Smallholding
Niamh / Rushes / Pigs
Monday 13 April, 2020
Monday 6th April
Sunny but so windy again. Dan had office work this morning then got the chainsaw out to prep timber for splitting and cut kindling; then he was off harrowing Laing’s Field.
No7 had twin ewes about lunchtime. Only Niamh (12th) and Kit (28th) to go, so a few unbroken night’s sleep in prospect. Picked up hay and took two bales to East Pitkerro but the steers had plenty left, so left two bales in the shed; then picked up two bales for here.
Trifle / Topping / Turnout
Monday 6 April, 2020
Monday 30th March
Lovely spring day – mostly sunny and genuinely warm, with little wind. Turned out the steers at East PItkerro; one of the red steers made a huge leap out of the shed and spread-eagled on the concrete. He seems fine and has probably run off any problem but he’ll be sore when the adrenalin drops. The other red steer and Archie picked their way down on the grassy side and Charlie didn’t want to go out at all – but eventually he did and the four of them took off round the 16 acre field that will be their home for the summer. They did chase the tups but I think that’ll pass. Fingers crossed. They’ve got a bale of hay and a licky bucket to see them OK.
Lockdown / Peas / Lambs
Monday 30 March, 2020
Monday 23rd March
Braw spring day and the first day of the “lockdown”. Paperwork day, so mostly in the office. I’m thinking about selling small meat packs – mince, stew, sausages. Cancelled the May and early June courses, but fingers crossed for the later ones. Started rescheduling for autumn.
Started to build the pony assault course – round pen, cone weave, trotting poles, stand. Not much fun on your own though.
Fences / Poultry / COVID19
Monday 23 March, 2020
Monday 16th March
Frosty first thing, then sunny and windy, finally damp and windy. Tara and I rode Euro and Smokey. They were awful but it seems that, however awful they are, I still feel better for having ridden.
The tractor mechanic man came down this morning, surveyed the poorly John Deere and said that he could fix her. Dan just has to get the parts, which isn’t proving straightforward. Still, progress nevertheless.
Lambing / Fencing / Groundwork
Monday 16 March, 2020
Monday 9th March
Beautiful morning – starting to feel like spring has sprung. Until lunchtime, after which winter came back.
Took the last of the tup lambs to the abattoir this morning. Never my favourite job. On the more positive side, I collected my new sheepskin tanned by Peter Ananin at Woodland Tannery. It’s beautiful.
Steven is getting on with the digger work – should be finished tomorrow. Looking good.
Rushes / Pruning / Digger
Monday 9 March, 2020
Monday 2nd March
I’ve been thinking about folk not joining organisations. I’m involved with a couple of voluntary organisations and I give talks at others and many are struggling. Wonder why it is. Has social media given us the feeling that we are joined through that? I saw one vol org celebrating because they had 2000 members – no, they don’t. They have 2000 folk who have clicked a button to “like” their Facebook page. It’s not the same. I find it quite sad.
Haybell / Zephyr / Sale
Monday 2 March, 2020
Monday 24th February
It’s less windy than it’s been; that’s the only good bit. Otherwise, it’s grey and sleeting. So having a day in the office is just dandy. The man from Coventry Fencing came to have a look at some work we want done, with a view to giving us a quote. Normally Dan does all the fencing but he’s so busy with webby work, the list is getting longer. The farmer we buy our hay from is probably going to do the ground works arising from the septic tank affair.
Beehives / Ponies / Mud
Monday 24 February, 2020
Monday 17th February
Very windy overnight; Dan’s bee hives took a bit of a battering – two fell over. One was the weak colony which wasn’t expected to survive the winter but the other was strong colony. Hopefully, it will be OK. Other than that, just spare deer netting blown around.
I went for hay, then did various chores like shopping, bank, post office, then worked in the office. We had a visit from our new knitting tutor. Very excited to be offering knitting workshops here at Dalmore Croft.
Ciara / Desmond
Monday 17 February, 2020
Monday 10th February
Jings, it might be past the first day of spring but we’ve had four seasons in one day, today. Wind, rain, frost and sunshine – never a dull one. Picked up two loads of hay this morning then into Dundee to pick up the newly serviced lawnmower and hedge trimmer. The lawnmower might be better with flotation tyres. On my key project, I popped into the Mitsubishi dealer – the remote locking on one of the two keys wasn’t working – and the nice man put a new battery in each key and didn’t charge me anything. Good service from Richard Lawson Mitsubishi! And the new tractor key arrived in the post today, so once all the labelling was done, I consider Project Key to be complete.
Tank / Ewes / Keys
Monday 10 February, 2020
Monday 27th January
Glorious sunny day, but cold. Blizzard still lame so got the vet out again; the antibiotic given last week is long-acting, so she’s had a second dose of Metacam to keep her comfy while the AB works. Typically, she actually looked a bit better by the time the vet arrived.
Ewe No14 is also lame, so we washed her foot, stood her in Milton and sprayed with Alamycin spray.
Finally, there’s some positive progress with the septic tank. The field looks like a set from “1917” but it will heal.
