Hello All
Now the question is how many times do I have to change my clothes in one day. There is the trip down to the bus with Number 2 at 6.30 every morning which is invariably chilly and during the winter it is easy to throw on the coat and scarf over the pyjamas and travel incognito in the  dark down the road. However with the lightening skies in the morning one needs to dig around for a quick pair of tracksuit bottoms and jersey, and of course remember to either tie up your hair or at least drag a comb through it.
Then it is home again and after number 3 has been dispatched on her bus it is time to get changed for farming so that is often take off the jersey as it collects hay and find the sweatshirt and overalls combo. Then after farming there is the butchery which means changing out of farming clothes into something clean but suitable for the warm afternoon temperatures.  Then there is the children to fetch again and then take to activities which means removal of the butchery clothes and putting on town clothes but also now the evening cooler temperatures have arrived that means refinding the jersey from the morning, which you hope has not been slept on by the cat, changing shoes again and finally we are ready for town. Then of course there are the pyjamas again. 
I think that makes 5. No wonder there are so few hours in a day.

Here is a pic of a very new baby and mummy getting to know each other.

See you all soon
Helen

Hello All
I thought my nursing days were over. (Don't panic kids). But instead of 2-legged children I have 5(!) 4-legged children demanding food at all hours of the day and night. In our garden/square of muddy grass we have 5 lambs all unwanted by their mothers all being bottle fed. Now usually I am accustomed to having lambs around the house and often they are in quite large quantities. However this year we have a triplet in the group "39" and he obviously chatted a lot to his siblings whilst inside his mother because all he does is baa...... He can also escape through the gate because he is small and if you are not careful follows you up the road. The picture below shows how they never stop moving Patrick says I should video them but it is tricky doing the down and up loading here. I can safely say that food is easier to photogaph than 2 week old lambs.

I have noticed how lovely and long the evenings have become and also how early the mornings begin, and what a pleasure to get out of bed and not have to put 5 layers of waterproof gear on before you race to the car to do the first school run at 6.30am. I finally took a photo of the finished cladding on the tobacco barn unfortunately I did not use the childrens camera so the quality is not great.

Before........

After. 

I am being called once more by "39" and also the dog who wants to be let in. 
See you all soon
Helen

Hello All
Disaster struck last night as the only bit of sunshine in my life during winter ended until next year. "What is she talking," about I hear you say, as most avid weather watchers have looked at the forecast and discovered that there is a high probability of sunshine up till the end of the weekend. Well "Death in Paradise" finished, admittedly not the most sunny title but as it is set in the Carribean I can always dream, and I do love a good murder mystery.

Here is the view from our front door to show you our muddy watery field with the sun shinning up above at last. The final count for rainfall was 330mm for Jan/Feb 2014. The rainfall for the somerset levels Dec/Jan however is 450mm with another 200mm estimated for February (met office information not available yet for Feb 2014) so we should be thankful that the jet stream did not slip further south than it was.

The question now is what to make for the Friday market at Riberac? Will people be wanting to risk the first barbecue of the year? Or are we stiil in the casserole and shepherds pie season? 
We have about 52 lambs on the ground to our first time ewes which is keeping Gavin fairly busy and up at all hours checking and topping up the slow starters with a bottle. 

All the modifications to the shed this year, done to accommodate the entire flock under cover, are finally finished. Spot the naughty goat.
But, I hear you say, the sun is out now so why aren't the sheep? And my reply is that the ground is so wet and will be for some time so they will do too much damge to the fields and lose too much weight trying to plod through the bog every day grazing.  
The children are back at school after a wet and windy half term.
Now I have finished this blog I am going to go into the sunshine and absorb some vitamin D whilst trying to tidy the mud patch we call a garden.
See you soon.
Helen