Snow warning

We had an yellow snow warning, then we were upgraded to an amber snow warning, I always thought snow was white - ah ha!  I now know what the forecasters were on about........................

 

Amber snow! or is it yellow? pretty rare stuff I doubt coz most places you look it has a whiteish hue about it.

Aye! It snowed, quite a change from Thursday

 

Thursday saw the covering of snow we'd had melting away nicely, okay, this isn't exactly a picture of snow, the hard frosts we'd experienced made the stuff run off roofs and duly freeze, now the freezing was dripping (yes you're right, it took me ages to catch that drip in mid air, must have nowt better to do!) 

So, that was Thursday. Friday saw hay being frantically laid out for sheep, Friday afternoon saw sheep being hounded in to lower ground, where the hay was laid out for them, ready for the onslaught, and it came, right on cue, this was the yellow snow we'd been warned about. It wasn't until today, Monday, that the amber stuff appeared, again right on cue. The weekend had seen as much feed put out for sheep as possible before the onslaught of wind and snow hit them and had them blocked out from the comfort of feed and security.

This picture may not exactly show signs of comfort and security but at least if they should get happed with snow in these driving winds I'll know where to find them.

 

As for old Glen, so long as his lugs are sticking up I'll be able to find him an' all!

Thought you'd all enjoy this link, showing the highs of farming, a cheery compilation http://youtu.be/iWdFTa7UNPs

Twicey Show (Roman Wall Show) 9th June 2012

A day off! Or ought I say a day off which was pre planned. Everyone I worked for knew that Saturday 9th June was going to be a day off; no one would have dared suggest Shep changed her mind. It was time to head away and catch up with some crack, view some decent sheep and basically enjoy a leisurely day at the Twicey show. Which was exactly what I did.

Once again old Glen and myself disappeared off for the day and headed away for our annual trip to Hadrians Wall and it's annual sheep show.

 

A beautiful setting for a show, even when the weather is somewhat anti social as it was on Saturday.

 

The weather was threatening as these clipped tup hoggs were showing themselves off in the ring, it must feel strange to get the rain on your backs when a good covering of wool had been the norm for the preceding months, but they aren't the only ones bare, Shep has already clipped ewe hoggs on a couple of farms and there are many more to do.

 

By the time the Blackfaced tup lambs were being judged the weather had indeed broken. It didn't just rain, it poured down, like a thunder spate, all that was missing was the rumble of thunder itself. A true cloudburst which seemed to be relentless.

 

There are some wiser than myself, these two retired shepherds took me by surprise when an umbrella surfaced. I had been enjoying their company and crack but there wasn't room for me under there as well, I took shelter behind them instead. Two very sound sheep men from which much can be learnt if you take heed. They did inform me that they thought the umbrella ought to be fitted with down spouts - just shows how wet it was!

 

The mule men seemed to hold off judging their lambs until the downpour subsided, the sun even came out! As did the midges!

 

The rain held off whilst the blackfaced championship was judged, all the first prize winners from the various classes, both male and female were in the ring together before the judge decided which one he deemed the best of the lot, this year it went to a ewe lamb from Wanwood Hill. The mule ewe lamb championship was won by Carry House.

 

There was a good turnout of sheep on the day and of a high standard too, although there may have been slightly fewer entries in the classes than previous years, the weather may have been responsible for this or maybes the change of date for the Cumberland show may have had a slight affect on the show, regardless there was still plenty of sheep for the judges to scrutinize.

 

It would seem this Swaledale tup collected more than one rosette, in actual fact there was more than one sheep in the pen, I just zoomed in!

I had decided upon arrival at the show not to show old Glen, he got out of the car and seemed a bit lame and wobbly, he is 12 year old now and suffering badly from arthritis so it was asking a bit much, however, a friend suggested I really ought to, so I got him out of the car and took him onto the field, he really perked up when poddling around meeting other dogs and children who wanted to stroke him.

 

He seemed quite cheerful when he met this pack of Border terriers, showing his best side and trying to woo the girls amongst them! Anyhow, to cut a long story short, somehow we missed the judging. It must have been meant to be is all I can say! He has won there for the past two years by sheer luck and now, even older and wobblier, it was really asking a bit much, so we were saved the embarrassment of not being chosen by actually not even competing - a fine way to bow out I would say! (I have since met the judge of the day on the road and had a crack with him, the first thing he asked was why I hadn't shown old Glen! Oops!!)

 

The day came to an end. It had been a most enjoyable day off. Fortunately I had been wise enough not to park on the field upon arrival and there is no doubt my car would not have got off it at night without this sort of assistance. The day was rounded off nicely by calling on a long standing and very dear friend whom I hadn't seen for a couple of years, supper was offered and accepted with the result Shep didn't arrive home 'til bed time - that's the way to enjoy a day off!

The Lazy Gather

A need to get some sheep in and treat them for lice. They were running on an enclosed piece of hill ground alongside cattle. The cattle are fed on silage, which is laid out on the ground for them each morning. The sheep can't help themselves when a free bite is on offer and they come forward to share the fodder with the cattle.

A lazy mans approach, but it was hoped all the sheep may have congregated with the cattle, if this was the case it wouldn't be necessary to bounce around the hill ground on the quad to gather everything in.

So it was then that old Glen and I cut some corners and collected this bunch of sheep from where they were sharing a bale of silage with the cows.

Glen soon encouraged the sheep to leave the tasty silage behind and do as they were told, gather up in a bunch and move where they were required to move to.

All was going well until we had this obstacle to pass through. Just a gateway, but the brakes were engaged, sheep did not want to move forward.

Poor old Glen found himself having to do some leg work as sheep tried to break back to whence they had come. Whichever side the dog ran to saw sheep trying to break away on the other side. He had his work cut out for a while.

Eventually one kindly soul decided to head through the gate, it only takes one, the others will soon follow.

Glen still acted as back stop, ensuring no sneaky creature got a chance to turn back.

The sheep were streaming away across the next field whilst the last few were tip toeing through the gateway.

The gateway in question. The reason the sheep were reluctant to go through it. A huge puddle across the width of the gateway which had also been frozen. The bike, on the journey out to get the sheep, had broken through the ice but the sheep were more concerned about getting there feet wet than anything else, they really don't like clarty gateways.

The next gateway was drier and sheep were willing to go through it. Upon reaching the sheep pens the sheep were counted. 212 was the number I arrived at and upon enquiring how many there ought to be I was told 212 - great news! It meant the lazy gather had been succesful, there were no sheep left out on the hill ground, all were accounted for. The ploy had worked and had saved a lot of time in the process.

A couple of hours in the pens and home they headed, far more enthusiastic to go through the clarty gateway this time, in main due to the fact that this direction was taking them home.

I shot forward to open the gate onto the hill, the one which had been closed to ensure the cattle didn't wander away in, whilst Glen quietly followed on, he had no hard work to do, these sheep were heading for home, knew where they were going, didn't need steering or encouraging just needed Glen to gently wander along behind them. He was happy in his work.