Born to farm, forced to go to School!

Ballakelly Farm has had a tough week. We have managed to finish the harvest, what there was of it, the bales are made we just need to pack all the fodder in for the winter. This year we have decided to feed as little mouths as possible so not to risk running out of feed.

Rachel was pulling her hair out trying to do the VAT return while Harvey was wanting to get the lego out and use the stapler as some kind of angry birds catapult.

This week everyone I talk to mentions (much to Tinky’s dismay) it is the end of the summer holidays the kids are ready to go back to school then things can get back to normal

Normal is relative, but did leave me thinking about my days at school and how if I had my time again I would try to enjoy it more, I spent my years wanting to be at home with Dad on a tractor!

Then someone tagged me in a t-shirt for Harvey:

Which was so true for me, I hated school but had to be done. Tinky has been angling for home school for a while but as you can imagine I think the education she would get from me would leave a lot to be desired!! When I asked her how she proposed to learn anything at home she replied that Ma Ma was a teacher so she could do it!! I think she would get a shock if she had Mrs Ranson every day!!

I must admit though with age you do appreciate what school did for you, I turned to see what google had to say about school, these were the top 10 reasons why to go!

1. Bring back the days where I saw my mates at least 5 times a week, now I am more like 5 times a year!!
2. Free knowledge. You get nothing in life for free (I know it costs the tax payer), but school was free!! Wow everything I do now comes at a cost I wish I could go on farming courses for free!
3. Uniform. There is something easy about knowing what to wear in the morning, also mum sorted it all out! I try to get Rachel to do it now but the less said about that topic the better (safer)
4. Short days. My school days felt very long, but 9-3.30 would be amazing now! Although I did go farming before and after school!
5. Exercise. I didn’t really need any more exercise but farming didn’t allow for hobbies so school allowed me to play team sports.
6. Bunsen burners. These were cool to mess with but farm workshops host a load of boys toys that we could do experiments with.
7. Holidays – what are they! I keep telling Tinky make the most of Christmas, Easter, half-term, and, of course, the jackpot: the summer holidays.
8. Teachers. Believe it or not, I miss teachers. Rachel’s mum is a teacher so we do regularly meet them, but I love a good chin wag with my old teachers.
9. Resources. You never wanted for anything at school, now I have to acquire free pens every bank I go!
10. Not knowing what’s coming next.This hasn’t changed much but back then you didn’t care the unknown was exciting not terrifying like it is now!

How do I use school now?

• Maths- every day I need to calculate something, just today I was working out how much fertiliser I needed to buy using my soil samples.
• English – queen’s is rarely used but I do read and write (rarely) which is useful for the farmers weekly and of course my Blog!
• Science/Technology – I use engineering every day, a farmer is a jack of all trades and a master of none.
• French – I swear on a regular basis
• History – I love history and regularly read books about the good old days
• Geography – This was my favourite subject at school and still love a good map over tom tom
• PE – I am fitter now I am not at school
• Then the other subjects I didn’t use then and don’t use now!!

Time to sign off and go and round up the feral kids, I have 3 days to get them ready to go back to school!