Gold!

What I've been thinking about this week:

1. Gold medals. 
2. Keyboard warriors.

It seems like there's only one thing on anyone's mind today: curling. A quick scan of Facebook tells me that lots of people stayed up late to watch Team GB women's curling team win gold. 

I have to admit that I find the rules a bit confusing and there's a lot of vocabulary involved. I've picked up bits here and there but I know enough to know that there's levels of tactics going on that I couldn't even imagine. It feels a bit like when someone tells you The Magic Roundabout has got layers of meaning and you just find a cow called Ermintrude amusing.  

Lambing gave Ivie an excuse to stay up late and watch some of it last night then get up early and watch the highlights. I left him to it and swooped in at the last minute when I knew the game was won and I wouldn't have to ask so many questions or sit quietly wondering what a four foot was or how Steve Cram could tell a particular stone had a lot of weight. 

First Spittal lambs of 2022

Thanks to Storm Eunice this week it's been hard to remember what it's like to have calm, dry days. It was so windy, rainy and generally grim today that a day in my shed was called for. 

It's such a treat to get the log burner going, settle under a blanket and read a good book in the shelter of my shed. It's a cosy haven where I'm in control of who or what is allowed - no dogs, no aimless scrolling, and not too much noise. (Ssshhh). 

Ivie popped in just before lunch and before he even opened his mouth I knew what he'd been up to. 

One of the many things I enjoy about living with Ivie is that he's pretty laid back and there's never much to grumble about, even when he's sleep-deprived during lambing. I relish the calm atmosphere and Ivie's easy going nature about pretty much everything. Except below-the-line comments. 

He can't help himself. He reads an article then instead of stopping at the end and thinking to himself, "that was interesting. Time for a coffee," he keeps reading.

Practising for 2026

What had got his goat this morning was people commenting on the curling. Some people were very upset indeed that the team was called Team GB when Scotland was the only nation represented in the team; others were questioning whether the 'G' should feature in the name at all. And I'm sure others still were making inappropriate comments about the relative attractiveness of each of the curlers. 

I feel like having two older brothers is good practice for keyboard warriors. My eldest brother, in particular, knows what buttons to press and presses them often. Sometimes my inner voice whispering, "don't react, don't react, don't react," wins and I smile sweetly while ignoring whatever he's said. Ivie's problem is that he is the big brother so hasn't had enough practice of dealing with sibling goading. Or with Brian from Wolverhampton ignoring the fact that today, on the last day of Beijing 2022, Team GB finally won Gold.

The Shortest Month?!

What you should know:

1. This is not how I thought my life would be. 
2. That's not always a bad thing. 

I used to really struggle through February. I couldn't believe the shortest month on paper took the longest to trudge through. In the city, February was dark, cold and antisocial. I went to work in the dark, came home in the dark and every day felt like it ended at 4pm. 

Now the start of February looks like this: 

Those of you who are regular readers will know that I am a stationery lover (that's completely different from someone who just lies there and thinks of Scotland. That's a stationary lover). I've just looked it up and apparently I'm a papyrophiliac. Sounds painful. 

I especially love new notebooks, diaries and calendars that haven't been written on yet. There's just so much possibility waiting to unfold. Now that I've found a calendar I love, I order the same one every autumn. And I am still in search of the perfect diary. You know some people go through life looking for the perfect lipstick? That's me with diaries and notebooks. It may be a lifelong quest. Can't wait... 

This could be the one.

Those of you who know Ivie will know that organisation isn't really his thing. He tends to rely on his charm and fluttery eyelashes to get around deadlines he's just missed or birthday cards that are a few days late. It also means that he doesn't have to buy his calendar and diary in October because he gets freebies with pictures of farm machinery on them. Needless to say, my diary doesn't include a space to record rainfall or adverts for 'impressive brassica weed control'.  

What I have realised, though, is that I no longer dread February (despite this month's picture of a tractor, which if you ask me, looks remarkably like last month's picture of a tractor. I know, no one asked me). The drudge has been replaced by anticipation. 

How the lambing shed will look in a week or two

Lambing at the Spittal is just around the corner, which means that Ivie spends a lot of time thinking about the logistics of it all like:

• moving hunners of straw bales out of the lambing shed to make room for the pens, which all still have to be put together.
• getting supplies in like colostrum and iodine.
• setting up equipment like the shepherdess for feeding the pets (and hoping it won't get any use).

It gives February a different flavour, even for me, who is next to useless during lambing except for baking, making soup and trying to say the right thing at the right time. At least I know that, "I hope you have LOADS of pets" is the wrong thing at any time... 

Maybe just the one?