First lamb of the year

In anticipation of lamb chops, roast joint and a nice piece of liver (with Chianti and fava beans, of course), Farmer Rob and Ian had their eye on a two-year old blind wether (castrated male) who had been happily munching his way round the other farm for a year longer than his compatriots.  Butcher Olly was booked, and the freezers were ready.  Just before the day of reckoning, said wether had a lamb - a great strategy to avoid a mint-saucy destiny!  This can mean only one of three things: a miracle of Biblical proportions; someone didn't check the undercarriage and assumed she was a he; or a bit of ovine gender-realignment surgery took place at some point unbeknownst to us.  I shall pass no judgement.  (Incidentally, had to look up fava bean to see what it was...boringly, just a broad bean.)

Lambing has not yet started here, but the sheds are heaving with swelling bellies.  The singles and late-lambers are still out in the open air, but are now being fed cake daily.  Shy and retiring ewes suddenly become emboldened...and a walk across the fields can turn into a veritable procession.

Spring is here, and the daffs are up.  We are now woken at day-break by Philip the Pheasant squawking and rattling his feathers as he has made our garden his territory (good move - plenty of grub).  Gerald the Partridge sometimes joins in, and then the yellowhammers, sparrows and such.  Not long after, the cattle belly-ache for cake, and the ewes join in - there are a few minor downsides to living right next to the sheds.

And finally, the carpenter is gone (Bye Scott - thanks!)  The last bit of cladding was attached, the windows framed, and our ramp installed (a building regulations requirement, but we quite like it).  While the DIY is no way finished, it was a nice marker to pass.

Ann's diary makes a comeback

Last weekend we happily contributed our flock of yellowhammers to the RSPB's Big Garden Bird Watch, but unfortunately, the massive influx of starlings was just over the fence in the field so didn't count...

...neither did the ravens, buzzards, sparrowhawk, red deer or fox (yes, I know they are not birds...but BGBW records more than just our feathered friends). Spring is springing, and our bulbs are coming up, while along the roadside, Ann and Ian M's granddad Edwin's "Snowdrop Alley" is doing well...

On the farm, the sheep are now mostly in the sheds in preparation for lambing - time to relax, stay warm and dry, and eat good quality silage to produce healthy lambs.  Conversely, not time for us to relax.

While cleaning out the sheds, Ian let the cows and calves wander in the field - so much for "poor cattle kept inside" when all they did was hang around by the gate, and come charging back in one he was done to sit on their lovely fresh straw.  There is a lot of dung to move each week...

While we were away for the weekend, Ann took over the reins and looked after the dogs as well as the stock (brave).  An extract from her farming notes, with some decoding...

Saturday

All good today.  I had an alarm call from Cody at 4am, but I think it was on Sonny's behalf as he was out for quite some time!  Silage bales were needed in Race Ground and Gratton - I put the waste from the old bale in the shed for the cattle to pick over.  The lean-to and cubicles also had a bale this evening.  The sun had gone this afternoon, so it's not quite as pleasant. I've been picking up stones in 6 acres while the boys investigate...I could have done with Fred to help find some for me¹.  I saw a barn owl by the orchard on my way home - certainly worth putting up another owl box.  The partridges came for some shelter this afternoon when the sun disappeared.  I've enjoyed the last of the tarte tartin tonight, and a glass of white wine I found in the fridge...I hope it wasn't something special that you were saving!²

Sunday

A damp, but warm morning. The ground was really slippery on top.  Silage bales needed in Big Field, Edwin's and the Silage Pit today.  I had a really crap bale for the top shed, so there is quite a lot of rough stuff piled up after the cows had picked over it. The cubicles have had one tonight.  Hopefully I won't have quite as much to do tomorrow as I need to go swede napping!³  I heard an owl this morning towards Birch Wood as I was out with the boys.

Monday

A stunning morning today. I managed to get finished with the tractor when Geoffrey came to spread dung, and on my way round the sheep I came across David trimming the inside hedges.  Your "foreign" sheep⁴ has turned her toes up this morning, and I have left her for you.  Race Ground is all fine, but there is no water except puddles.  This afternoon I have bedded the sheep and they have had another bale of silage. I have opened the gate between 6 Acres and 8 Acres so that the ewe lambs can go back for silage. I haven't shut it again yet as I had the boys with me.  Sorry, didn't get round to cleaning out the cows.⁵

1 - dear old Fred used to carry stones around, leading to chipped teeth; no worse than Sonny, who cracked off his canine biting the quad tyres.

2 - nope, it wasn't.

3 - armed with swede net and woolly hat, Ann kidnaps swedes from our neighbours (with permission of course, although she does look pretty dodgy...)

4 - not ours - found wandering the roads with no markings and no ear-tags (tut tut), a sorry specimen if ever there was one.

5 - sensible woman.

As 2016 fades out...

No blogs since November?  Apologies...moving house, busy saving the turtle dove, and you know...just getting on with life!

So a quick update...we're finally moved in.  While home is not yet finished, we are settling down and making it our own.  Normal service can be resumed, and get this blog back onto farming.

It's dark up here on the hill, but that makes for good star-gazing.

The neighbours are curious...

Winter observations of note...the partridges don't like getting soaked and so seek shelter in our porch, huddled together looking bedraggled.  The other birds have found the feeders, and once we have some time (!) and money (!!), the mudpatch outside the front of the house will be transformed into a patio and herb garden...as much to stop people parking there as to provide culinary delights.

Meanwhile, farming goes on.  Ian M is getting into his swing now that he is on site all the time, and so far the cattle have not been noisy enough to keep us awake...even during weaning.  It's time to start bringing the ewes in closer, so we had a nice post-Christmas walk with friends to bring the Common sheep down to 13 Acres.  Slight overkill on the staffing front, but a good wander.

Jordan ignoring Rachel's Sound of Music medley, while Simon fails to reach his toes, Rob is playing on his mobile (as per), and Cathy wonders why she left the nice warm couch to spend the afternoon with madmen.

Cathy, Simon and Jordan lead the way - keeping the walk slow and steady (after all, these are pregnant ladies!)

Steaming sheep in the sunset.

Almost there...

No time to blog...almost there!

A cow's eye view of proceedings.

Our self-filling pond.

Ian M's new walk to work...handy come lambing!

Carpets and lights?  Luxury!

Erm, but this might be a problem come moving in day...

Clad tidings!

As the weather turns and it becomes misty moisty again, we are progressing into the final stage of making Blacktail Lodge ready for habitation.

After tidying up the site (dumpy bags of wood off-cuts, metal, plastic, misc rubbish, wood, more wood, oh lordy look how much kindling we have for the next twenty years...) a house appeared from behind.

Scottie, our chirpy chippy, has started putting on the external cladding (hence the dreadful pun in the title).  We "bought local" (Tiverton wood merchant and processor), only to find that the finished product was put on a lorry, sent to a distribution centre in Birmingham, then driven back past the gate of the wood merchant's to us.  We did try...but being green is bloody difficult when people are idiots.

On goes the cladding...

...but we aren't yet too excited, as there is all this to go...

Meanwhile, a tall French plumber barely fits in our water shed...

Dear old Joey guards the gravel put aside to drain the septic tank (coming Monday)...

Inside, a bit of colour makes it feel more like home...

...a few fittings in the bathroom give hope that one day we'll be able to have a wash and make use of said septic tank...

...and suddenly, fiat lux!  We have illuminations!

Smurfs live here

At Blacktail Lodge, things are still moving along...

Insulation for the space station...

...which then gets boarded in.

Water tank and rats' nest of piping.

Blue walls?  No, we've not turned it into a Smurf house...it's sand-impregnated gluey paint that goes on the walls (arms, face, hair) before the plaster.