Sunday hill update

Following the vet visit in the week and Palm-Olive being estrumated I wanted to mate her today.  It seems to have have done the trick, she sat much better today and it is the best mating she's had so hopefully it will take this  time.  All the other girls spat off which is good.

This afternoon we have  been up on to the hill, it has certainly made a difference where we have cut so we wanted to get more cut before the weather turns. 

Here is my dad surveying the grass having been driven up on the quad; he doesn't walk well.  Talking of not walking well I fell in one of the streams, lucky for me I didn't get to dirty and I had hold of the camera so no one could take a photo!

Paul hard at work going round and round and round and round.

And here was have the levels for the house, and Jayne thought she had a puddle!!!!!

Whalton Show and Sheep Race

We woke to rain this morning but thankfully it soon brightened up as we headed over to the Whalton Village Show.

It was going to be a very busy day as not only did we have our alpacas and knitwear there I was also racing my sheep again.  I had high hopes for the sheep as we won three of the four races last year and went  on to win the championship race with Mocha.

Mocha was first out for the Barnacre stable today, and here she is leading the field!

First past the the finishing post was the defending champion Mocha.

Next up was the turn of Mia, my extremely overweight pet lamb from many years ago who thinks she is a short alpaca.  She was the only one of last years team that didn't win her race so I wasn't sure how she would do.  I needn't have worried, she did us proud, another first place.

In the third race I had one of my lambs running, this race was so funny as the sheep didn't want to run.  They kept going the wrong way, going back to the start and generally not doing what they were supposed to which the crowd thought was hilarious.  Eventually with a little encouragement (called a feed bucket!) my little lamb was on the move and and winning, until the last 10 feet that is!  He ended up second.

The final race was easily won by one of the vet Dick Thompson's (Alan my farmer friend's cousin) sheep.  So the championship race was between two of mine and two of Dicks'. 

This race didn't quite go according to plan, both my sheep and Dicks are very friendly and used to being round people and none of them wanted to leave us, or then again it could have been the feed bucket they had spied just over the fence at the start line.

Eventually I managed to get Mia moving and then she spotted a feed bucket heading to the finish line so she set off, excess weight, wonky legs and all and won by a complete lap!!!!!!  Here she is proudly posing after securing Barnacre the winning cup for another 12 months.

Thankfully my parents are still here at the minute so they were able to help out with the alpacas who as always proved super popular.  We also saw a very clever lady Irene who came laden with the best gift ever, more on that tomorrow.

The night before the races

Just a quick blog tonight as nothing much to report.

The weather couldn't have been more different today than yesterday.  It has been dull and grey most of the day, then at tea time the rain arrived.  Not good as we had the sheep racing team to move in readiness for tomorrows sheep racing at Whalton Show. 

We have had to make a late substitution as Ebony was looking a little lame this morning - typical.  She was probably putting it on because she didn't want to go racing.  Ready and looking for bets tomorrow is Mia, Mocha and her two lambs.

The alpacas are also going to the show, we promised Rory he could go this week seeing as he was so keen last week and got left at home. 

Pregnancy scanning

It's been another busy day, I've been cracking the whip with mum and her knitting.  It's working well that's three pairs of gloves finished in one week!

This afternoon I'd booked for the vet to come out to scan four of the girls.  Ursula who has been a pest with spit offs in the past, then three maidens, Lucia (Ursula's half sister, same dam), Palm-Olive and Kealani.

The first volunteer was Lucia, a lovely black girl who had had one mating with Loki.  She has spat off once and on the other occassions I've tried to do a spit off she's either escaped or refused to come in.  Great news, she's pregnant, we could see a feotus very clearly.

Second up was the turn of Palm-Olive, she has had two matings but neither of which she has been keen on so I had no idea on this one.  There was a slight hitch during this scan, the vets scanner battery was not holding its charge and we couldn't get our generator started!

Thankfully I didn't upset the people who bought West Barn (our previous house), so having had a quick word with Brian we walking the girls into his garage so we could borrow his electric.

Unfortunately both the rectal and transabdominal scans proved negative for Palm-Olive, as you can see she was very well behaved.  Having checked her over she has been given some estrumate and we will try again to mate her in the next few days.

Ursula who spat off all last year and never produced a cria has been scanned pregnant this year which is good.

Finally it was the turn of Kealani, she is a very submissive girl who has been mated three times, we weren't sure if she was sitting just because she is so submissive or because she wasn't holding a pregnancy, it was the latter, no baby in there.

Proving popular

I thought I would share a few photo's with you tonight taken this morning.  Here is my mum proving very popular with the girls and their cria.  Gabby and Imala are checking out to see what if anything mum has in her hands!

And here especially for Cristina and Dave here we have the gorgeous Jam-Packed, son of Imala and Gianmarco's Masterpiece. 

Here we have double trouble Seymour (black) and Spadicious (brown), who is the full brother of our double brown champion Meketaten.

The cria are already growing fast and before we know it it will be time to start weaning the oldest girls - I never like that bit!

Knitting stash

I was slightly concerned about what might greet me in the field this morning after the terrible winds overnight.  Thankfully other than an over turned hay heck and bench and having to gather a few feed toughs all was well.  The girls had decided that it wasn't a good idea to sleep under the trees last night and had settled in the middle of the field.

I thought they'd said that the winds were supposed to be dropping this afternoon; I think someone forgot to tell the wind.

Mum and I nipped over to see Carol this afternoon and pick up her knitting, and my word was it worth the visit, she has knitted loads, 3 baby hats, one lady's hat, 3 pairs of fingerless mitts to mention just a few.  Mum is also doing a cracking job knitting this week, having already done two pairs of gloves and she is now on the fingers on the second glove of the third pair.

We are at the Whalton Show this weekend with the alpacas and four of our sheep for the sheep race.  It is well worth a visit if you are in the area, fingers crossed for a calmer weekend.

Exhausted Minimus

We have had a very busy weekend at the Berwick Slow Food Festival, they loved the alpacas last year and had invited us back with our knitwear again.

I'd invited my parents up to stay and animal sit as we'd decided to stay up at Berwick over night on Saturday.  We were set up and ready to go when the gates opened and as usual with Paul on the microphone the public flocked over to see and hear all about the alpacas.

It was a long, busy two days and exhausting weekend and as you can see even little Minimus found all the attention exhausting, he was fast asleep in the pen at one point.

Anyone who follows our tweets will know we did have an evening off and paid a visit to the beer festival Saturday night with a couple of fellow traders.

Today I've been sorting out all the knitwear as we packed up in a hurry as the wind was really picking up so I hadn't put everything in it's rightful place.  I now have a lot of updating to do in our online shop before I sell something that was sold at the weekend.

I have also taken a couple of orders that I need to get on with, there is never a moments rest her.  I'm cracking my whip at mum to and am off to see Carol tomorrow to see what she has been knitting from my constantly growing list of requirements from her. 

I also have a reqest for Joan (mums neighbour) who knits me some lovely baby cardigans and jumpers, the lastest heart hoody sold in minutes Joan; please can I request another one.

Photo's from Westmorland

Following on from last nights blog, as promised I now have some photo's to share with you. 

First out was the gorgeous Meketaten...

Wearing her sash with pride...

Next it was the turn of Lady Godiva who Dave took in to the ring, I think they were both enjoying the experience.

 Then it was Casiphia's turn...

Finally it was the turn of Niveous who as you can see wanted to aviod the mud!

And finally the Westmorland County Show team and their haul of rosettes and sash.

Well done team I am very proud of you all.