65 acres of relaxation
May started off with a very tiny wee last lamb, quickly and aptly named ‘Toots’.. she was born on Star wars day orĀ May 4th (May the force be with you ) and we were worried that mum being very young herself ( cheeky last years lamb getting in with the ram when she should know better ) didn’t have enough milk.
The last few months have been very full on, what with the spectacular apocalytic, pandemic that has hit the world .then a drought.. then a moorland bush fire !! sounds biblical doesn’t it .
This is my catch up blog because it seems the whole world has conspired against me and my date with a laptop once a month…
They won 3 times it seems but now I need to empty my thoughts out online sorry .
Continue reading “Fab’uary, March and April’s madness- Its a hat trick !”
November Ā descended on us all like a sneaky ninja … ( well it was dark, and black a lot )
We Ā feel like we’ve fairly trotted from one job to another non stop since forever ā¦ But what a lot’s been achieved .
October rocks up , fresh cold and clear blue skies.. (sometimesĀ š The sheep were a high priority this month and the first thing to sort outĀ as next month is Tupping time and we needed a new Ram .
Herdwicks are a Lakeland breed and so the Lake district is the ideal place for a bit of sheep shopping ! The annual Herdwick Tup sale was my first choice and something we were keen to try out ,so first Saturday of the month
I booked Henry and Harry into the auction at Cockermouth and headed offĀ VERY Ā early one clear cold morning all loaded up with everything I needed to sell them and buy a new Ram for my girls ..
Get your best knickers on girls ..
The TupĀ sale started off with lots of showing , 
the competition is fierce ..Ā winning Ā a rosetteĀ will gain you a lot moreĀ Guineas in the auction ring so primping and preening was paramount ( I didn’t even attempt it , I’d only just managed to get my two off the hill, feetĀ trimmed and in a trailer never mind a pink rinse !
Notice their fleece colour , its an oxide powder calledĀ Raddle that’s used to mark the backs so they stand out (Its more pink than red I think ) Herdwick showing raddle is a very specific product and uncharacteristically EXPENSIVE !
Anyway time to get
mine sold and to choose a pink RamĀ
I found three I liked, and set to checking their teeth and boy bits ! yes I did , and no there’s no photo ( I was on my jack jones) all the Rams for sale were in either individual pens or grouped by owner to be sold individually .. You can see the picture I’m sure , me sneaking around trying not to be noticed in case I couldn’t catch the sheep ( tho I did and had em in a head hold so I could check them out .. thanks Tom C for the shepherd training )
One of the three became our new Grobdale herdy Ram .. meet Harold a slightly older gent so hopefully experienced, and I waved goodbye to Henry and Harry , sadly they sold separately but am sure their new jobs will keep them busy so they don’t miss each other too much….Job done tick
A bit laterĀ in the month Andy came over all “Wallace and gromit”Ā turning Ā up one Friday lugging a huge industrial oven he’d Skip dived , with an evil and cunning plan to morph it into a smoker ..
Cue lots of metal cutting noises , welding and banging sounds and smells for a few days then hey presto a contraption !!The finished article looks awesome, a bit
AND it conjured up the most 
mouth watering smoked duck .Ā He’s a super hero inventor my hubby x
Talking about mouth watering dishes, 
our first
home bred piglet went off to his final destination at the rather fabulousĀ No 1 Fleet Street restaurant housed within Ā The ship Inn Hotel.
The oven was a great up cycling project and we didn’t stop there, on a trip earlier this year we had seen some lovely furniture 
made from oak whisky barrels and it had been
Poking Andy’s brain ever since ,
So one Friday we took delivery of 18 pre used whisky barrels from Loch Lomond distillery .. cue sawing and banging noises x I didn’t get too involved but loved having a go at the “un coopering”.
TheĀ first creations were quite lovely and the jury is still out on which we like the best ..
I’mĀ quite excited to see what my cleverĀ man makes next .
FurnitureĀ making and buying were aĀ small part of the steading conversion project going onĀ , the build itself was gaining in momentum as more trades joined our builders on site.
We had dykers (dry stone waller’s to us) , electricians, digger drivers, plumbers , zinc roofers and then at
the end of the month Scottish power rocked up with all sorts of vehicles and hardware to install ..
Up on the hill though, the sheep couldn’t care less .. they were enjoying the sunshine and their new boyfriend ..
Ding Dong
June is the best month as far asĀ our favouriteĀ ginger Ā Ā is concerned as it means all her favourite things .. Cake , friends , presents and chocolate . 
We always celebrate a birthday and it generally lasts more than a day, shame the cake didn’t last as long .
AĀ surprise visit from our besties alsoĀ went down a treat too.. we love you guys.
June 13th wasĀ Nora’s due date , and we had planned for Andy to be home for the early days , we couldn’t have planned it better as he had onlyĀ been homeĀ maybe Ā an hour when Nora
went into labour !
We camped out in lambing shed to be rewarded in the early hours with the birth of
As first timers we were quite nervous , there was so much that could go wrong however Nora was a trueĀ Ā textbook Ā Ā pig and did everything according toĀ what we had read .
Thanks Google
Ā Nora has turned out to be a fabulous mum looking after her litter .. we clearly brought her up well .
Nora was looking fairly pregnant by 
the Beginning of May, she was (if it was a baby bump) in her final trimester and looking pretty
“Nippleicious “
Andy loves his piggy ,so she gets quite pampered and well looked after..Ā if I’m Ā honest she’s actually a Ā bit spoiledĀ …
Nora has had an internet acquaintance over 
for a sleepover !
She held out for a week and then had to give in to his charms .. floozy , but hopefully we have piglets on the way , thus..
āNipple cream for our pig ā
Apparently itās the year of the pig ,andĀ FebruaryĀ it seems is definitely the month of the pig here at a Grobdale !
We had felt for a while that Nora needed some help on the fertility front,
she wasnāt showing any signs of coming into season so AI (artificial insemination) hasnāt been an option ,
We have found Social mediaĀ to be a powerful tool and Iāve used it to sell and source all kinds if things including this time ,a loan Tamworth boar .
It took just over a week of messages and phone callsĀ Ā .. on the journey I found her brother and her parents !
Our second December here at Grobdale, and we feel settled , less fly by the seat of your pants, maybe even comfortable.. dont Ā get me wrong , every day has an out of your comfort zone moment or three but the majority of the time itās jobs that weāve done before or at least something similar ..ForĀ Ā instanceĀ painting 
your loan Tup with raddle Ā !
If youāve followed the link above ( click on the underlined word raddle ) youāve read that by putting a dye or raddle on Gibbs , 
makes sure that he leaves his mark on any of the girls heās mounted , so we know who could well be Ā in lamb and whoās due first if she is pregnant. All good information to a good shepherdess (and I am trying to be).
The loan tup Gibbs was turning out to be rather lovely to deal with , hopefully heāll be as easy to load and return to his owner at the beginning Ā of next month ..
So Novemberās here and the Ā pigs decided , between themselves one day 
that they needed a change of scenery ..
So one afternoon we decided to take them out down to the loch ,their Ā first walk out was hilarious they were just proper giddy pants.
The freedom caused them to work up a fair old appetite , as if they needed any encouragement and when theyāre hungry the noise they generate is rather impressive compared to their size I can only compare it to
A hundred violins being played REALLY badly !
Continue reading “The world according to gin or maybe pigs !”
Grobdale of girthon 