Day 152- 158 The first week!

Day 152- Friday

So today is my first day off since arriving at the farm! This is by far one of the hardest jobs I have done, the long days and cold early mornings are not fun but the people are so lovely, the cattle are hilarious and I spend each day laughing. 

So as you may have noticed my blogging has not been going to plan. Unfortunately the remote nature of the farm means that signal is pretty awful everywhere. Occasionally you will get one bar and be able to stand in the same spot long enough to send a message but it is not always guaranteed! 

I also just don’t have time to write too much I’m afraid! The days are spent working, in the evenings I eat dinner with my roommates and then at about 9 we head to bed! 

So back to my day off, again due to the remote nature of the farm there isn’t a whole bunch to do. There isn’t a shop for miles and definitely no entertainment venues. I spent my day doing some laundry, reading a book, sitting out in the sun with a beer, going for a bit of a walk and just in general chilling. It was a pretty good day! 

Day 153-Saturday 

Who knew there would be a party on a farm? Well there is! THe owners are away so of course, the son is having a party and we are invited! Super kind of him because he also bought us a crate of cider. We finish pretty late but wanted to head up for a couple. When beer pong was called I 
stepped up to the challenge. I was on a team with Toby who 
is the middle son against Jackson (oldest son) and Sianna (Jacksons girlfriend). We were doing so so well. We got down to one cup whilst Jackson and Sianna had two cups. Guess what. In their go they manage to sink them both. Gutted is not even the word. We continued to drink and enjoy the festivities before calling it a night at a late 10pm. Smelling like bonfire with a belly full of alcohol we walked the 100m home.

Day 154- Sunday

Hmmm- I have no thoughts nor anything to say about today. It was another long cold day. But hey the sun was shining like always and the baby sheep (Pixie) and baby goat 
(Lottie) we’re incredibly cute.

Day 155- Monday

F-ing Alan. Alan is a goat which has lived on the farm for a long time. Alan also likes to tear off your clean laundry from the washing line and sit his dirty backside on it. The amount of times I have had to rewash clothes because of Alan is ridiculous. Today I reached the end of my tether with him. I stood on the doorstep of the cottage shouting at him, telling him how inconvenient he is and how much everyone hates him. He looked at me but I think he got the message.

Day 156- Tuesday 

It was cold today. Alan returned to dirty more fresh laundry. 

Day 157- Wednesday 

Day off tomorrow.. that means three beers tonight.

Day 158- Thursday 

So I am sat on the floor of a shed crying next to a calf who is unwell whilst another tries to eat me. You may ask what has bought me to this point. The truth is it is funny how attached you can get to something. I 

Swifty was born a week and one day ago. The first few days he was so strong and doing really well. The thing with newborn calf’s is they can be quite fragile. They can easily get sick and sometimes not recover. Swifty started to get diarrhoea, he was given electrolytes, jabs, milk all in the right quantity. The sad thing is he has just been getting weaker. We would get an occasional day where he is doing well and then back to deteriorating again. 

I had the day off today. I came up this morning to see him, said his name and he comes running over for a scratch and kiss.  I went to town and by the time I came back he wasn’t doing so good, I spoke to my colleague who had done everything she could including putting a blanket over him so he would stay warm as he slept. She told me that he wasn’t doing ok and to just hope for the best. I ate my dinner and took my evening beer up to the shed. Going in he couldn’t even raise his little head. He looked so fragile and was grunting as he breathed. I sat on the floor next to him petting him and just telling him how much joy he had bought me over the last week. Seeing his little face everyday and feeding him his bottles whilst his little tail with a white spot on the end wiggled made me so happy. It’s ridiculous and I can already hear people saying ‘he is just a cow’ but when you are in a challenging situation (New job, new home, new roommates, half way around the world from those you love) you grow attached. You cling to something that brings you happiness and comfort. That for me was the first newborn calf I had ever seen that we found alone in a field with no one around him to keep him warm. An animal that looked at me helpless and needing someone. 

Although I can not take full credit for raising him and keeping him alive I have become his mum and he became my baby.  

In truth, I need him for comfort more then he needs me to survive. 

Day 158- Friday

The elation I felt when I went into the shed this morning was indescribable. Swifty is alive! He was actually more active today then he has been in the last few days! Hopefully this is the start of some improvement!