It was a cold clear morning. Skye and I were at Tregurnog by 7. There was some frost on the grass but the sun was coming up. We walked around and checked the rams. I was so glad I had my gloves! Every gate is metal so FREEZING! I was so early that there was only one egg. Those hens do not like to lay early. We then came back and missed all the traffic heading to Cardiff. I had my breakfast before going to the hygienist.
From there I went to visit my granddog. She was her usual crazy self, doing laps of the garden. While I was watching her I ordered some tape for the tractor from Screwfix. It was either that or watch her all the time and get dizzy. When I drove to Jordan’s, they were setting mobile traffic lights up on the Common. I mean really? One of the diversion routes to Beddau? Unbelievable. I went to Garth Hall via the lanes through Castellau. And guess what? More lights. FFS mun! Luckily there was no one else about so the lights were green. I got to Garth Hall and let myself in. I collected a new bag of Alpaca mix and opened the paddock gate. Petra and Penny were eyeing me up. I knew the little buggers were thinking of running in to the nice lush grass in there. I got back to the truck as they darted in. They refused to come back out. I decided to try again later. Off I went to the alpacas.
I opened the bag and tipped the contents into the squirrel proof metal bin. I transferred some to a bucket and fed the boys and little boys. Then I went into the girls field. The sheep moved away and the girls came down towards me. I tipped their food into the troughs in the blue shelter pen area. I got the stragglers in and shut the gate. I left them in their while I went off looking for green bums. None at the moment, unfortunately. The vicinity of the rams will make the ewes come into season in 17 days. I was just hoping some would have been ready anyway as as its the right time of year. It can’t be rushed. It will happen when it happens. Ernie Hutch is limping a bit again so he might need more antibiotic. I let Neil know so we could check him later. Then I let the girls back out and fed the ones in the small field. Hennessey went for food today, which was why she was in there. All done at the bottom so off up top again.
I parked by the pen and went to the barn to feed the two rams. The ram lambs were dotted about the wellfield, looking well. It was such a nice day, Elsie didn’t come down for food. Back in the paddock, Petra and Penny were hiding. I found them behind the Chestnut tree but left them to it for now. I left Garth Hall and went through Smilog and then to Screwfix for a replacement hose for the tractor. It was a productive morning.
I left for Garth Hall again at about 2.45. I wanted to avoid the school run. The roads are so busy then. I decided to finish emptying the poover so it can go away for the Winter. Petra and Penny were by the paddock gate so I managed to ‘encourage’ them back out. Then I went off to work on the poover. I filled one bag and although there was a bit of poo left, the rest was mainly dead grass. It had been difficult poo picking in the heat. Not just because it was hot – I picked early morning or in the evening to combat the heat. The problem was, there was so much dead grass. That gets sucked up into the poover as well which spoils the poo. There was so much dead grass left I decided I would need to spread it like fertiliser. The last time we did a test patch, we did it at the top of the slope. I decided to go back up and spread this lot because Neil was going to be a big late.
All that was fine in theory but I needed the quadling. It hadn’t been started in over a month. Kick-starting it took ages. So long in fact that I almost lost the use of my leg. I kept having to rest. If I’d thought of it sooner I would have put my fitbit on my ankle! Finally it came to life and promptly died. I persevered and got it going. Off I went, with the pink scraper in my hand as well. By the time I got to the top of the slope, I was accompanied by quite a plume of smoky fumes. At that exact moment, Neil pulled up. “What on earth are you doing?” I explained. He rolled his eyes, asked for the tape for the tractor and drove off, leaving me to it. I spread the poo/grass mix around and set about the return journey. Never easy. Although it’s only small, the quadling would benefit from some working brakes. It doesn’t have a parking brake (well not one that holds) and only one of the handlebar brakes works so it was a precarious journey down. I made it and parked it up. It will be put away properly tomorrow.
I could see the bonnet was off the tractor and every so often I could see Neil’s green Garth Hall hoodie sticking out from it so I made the assumption he was still fixing that. I went to see if I could do anything (not really expecting him to say he needed my help) He said he had taped up the pipe but that didn’t help so it would need to be a replacement pipe. Bit of a bugger that. I left him to it and went to check on the rams and ewes. Still no green bums but I had done some research earlier. The presence of the rams will bring the ewes into cycle. Its just a matter of time. As I walked through the field, I was eyeing up the alpacas. When Colin was there on Saturday, he took one look at Ffion and said: ” She’s expecting!” So now I look at her to see what he saw. Josh lost the mating list but I know we mated all the maidens first. Kylie looks a bit bigger, her abdomen is lower. Cookie looks similar. I don’t think Mocha looks bigger though. Also, am I clutching at straws because they would only be about 3-4 months do would anything show? What I must do is sort out someone to scan them. And have another look for the list… While I was looking, I noticed that green G ewe, had a dirty bum. Neil rounded her up with the quad and we vectocerted her. It’s probably the nice grass but we don’t want to risk fly strike. It’s not to look good for Starsky or Hutch. Honestly, they wouldn’t care.
“Any idea how or why Molly was on the lane earlier?” ” What? No!” She really cannot be trusted anywhere but the wellfield. She’s a liability 😂 Neil had left her in the paddock when he brought her back. I knew how to get her in the wellfield. I opened Cai. No response. She was at the opposite end of the paddock. Still no response when I filled the bucket for the ram lambs. Neil was calling her and she was ignoring him. I knew exactly what would work. One shake of the bucket and her head shot up while she simultaneously started running in my direction. I walked to the gate, the sound of fast moving hooves thudding ever nearer. I only just beat her through it. She can be rapid, for food. I fed the rams then while Neil let Susie and Elsie into the barn. When I came back out, Susie stuck her head through the gate bars and just pushed. We had no idea if she thought she could push through or if she was scratching. Neil opened the gate for her, she walked part of the way through and started scratching on the gatepost. That answered that for us. Job done, time to go home. “I’m going to stay for a while, go down and reminisce about Ted”
Later on, Neil posted a video on the chat. He had taken Molly down. Starsky and Hutch were both interested in her but she was running away from them. Will she be the first sporting a green bum??? She can’t be difficult to outwit that’s for sure!
Helen x
