Diary

Rain / Black Blues / BarnRSS feed

Posted: Monday 12 August, 2019

by Rosemary at 11:18am in Smallholding Comments closed

Monday 5th August

Heavy rain overnight, but still warm; more rain during the day. Took the two cull ewes to the abattoir and saw the new tannery – we wish the bloke every success. We’ll certainly use him.

Our three black Bluefaced Leicester ewe lambs arrived today – goodness, they’re skittish. Not sure about the pre-chosen names of Roo, Kanga and Priscilla. This needs further consideration. They are very beautiful.

BFLThe Black Blues enjoyng the field shelter.

 

Tuesday 6th August

 

Cloudy clearing to breezy sunshine, but showers later. A good drying day, so got three loads of washing done. Lovely harebells in Sheepfold.

harebellsHarebellsin Sheepfold.

Ponies had first try of the refurbished barn.

barnPonies in barn.

Tuesday’s Dan’s day for doing his comfrey orders, so trip to the Post Office. That’s him stopped selling now until next year. Cucumber, courgettes and gooseberries away to Clementine’s.

Made Janet’s gingerbread. It’s lovely. It will be on the afternoon tea menu.

Roo and her sisters settling in – they like the field shelter and are fine with the dogs. With me? Not so much. I’m putting my hopes on ewe pellets.

gwennaRoo and Gwenna - whose ears are biggest?

Wednesday 7th August

Ooh, had to put a fleece on this morning. Made a good start – cleaned out the trailer before breakfast. Spent most of the day on Smallholding Scotland stuff – trustees meeting tonight. Baked another gingerbread.

Booked the lambs, pigs and steers in to the abattoirs and butcher. Just the haulier for the steers to sort now.

Thursday 8th August

More baking – banana loaf today. Another candidate for the afternoon tea menu. Ordered crockery and cutlery – still got tablecovers, napkins and some other bits to get. Going to have a by-invitation-only trial run soon.

Got my new 2020 diary – going to keep it tidy this year. Little things give me so much pleasure. Thankfully.

Dan's been moving the meat birds every day. It's amazing how the "used" area regenerates in just a couple of days.

cheepsMeat bird pen and grass.

Move the ewes and cattle into Laing’s Field.

Friday 9th August

Rain – so what else to do but bake. Then did the follow-up for the trustees meeting, followed by cleaning the bathroom and washing and waxing the kitchen cupboard doors.

Finally got out to pull ragwort in Laing’s Field. Having had a conventional education thirty years ago, I keep apologising for the state of Laing’s Field – but maybe I just need to relax. Out there today, there were hundreds of butterflies, grasshoppers, bees, bees and more bees. And I watched the sheep browsing dandelion and plantain as well as the various grasses and clover. Ragwort has no place – and fewer thistles and nettles would be good, but I’m coming to love it.

swardMixed sward in Laing's Field.

The Black Blues are getting less nervous – they have been renamed Roo, Skippy and Alice (because Alice springs!).

BBsl to r Roo, Skippy and Alice.

Saturday 10th August

Weird day, weather-wise. Heavy rain overnight, but we sat out in blazing sunshine to eat lunch. Lots of standing water in the fields – need water buffalo not cattle.

Hosted another great weaving course with Carole Storm. One of the participants was a lady who had come on an Intro to Smallholding course four years ago – she now has a smallholding, keeps hens, sheep. Sadly I didn’t get a chance to speak with her – but she very kindly told Dan that the course had changed her life. Humbling.

Sunday 11th August

Torrential showers overnight, battering off the Velux. I couldn’t sleep, stressing about flooding then a whole load of other things – finally dropped off after 2am. Consequently wrecked today. Still raining on and off, but not as heavy.

homeStanding water in Home.

Made Pear, Stilton and Walnut Filo Parcels – possibly for afternoon teas. Didn’t like them warm, but at room temperature, they were lovely. Definitely on the menu!

Did some of tomorrow’s paperwork today, as it’s a good forecast for tomorrow. Gave Smokey a long overdue brush.

Dan repaired the ring feeder – double / triple reinforced against Ace.  Hope it works! His repairs to the guttering on the barn have made a huge difference to the area where the sheep handling is. We’re going to move all this this week, ready for the renovations in that area.

 

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