Summer holidays

Gavins toy

Hello Everyone
Well it seems I have been a little idle and have not written anything since July....shocking....one could assume that it is because nothing ever happens around here. Which is of course completely untrue. Summer came and with it the arrival of the children with them much eating and drinking was done. they did a little light exercise, shearing sheep, feeding lambs, sheep and pigs. And then once they had acheived an improved level of fitness some of them left and some stayed behind to assist the ailing parents, one of whom (not me) will shortly be undergoing knee surgery to replace his crusciate ligament, which is just his excuse to have a bit of a lie down as it means a month of crutches then no work for a further 2 months then building up strength over the next 3 months. so come lambing next year we should be back to normal... whatever normal is.

Resting the knee

Normal service will be maintained, though if you could give me plenty of warning for orders, and yes even Christmas orders it would be much appreciated. Sorry I know it is early but I will have to be super duper organised this year espacially on the ham front. Goodness knows what will be happening though with the delights of covid and brexit all happening in the same year.

As some of you will already know there was a bit of 2 legged wolf activity on the farm during the summer so we were relieved of 20 lambs ready for marketing. Our friendly organic sheep farmer up the road has provided us with some bottle fed lambs to replace the missing stock and we have spent the last few weeks feeding 3 times a day. 

Playtime

Abbey, our chief sheepdog had surgery to remove a lump, thankfully non cancerous, but the very large scar is taking a while to close up. as she does not enjoy being left behind at working time. The cone of shame that she wore for 3 weeks is finally off and she is happily eating a bone outside in peace and quiet.

Abbey and the cone of shame

This year has been a "control" year for the business. 2 at the market checking hygiene and cleanliness, labelling and such like (we passed). One on the sheep and goats blood tests for brucellosis (they were clear) and then finally a check to see if our fields had grass underneath the trees (they did). Lordy! I think all the civil servants must have been thoroughly bored with confinement and just wanted some fresh air. So now I am waiting to go back to the markets and suspect that there will be new regulations to do with handwashing and mask wearing and lots of other joyful things.

Trees with grass underneath

I am waiting in anticipation for the call from the fridge repair shop to tell me the van is fixed has passed its cold chain test is ready to roll, and in the meantime because you know there was nothing else to do I have repainted the butchery floor and walls. 
With any luck now we should be covered for the next couple of years. 
Oh and tomorrow I am going to do a course on how to prepare your flock of sheep for the arrival of wolves in the district and I do mean the 4 legged ones this time. The joys of wildlife, farming and country living.
See you all very soon
​Helen