Attila the Westie

Oh dear...the little Westie has got herself into bother...again.  She's been out snouting about in the bushes and came back with a dead rabbit, and very pleased with it she was too.  Well you can imagine that didn't go down very well with Mandy.  In fact, it went down very badly indeed as the general conclusion was that somehow the stout little murderer had mugged the little bunny herself.

Anyway, she's in disgrace but I've got some really important things to worry about - only just over a month to go and SO MUCH TO DO getting finished up for the lambs...aaaaargh.  Skye fortunately hasn't yet worked out what's going on, but when we start repairing sheep hurdles I think she's going to catch on and then the grumbling is going to start.  I've already told her I don't need any help, but she never listens (unless it's the supper bowl going rattle, rattle, rattle).

Well, I'm off to watch Daisy worming her way back into Mandy's good books - she's so good at it's fun to watch

Take care

Zooming about getting ready for lambing

38 days to go.  I just can't wait. Luckily for all of us we're still not yet down to a number that Skye knows, but that wicked little Westie is threatening to teach her to count up to 50, and every time I leave them indoors I'm sure I'm going to come back to a depressed Collie.  It hasn't happened yet, but maybe that's because Daisy's not a very good teacher!

I've been keeping my hand in checking the sheep each day and we've had them in this week over a couple of busy days to sort them out and make sure all their injections are up-to-date.  We've still got to get the gimmers in again in a week or so, which I'm looking forward to, and we're starting to give all the ewes a little bite of feed so they get used to us walking about amongst them.

Our new wood is being planted and we've started planting some more fruit trees in the back field as well, which Daisy thinks is very exciting.  I'm not a great fan of fruit but she does love her apples and she's hoping that she'll get some pickings if they fall to the floor.  I'm not so sure though as she'll have the hens to compete with and they can be pretty determined little things...

Off to check sheep now...it's all go, go, go

Take care

Sheep scanned

Well, we've had the sheep scanned now. What an exciting day that was. I was watching very closely and know what all the different marks mean, twins mostly, singles, triples and one quad (poor Peggy, she's had four once before I remember). I can't wait for it all to start and am counting down the days now. 45 days (fancy having 29 days in February, how unfair is that). Skye is in denial about it all but fortunately she can't get anywhere near counting up to 45 (she's only got 4 paws) so she's got no idea how long we've got to go.

Anyway, it's been freezing up here recently. On Wednesday it was never above -5 and let me tell you, when you're pottering about without any furry boots that's pretty cold. But now cold enough to stop me wanting to go out. And Daisy? She loves the cold, funny little dog…

Here's a picture of us all contemplating a trip out. We're very comfy in our new beds and Skye is under strict instructions NOT to chew this bed. It's bliss – I never mind a busy day when I've got my comfy bed to come back to. 

Well, to be honest, I just love to get out and work. Joy, joy, joy
Take care

Things are looking up again at last – I heard them booking the sheep scanner for later this week, which is going to be really exciting. Not only have I got to get all the sheep in and out but we'll also know how many lambs we're due to get…joy, joy, joy. I hope it's a really big number. Daisy says the biggest number she knows is 500 (which is about 490 higher than Skye) but I think we'll get even more than that. I'll let you know though for sure – and best of all, we're only two months away from starting.

We've been making the best of the fine weather and have been to the beach. That's great fun – running all over the sand. Skye and Daisy love it as well – especially when we get the whole place to ourselves

Here's a picture of me on the beach chasing after Daisy (just in the frame – I can't stay still for the camera long).

Apart from that, we've been moving sheep about a bit and just making sure the cows are comfy. Skye has been keeping well out of mischief for a change, unlike Daisy, but both of them have been keeping away from any work so no change there!

But it's sheep, sheep, sheep for us now. What a relief…

Take care

Brrrr

Winter's here for sure now it's been a lovely day here, but cold, cold, cold. The mud has all gone, but the ground is like rock. I don't mind it though – my feet stay warm enough when I'm running about and as usual, I get plenty of that moving sheep about from one field to another. Skye and Daisy just manage a quick trip out to the garden for a stretch, but are always keen to get back inside – just a couple of softies, both of them.

We've had a couple of quiet weeks here, feeding cattle and checking sheep. Boring. Just making sure that everything is ok (yawn, yawn), which is certainly a lot easier this year than last. Daisy can't really remember all the snow we had then as she was only little, so she's convinced she's freezing and is really only happy when she's got one of her new coats on. Skye has decided to eat as much food as possible so she gets a good layer of blubber to keep her warm – I tried to tell her she'd regret it when she went out to work the sheep, but she just looked at me as if I were simple and said she was retired now. Officially retired.

I hope we're getting going on the sheep again soon – I've certainly got a long enough list to get on with so I'd rather not keep concentrating on the cows any longer. I mean - we're less than two months from lambing now and this holiday has definitely been going on for long enough. I'm going to have to get a list together and leave it in the kitchen – that worked last time we needed to get some work done – otherwise I'll never get to sleep for worry that I won't be ready for all the lambs...and if that's the case, no bed will be comfy enough to help!

Take care

Bliss!

Joy, joy, joy, joy joy! They've arrived. At last. Even better than the last ones. The new beds....aaaaahhh! Mine is a lovely shade of blue and very comfy. I've hardly been out of it since it arrived, but I'm just making sure that everyone knows it's mine. All mine, mine, mine....I just know I'm going to get a really good night's sleep tonight.

Skye has a smaller green bed which she seems pleased with as well, and the Princess goes to the upstairs kennel, so she doesn't really need one. I've had to give Skye the hard word though to make sure she doesn't ruin these beds like she did the last ones, and she has promised to look after them. She'd better do, otherwise I'm going to have a real sense of humour failure...

More good news as well – Dougal has gone back to Wooler. Thanks goodness. I mean, I grew to quite like him but there's no escaping the fact that he's a boy, and boys can be grubby little devils, and oh boy was he grubby! He can come out for the odd holiday as long as he knows it's just a holiday. Anyway, I've heard that he's very happy to be back in Wooler – I think he likes having all those lamp posts and pavements (if you know what I mean).

All seems fine on the stock front – the weather has been really windy, but the sheep don't seem to mind and I'm getting better coping with it. The cows are still gobbling up tons of silage each day, but we've had them tested and most of them are in calf. They're due from March onwards so I'm hoping they don't clash too much with the lambing because I can't be in two places at once and Skye is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard come lambing and calving time, so I know what to expect...

Anyway, all my problems are small ones tonight. I can't wait any longer to get back into my lovely comfy warm bed

Take care...zzzz

Happy New Year

Happy New Year from us all. Daisy and Skye have been very excited waiting for the new year – they both wanted to see fireworks, but I told them not to get their hopes up as they'd have to be pretty big fireworks for us to see them. Skye reckoned she'd seen them advertised on the TV, so was hanging around the sitting room hoping it would be turned on, then fell asleep with Daisy and missed it all. She's blaming me, and won't believe there weren't and fireworks to see. What a pair

We've had a busy holiday – not as busy as I would have liked, but not too bad. We've still got Dougal, the naughty Westie from Wooler, with us so life has not been as relaxing as it might have been, but at least we've got out every day and all my sheep are OK (touch wood). Dougal is a proper little rascal though and would be teaching Daisy all sorts of naughty tricks if it wasn't for Skye and me keeping him under our paws, but thankfully when he gets back from his afternoon walk, he's usually too tired to get up to anything he shouldn't.

I'm full of hope for this year –joy, joy, joy. I just KNOW it's going to be busy, which is just great.

We've got more lambing sheep than ever and we've got no snow at all so far, so the hay's lasting really well. It's been really windy, but I'm just having to learn to cope with that, and I'm used to not having Skye helping with any work – just as well, mind you, as her 'missing the fireworks' strike seems as though it might be the first of many attempts to skive off work. I think Daisy is encouraging her so they can play all day...which suits me just fine.