March 2023

Diary

Health Plans / Udders / Ponies

Monday 6 March, 2023

by Rosemary at 9:06am in Smallholding Comments closed

Monday 27^th February

No frost but bitterly cold and damp this morning. Alistair, our vet was here this afternoon, updating our health plan and helping me put together a parasite control plan, based the result of our worm and fluke test. The Scottish Government are giving a grant to farmers to test and act on the professional advice, although we’d done the testing before I knew about the grant.

Our bull is going on a “working holiday” from mid-April until the end of June; the folk we buy our hay from have two Aberdeen Angus heifers that they want to get in calf. It suits me to have him away over calving – Ace was a total doofus when we had new calves. Grey might be fine but it’s easier (and safer) if he’s four miles up the road. Of course, he will need to be quarantined and blood tested when he comes back to comply with our health scheme.

Sun / Toast / Sprouts

Saturday 11 March, 2023

by Rosemary at 7:13am in Smallholding Comments closed

Monday 6^th March

Lovely morning – sunny and still. I’m speaking at a local women’s guild tomorrow so needed to get my presentation done for that AND have a run through the equipment. It’s a while since I’ve done anything like this.

I must have failed to close his pen properly yesterday, because Grey was out and about this morning. He’d had a good nibble at the ivy and a play in the woodchip pile and I think he was quite tired by 7am. I opened the door to his pen, put in his breakfast bucket and in he went. He has seemed to spend most of today lying down.

Rhubarb / Hen run / Gwenna

Sunday 26 March, 2023

by Rosemary at 10:08pm in Smallholding Comments closed

W/e Sunday 26^th March

Once again, this is going to be a pretty short blog. It’s Sunday 26^th March, Dan’s birthday, and we spent the morning at the emergency vet’s because there’s something bad going on with Gwenna’s spine. Again. She’d had painkillers and looks a good deal happier but a follow-up visit to our own vet tomorrow will reveal more. This is not what we expected – she recovered so well from the surgery and has been such a wee trouper. Anyway, we’ll know more tomorrow.