A beautiful Spring

Monday

The continuous sunshine has been glorious. 3 days of slathering myself with factor 50, an echo of my South African childhood. My English husband is slowly catching on. For him, sun cream is about sports days and holidays; not working outside in Scotland in early May. I listened to a World Service interview with the scientist who discovered the hole in the ozone layer. Can you believe that the Montreal Protocol to heal that hole was signed by ALL countries in the world? And it is STILL added to and complied with? Humans listened to science and came together to make lasting positive change. 

Tuesday

I planted more seeds. The onions and kale seedlings that I had planted out all died. Seed sowing is an emotional trial; the heady excitement of watching them sprout matched with the devastation of seeing them wilt and die. However the well tilled space is perfect for different seeds so in they go. I didn’t label them this time. Too annoyed at my failure. Blaming my effective labels for the seeds’ demise. Perhaps if I don’t label them, these ones will be successful? TBH I just didn’t have a pen on me or a 2B pencil (apparently the best things to write on plastic plant markers).

Wednesday

The Steading caters for groups. Occasionally, in the ‘season’ we have a weekend without a booking so I suggested we try to rent out individual rooms, last minute. Just two, nothing mental. We chose the rooms - a mixture of easy to clean and meeting guests’ needs (access to the courtyard, double and a family room, far enough away from each other etc). We argued about pricing. We created new online listings. We pressed play. No bites but it was just as well as we hadn’t made the actual beds. A lesson, certainly. We have a vacant weekend coming up so will experiment again. This time once the rooms are ready IRL, not just virtually. Well, unless people want to pay in Robucks. (If you know, you know).

Thursday

Thursday

All our sheep have finally lambed. Jenny was the last to go and unfortunately not as successfully as the others. She suffered from a cervical prolapse about a week before having her twin lambs, and one didn’t make it. Jack is our Insta star but Jenny is actually his sister and Olly has as much of a bond with her too. He was worried. We don’t want them to be our pets. They are livestock but we care deeply. And when you raise a small thing only weeks old when their mum dies, bonds are made. And do you know what? It’s ok to have those bonds. It’s ok to be sentimental about other beings. 

We now have two sets of triplets, three sets of twins and a single lamb all gambolling in the sunshine and the dappled shade and learning to jump on the trampoline. Pure joy. I’ve been feeding the ewes a mix of comfrey to support their milk production, raspberry leaves to help tone their uteruses/ uteri, and willow leaves to support gut health.

Friday

I listened to birdsong rather than going to Tesco. A bold move. I wrote about it in a note. I don’t know who reads notes versus these longer versions but it’s all part of me trying to practice to write in different formats.

Anyway back to the birds. I was using a free app called Merlin, created by Cornell university. I initially thought the name referred to the magic of identifying a bird based purely on their song, without the need to capture or cause any harm. But, doh, of course a Merlin is a bird. As I sat there watching my phone screen light up as different birds sang, I realised this was more than entertainment. I was conducting a form of ecological survey. Here are the species I noted on the 13th May 2025:

Willow warbler, European goldfinch, common chiffchaff, song thrush, Eurasian wren, greater white throat, spotted flycatcher, common wood pigeon, barn swallow, western house-martin, grey wagtail, rook, carrion crow, goldcrest, cuckoo.

I will continue to listen and mark the changes over seasons and years. I just wish I had started when we arrived but AI didn’t exist then.

Unfortunately, a few of these gorgeous birds fly into the Steading windows so I’ve been drawing on them with chalk pen to break up the reflections. No idea why it had to be more birds! I might try something different next time. 

Until next time, 

Bugs

Keesje

PS. A update on my Functional Neurological Disorder: Cranial sacral therapy might be helping - better sleep, less consistent shaking. I’m going to give the neurofeedback sessions a break for a while though. I travelled to Edinburgh for it on my own but it was too much. I’m having more frequent seizures and the thought of one happening while I was on my own is too scary.

I finally found someone who has real clinical experience with FND. I’ve had my first assessment and start treatment this week - a mix of CBT and physio. The relief is HUGE!

PPS……

What I’m cooking: buckwheat bread from Riverford’s Instagram

What I’m drinking: dandelion and cleaver tonic. Just put them in a jar with water. Leave overnight, strain. Drink. Add some mint etc. I did a video on TikTok if you are interested @Burmieston 

What I’m reading: The Book of Days by Francesca Kay. It’s like a jewel to read. Beautiful, faceted, full of light and dark. One household’s experience of the enforced change from Catholic to Church of England.

What I’ve watched: The Conclave on Netflix. So much red! Dad says it’s thanks to Michelangelo.