British Summer Time.

The clocks have gone forward, thanks to that strange phenomena known as British Summer Time, we suddenly find we have to get up an hour earlier than usual. At least in October when the clocks go back we get an extra hour in bed!

Sunday 25th March saw the days get longer, except they don't really, there are the same number of hours in the day only difference is it is an hour lighter at night and we get up an hour earlier in the morning so that makes the days seem longer, if you get my jist.

Shep had sheep to feed before heading elsewhere for the day, a sharp start was required to get on and move on so to speak. Sheep are accustomed to being fed at a set time and suddenly Shep turns up an hour earlier and on a misty morning........

It has to be said it was a beautiful morning, one which didn't see a soul astir anywhere, probably due to it being a Sunday morning with many adjusting their body clocks at their leisure, we don't all have that opportunity however.

This pheasant was awake if not somewhat dozy, trying to catch the weak sunshine which was valiantly attempting to burn off the morning mist.

The spider was no where to be seen, having a lie in, saving it's energy for whatever unsuspecting fly which might buzz it's way into the web once the day warmed up.

Sheep were taken by surprise, as was I, due to the fact I was struggling to see them. An hour earlier than they would normally expect to be fed they hadn't quite got themselves roused ready for breakfast and with visibility poor it was difficult to track them all down, 'twas just as well I knew how many sheep were in each group, a quick head count enabled me to drive further into the gloom looking for the few which were napping.

Sheep were eventually fed, taking longer than usual due to the visibility and early hour of the morning, then onwards Shep went to spend a day dosing sheep further down the valley. British Summer Time it indeed was, as mist burnt off the sun blazed down on us - this is the 25th March and the thermometer at Sheps back door recorded 23 degrees celsius!!! Can you believe that???

Young Kale wasn't too impressed to find himself locked in a livestock trailer, Moss was in there with him too but Kale thought he was missing out on something exciting and seemed to spend a great deal of time with his head stuck out of one of the ventilation slits, I would guess he had actually considered escaping from his captivity by this route and found his body was bigger than his head. The car was far too hot to leave the pair of them in and with bitches on heat on the farm it was far easier to have them barred up somewhere until they were needed or had cause to be released.

The buzz of bumble bees and singing of birds were drowned out by the roar of motorbikes, one of Tarset's downsides. We have roads which it would seem every motorcyclist in the North wishes to drive, once the weather picks up they are like midges, swarming upon us and shattering the peace of the countryside. Today was no exception. Fortunately for once the wail of sirens were not an accompaniment, there will be many sirens though over the summer months as blue flashing lights pick up the pieces of those unable to negotiate the roads - today we were fortunate.

Due to the farm Shep was working on being right on a busy motorbike highway it was necessary to fetch sheep under the road and into the pens,

they are able to walk along the edge of the Tarset burn below a bridge to reach the pens in safety. I was told today that the burn always has a dapply reflection on the underside of the bridge when the weather is really bright, I couldn't help but look up

Indeed the water was reflecting on the underside of the bridge.

 

The ewes managed to negotiate the busy road without too much bother, the burn was low and co operative.

Now one of these here swaledale ewes caused Shep some grief, I have no idea which one, I may write about the incident yet but I'll just say for now that I sustained a 'knock' in the pens, one which has had me pondering all afternoon as to how it happened and hoping that no one makes me laugh and definitely praying that I don't sneeze, cough or in fact perform any movement which may involve my ribs....

There was unexpected company in the sheep pens........

A new born lamb !

 

Then there were two!!!

She stopped at three - thank goodness!!

For all she found herself moved into a 'personal' pen I couldn't help but think that it must be like giving birth in the middle of a shopping precinct or such likes. Fortunate for her though that she hadn't been left back in the field as the first lamb came arse first (breech), with just a tail dangling out of the ewes backside. Lambs can be difficult to give birth to in this position and are apt to die due to drowning so both ewe and lamb were very lucky, especially as they aren't officially due to lamb until later in the week. Help was on hand and Shep lambed her first lamb of the season, the other two followed on at their leisure, with all three on the ground within ten minutes - not bad going! The ewe and her family then found themselves in a nice pen full of straw away from the hustle and bustle of the sheep pens.

As said, the days are getting longer, it was indeed a long day. To round it off a shot of the setting sun. Darkness didn't fall until 8pm. It is still incredible to believe we could be experiencing such weather so early in the year, enjoy it whilst it lasts is what I say!

Sheep scanning over for another year

Fog caused problems as the scanning season came to a close. There were other minor problems. Scanning on one farm had been rescheduled to accommodate a new shepherd starting his job which found Shep doing jobs arse first (wrong way round) to other years.

I had to leave the gathering out bye to gather and help at a scanning in the Rede. Under normal circumstances out bye would be gathered, scanned and sorted before Shep had to head into the Rede to do the same tasks over there. This year was different.

Moss was getting hot paws that week. I dread to think how many miles he would clock up on those four sturdy legs of his. Between the two farms there were just short of 3,000 sheep gathered forward over a total of about 10,000 acres - he was a happy if not somewhat tired fella.

We were fortunate in the Rede. Very fortunate. It was a hazy day, forever threatening to come in foggy but failing to do so and yet I was aware that it was foggy away out bye and the gathering still wasn't going as planned.

The farmer in the Rede had left all his gathering for the day prior to the scan man arriving - dodgy tactics, but ones which paid off. Luck is on your side sometimes!

Easier ground to cover than that we had been working on days previously and sheep were fit so ran in well, it was also a great help that we could see them - does help!

Two long days were put in, first day saw all sheep gathered forward and held in fields near at hand ready for the scanning man arriving on the second day. As the scan man pulled into the pens early on the second morning the sheep were also heading into the pens, it was a dry cool morning, skylarks were singing their hearts out, a pleasure to be out and about.

Swaledale sheep this time, many of them. All awaiting their turn to go through the scanning crate.

The view Moss had of the proceedings wasn't quite as grand as my view. Makes the sheep look big when you see them from the dogs angle.

Finally scanning was over, twins were shed off to remain in fields, to receive feed and lamb down near at hand, the above is a bunch of twin bearing ewes heading towards new pastures, they won't see their hill ground again until the early summer.

The final two scannings went well. Lamb numbers up on previous years, as in fact most of the scannings have been, the geld (barren)numbers probably aren't down a great deal but the twin numbers on the hill grounds are up, the grassy and mild autumn/early winter saw ewes in good fettle, let's hope that fettle continues into the lambing season.

Travelling home on dusk the sun caught my eye. It was bright red when I first noticed it but by the time I finally stopped to take a photo it was rapidly fading and disappeared just moments after I took this shot, hidden behind a foggy greyness.

LAMBS! Just days after the scanning season drew to a close I passed these lambs just a mile or two down the valley and had to screech to a halt for a shot of them - how the seasons vary!

F******* gather

Foggy gather. Final gather. If you were thinking it was any other eff ing gather you need to wash your minds out with mustard. Take it from me, it is an ideal way to ensure you'd never touch mustard again!

The view - if you could call it that. Every morning, without fail the view hardly varied.

I guess a different spot made the view seem slightly different, but initially it was all the same, visibility extremely poor, in fact visibility was crap, there wasn't a polite way of putting it really.

A week had been allowed to gather the sheep away out bye. 7,000 + acres to cover to find 1,500 sheep. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, an inconvenience maybe but not a problem, there is always tomorrow. However, the scan man was due in a weeks time and so a problem it was.

Every morning saw us climb out into the thickening gloom, like two intrepid explorers on quads, setting out to find what no man could see. Headlights on the bikes were of little use as neither of us could see each other until we almost collided. We went forth and made noise, whistled, sang, hollered (shouted)....... whatever the moment necessitated, it would be fair to say we persevered.

As we dropped further in apparitions began to appear before our very eyes. A marvelous sight!! Sheep know where they belong and they know the spot to gather up to, they also know when we can't see them..........

Fortunately, blocks had been put in place to encourage the sheep to run to a designated area, an area where years back the sheep were gathered together for tup time and have since always been gathered to the same spot. Which means that generations of sheep know where they're meant to gather up to, they know feed blocks will be available to them on the run up to lambing time at these particular spots on the hill. These blocks were put out to help hold them to the spot, specifically for this particular gather.

It was a great help with the conditions we were experiencing, giving us a sporting chance of tracking down the sheep when visibility was so poor.

Ironical that you couldn't see a bloody thing out on the tops then drop away in with sheep in front of you and it is as clear as a bell. A quick count to see if all are present. Then the inevitable - all aren't present! There were a variety of discrepancies, ranging from a couple short, to 30 odd short and one day apparently over a hundred short (the day Shep had to go elsewhere, can't be blamed for that one!)

Those present were taken further in and held in fields whilst bikes and riders turned around and headed out to look for more.

It seemed like a long week, much bouncing around on the hill, I'm sure my arse (backside) was tenderised like the finest steaks by the end of the gathering, it felt like every muscle, joint and bone in my body had been pulverised, far cheaper than paying for a deep muscle massage that's for sure, probably not quite such a pleasant result tho'! Ground was covered and re covered in an attempt to have all sheep present for the scan man.

Did we succeed? Well almost........ The final tally saw a handful missing, a handful unaccounted for, we ran out of time and luck but under the circumstances were also highly successful. Let's hope those missing few are fit and healthy and come in on the next gather.

I started the posting with Foggy gather.Final gather?

http://blog.tarset.co.uk/2011/11/springing-into-winter.html

This link takes us back to the gathering for tup time where I wrote the following:

I mentioned to the shepherd that this ought to be our last day out here, a day to hold strong in our memories, a perfect day. There are changes afoot on this particular farm, a parting of the ways. Neither of us knows if we'll ever be out here again to gather, let alone be in each others company doing so. This was the first day of many to gather sheep forward for tup time, wouldn't it have been perfect if it had been the last day of many.

At long last we had the final gather. 'Twas a shame we didn't quite go out on a high! Although there were high moments, and much leg pulling. There was probably also a sense of relief.

A relief that at last there was a shepherd on the farm, a farm which has been unoccupied for four months, four winter months at that. I think there ought to be a party!!! A leaving do?? A pre lambing bash - now there's an idea!