Lambs and Ladies

Cold and foggy this morning.
How pleased we are to have the new barn finished and the animals inside.

Mr P. has had to put up with some pretty awful weather while he waited for his new accommodation. He was a little unsure at first, having been without a stable of any kind since summer, but he is very keen to come in at night now.

The sheep are enjoying the new space too. Previously they were housed in a smaller more enclosed building - this is much better for them. They are hardy creatures and don't need much protection and here they are in an open fronted bay where they can rest at night with the lambs safely tucked up in the corner.

These sheep include our original Millie and Mollie who we bought in 2008. They have consistently produced good quality lambs. The exception being this year when Mollie produced Tiny - a very small little lamb (his twin was a good size). Tiny is doing very well however, and will soon catch up with the older lambs. Then there's Nigella, one of Millie's 2011 lambs. She gave two nice twin lambs this year. New additions are Peanut and Betty who have joined the flock because their owners are working abroad for a while - we don't know when or if they are expecting lambs but will keep a close eye on them. The lambs and ladies are all looked after by our ram named Richard Dawkins who we brought in from a completely unrelated blood line last year.

The lane end of the new barn.

 When the sun finally broke through it turned out to be a super day - the ground is very soggy though and it makes all the chores so much harder. A good day to give the chicken house a bit of a spring clean though!

 One of the new rain water tanks in position. It holds 1000 litres - wonder how long it will take to fill up?

A few outdoor jobs done today. The last of the old 2012 hay used up and the stack dismantled. I used the last of it for bedding and found a sleepy hedgehog at the bottom of the pile. I carefully popped it into a cat basket with the hay it was sleeping in and gave it to our neighbours who have a very luxurious custom made herrison hôtel in their garden. It should be happy and safe for the rest of the winter in there.

Blue skies over the magic forest of Broceliande which lies to the South of us and is our view from the front of our house.

As the sun sets wood smoke rises from the Wild Wood. Or rather, where the Wild Wood used to be! I rode that way earlier and was shocked to see the trees all cut down and ready to ship out. This is the lane that runs along the front of our land. In this picture we're walking Girlie up to the top field to collect Mr P and bring him in for the night.