Watery Mouth

“There’s aye something” is what the shepherd said that night when we were looking at a pair of lambs falling to watery mouth.

So what is watery mouth?

Basically constipation with a splash of E. Coli for good measure, but there are many factors and from my experiences lambing in sheds seems to produce more cases than sheep which lamb outdoors.

As already explained there are many important issues necessary to the lamb having a good start in life. It needs to be born alive, it needs to get footed (stand up) quite quickly, get its first feed of ewes milk known as colostrum and also get its plumbing on working. From being born to having a full belly of milk will be no more than half an hour on average. It will then settle and sleep. Waking invigorated, ready to suck again and ready to pass muck.

The lambs in question which we were studying had been slow lambs, slow to foot and needed human intervention to get their bellies filled although they did suck themselves once latched onto the tit. They were what I call dour (dozy), sack less creatures, born outside on a wet day they would have perished. Nature would have sorted them out.

So, back to watery mouth, also known as slavvers or rattle belly. Slavvers coming from the salivation, or mucus, that forms around the mouth in the latter stages of the illness and hence the name watery mouth. Rattle belly comes from the fact that if you shake the lamb its belly will rattle/splash/gurgle.

The lambs can appear quiet in the early stages of the illness, however, full lambs will also appear quiet as they sleep off their full tummies. Lambs going down with watery mouth appear to be full due to the fact they are constipated. It may appear that it would be a difficult call as to whether or not you have a perfectly healthy lamb or an ill lamb in front of you; it pays to know the lamb’s history. Anything which like these two had been slow to do all the normal things a lamb ought to do, or may not have had enough colostrum in their tummies are susceptible to going down with watery mouth.

There is another way of finding out whether your lamb is healthy or otherwise, that being to waken it up and stand it on its feet. I usually do this by lifting the lamb to its feet by picking it up by the skin in the middle of its back, sounds cruel I guess but it is loose skin and it also gives you another pointer to go by. A lamb that is roused from sleep and lifted to its feet ought to stretch, just as we do when we waken. This is a good sign. The loose skin which you’ve picked it up by ought to fall back into place, should it not then this is a sure sign of dehydration. Therefore, if the lamb you have just lifted to its feet stands lethargic looking with the skin raised on its back then sure enough there’s a problem.

So what can you do? An enema is the obvious solution. With a syringe, liquid paraffin (I often use warm soapy water) can be released into the back passage of the lamb in the hope it will encourage it to pass the faeces. (I’m being terribly polite here as we just call it shit). It is also necessary to get fluid into the lamb, even if this just being a small amount of rehydration fluids, what we call a scour formula. However in the latter stages the stomach will be seriously distended and septicaemia will be setting in, by this stage success in reversal of the illness is highly unlikely.

The lambing sheds I’ve worked in in the past have given the lambs a squirt of an oral anti bacterial medicine as soon as they are lambed, blanket treating every lamb as soon as it is born in the hope of preventing both scour and watery mouth. I also used to carry a 10ml syringe in my pocket at all times. I am talking now of sheds which would have 1,500 to 2,000 ewes going through them, sheds which would see many sets of triplets born, many lambs susceptible to falling foul of watery mouth. The 10ml syringe? Well, whilst doing my rounds of the individual pens, checking all was well or otherwise, any lamb that I felt was showing the first signs of watery mouth I would give it a gentle squirt of water up its anus and hopefully get it to pass the meconium (foetal muck), therefore hopefully getting it’s bowels on working properly, 9 times out of 10 this did the trick.

Most important of all the lamb must receive colostrum, the antibody rich milk the ewe produces when she first lambs, there are powdered substitutes available should the ewe not have sufficient of her own. This will save many lambs from going down with watery mouth but not quite all of them.

The farm I am lambing on at the moment carries the organic status. With organic farming it is not acceptable to blanket treat animals as a preventative measure (unless there is a confirmed problem within the flock). Any problems have to be referred to a vet, even when the shepherd is well aware of what the problem is it is still necessary to have a vet confirm the problem and authorise treatment. This can take days and with a problem such as watery mouth the lambs will be dead.

Now Shep ought to have more sense than to admit to misdemeanours over the world wide web, especially as I am becoming increasingly aware that my attempt at anonymity is not working, however I am going to admit to breaking the rules.

I have to admit to the fact that I anticipated there may be one or two problems with watery mouth, the way the weather has been and one thing and another you would expect to find odd lambs getting a poorer start in life and so I arrived at this lambing with my own bottle of the oral medicine for these lambs.

I have however abided by the rules. The two lambs in question died and the shepherd admitted to losing a couple of others before I played my ace card. I was straight and up front and offered the bottle for the cause, it was gratefully received. We are not blanket treating these lambs. The bottle I bought is only sufficient to treat 100 lambs, to date only a handful have received it, those we deem susceptible, at risk to falling foul of watery mouth are getting a squirt. It is early days and there weren’t many affected before treatment commenced but to date there has been nothing else gone down with watery mouth, let’s hope it continues along the same vein.

Glen, the sheepdog - an introduction

 

Glen - a sheepdog, collie dog for that matter, probably even a border collie. He has no papers and no pedigree - a farm bred border collie, born in September 2000, bought by Shep as an 8 week old pup and been here ever since.

He is a dog dog, entire and full blooded but has never sired a litter, the few bitches he has lined by mistake have been given the morning after injection and of the two bitches he lined on purpose, one didn't breed and the other died. - It's a dog's life!

How did he get his name? Well as a little kid I spent a lot of my holidays on my Uncle's farm and he had a dog called Glen.I've had a few dogs over the years, all barr two from being pups, but never had one I thought suited being named after my Uncle's dog, until this fella came along.

When I went to look at the litter there were nine pups, some hid in corners, some came and climbed all over me, this one sat in the middle of the rabble, like a real old fashioned character and just looked. He wasn't shy or over excited just looked like he'd been here before. I chose him.

When the better half and myself collected the pup he sat on my knee in the passenger seat on the way home. Pups usually dribble and get sicky when in a car, not him, he sat there and watched the world go by with great interest. On arriving home he took to his life as though there were nothing untoward. Eventually I had found a Glen, like the dog I so loved in my childhood; the quiet, unassuming, faithful sheepdog my Uncle had had. And so Glen was christened.

He really is an old fashioned character, quiet, unassuming, well mannered,steady and a good worker, a genuine dog with not an ounce of bad in him. You should never trust a dog but this one I would trust 99.99%, he was even borrowed by the children from the farm I live on to be taken to school on pets day coz they thought he was nicer than their dog!! He did however relieve his bladder on the teachers leg........

Totally without fault? No, not at all, that would be asking far too much! He has an insatiable appetite for anything. He can find a dead 'something' from miles away, loves fox and badger shit which he can scent from hundreds of yards, will eat sheep feed, hen corn, sheep muck, foot parings......... anything which is left lying and he deems is there for his taking, except tomatoes!! Having said that though he will not thieve, shopping can be in the car and he wont touch it, food can be on the kitchen bench and he'll leave it, he does have some manners.

A dog that has had a chequered life, which I will fill you in on shortly. Watch this space.....

Lambs first hours

“There’s aye something” the shepherd says to me as we stand pondering a couple of lambs, now 48 hours old and dropping with watery mouth.

These lambs had been a dour(quiet) pair to say the least. They had lambed on me the previous night to an extremely kind ewe, had been slow to foot (stand up) and even slower to suck (suckle) with Shep intervening and putting them on to the ewe twice during that night and the following night. This entailed sitting the sheep onto her backside and laying the lambs down, then getting the tit (teat) into their mouths and encouraging them to suck. In all fairness the ewe’s tits were a bit low hung but to many other lambs this would have been no problem. These two were just dozy, quiet, sappy individuals whom you couldn’t help but think had no will to live. They may well have been slightly premature, or they may have been born with a defect which wasn’t obvious to the eye, either way they were going to get their wish, death was heading their way.

There are a number of factors important to a lamb’s survival and well being in the first few hours of its life.

Firstly, that it is born. Mal presentations can cause death. The lamb is supposed to be presented in the ‘diving’ position. Two front feet and a head, coming together. If you imagine your arms outstretched you’ll realise that it narrows your shoulders, this is the required position for a lamb to be born successfully, narrowing its body sufficiently to enable it to pass through the birth canal.

Secondly that the ewe stands up and commences to lick the lamb. Lambs are born in a sheet filled with amniotic fluids. A bit like a bubble or balloon I guess. Often this sheet will break as the lamb is being born, occasionally it doesn’t and the ewe standing and turning around ensures it does break, releases the fluids and allows the lamb to breath. Once born the umbilical cord naturally breaks, once the cord is broken the lamb needs to breathe for itself. If it is what we call ‘in the sheet’ it has a strong chance of suffocation or drowning, this doesn’t take long, there’s been many a time over the years I have run to release a lamb out of the sheet and as many times one has died in the sheet.

By licking the lamb the ewe is not only drying and cleaning it up but she is also setting the lambs circulation away; she is almost massaging the lamb with her tongue; she mutters away lovingly at the same time making that first vocal connection with her new born. The lamb responds by beginning to move as life fills its little body. Its head is the first to be raised and an important sign to look out for. A ‘slow’ lamb will not rush to raise its head, ideally the head should be up within no time, if not there may well be a problem.

Quite literally within a number of minutes the lamb will be thinking of getting footed (standing), a kin to watching someone drunk trying to master their legs. The lamb will wobble and struggle on until finally it succeeds and stands up, this will warm the body and also get the circulation pumping.

Once up on its feet the lamb has a built in instinct to seek out food – milk. Lambs do not graze for a number of days, they are totally dependent on milk to begin with until their stomachs alter and allow them to accept solids.

This is the third important factor towards the survival of the lamb. Colostrum. The name given to the first milk it receives from the ewe. The colostrum is a rich milk, full of natural antibodies which gives the lamb a good start in life. By sucking the lambs digestion kicks in, it’s circulation is already up and running, now it is necessary to get the stomach working well too. As this first milk enters the lambs body you find the lamb begins to shiver. A full lamb will often be seen lying quiet and ‘shivering’ away. I take this as a sign that the milk is working, not only is it warming and feeding the lamb but it is also setting the cogs in motion to get the plumbing sorted.

Because the fourth factor to a lambs survival is that its bowels and waterworks work. A lamb is born with faeces inside of it; this ‘first muck’ has a name which at the moment I can’t recall. It is black in colour and needs to be passed; a lamb which does not pass this muck is susceptible to watery mouth. From then on the colour of the muck takes on a milky look. As in a milky look I mean yellowness. Depending on how much milk and how rich depends on the colour but those who really are getting a belly full will pass muck that is bright yellow, of a claggy consistency and smells like cream cheese ( which in actual fact will be all it really is).

When the lamb heads in for its first suck the ewe will be seen to lick the lambs tail and bottom. Not only is she being motherly and still licking her lamb clean, she is also encouraging it to make its bowels work. This nuzzling on at the lambs backside is yet another vital factor to all things kicking in and getting the young lambs system up and running.

The majority of the time these four factors happen quite naturally. Occasionally they don’t, a lamb doesn’t foot, doesn’t get sucked and doesn’t pass muck. This is where the shepherd comes in to try and sort these problems, keep the lamb alive and prevent it from going down with something such as watery mouth. Which takes us back to the beginning and the shepherd saying “Aye, there’s always something!”

Morning Has Broken

Let me fill you in on the scenario. It is 6am and the new day has dawned. I’ve just completed my third night shift.

I have a cottage to bide in for the six week duration of my stay on this farm. It is basic but warm. An oil fired rayburn is an absolute god send for cooking, drying and warming. In the sitting room there is a bed and couple of chairs and an open fire, outside there is a dumpy bag full of logs and some coal.

The shepherd here tells me I fetch too much stuff...... Has anyone ever moved from home for a month and had to live in basic accommodation and cater for oneself? There are two pans, one casserole dish, 1mug, 4 plates and that is it other than a washing machine and fridge/freezer.

At the moment I am heading home every day and returning with things I need. Last night I turned up with brush, shovel and poker for the fire, 2 more mugs, dishcloth and ‘phone charger. Tonight it will be kindling sticks (to light the fire), a pen and some paper and anything else I can think of.

Night before last it was the faithful radio, there is no television or for that matter aerial in this property, the radio is a necessity. Now in the summer the aerial of this radio broke and I now rely on a coat hanger for reception. Where the radio worked last year in this cottage it quite flatly refused to pick up reception this year. I moved it and spent what felt like hours twiddling the knob, I was picking up clear reception on a number of channels but once the music playing stopped the DJ’s began talking in foreign languages – not a lot of use to someone who even struggles to understand broad scotch!

Here I am, 36 hours on and I’ve mastered the beast, it is sitting on the little table in the kitchen and Radio Two is coming out of it as clear as a bell, at last I have company and contact with the outside world.

I switched it on this morning whilst the kettle boiled and was taken aback to hear Cat Steven’s rendition of ‘Morning Has Broken’. What a grand way to start the day. One of the few hymns that I really, really like. I’m sure it’s due to the fact it’s one of the few I can remember from my schooldays. It is so significant but even more so at the present moment.

Every morning dawns a new day, the old day goes into the past and the new day is to be lived, new challenges, new surprises – everything is new.

I poddle (wander) around during the night, no flashlight, just my eyes getting accustomed to dark and light. I can’t see the weather. I am aware if it is wet, cold, snowing, windy but I can’t see it. A frosty night stands out bright and starry, the dark nights are just dark nights, I have no idea what the clouds look like or anything, only spotting occasional wildlife through the half light of the shed. A cat, mouse and barn owl were spotted last night.

Eventually morning dawns, this morning is overcast and gloomy – I can see it! ‘Morning has broken, like the first morning’ Mother Nature and luck has allowed me to see yet another morning in all it’s glory. ‘Blackbird has spoken , like the first bird’ – the morning chorus sets up just prior to day break, the birds tweeting and twittering away as though it is their first morning, they are as excited to see it as I am and eventually as the morning dawns I am also allowed the pleasure of seeing them.

Early morning is such a magical time, whatever the weather conditions, it is a marvel that it has come around again. A fresh day ahead, something new to look forward to. And off to a good footing this morning thanks to Cat Steven’s rendition of ‘Morning has broken’. It’s Easter Sunday apparently by the radio, to me the days are all the same, I need a diary or calendar to remember where in the week I am, at least I don’t have to remember where I have to be!

In like a lion – out like a lamb.

That’s what the saying is for the month of March. If it comes in like a lion it will go out like a lamb. This year it worked in reverse. March most definitely came in like a lamb. Snowfall at the end of February ceased and March saw still, frosty days.

The frosty days continued through into the middle of the month and probably beyond. Good weather to work in and dry underfoot, it made life quite pleasant. There was a drawback however, seems like everything comes at a price. No Grass.

The cold weather was again preventing any grass from growing. Tarset was barren, fields were brown and bare. Not just Tarset but further beyond as well. A farmer headed over west on Mothering Sunday to find there was no greenness over their either. We weren’t the only ones suffering at the hands of the long winter.

Eventually life looked up slightly. It would be over enthusiastic to say the grass grew but the ground did freshen up. A few wet days basically washed the ground and gave the grass that green hue it is meant to have. Exciting times, optimism was growing that the nearing lambing season may well be saved by grass finally growing.

Unfortunately the weather worsened. March had come in like a lamb and believe you me it went out like a lion – teeth barred the lot, she was mean as she took us into April.

Cold winds from the North and East swept the countryside and brought with it the weather so accustomed from that art – cold weather, wintry weather.

The 31st March was lamb killing weather. Those due to lamb at the beginning of April were having lambs arriving and the weather was trying very hard to take them away again. Driving rain, sleet and snow with a perishing cold wind was what we had to endure. Shep wasn’t happy, cold and wet, barely able to lift my face to the weather but my problems were nothing compared to the stock who were desperately trying to seek shelter from the driving, persistent cold.

The 1st April dawned white in Tarset, this was no April Fool, this was for real. The shepherd out bye would be worst affected in the area, his rough hill ground appeared to be lily white, a sure sign of depth of snow. A surreal morning, one could have been forgiven for thinking you were in the depths of the winter months, except – the skylarks and curlews were calling, our spring ground nesting birds were going about their business most probably wondering why on earth they had bothered to come back and visit.

I headed off lambing that night in the knowledge that 6 inches of snow had fallen where I was going, the electricity had been off for 36hours, trees had been brought down with the weight of wet, heavy snow. Needless to say a shovel and bag of salt travelled with me over the border and into Scotland.

Here we are, nearing the end of the first week of April and life is cold. Grass is none existent. Sheep are hungry. Lambs are being born onto wet, cold ground. These aren’t the hardy hill lambs which are being born at the moment but the softer, barer skinned in-bye type lambs; lambs less capable of coping with inclement weather, weather which is hitting both in-bye and out-bye places.

Ewes are feeding their lambs but as the lambs grow they want more milk, there’s no grass for the ewes, no natural way of boosting their fitness and milk production. Supplementary feeding is being shoved into these sheep but still lambs are beginning to lose their ‘bloom’, the signs are there that milk supplies are not lifting as they ought. Ewes are still grateful to receive hay as well as the hard feed, although many are now getting painfully short on the hay and silage front, the long winter having taken its toll on the reserves which were harvested last summer.

There ought to be grass, sheep ought to be going off the idea of eating hay preferring the sweetness of the new growth which ought to be showing in their fields, that’s how it all works. This year it isn’t working at all. All it is doing is causing a great deal of hard work and heartbreak.

Tales are already filtering back of great losses of lambs in the stormy weather from a few days back. Anything which did not have a full tummy would succumb but seemingly even those lambs carrying a bit age also dropped. Heart breaking.

Tarset is lucky in one respect that the early lambings are only just beginning, maybe the weather will pick up next week? The ground is so cold and wet now that a dry warm spell is desperately needed. A warm spell would suffice if necessary although the idea of dry too would be gratefully received.

Hill sheep are weakening as their burden is getting heavier, some are being lost to drains (open ditches) which are full of flood water from the wet and snow; the heavily pregnant ewes are struggling to navigate these obstacles. Twin lamb disease is still a problem and not one easily resolved. Life at the moment for the sheep is shite – no polite way of putting it I’m afraid. That’s life. Not always rosy and often a challenge.

Lambing time

 

Shep’s away night lambing. 1st April was the date and off I headed over the Scottish Borders to lamb Cheviot sheep in a shed. Cheviot sheep in lamb to a Suffolk tup.

These sheep get out during the day and are usually only housed on darkening. However the inclement weather of late and the fact this area had suffered a good 6 inches of snow meant the ewes had been held in the shed for a number of days.

I don’t rightly like lambing in a shed but it’s the season and work is needed. I am also tiring of lambing at nights, although my choice of nights has a sound reason. I find there are too many distractions during the day time, people coming and going and on the odd occasion too many chiefs.
At night you’re on your own and can concentrate on the job in hand.

I wasn’t exactly rushed off my feet on my first night shift, but then as I am lambing a very small flock I never will be. The days of lambing 2,000 ewes seem distant, in those days it was usual to have 70 – 100 ewes lamb at night (there were two of us!) I had the grand total of 7 on my first night! Hence the chance to get these photos.

 

The ewe is very close to giving birth and looking for a comfortable spot to lie down.

 

 

She puts a bit of effort into the job and out pops the lamb. It has caught the attention of another ewe - a thief!

 

Helpful for getting the lamb licked clean but the thieving ewe finds herself penned up out of the way as the lambing ewe has another lamb to arrive yet.

 

 

This scenario is where the thieving ewe would have caused a lot of bother, coaxing the lamb away from it's mother whilst she was giving birth to the second lamb. Fortunately the offender is in a pen out of the way of temptation.

 

Job done, the ewe is left to bond for a while with her new born before they are moved into an individual pen. Lambed outside this wouldn't be necessary, they wouldn't have to be penned up as they would have more room away from other sheep to settle down and lamb. There is the exception though....pinching ewes seem to be able to hone in on lambing ewes from a great distance!!

And so, one of the seven I had lambed on me. It was a bitterly cold night, hard frost. The ewes lambed throughout the night at a steady pace (as 7 would!) Thief's were on the go, ewes yet to lamb who think it would be a lot easier to pinch someone else’s lamb than have one themselves. These are highly frustrating sheep and can cause a great deal of trouble, if they succeed in pinching a lamb often the true mother wont have it back, she no longer recognises it as hers – not a favourable scenario. You need to keep your wits about you when these thieving sheep are on the go.

Morning dawned and I had a chance to regain my sanity by going to the hill to feed the ewes I will be lambing in a fortnight. I waited until the sun got up a bit as the temperature was decidedly chilly, a very hard frost and snow lying all around. It rounds my shift off nicely to go out and see the hill ewes, feed them and check all’s well. I’ll be at my happiest when they come on to lamb and the shed lambing is over.

Tools of the Trade

There are a number of items that a shepherd just could not do without. They are very much like your right hand. The stick being one of them. Often referred to as the shepherd's crook but around these parts known quite simply as the stick, or mebbes lambing stick.

In the days before quads, herding (shepherding) was done either on foot or pony. The stick was invaluable for getting a decent footing when covering rough ground, it helps balance you, gives you something to lean on when climbing uphill and something to steady yourself when coming down hill. I find it awkward and uncomfortable to walk on hill ground without a stick, it is such a help and you soon find you're accustomed to using one. Even when on the pony the stick would be carried as it is actually used for catching sheep, stuck in the ground it is ideal to tether the pony to should that be necessary.

The above is my old faithful, made from a hazel shank and a ewes horn, it is invaluable at lambing time for catching both ewes and lambs, the curved ewes horn head has enough width to enable it to wrap around a ewes neck for you to be able to catch a hold of her out in the open.

My stick is as light as a feather, comfortable in the hand and cut to a length that suits me, which is just above waist height. I have had the stick for so many years I can't rightly remember and only last year a shepherd who does stick dressing told me it looked worn and shabby and offered to sort it up, my reply was "don't mend something that isn't broken"

There are many types of stick available but I prefer the old fashioned, hand made job. Metal sticks are cold and often heavy, the ones made all of wood will straighten when they get wet, there are now fibre glass sticks which if I had to revert to using a manufactured stick this is what I would opt to use.

 

Above are the three things a shepherd ought always to carry in their pocket. Pocket knife, string (baler twine) and whistle, three things I couldn't do without. All are invaluable to every day life.

The knife: cuts strings on bales of hay. Will cut through wool as occasionally sheep can be tangled by their wool in either branches of trees or wire, hand shears aren't on hand but the good ol' knife will cut through the wool and release the beast. Paring feet, if foot shears aren't on hand the knife doubles up nicely for paring the loose or long hoof off the foot, also doubles up on my finger nails occasionally. Skinning lambs at lambing time - to use the skin off a dead lamb and place it on a live lamb enabling an adoption to take place. There will be many more uses, I take it so much for granted that I have a pocket knife and can use it for what ever is required that I don't really know what all these requisites are!

String: Baler twine from a small bale of hay or straw. Always have some in your pocket. Can tie a gate if the chain has broken. Repair a fence in a hurry. Tie a sheep up to prevent it from running away. A dead lamb can be towed along with a long length of string and the kindly ewe will follow until you can get her to a pen out on the hill. Useful dog leads or dog tethers. Will hold your trousers up. Again invaluable and a must have.

Whistle: Dog whistle with string attached to be worn around the neck, this keeps it safe, you can't swallow it and also when you spit it out of your mouth it doesn't fall to the ground and get lost. I holler (shout) at the dogs quite a bit and whistle with my lips even more but the strength of the whistle from this little gadget is amazing and the dogs can pick the sound up from a great distance, it saves you from being hoarse from shouting and the strength of my own whistling is not good enough to travel long distances ( I never learnt to whistle with my fingers). My dogs work best to the whistle and a quiet voice, all the hollering really does is give me a chance to vent my frustrations and occasionally back up the whistle when the dogs think they know best.

All of these are invaluable to a shepherd. There are two others which can't be bought, given or acquired, two which most are born with. Two senses - sight and sound. Your eyes and ears are a priceless commodity, the power of observation is absolutely vital to the job.

 

Last but not least - the most important tool of the trade for the shepherd - a dog.

 

Or in my case two dogs. Glen and Moss.

Hill shepherds can have many dogs, young dogs coming on and learning the ropes, older steadier dogs that know the job. If there is a lot of ground on the farm to cover, or if it is hard ground, there will be more dogs on the farm as it is unfair to work them into the ground, it is necessary to have a change of dogs on big days and busy times of the year.

My dogs are the most important tool I have. Without them my job would not be possible. They don't always get much mention on this blog but believe you me I would be well and truly lost without a useful sheep dog and quite a lot of the work I do as a contract shepherd is due to the fact that I have two working dogs, wide running hill dogs which are dependable (majority of the time) and basically help me to earn my living. Even the better half has come to accept that he plays second fiddle to the dogs, they are top of the list and are as dependable of me as I am of them.

Glen is the older dog, he's had a rough winter, being off form, but appears to have 'cheered' up at long last. Moss is the younger of the two and in many ways now 'top' dog (he'd definitely like to think he is!).

Two totally different entities, both with their strengths and weaknesses, neither of them perfect but perfect enough for me and those I work for. Not so much a tool, more a part of me, might right and left arms. Someday I'll introduce you to them.