Lady's Smock

This year there seems to be even more Lady's Smock than usual.

Perhaps it was the hard winter.

There are drifts of these beautiful little pale pink/purple flowers in all of the fields this spring.

Rhubarb

You probably can't call rhubarb a fruit, but whatever it is, it's the first sweet thing to come in from the garden! We have one early variety whose name we have forgotten, but which is ready now for a light picking over.
Apart from gently stewing it with a bit of orange juice and some sugar to taste, this is our favourite way of preparing it:

6oz sweet shortcrust pastry

Bunch of your own fresh rhubarb

1/4 pint cream

2 of your own fresh hen's eggs

4oz sugar

Line a flan dish with the pastry, chop rhubarb into chunks and arrange on the pastry

Beat eggs sugar and cream together and pour over the rhubarb

Cook in a hot oven until filling is firm and the top is golden brown

or

Cook in the top oven of the Aga until done!

DELICIOUS!

Our Moiles finally go out to grass.

We had our annual herd test last Monday. This is a compulsory Dept of Agriculture test carried out each year in order to eradicate Bovine TB and Brucellosis. The results are extremely important, because if you fail, our herd is locked up and no live animals can be sold. A real headache!.
Thankfully our herd is clear for TB and we are awaiting the results for Brucellosis.

Our stock bull Damhead McCabe

We just call him "The Bull" for short. (obvious I know, sorry)

Oh, and just to say, he's not behind bars for any particular reason!

So, with the winter fodder all used up, and straw reserves at an all time low, it was time to let our Irish Moiled Cattle out to grass. And as the following photos show, they didn't take much persuading.

I think thats called 'High Tailing It'

Lambing is progressing nicely!

I am frantically searching for a piece of wood to touch because a statement like that usually spells disaster!

The improved weather means that grass is starting to grow and the sheep are lambing in warm sunshine, an ideal start for young lambs. Long may it continue.
We lamb our sheep outdoors. I drive round the lambing field on the quad bike every 2 to 3 hours during the day depending on how things are progressing. The last round of the day is at 10pm. I do one check during the night at 3am, and then start again at 7 or sometimes 8 if I don't hear the alarm and Helen doesn't wake me!

Any ewe that has lambed is brought inside to an individual pen where she can bond properly with her lambs. This means that I can check her for milk and ensure that her lambs get adequate amounts of colostrum. We also spray the lambs navel with an iodine solution to help it dry up quickly.

A warm bed on a cold morning

After about 24 hours inside the ewes and lambs go out to fresh grass. We always put numbers on so that we know which lambs go with which ewes, if there is a mix up or if something goes wrong.

Who ever said sheep are stupid? The above photo is not an uncommon sight, especially on a cold morning or, if it is very windy, you will often find lambs tucked in tight against the leeward side of their mother, warm as toast and completely sheltered.

Right, it's 11pm and time for some shut-eye before the 3 o'clock alarm.

Return of the Swallows

The swallows have made a welcome return to our farm yard from their winter migration. It's an event we keep a close eye out for as winter turns to spring, and their darting flight in and out of the stables, refurbishing their nests and catching insects is a real pleasure to see.

I have been out with my camera to get a shot for this post, but sadly,as you can see from the following photos, neither I nor my camera are fast enough!

Lambing 2010 has started

A rather Hicks-esque photo of the first ewe to lamb! Had the wrong lens on and couldn't get far enough away!

The average gestation for ewes is 147 days, which means our official start date is tomorrow (4th April), but we always expect one or two to lamb 2 to 3 days early, and so true to form at 11:30 last night the first lamb arrived safely.

A nice big healthy single, and mother has plenty of milk. All we need now is some fine weather and for the grass to grow! And of course lots more lambs.