"Welly Wednesday"

‘Welly Wednesday’ was a brilliant success. As it was National Science Week, I invited the nursery reception class at our local primary school, Crossgates, to visit us and spend some time in the lambing sheds. Mrs Roach, the class teacher, was so engrossed in everything that she kept forgetting to take photographs!

They all enjoyed dipping their wellies in the disinfectant point, I never imagined it would take as long to dip wellies!, I also didn’t know it would take so long for 25 of them to take a bucket of water to the ewes and lambs who were penned up individually waiting to go back outside, but they all had great fun, and more importantly they were learning during a real situation, which I believe is very beneficial to many children The highlight of the visit was when Farmer Len went into one of the pens and ‘pulled’ a lamb. Then after he had penned the ewe and lamb up in a small pen the class (and Mrs Roach) watched as the ewe licked the lamb, ‘talking’ to it quietly, then watched as the lamb began to try to struggle to it’s feet, then when it did to make it’s way up the side of the ewe under its tummy to find where to suck her milk.

The children also came face to face with Brynsaga Madog the 4th, one of our Welsh Black Bulls. Again Farmer Len made their day by entering the bull’s pen (something no one should do at home!) and turning him around so they could see his face, all of the children took at least four paces backwards, he must have seemed huge to them. (The children were aged between 4 – 5 years)

We finished off the afternoon with a walk through our oak wood, which is where the single lambs and their mums are turned out after 24 hours in the lambing sheds after they are born. It was a lovely day with the sun shinning, and it was a pleasure to have them with us.

Sapphy continues to grow. Unfortunately she is as big as the bin in the kitchen now so when she jumps up to it falls over, so for now the bin lives in the porch which is a pin when I am trailing around with soggy teabags thinking where to put them! On Saturday when I was on lambing duty all day with Philip she spent the entire day wandering up and down the sheep sheds, never very far away from me, and looking in every bucket, bag or crevice to see what she could find. She loves hay, and in the shed in the wood the ewes have a great roll of hay in front of all the pens, which they can eat all day. She was rolling and diving into it, then setting the ewes, as they came forward to see what on earth it was in their dinner! She has started to find all of the rabbit and badger runs as we walk the children up to the school bus in the morning and very often as I am calling her and looking back I turn around and there she is somehow in front of me, with her head cocked on one side as if to say, “well here I am where are you”?

Lambing is very slow at the moment. Last night there was the flurry of snow which was well forecast, and yesterday Philip had done a trail of the fields to bring in any ewes and lambs not looking as if they were strong enough to survive a very cold night. So Maggie had company in her stable last night. Unfortunately this morning there were two casualties, both whom we think had something physically wrong with them inside and would have died no matter what, but Philip always takes it so personally and it starts the day with quite a downer, you’d think with the 1500 lambs plus which we have, that two wouldn’t matter, but you’d be wrong. Farmers have a very strong connection with their stock and hate to loose any. Very often at Nantleach there will be a lamb in a box in front of the rayburn warming nicely, unfortunately not many of them make it, but I always like to think they were comfortable in their last hours.

My daughter Hannah and her friend Sarah, passed their Pony Club C test yesterday at Underhill Riding Stables. They were very chuffed especially as they were quite young to take it and they have worked very hard in doing so. My son James, and his friends Kathryn and Daniel all passed their Karate gradings on Saturday at Llandrindod Wells Sports Centre so James is now a green belt, half way to a black belt so he tells me. Well done to all of them.

I’ve a lot of office work to catch up with this week, I really don’t know where it all comes from, and where all of my time goes to but it does so that’s all for now and we’ll catch up again soon