The shortest month of the year, and however much I love this farm and the glorious Wiltshire countryside, February is not the month where we look our best!
BUT, the signs are starting to show – February is the turnaround month for me – at the beginning of the month, there is no doubt it is still winter but slowly and surely as the days pass, those little signs start which means that by the end of the month, I feel that Spring is just around the corner.
It is a month of firsts – the first time you feel some real warmth in the sunshine on your face – I thought a couple of our pigs had gone walkabout one day mid month – there was an evil wind cracking through but they had found a nice sheltered dip in the field and were dozing in the sun, completely hidden from the path; the first green shoots of something growing … in our case, quite often stinging nettles, and boy, do they have a good sting to them when they first appear! The birds are definitely getting noisier.
However, the rain is still managing to come down horizontally, the frost still quite capable of freezing up water troughs and the mud most definitely still trying to swallow up my wellies … so … not there yet, but it’s coming!
We are starting to see some swelling bellies amongst our breeding sows – fingers crossed for some healthy piglets this Spring – never count them before they arrive but can help but wonder! Hopefully, they are not all just FAT!
The weather has been such a mix up this month, and much as I might grumble, we are still doing well – it has not been as wet as in previous years so keep your ears open for the first announcements of hose pipe bans coming – almost guaranteed!
I’ve been a bit remiss on the photography front of late – hard to juggle the iPhone when it is wet and windy – will do better in March – promise!!