New Socks Please, We're British

What I've been thinking about this week:

• Excellent purchases

What I haven't been thinking about this week:

• Socks

One of the things I've found about middle age is how excited I get about buying things that my younger self would have been horrified by. I've never been particularly 'spendy' but there's nothing wrong with simple pleasures. 

This week has been particularly good for online, middle-aged purchases*

• a heated blanket I put over my legs like a Nana when I'm working (so we don't have to put the heating on during the day). 
• an old school paper diary from Germany (it's worth it, honest).
• an old school paper calendar from a small business in Edinburgh (are you detecting a theme here?) 

There have been a few deliveries for the farm this week, too, as Ivie et al get some maintenance done between the summer madness and the winter. Although I asked all the right questions, I'm not sure I could tell you what they've been up to, other than the concreting up by the pens - and that's mainly cos I walk past it with the dog every morning (on the lead so that there are no little pawprints left as a lasting legacy🐾).

A rare moment of calm

I've got used to the couriers arriving in between all the other vehicles coming and going during the day. They're pretty good at delivering farm parcels to the steading, rather than to either of the houses so I didn't pay too much attention to the one that drove past just before lunchtime. I saw the driver open the back door to the van and hand Ivie a package. I assumed it was another sprocket, widget or tractor part so carried on trying to persuade the dog to be calm for five bloody minutes while I heated up the soup. 

Ivie has excellent timing, so he appeared back just as the toast was popping with said package in his hand. It contained socks. Not just one or two pairs, mind you. Twelve pairs of new, heavy duty, promise-not-to-wear-through socks.

Ivie is not spendy: Exhibit A

As we all know, Ivie is even less spendy than I am so there has been a lot of deliberation about these socks. He has mentioned buying new ones on a fairly regular basis for the past month and, I have to say, my interest was waning. 

Here's hoping it's a while before he has to buy something major. Like wellies. 

* It's important to support our local businesses, too, especially in the run-up to the 'C' word. Check out this blog from 2020 that lists some of my favourites. And check out one of my new local favourites, Nest Galloway.

Not Such a Perfect Day

What I've been thinking about this week:

• Teamwork

Ivie and I are pretty similar in a lot of ways. We're both a bit lazy about housework, neither of us is bad cop when it comes to puppy training and we find each other hilarious (thankfully). 

Who's in charge here? I'll give you one guess....

I can't imagine being with someone that a. I don't find hilarious and b. Doesn't find me hilarious (as in funny haha, not funny peculiar). Laughing every day makes my world go round. 

World events sometimes make it hard to find something to laugh at but our little world usually provides good comedy fodder. The punchlines often involve shite and are delivered during meal times but I'm getting used to adapting my description of a dirty joke. 

Of course, there are lots of ways we differ, too, such as our tolerance to cow shite on our clothes, skin and soft furnishings, as well as our ability to reverse large piece of machinery in small spaces (I don't need to try to know that I would cause thousands of pounds worth of damage).

These similarities and differences do mean that we make a pretty good team, though. 

Yesterday's team task in glorious sunshine involved me holding the dog and proffering treats and encouragement while Ivie clipped her fur. It's not quite up to Crufts standard but it's better than it was. 

Gratuitous puppy pic

Today's weather has taken a turn for the worse and it feels more like February than the end of June. The wind is howling and the rain is coming down in sheets, making it Ivie's least favourite kind of day. Why's that, I hear you ask. Well, because it's the perfect day for doing bills. 

Here's how much Ivie enjoys it. 

11.08am   We start doing the first bill. 

11:16am   Ivie: Is it time for a break yet? 
                 Me: We've been doing this for 8 minutes.
                 Ivie (with petted lip): It feels like 8 hours. 

Not Ivie's Happy Place

So, the kitchen is a bit of a tip and the dog is running rings round us but at least the money will come in and we'll still be laughing at our own jokes. 

Love Local

What I've been thinking about this week: 

• Small businesses and how they make the world go round. 

It all started when I was sitting at my desk looking out the window at the man in a tractor cutting the hedges at the Spittal. I'm getting to know my tractors so I realised straight away it wasn't a Fisher man in a blue tractor; it was a different man in a red tractor. 

Blue Tractor
(New Holland just to prove I know 😉)

It got me thinking about all the businesses that are involved in life on the farm. There are the obvious ones like the farm itself; the contracting business; and the holiday cottages. 

But then there are all the others - the aforementioned hedge cutter; the Hoof GP; the vet practice; Fallenstock (which doesn't deal in surplus stock); the lorry driver that takes animals to or from market; the agronomist (I get extra points for remembering that one); the farm supplies shop (that kept us stocked in flour and sugar when everywhere else had run out); and so on. It doesn't take much to see how important these small businesses are to each other. 

On the other side of the coin, there are the other farms that employ I&A Fisher (mainly to do things that mean I make Ivie take off his boiler suit before coming anywhere near me). 

Clean boiler suits

And it all makes our part of the world go round so that we can spend our money locally, too. You don't need me to tell you about the better service you get by spending your money with the small businesses that actually pay their taxes instead of with the huge corporations that offer bigger, cheaper, faster. 

• When we buy plants at Galloway Heathers, Marcus and Iona know where our garden is so can advise what will fare best. 
• When we buy fish from Ferry Fish, it comes straight to our door only a few hours after being bought at the market. 
• When I buy moisturiser at Imagination, I know that Una will help me choose what's right for my skin.  

The list goes on and you'll have your favourites, too. 

So, this is a shout out to all the small businesses that have supported us during lockdown and need us to keep supporting them as we approach the dreaded C-Word. Our corner of the world is a far richer place for having unique high streets. Let's keep them that way.