A week in the country: sheep mart scene, Christmas prep and pine cones

Sheep Mart Scene, March 2016

By Louis Hemmings

Trailered tractors enter auction mart,

rural echoes under prefabricated arch;

farmers gather, leaning on metal fences,

wondering will sales cover inflation expenses?

Broad accents mutter local news, weather,

stray dogs shot, lamb neck arteries severed,

As stubborn sheep exit transporter ramps,

some shower-sprayed, others dirt-damp.

Colour marked backs, faces black as soot

– mart concrete floor cold underfoot;

Tongue-twisted bids, spoken at speed,

discreet nods from men, capped in tweed.

Stage-frightened ewes, focus of sale ring,

rap-fast auction, seller almost sings;

some sheep make strangled speech,

quick list of lots, exit gates squeak.

Buyers and sellers sit stoic on steps,

quietly conversing, sales cheques.

Urine sprayed, shit-splattered surfaces,

some sheep bound for abattoir purposes.

Rarely read or heard any rural news;

about farm policies, I haven’t got a clue –

but I hope farmers get this suburbanite salute:

for shy weathered smiles and big muddy boots.

It’s coming up to Christmas, and while there is nothing I like better than having a freshly made Christmas feast with my family on 24 and 25 December, there is, equally, nothing I hate more than having to cook during that lazy period between Christmas and New Year’s Day.

Those are days for couch cuddles with the kids, PJs all day and watching films with chocolates and popcorn.

So, I have been carefully stocking my freezer over the past two weeks. Chicken curries, beef stroganoff, mac and cheese and lasagne have all been squirrelled away for when the Christmas leftovers have run out and I actually have to feed my family again.

If you’re making a casserole or a shepherd’s pie this week, make double and freeze one. You’ll thank me later when you’ll have the extra time to relax (and finish the Die Hard trilogy!).

with Dr Catherine Keena, Teagasc countryside management specialist

Look out for Scot’s pine cones to make beautiful, free Christmas decorations – either natural or painted. The scales on the outer face of the cone do not have the sharp spine present on lodgepole pine. Scot’s pine is a native Irish conifer, growing up to 30 metres with a regular conical outline when young but older trees have a bare trunk surmounted by a flat crown of foliage. Leaves are pale bluish green. The rugged bark of the upper part of older trunks is orange red in colour. It provides nest and roost sites for birds and red squirrels love the seeds in the pine cones.

Kitty’s response to her own son Joseph leaving his initial college course in Wales and switching to one in Limerick was: “It’s an awful shame the gasúr didn’t realise what he desired before myself and his father funded a year as one of Cardiff’s leading socialites.

Denny Fitz.

the number of books on stock at any one time in O’Mahony’s family bookshops.

Over 700 primary school students attended Carnew Mart to learn the importance of health and safety on farms.