How many divorces have started with moving sheep? As a farmer’s wife, I am an easy target for anything and everything that goes wrong when moving animals. It rains. It’s my fault. I am standing nowhere near the animals and they won’t go in the gate. It’s my fault. Can you see a pattern emerging? … [Read more…]
Most months when I write the Farm life series, I write a similar thing ‘I didn’t think anything had happened until I looked back at the photos’. This month it is true. The farm has been quiet. Straw dragged on and on and on. It was the latest finish I have ever known. Since being … [Read more…]
I seem to have taken hundreds of photos of hens this month. I have a few fancy ones and their hilarious bouffants amuse me every time I see them. Photographing them though seems to be harder than it looks and I was happy with one photo until I went back and I had chopped the … [Read more…]
I am sure you know by now that I love wool. I love how versatile it is, the sheer amount of things you can do with it. It is cool in summer and warm in winter. It is the most natural of materials and is probably the only animal product (as well as dairy) which … [Read more…]
Another month and a whole year of farm life. December has brought a definite chill but still with the ever present addition of rain. The grass has stopped growing and the mud is as muddy as ever so natural forage is almost non existent. We moved the Ryeland sheep into another field which I filmed … [Read more…]
You know how in some magazines, they have a going up and going down popularity column? I think I should do one for my Farm Life post each month. This month, chihuahuas are going up, donkeys are going down and goats are somewhere in the middle. I wrote a whole post a while back about … [Read more…]
It’s funny, each month as I start to think about what has happened to write my regular Farm Life piece, I always think nothing has happened. This month was no different. It has been dominated by one word though. Mud. There has been a lot of rain and it has turned most of the fields … [Read more…]
Sheep books are life for the children of sheep farmers but there are many children out there who like sheep too so I thought I would share our favourites. Pete the Sheep by Jackie French and illustrated by Bruce Whatley is set in Australia and is the tale of Sean the shearer who, instead of … [Read more…]
If you want to know about teaching, you would go and ask a teacher so if you want to know about farming, a farmer should be your first port of call to see what really happens. As sheep farmers ourselves, I think it is important to tell people what we do. I asked a group … [Read more…]
There are definitely some confusion around when it comes to sheep and lamb. I thought I would try and dispel some of these myths for you and try and help you understand why sheep farming can be so rewarding and why eating lamb is not a bad thing. 1. The best time to eat lamb … [Read more…]
