Geese, Wild And Tame...

This week, we`d to trim the geeses wings. One of them, a white and beige male, decided it was fun to escape the wee field on a nightly basis, and try to follow the flocks of wild geese, gathering all over the island in vast noisy flocks so that the air fairly resounds to the harsh but beautiful song of them.
Only, good job really, he cannae fly all that well. Gave it his best though. Each time the son would try to get close enough to herd the wee bugger back into the gate and field, off he took, soaring at a heady height of..um...six feet or so...over the fence and into the neighbouring farmers field. Then he would vanish into the reeds so we couldnae see him, or hide beside the pond, the one in the dip atween two fields or the one beside the track.
Well anyways, with the help of a family friend, we herded the small flock of them into the porch, quite an enclosed space, and for a while the air rang with the clamour of angry hissing geese and cursing bloke holding tight onto them as he clipped each one`s wing, making a right ruin of the feathers, but for necessity. I dinnae want to lose any of the geese to the beckoning flocks of their wild cousins.
So, that`s one pre winter job done, sigh.
My fella is here with me at the moment, Frans. He`s from Flanders. I often wonder if he expected the change in climate....from relatively balmy Belgium to freezing and windy Orkney.....urk...
but he helped me clear the gutterings last week, another pre winter job, as yearly they get silted up with debris from the adjoining rooves of the outbuildings which abutt the porch roof and so all gutterings kind of meet up. There were the remains of birds nests in one stretch of them, and silt and grass growing in the other....*blushes in shame, almost*....but they are clear now and what with the endless rain we`ve had today, should have been pretty well cleaned.
So I only have a few more pre winter jobs to do....shifting the large round hay and straw bales into an outbuilding under shelter, putting the finishing touches to the geeses shelter made from pallets. Also got to get a decent day to dig up the tatties from the tattie patch.

I have been giving Frans driving lessons. That is funny if you have ever seen my driving or known of the various....erm...adventures in parking and reversing I`ve had over time. All those jokes about women drivers? They`re all true....
but I`m surprised at how quickly he is picking it up, and he`s watching me type this right now so I`d better also say how good he is at it.....:D
I have come to the conclusion that he has an great and illustrious career in stunt driving.
He does the tightest circles I ever saw. And sitting in the car as he does them, well, it generates G forces that leave me a little shaken. But not stirred....:P
So far, I`ve resisted his attempts at parking or reversing. Need more courage to face that, har...

I got a new peedie car though...an ancient but well kept Peugot, one lady owner (really! no, that isn`t an Arthur Daley line!) and ok, she has her quirks....the gears are soooo stiff I`m gonna have arm muscles like a weight lifter in a week or so....and the steering is a little on the clunky side...but it`s a grand wee car for all that.

So, winter fast approaches. Travel is becoming more limited here, not just cos of the ferry mularkey whenever a boat breaks doon but because the winds fairly whip the sea into a fury, and I stand and watch the peedie fishing boats bounce up and doon on the swell and thank the gods I`m not on one of them.

And, it`s cosy, in the evenings, when it`s dark outside the window, and I have my man to snuggle up to, and sit in the warmth beside the stove.