MORROWS WORLD
MORROWS WORLD
DIARY FROM A FAMILY FARM IN ULSTER
DESPITE the panic, we did manage to get all the work done in time for opening up to the public this month. I dont think it would matter how soon after Christmas the tidying would start, we would still be rushing up to the last minute. And I really do mean last minute – I was cutting up new birthday tablecloths as I was welcoming the party through the door! Still, all has calmed down now and my children say they can speak to me now without getting the head chewed off them. So we are back to meeting and greeting the public, taking the compliments along with the complaints, hosing and hosing the yard until any normal farmer wouldnt recognise it as a farmyard! Actually, Johnston decided he had overdosed on the hosing when he found himself in a friends house transfixed by the stripes on the wallpaper and imagining himself hosing them all away!
Reopening the farm to the public is always a bitter-sweet experience – all the worries and headaches, but also all the pleasure of seeing the children enjoy the animals and the whole outdoor experience so much. Today was a perfect example of the positive side of "open farming". I had a group of "travellers children" – not one with a coat on, despite it being February, and not one with the ability to listen to any instructions, never mind obey them, but every single one bubbling over with excitement at the bus trip, the wide open spaces, the smells and the animals – everything was an adventure. Now, Im sure if it had been a cold, wet, miserable day I would have been tearing my hair out, but in the crisp fresh sunshine they seemed like little angels and my job was a delight.
I am actually learning quite a bit about my job as I am half way through an NVQ in tour guiding at our local higher education college.
Its not easy, but now, five months into the year-long course, I think it is worthwhile, if only because it has allowed me to recognise skills that I didnt know I had. So often we read in womens magazines that as housewives and mothers we have management skills, personnel skills, time and motion skills, budgeting skills – now I am beginning to believe that I have. Mind you getting it all down on paper isnt as easy as it was 25 years ago. Our tutor tells us that we "returners to education" try too hard to get the perfect answer, but I honestly think its nothing more than rust in the brain cells. I am doing the course with my friend and fellow tour guide Eleanor and if any of you are thinking of doing any further education I would recommend bringing a friend along. Not only do you feel less conspicuous walking through a mass of teenagers when there are two of you, but also its great to be able to copy each others homework. I have discovered there are courses for everything – driving a forklift, operating a chain saw, opening a bottle of weedkiller – you name it, you should have your qualification, but I certainly dont know any self-employed farmer who has either the time or money to get them all. Perhaps we should invent a new saying to describe ourselves – "Jack of all trades, certificates in none".
The kids are back on the farm and everyone is enjoying it.