Smallholding
Autumn / Leghorns / Heather
Monday 1 September, 2025
Monday 25th August
Lovely morning; cool but sunny. The sheep let themselves into Near Top yesterday, so that’s where they’ll be for the next week at least. The troughs are in the field shelter, so I don’t get trampled when I’m feeding them. And all the feed goes in the troughs.
There was a mouse in one of the bins in the feed store. Dan suggested I get Cooper to deal with it, but I felt that was unsporting, so I let it go into the rock pile, with a stern warning not to return. Had it been a rat, I would have got Cooper.
Tatties / Autumn / Henhouse extension
Monday 25 August, 2025
W/e 24th August
Jings, where did THAT week go?
Dan started lifting and drying the tatties, so the “tattie board” came into play.
The tattie board.
“Someone”, almost definitely feline, has inadvertently reduced my crop of wallflower.
Bloomin' cats.
Melons / Tatties / Bertie
Monday 18 August, 2025
Monday 11th August
Just as I turned off the sprinkler last night, the rain came on. Of course. Looks like there’s been a fair bit overnight, which is grand. Not windy, which is nice.
Moved the sheep into Home; the troughs are in the Spinney, so I Can get the feed in before letting them through. In the afternoon, we can just shut the gate to keep them in Home. Given the amount of herbage, I’ll leave them in there for two weeks.
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Sheep in Home.
Storm Floris / Phlox / Sweetcorn
Monday 11 August, 2025
Monday 4th August
So today we were hit by Storm Floris. It was a bit wet and very windy – it was weird having gales with the sun shining. And it was warm. Left the sheep in Sheepfold for another week.
Tuesday 5th August
Popped down to North Cotton for a wee catch up.
Wednesday 6th August
Still really windy so I did some Lego. The layout is starting to come together a bit. I had five wee sets come from China, so started to build the boat – not the best kit and work is suspended. Two of the kits were manly for parts. The wee greenhouse set was great and I started the Market Hall.
Cauliflower / Melon / Monarda
Monday 4 August, 2025
Monday 28th July
I moved sheep into Sheepfold this afternoon. They’ll be there for two weeks. Alistair jagged them with Regulin, which helps to ring them into season earlier. He wants an early February lambing.
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Sheep in Sheepfold.
Harebells.
Pears / Pony teeth / More pears
Monday 28 July, 2025
Monday 21st July
Wakened at 5am by torrential rain.
Thursday 24th July
The wallflower have sprouted. I must get a watering can with a rose.
Friday 25th July
I honestly cannot think of anything significant that happened in the last four days. The weather has been slightly cooler, with light cloud and the odd sunny interval.
Today, the vet was here to have a look at Mickey’s teeth. I noticed during the week that he was dropping food when he was eating. Half chewed carrots everywhere. We tried without sedation but he wasn’t having it. At first, Andrea couldn’t see anything other than a few slightly sharp edges, which she dealt with, along with the tartar on his front teeth. Then she thought he was a bit sensitive on his left side; she was doing an examination when a tooth fell out into her hard. Except it looked like it had been out for a while (no blood or anything) and jammed at an odd angle between the two adjacent teeth. Hopefully, he’ll be more comfortable now.
Clegs / Rain / Flowers
Monday 21 July, 2025
Monday 14th July
Sunny and warm this morning, although cooler than last week. It was raining a wee bit last night at bedtime but the proper rains started about 1pm.
My cleg bites have blistered – got a whopper on my right ankle and am struggling to get a shoe on.
Took Bryn and Gwenna to the vet for their Lepto booster; Bryn has lost 400g, Gwenna nothing. But the vet said both were absolutely fine condition wise. They both had their nails clipped, which was a bit of a trauma.
Heatwave / Shallots / Garden
Monday 14 July, 2025
Monday 7th July
Sunny and warm, rain overnight but not sure how much.
Moved the sheep into Far Top after Alistair came and took three away for the fat sales.
New field for the nine.
Tuesday 8th July
Another hot day; we were in Stirling for our annual lunch with Jim & Jean. Always good to catch up and the Green Gate was excellent as always.
Flossies egg / Gala / Cooper
Monday 7 July, 2025
Monday 30th June
Very hot first thing; it was roasting overnight too.
Moved the sheep to Near Top.
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Sheep into a very clovery Near Top.
Looking back from the field. I thought this looked rather pretty.
View from the field.
Birthdays / Champagne / Newburgh
Monday 30 June, 2025
Monday 23rd June
Dogs got me up at 5.30am. Overcast and breezy, mainly, with some sun.
Baked ginger nuts and mincemeat cookies, the latter for the event at the hub tomorrow evening.
The roofer came to measure up for new gutters on the house. The existing ones are the originals and have come to the end of their life. It would be great to replace with cast iron, but it’s prohibitively expensive and needs too much maintenance.
Alistair dropped off three ewes, to join the nine here. One was at the Highland Show and was here until last week, the other two he bought in-lamb; they lambed later than the rest of the flock, so have just been weaned. So they’re now in Home and up to their bellies in grass.
