final two sessions!

Well, the time came all too fast - the two weaners were booked in, and at 6am on a Monday morning, Mike, Alan and I loaded them both up - all on our own; both incredibly calm, ear tagged them, and set off for the abbatoir; Broomhalls, about 40 minutes drive from home.   They weren't stressed at all, we had a good journey, and it certainly showed in the quality of their meat.  We sold all but the one leg joint, that i kept for our 'end of Summer session' lunch, last Wednesday.   I cooked the joint over night slowly in the oven, and i think everyone enjoyed it - there wasn't any left over anyway.   Even Gerry, who's been a vegetarian for over 20 years, tried a bit!!  So the end of our first shot at 'weaner rearing' - and we can't wait to get the next lot!

The Weaner's last stop...

We have weaned the lambs too - the Ewes (4 of them) have gone down to the churchyard, and are very happy down there.  The lambs seem fine up here, and they are all putting on condition, ready for the Autumn, when the ram lambs will be ready to go off down the 'meat chain'.  We won't put this year's ewe lambs to the Ram this year, as we don't have enough keep for them, and they are still quite young to breed from.  We will hopefully be able to have the Ram, 'Dandy', back in October, to stay with the Ewes for the Winter again.

We have so much grass here on site, that we are desperate to find someone to come and mow it for us to make a few bales of hay, as the sheep are only 'knocking' it down, not eating it - after all the rain!

We've had the first week of our 'Summer Activities' with over 60 children here last week, and lots more to come this week.  We were really lucky with the weather - and they all had a great time; making incect houses, bird feeders, planting seeds, and best of all for most of them - digging their own potatoes for supper!!

The students are now finished for the Summer, and we start back week beginning 10 September.  So, if i go quiet again, it's because we're all having a well earned rest!