Puppies - Two Weeks Old

We had our first visit to see the pups this week - on Thursday. Then they were still very much a pile of sleeping beauties, with their eyes still tightly closed. By today, their eyes are beginning to open and they are beginning to find their legs.
Mum Sage is doing well. She really is a gorgeous little girl - she was so pleased to see us on thursday, and SO proud of her pups.

Knitting Booties

When I was a kid, I remember people used to knit booties and things for anyone expecting a baby. Round here we do things a bit differently. For a start, the only expectant mothers have four legs - most of them are sheep, so knitting would be a bit pointless anyway. However, as you will have gathered by now, there is a newborn heading this way in a few weeks time. Our friend Bilbo has been very busy furnishing Baby Bastow with some rather nice quilts. Something Bilbo is a bit of an expert at.
A three sided cover for the crate..........



And according to Bilbo this one is to go IN the crate. Far too good for that we think. For now it is on lone to the humans in the house.

That's one VERY spoilt puppy and she isn't even here yet.
Thank You Aunty Bilbo!

Puppies - One Week Old

Puppies - Three Days Old

A Picture Paints A Thousand Words

Life is going to change around here in 8 weeks time



One of these little bundles will be moving in. This is Sage with her first litter: 5 bitches and 2 dogs.

Horsing Around

It was our local point to point yesterday, and Vicki had two runners, so despite the most atrocious of forecasts, we decided it was worth braving the weather to go and give her some support. as it turned out the weather was much better than expected, and Vicki managed a first with Basil (one of my regular rides) and third with Harmony. So it was well worth making the effort.
Basil with John (very tall Jockey) and Vicki celebrating a win

One of James' horses, Sniffy, had to retire last year due to injury. He's not a horse who has taken kindly to being retired, so James has jumped at the opportunity of a good home for him in Ireland, where he will be able to enjoy life hacking and hunting. I only hope the guy who is having him knows what a superstar he is.
Having spent the last twelve months or so out at grass with youngsters, Sniffy needs a bit of a tidy up before he meets his new owners. This morning I decided to start the makeover process by pulling his mane.
Before (or at least before I'd done much).........

During - Sniffy has a look to see if he approves (which he didn't!)

And after. By now Sniffy really had lost patience, so getting him to pose any better than this was not going to work.

Easter Bunnies

As you've probably worked out by now, we enjoy the varied wildlife that we get in the garden. Some things are more welcome than others though. We have a very hungry males Sparrow Hawk visiting at the moment, who frequently stops off to wait for his lunch.

A hungry Kestrel decided to do the same earlier (no photos I'm afraid), presumably having worked out that we have a good supply of wood mice and bank voles.
Some new garden residents have put in an appearance over Easter. First there was one, the next day two, then suddenly there are four! Thankfully the only veg we have over here this year are tates, so the baby bunnies are welcome to stay for now. But they better not think of going over to the allotment, or it will be rabbit pie. That's if next door's cat doesn't get there first. Funny how cat's know when there is no longer a dog at home.

Helm Wind

We have the dubious honour up here, of having the only 'named' wind in the british Isles. I'm talking about weather, not digestion here.
To quote wikipedia.........
"The Helm Wind is a named wind in Cumbria, England, a strong north-easterly wind which blows down the south-west slope of the Cross Fell escarpment. It is the only named wind in the British Isles, although many other mountain regions in Britain exhibit the same phenomenon when the weather conditions are favourable. It may take its name from the helmet or cap of cloud which forms above Cross Fell, known as the Helm Bar, since a line of clouds over the fells can predict and accompany a Helm."
It doesn't blow very often, but when it does, it doesn't go unnoticed. This is what it left behind last night.


Thankfully none of the ewes in the shed came to any harm.

Playing Catchup

OK, back again. A lot has happened in the last couple of months, but I'm not going to try to catalogue things in any proper fashion. A brief selection of what's been happening should do the trick.

Early February saw us in Scotland, doing our annual House, Horse(s), Dog(s), Guinea Pig etc.etc sitting. A very sad time. Richard and Trina have been friends of mine - and then ours - for far more years than I can remember. We have known each others dogs almost as well as our own, and Harry (Trina's cairn), Nip (one of Richard's Springers) and Hattie were all the same age. Harry passed away last year, and dear Nip, who had a very special place in our hearts passed away just a few short weeks before our visit. Tug, his son, seemed to be coping pretty well.
We came home and had a fortnight here. Not a happy time as this was when we lost Hattie. She is very sorely missed.



We headed off to Lincolnshire at the beginning of March to House, Horse(s), Dog and Cat sit there for our other annual holiday! We were a bit subdued for obvious reasons, but we managed to catch up with lots of old pals including Sharvee and Rachel (named after me - the first cade lamb of the season in 2009 when Sharvee and I were the chief Shepherdesses at Mount Farm). Rachel very obligingly gave birth to twins while we were there this time.


As well as socialising, husband managed to chain harrow both of the main paddocks for Simon and Sal, while I got acres of grass mown and did a bit of weeding. Simon and Sal have an awful lot on their plates at the moment, and coping with about an acre of garden, another acre of orchard as well as three paddocks must take it's toll.


Back home and it was straight back to work! Well, for an hour or so, as we were drafted in to help unload 6500 point of lay pullets. It's amazing what we get involved in!

We have both been busy in the garden, though it has to be said, Husband has done far more than me.

The allotment has been cleared of rubbish which was the result of our 'stale seedbed' approach, to the huge bank of weed seeds we inherited. Then dug over and planted (on various dates) with......... Shallot sets, Onion sets, parsnips, broad beans, carrots (under plastic), salad (under plastic), Summer sprouting Broccoli (under glass), peas and some chard. Husband can take the credit for all of that, bar the actual sowing of some of the finer seeds as I have a bit more patience than him for tasks of that sort!

The various fruit bushes and trees have been pruned as necessary

and two out of the three plots we have at home have been dug over, prepared and planted with second early tates. The third plot is dug and prepared, ready for the maincrop.

Whilst all of this has been going on, we have been feeding ourselves with curly kale and one of my favourites, sprouting broccoli from the garden. The sprouting has done incredibly well and just keeps on coming. YUM! YUM!


The remains of the conifer tree which was semi disrobed in the autumn, has now been felled
and the rest of the garden given it's early spring tidy up.

We have had a few visitors, some staying with us, others staying locally and meeting up for a walk. As the estate behind us have miles of permissive paths, but do not allow dogs on them, we have taken the opportunity to explore these, as hopefully before too long, we won't want to walk where we can't take a dog. If you were to plot a line on the map from here, due west, it would be 20 miles before you came to another house. When you walk up over the hill behind us, you really can believe it. Not a human soul in sight. Silence, punctuated by Curlew, Skylarks and sheep. It really brings it home to us - and our visitors - why we love it so much here.
It was busy once though - as this limekiln suggests

Apart from that we have both been busy through March. I am now into the third week of lambing , helping a friend out in the village. A brilliant arrangement which means that I just go first thing in the morning to get everything caught up from the previous night. Most days I am back home by 9 at the very latest, so it doesn't interfere with any thing else we want to do. Occasionally it has involved further work during the day, but then Mr B has joined in as well, more hands make light work!
Horses still feature highly on the list of things that happen on a frequent basis, with James and Vicki both calling me up whenever they need a 'Jockey'.
Yesterday was our turn to watch though as we headed east to Sedgefield to watch one of Jame's horses who was running in the big race of the day. It was an atrocious day. Wind, rain, snow. Ground that was getting deeper by the minute. But an awesome effort by a very brave horse. It was hugs all round in the winners enclosure as we headed off for a glass of Champagne courtesy of the course sponsors, and an evening of celebration courtesy of Kealigolane.