Smallholding
Willow / Sheep / Freezers / Icing / Rugby
Monday 26 February, 2018
Monday 19th February
Grey and damp, but much warmer. Not as much rain as forecast.
Took three barren ewes to the abattoir then brought the remaining eleven plus the tup and wether home. Used the last movement license in the first book of licenses. The new owners of Astwood move in on Thursday.
Split the sheep into two groups – twins in one and the four singles, plus Urquhart and Ted in the other; filled the hay feeders as there’s no grass to speak of.
Heifers weaned / Conference / Willow bed / Sheep prep
Monday 19 February, 2018
Monday 12th February
Glorious day – frosty, but sunny. Paperwork day – including final arrangements for the Smallholding Scotland Conference, which is on Friday, and my Powerpoint presentation for Longforgan W.I. on Wednesday.
Tom was out and about on his own - he's really coming on.
Tom out and about.
Read more on Heifers weaned / Conference / Willow bed / Sheep prep
Holiday / Piglets / Fencing / Edin Yarn Fest / Washing
Monday 12 February, 2018
Monday 5th February
Put a new bale of hay in for the steers and gave them a fresh bed. Dosed them with Closamectin pour-on.
The two wee ones have some bare patches but they don’t look inflamed – the Closamectin should take care of any external parasites, if that’s the cause.
Friday 9th February
Phew, ever been on holiday and within an hour of being home, you feel like you’ve never been away?
Just home; been for two loads of hay and straw.
Read more on Holiday / Piglets / Fencing / Edin Yarn Fest / Washing
Sheep scanning / Hedge / Cakes / Imbolc
Monday 5 February, 2018
Monday 29th January
Picked up two loads of hay, one for here and one for East Pitkerro.
Caught up with paperwork then made “Mary’s Ginger and treacle spiced tray bake” – and very nice it was too.
Tuesday 30th January
Martin and I had a trip down to Caledonian Market today – it was bitterly cold but stayed dry.
Tom continues to make progress – he’s desperate to be part of the family but is awful scared of the dogs. Which is nuts because he has far better weapons than them – and isn’t afraid to use them.
Hurdies / Apiary hedge / Cattle shenanigans / First sock
Tuesday 30 January, 2018
Monday 22nd January
Nice and warm today – up to 5C, but damp and that made it feel raw.
The cows must have had a party last night and invited the neighbours – what a mess in the shed this morning.
Caught up on paperwork including the minutes of the last Smallholding Scotland meeting.
Saw Ian the “back man” about my achy back.
Tuesday 23rd January
Windy, grey and damp. Pretty much finished the potting shed – just a few things to identify before deciding on their fate. I need to buy labels and seed compost – other than that, I think I’m good to go!
Read more on Hurdies / Apiary hedge / Cattle shenanigans / First sock
Cattle feet / Bird boxes / Swiss rolls
Monday 22 January, 2018
Monday 15th January
A rather nice day – dry and sunny. Which made it a good day to give Annie a mini-bath as she had obviously laid in a big poop.
Texted Nik, our cattle foot trimmer, to see if he can swing by to trim Blizzard.
Tuesday 16th January
Very cold, but sunny. Some snow flurries but no snow lying.
Wednesday 17th January
Cold and windy with a hard frost but no snow.
Annie is lame – really lame – in a back foot. Her feet are quite long and when I checked my records, their feet were last trimmed in February last year.
Bugsy / Blizzard / Bakeware / Tom
Monday 15 January, 2018
Monday 8th January
Cold – minus 7°C overnight. So this morning, all the water to the fields is frozen AND the water in the feed store, which is unusual
Tuesday 9th January
One of those grey, mild days that never get light. The water’s unfrozen though, so it’s an ill wind...
I’m pressing on with mucking out the barn round the back of the ring feeder – at four barrows a day, I reckon I’ll have it done by the weekend.
Cattle brush / 2018 planning / Halter training
Monday 8 January, 2018
Monday 1st January
So 2018 begins – with a planning meeting! Dan and I always have one around 1st January then maybe every quarter through the year.
I thought 2018 was going to be the year of pottering but maybe not. I’d like to start growing flowers for cutting and Dan’s keen to plant willow – for sale and also because he wants to learn willow weaving.
I moved the tup and wether into Home, from the makeshift pen by the byre. They let themselves out today and they didn’t like it much. On the plus side, this lets us get the area beside the barn tidied up after the work on the apiary and the triangle last year.
End of 2017 / Dead ewe / Tom settling-in
Monday 1 January, 2018
Monday 25th December
Sadly the ewe died overnight. Phoned the knacker re collection – really just looking for a message about opening hours, but spoke to the man (apologised for disturbing him on Christmas Day, but he said I wasn’t the first) and arranged collection of the carcass on Wednesday. Hope it stays cold.
Tom has left the house but not the smallholding. We put food outside and Dan saw him eating, so he’s around.
Then the most remarkable thing happened. Dan noticed Diesel sitting on the kitchen windowsill, meowing. This is unusual. Pen sits at the window and meows to get in but D just lets himself in through the cat flap. So Dan went to open the boot room door, and there was D. With Tom just behind him. Honestly, it was like D was bringing Tom home.
Solstice / Deer / Byre / Hay / Sick sheep
Monday 25 December, 2017
Monday 18th December
A bit milder today but the ground (and the water) is still frozen.
Got a message to say that one of our ewes had got her head stuck in the licky bucket – the handle over the back of her head. But just as we arrived, we got another message to say she was fine. Still, gave me the chance to check the licks – one was almost finished so I opened up the new one – and cut the handle to prevent a repeat.
Tom’s more relaxed today – happy to have lots of strokes, with lots of purring. He’s eating well and using his litter tray.
