We shear our sheep once a year, usually in June or July. Our main flock are mules which are a commercial crossbreed bred for meat and wool. Despite what some people think, we do not breed sheep for their wool. It is purely a welfare issue which I will go into further in a moment. … [Read more…]
Everyone dreams of a good night’s sleep. What if your slumber could also help farmers? If you buy a pillow from Herdysleep, you will be doing just that. From the founders of Lake District brand Herdy, Herdysleep began using fairly traded Herdwick wool to make award winning mattresses and has recently expanded to pillows too-the … [Read more…]
I have always loved knitted things and, being the wife of a sheep farmer, I feel like loving wool is, in some way, helping the industry. I am a member of a farming Facebook group called Ladies in Livestock and, earlier in the year, just as I had given birth to Baby J, I spotted … [Read more…]
Last week I attended a crochet workshop at Black Sheep Wools in Warrington. I am a frequent visitor there already as it is a stones throw away from the farm and, unfortunately for me (not them), it is on my way home from school so I quite often nip in with a baby on my … [Read more…]
The blog has been a bit quiet the last week or two. As regular readers know, I like to post five times a week-sometimes more but I haven’t recently. There is a reason. You see I have a small amount of free time and, what time I have, I write. Recently though, my hands have … [Read more…]
My Dad’s mum taught me knitting when I was a very little girl. Nana Clancy had the patience of an angel and always picked my stitches up for me. I knitted hundreds of ‘scarves’ for my toys and I really do owe my love of the needles to her. I’ve knitted on and off ever … [Read more…]
If you had to pick the best invention ever, what would you choose? Antibiotics? The light bulb? Straighteners? Well, all of these are very good but nothing and I mean nothing measures up to the pom-pom maker. Seriously, I have spent my life cutting circles out of old cereal packets and struggling to get balls … [Read more…]
“A bear remains a bear – even when most of him has fallen off or worn away.” – Charlotte Gray This quote is especially true of my loved, old, bear. Teddy bears are magical creatures who provide as much love as they are loved in return. When the lovely people at What the Blazers … [Read more…]
Sheep shearing. My favourite day of the farming year. It s also one of the most tiring but it is such an exciting day and, with Boo being a bit older, it is the first we have fully taken part in. It began the night before as I prepared bread rolls (barm cakes if you’re … [Read more…]
