my dear friends.  These are the times we need to absorb and keep with us to help us through THOSE days when then occur.

    Sunday arrives and it is time to leave.  The transformation takes place once again.  All our personal touches are removed and the cottage returns to its natural state.  This place that only 48 hours ago seemed dreary now has a special place in our hearts.  Cars packed we are ready to leave and we realise that we have been here an entire weekend and still have not found the Co-Op!  Oh well, we found loads of other places we will come and visit again.  However, you will never get me to go to Cornwall in the summer.  I can’t imagine trying to unload your car with summer tourists honking their horns behind you and screaming kids wanting to go to the beach after being stuck in a car for hours.  No thank you…we will stick with our off-season visits.

  • Alarm didn’t go off, no time for coffee then fog!

    You know when it is going to be one of THOSE days.  As you can tell from the title of this post I am having one of those days today.  It started with the failure of the alarm to go off.  Pam said “wow, it is really light outside”.  At that point my internal alarm went off…”oh &^%$£  I’m late!”  In the shower, get dressed look at the clock and realise there is no time to even make my “in the car” coffee let alone breakfast.  Go outside and have another surprise…fog.  We are still at the farm so we are in the hills of Hereford so I’m talking mega fog.  Simon comes out and says that it should be better when I get down the hill.  (Keep in mind I have to navigate their little lane, dodging sheep, geese and Guinea fowl for 1 1/2 miles before I even get to the road.)  I finally hit the main road and the fog has not changed.  As I approach the bottom of the hill towards the A40 I see that the fog is even denser!  All I kept thinking was “just get the office and soon it will be 9:00 and the coffee shop will be open”.
    So, here I am with my coffee in hand and a day full of meetings ahead.  I’m hopeful that I have had my fill of bad stuff for one day.  I’ll let you know.

  • New Lambs

    The first two arrivals

    Update on the lambing progress…when I went to bed last night there were still just the two lambs who were born over the weekend.  This morning  I packed up the car and then snuck to the lambing shed to take a look.  I saw all the expectant mums sleeping and the two weekend arrivals in a small pen with their mum.  They were sooo cute now a few days old.  Then I looked further to my right and there was another small pen with  residents!  (The newborns get moved into separate pens with their mums to keep them safe.)  There were two more little faces looking up at me.  These two were so small  but absolutely perfect and they were only about 3 hours old!  Mum was snoozing after her ordeal.  She will certainly need her rest with these little ones to look after!    I can’t wait to get back there this evening to see what has transpired while I’ve been at work.

  • Lambing begins

    It is the end of February and time for the lambs to start arriving at my step son and daughter-in-law’s farm. I love all things to do with the farm and I’m always excited to learn. This week Pam is helping out so I’m going to work in the morning and then going to the farm for the evening. So far there have been twins born (a boy and a girl) but that was over the weekend. Now we are waiting for others to make their grand entrance. I will most definitely volunteer for bottle duty in the evenings. Notice I said evenings because this is a 24 hour job. Every two hours the lambs that need special care must be checked and bottle fed. If that doesn’t sound hard enough consider that these two young people also have a 9 month old! So, whatever help we can offer we will give. I’ll keep you posted on the lamb count.

  • I could never be a weather person

    Being the control freak that I am I could never do a job where I knew I was going to be wrong the majority of the time, no matter what I said!  Why the weather theme today?  Well, we were told just yesterday that we were “officially” in a draught (in our part of England).  Today I am sitting in an office on the corner of building and I’m surrounded by huge windows.  Watching the wind  whip the RAIN into a frenzy.  It is lashing so hard against the windows that if feels more like a car wash than an office!  I am grateful for the rain, as I don’t want us to be in a draught but I started thinking about those poor buggers who have to try to predict what Mother Nature is going to do.  It seems she does have a good sense of humour though.  I’m sure she was thinking “okay, official draught well that means rain is on the agenda for tomorrow, let’s see what they do with that!”  I wonder what Mother Nature has in store for this weekend because the weather people have called for “balmy temperatures”.  Bets anyone?