2012 in Pictures - Happy New Year Everyone!

 "Pssssst! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!"
(From our farm in the North of Scotland to all of you everywhere!)

I have something to add to the beginning of this letter, Re: HC-4 Alum...

I'm about to send this yearly missive to a whole group of new folk! I stumbled across Skipper Barns via LinkedIn and that led to me to also reconnect with Master Chief Kafka and, to make a long story short, I've been encouraged to carry on trying to re-connect with HC-4 Alum. Many of whom probably have no idea who this is. But that's fine, hello just the same! (If it helps to narrow things down: I was an Aviation Machinist's Mate (ended up as AD3) groundpounder with HC-4 from 1993 - 1996. I had both Skipper Allen and Skipper Barns as CO and Commander Lucarelli as XO, and Master Chief Kafka for most of my time at HC-4. (I can't recall the name of my first Master Chief.) I lost contact with everyone after bouncing around the world for years, ending up a Firefighter/Medic in Alaska for ages and now I'm a farmer's wife over here in Scotland.)

UPDATE! A Christmas lamb born right in the middle of the gales and rain and a big surprise waiting for us this morning because lambing season isn't until April! Check out this 1 minute video of the wee woolly lad warming up in front of our kitchen stove:

 

UPDATE #2: The first wee calf of the season has been born today! And the second calf of the season is on its way! So "calving season" has officially begun! (We will soon be flooded with calves being born at all hours of the day and night. Pictures on this website will be forthcoming.)

If you click on the photos they enlarge quite a bit! 
  

The family: Elspeth (4), Benji (3), Inga (3), Erlend and Millie the Farm Whippet have just returned from pulling some "neeps" (turnips) for dinner from our mucky veg plot. This year has been rough with the constant rain and cold: some of our crops still lie in the field. Our beets never grew into much. Our carrots drowned! So although 2012 has been a fantastic year in every other respect it has been a blah year for farming.

Dear friends, family, HC-4 Alum,

December 20, 2012: Hey, I have an idea! Let's crack Apocalypse jokes like there's no tomorrow bahaha!!

UPDATE: December 21, 2012 - Well, shoot. That's what, the 4th end of the world that I've survived? This is getting boring...

Ahem!

Hello everyone! Here are TONS of photos to make up for my lax holiday correspondences of the past four years. We've had a wild 2012 here on the farm with the 3 toddlers adding an abundance of spice to life! 

As most of you recall I've spent the past four years recovering from having my pelvis busted up and me almost totally crippled as a result. I am SO happy to say that I am almost entirely healed now, gone are the crutches and the wheelchairs and the hard core pain killers that turned me into a mindless houseplant... I'm on the move and no longer in any pain! Life is good. :-)

"Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in morning, sailors take warning!" Here we have a breaking red dawn casting an ominous pink glow over some of our fields. This typical for the winter months this far north: these islands are level with Alaska!

I'm sneaking a treat of barley to one of our "yows" (ewes) and the two wee lambs that I helped to deliver.

We always ring in New Year on the farm with calving season. Then we move into lambing season during March and April. Here are some photos of lambing season 2012:

This little girl is trying to find me while I whisper through a crack for the lamb to come close. I'm hiding and I've snuck the camera into her pen so that mom-sheep won't notice and charge at me in a furious blur of wool and hooves. I'm healed but terribly out of shape so even a sheep can whip me haha!

Here are triplet lambs, all three from the same mom! (Erlend looks severe but that's just fatigue: we shepherds don't get a lot of sleep during lambing season!)

Being sneaky in the barns is paying off: While hunkered behind a bale of straw I managed to get this great shot of a wee lamb nursing from her mom.

This photo was taken in early summer, maybe June? These are the same lambs as above, only now they are a few months old and getting big. This shot was taken in the field right outside of our house - I love to drink my morning coffee while watching the lambs as they race around the grass.

Here is one of the full grown ewes being liberated from her thick hot fleece. Shearing time depends on the weather, it could be as early as June are, in cold years like 2012, as late as July. I thought we'd never get the Woolly Ladies shorn! We don't shear our own sheep - we hire in a professional team that nips those fleeces off in mere seconds! The entire job is like a dance, with the shearer maneuvering the ewe into a carefully choreographed set of positions: sitting up on the haunches, off to each side with the head tucked just so, on the back, etc. At the end the ewe literally rolls out of her fleece and gallops away!

A visit to a friend's farm: Elspeth feeds a young Zack, the same goat that you see in the first photo up top, the one on the left with the long floppy ears. He joined our small goat flock last winter.

And what do I get up to during my free time? Well, behind the solid concrete walls of an old dairy building (translation: child proof, can't even hear 'em whine!) I spend many nights hammering away at the keyboard writing my book while the kids are asleep. When the gales hit I nearly freeze solid even within the depths of those wool blankets!!

This year I've taken several writing and art classes in the wee hours while the kids are asleep. I've decided to take a break from art and focus all of my creative efforts on completing my wannabe graphic novel. It's time to get serious and get that thing DONE. 

So, I am now working with a "pro-critique" mentor, a lady that used to be an editor at Marvel Comics who is helping me to pick through my script with a fine tooth comb. Talk about a learning curve! The more I work with Nicole the more I realize that I don't know squat about getting published... Even still, I am having a BLAST! 

In the next photo I show page 2 of a 5 page comic that I had to write for the "Intro to writing" class that I took last winter. My friend Seb, from Croatia, did the artwork:

To see the comic go here - there might be a slight delay before you are moved directly to the cover page. Make sure to scroll down the page to read the instructions on how to enlarge the pages and to find the link to the next pages. This story is based on a Croatian Lenten tradition that goes back to pagan times. But Sebastian didn't tell me that he was designing the farm in the comic after our own farm here in Scotland so that was a happy surprise! (He knew about our farm because I had commissioned him to create this awesome gift for Erlend last Christmas. When you click on the link there might be a delay, then you then click on the picture of our farm to enlarge.)

Some of our dearest friends here in Orkney: the Monks of the (ancient) sacred island of Papa Stronsay. On August 15th, 2012 the monks were granted their official recognition from Rome. (They've been here over ten years?) You can read more about these hearty souls that make up our local international religious congregation (Americans included!! WE'RE EVERYWHERE!) if you click here. The monks even have a genuine bona fide HERMIT nun living nearby in her humble Scottish cottage.

From the isle of Stronsay, looking across the wee bay at the monastery on Papa Stronsay. The monks each get their own individual cells. The monastery has been built over and around an ancient monastery site that dates back to the Picts.

The monks loading up in their Boat Of Doom. (oooh I hate that boat! The whole time I ride in that thing I'm clinging to the gunnels, white knuckled with fear!) They are heading back across to Papa Stronsay after morning mass.

During one of our 2012 winter gales the winds hit from X direction while the sea was at high tide and the result: the sea surged up and over entire portions of the monks' island of Papa Stronsay! You never see the ocean in this location, scary stuff! (This photo is from their website.)

In early May we sold some of our Angus cows (with "calves at foot") in the local Orkney Auction Mart. A cheerful family outing, I watched one of our cows-with-calf circle the ring as the bidding got hot. You can see the auctioneer up there with his white coat. (Erlend was not in the ring, those two men are handlers that work at the mart.) 

In early April the fields are sown with barley and you can see the short new green growth in this photo, taken in early May. (Even before they could walk, Benji and Inga were more then eager to get in on the action! This photo was taken two years ago and they are working hard at work "helping" us to plant potatoes. A grubby kid is a happy kid!)

Beautiful Marwick bay during sunset. But don't get too envious: the ocean here is COLD even in the middle of summer!

In July I was able to tick yet another dream off of my list: I joined the diocesan pilgrimage to Lourdes, France. This photo was taken at the end of the nightly candle light procession where thousands of us raised our candles while singing in unison, "Ave, Ave, Maria!" This was a very moving and spiritually rich experience that I shall never forget!

The old church at the Grotto in Lourdes. The father of Saint Bernadette helped to build some of this kirk. You sit in the Grotto right below this church-on-a-cliff and have this massive stone edifice looming over your head... my overly active imagination was working hard core as I stupidly wondered what would happen if an earthquake struck. (Exactly how fast can an out-of-shape fat chick run from falling stone bricks?!) But no such thing happened: instead, a few months later, Lourdes totally flooded! They even had to helicopter air lift people out of the town with winches and rescue divers. It has been a weeeird summer.

Beautiful hand carved statues that I found in a little shop on one of the side streets. I brought home one of the Lady of Lourdes statues which now sits up in our bedroom. (The man that carves these statues is as old as Yoda!!)

Back home in Scotland we took the three Weans for a walk in one of Orkney's few wooded bits: Binscarth Woods. They loved it, as you can see from all of the mud on Inga's trousers hehehe!!

It was so cold this year that the kids had to wear snowsuits when we visited the beach in June! But nothing slowed them down, they still had tons of fun exploring the rock pools.

Round bales of barley straw become the norm as summer wanes (hah! More like "summer" this year...) and the farmers harvest their golden barley crops. The straw is then used for bedding and also to be mixed into the morning and night feeds that consist of a mix of silage, straw, and barley grains.

Fall time: Harvesting "tatties"! (Scottish for potatoes.) This photo was taken in October of 2011 when we actually had a summer which resulted in a fine crop. If you look at the dark earth you can make out the red tatties that have been pulled up by this newfangled tattie digging device that was hauled behind a tractor. Fascinating stuff to behold!

We are always busy on the farm, even as summer ends and fall rolls in. We keep our sheep out longer then the cattle, only bringing the Woolly Ladies in during the end of winter. Here we are shifting a flock of young ewes to a new field. (That is Erlend in the background. If you look you can see the brown patches of heather across the landscape.) This patch of land to the right is known as "The Wilderness" and was gifted to Erlend's late father by an elderly lady (in her will) after she found him, as a wee boy, hiding from bullies in her hen house!

I got a fright when I popped outside and saw this walking across the square!! During summer our work is spread out all across the farmland. During fall and winter our work is more concentrated in the barns and at the steading. (The steading is the area around the barns and house.) Erlend gets into the rhythm of the colder months as he transports a load of straw for cattle bedding. (How... can he see where he is going?!)

A light dusting of October snow. The ground is slick ice. This is one of our tractors and attatched at the back is the feeder wagon. It is inside of that big yellow "tea cup" that the silage, barley grains, and straw are chopped and mixed. Erlend then drives down the center passage of the barns while shooting this mix out of the sides of the feeder wagon.

Usually cattle feeding is a relaxing job that goes well - except for this case when the feeder wagon busted through the floor of the barn!! Woops!

When all goes well you end up with a barn full of happy cattle that stick their heads through the yokes chow away on their feed. Although in this photo the cattle are eating straw. Erlend feeds the cows straw later in the year when he wants to dry them off after weaning the calves. Ever since converting to the organic/biological farming system we have had fantastic calving seasons with far more live calves and live cows.

We are now just entering calving time, with one cow that looks as if she is ready to deliver the first calf of the season. Here we have a cute red girl calf from last year.

A wee newborn calf! (Mom Cow is like, yeah you just keep creeping closer with your camera, human...)

On the left you have a normal good-sized egg. On the right we have an massive monstrosity! I mean how?! And even more of a mystery: the chicken was still alive and going about the farm like nothing happened!  (uh why is my text all off to one side??)

Did I mention that we have hens? Five brown Feathered Ladies, SO cute, I love how they chatter to themselves all day. But they also CRAP ALL OVER THE FRONT STEP!! 450 acres of prime crapping land and WHERE do they decide to leave their Chicken Bombs?? In the name of all that is sacred...

The latest addition to our farm is Millie the Whippet. Just in time to keep us amused during the dark winter days! (She is about 5 months old in this photo, just a pup!) I've wanted a Whippet for AGES, ever since seeing one in a Jane Austin movie.

Our wee man! (No, really! lol) Benji found one of the princess dresses. Doesn't he have a fine sense of style?

No idea why the photo and text is shifted?? And I can't seem to fix it so oh well...

Inga was busy cuddling up to a new toy. I thought, "Oh how cuuuute." Yeah, until I noticed the lolling head and long dangling tail... My eyes focused sharply and I suddenly realized that my sweet little firecracker was kissing and nuzzling A DEAD MOUSE!! I screamed. Like a girl. (Erlend tells me just now that yesterday Inga was cozying up to a dead rat in the barn. Lord help me!) 

(That's right, kids. You keep on tormenting your poor frazzled mother. Cuddle those dead rats! Eat that cow poop! FINE! And juuuust wait until I am an ornery old woman. PAYBACK WILL BE MINE!!)

Millie the Farm Whippet, only a month old here, is less then impressed with her bling coat.

Winter Weans! (Weans = Wee Ones) I found these adorable capes while I was in Lourdes and they are a hit! That's Inga on the left (sans dead vermin) and Elspeth on the right.

Amusing the Weans in the winter is a challenge! Benji-man whipped off this puzzle in about 10 seconds. Now what will we do for the next three hours?!? (Is it just ME or does anyone else find eyes and big toothy grins on tractors to be a bit creepy??)

Thankfully this year the kids actually play instead of fighting over every single object like wild screeching monkeys in a cage. In this photo Inga plays with some Montessori-inspired color plates.

The"city" of Kirkwall bathed in afternoon winter sun. Here you can see the 900 year old Viking cathedral of Saint Magnus. We head "tae toon" once a week to do our shopping and to socialize with other human beings...

One of the views around our farm. This was taken after a wee "snow" fall of these hard white balls that feel like BBs when they pelt you in the face. We've had a lot of these BBs raining down on us over the past two winters!

Ah, Holiday food! But don't be fooled, people! That might sound fancy, all "Christmas Pudding" and such - but under all of that spiffy packaging is nothing more then a rounded FRUITCAKE! (And I'm not sure which is more frightening: that this fruitcake will last until at least March 2014 or that it is laced with booze... I've only seen that word used in murder mysteries!!)

Because my baking only produces weapons-grade hockey pucks I've cheated and purchased store made "Christmas Pudding" **CoughFRUITCAKEcough** 

The Scots have this fascinating New Year tradition called "First Footing." Starting on New Year's Eve at about midnight entire neighborhoods pour into the streets and go house-to-house making festive visits to one another. And part of the festivities involves walking into the house and immediately passing round your bottle of whiskey for everyone to sip. As you can imagine the whiskey quickly adds up!! So I've learned how to pull off a fake swig but don't tell anyone my secret...
 
But BEWARE: at nearly every house the folk serve up thick slices of the national Scottish Obsession: FRUITCAKE!!

You can imagine this American's sense of horror when I first arrived in Scotland and realized that...

Well, folks, we send all of you our warmest greetings and I hope that this letter finds all of you doing really well, with your lives full of joy as another year comes to a close and we all find ourselves surviving the latest apocalypse. Oh, and:
  
Here is a couple of photos from my HC-4 days, just in case it helps to trigger any memories. Although I doubt it, I was one of how many  hundred coverall-clad groundpounders stinking of JP-5 out there on the flight line and hanger?? But yeah, I'll share it anyway: (I swear... every time I took that cranial helmet off of my head I looked like Elvis...)

Taken while on DET One in Bahrain, April of 1995. I was just about to become a Petty Officer and I was 19 years old. I believe it was after this DET that I returned to Homeguard and found these odd MH-53E Sea Dragons on our flight lines?? I had no idea what to make of this. 

And here we are post-MH-53E changeover. (I was worried that we would have to become The Black Dragons. Then I thought hey, why not bump it up to the next level and become "The Black Adders"??? For some odd reason this brilliant suggestion never made it up to the Skipper...) Here we have one of many preflights. Don't know who the pilot is? Classic pilot stance: crouched down ogling Engine #2. Ah, good times, good memories!

"Cheerio" for now, as they say "here aboots"! And have a lovely day! 

 Michelle Therese

P.S. You're right! No updated photos of me in this post. I've gotten fat and out of shape again from my injuries. (HOW many time has this happened?? *sigh*) I had 3 kids in 14 months, 3 major abdominal surgeries, and spent most of that time in and out of wheelchairs. All of the above ... in the past four years. I'm trashed!! So while I pull myself back together and shrink a few sizes please indulge my temporary camera phobia! Soon, my fwends. Soon.