Remembering

It's hard to believe we are only just embarking on our 8th year here at The Larches. We've learned so much, forgotten so much. In my 50th year I have noticed that there is only so much storage capacity in my noggin. Sometimes, when I learn something new, something old falls out the back... I wish I was more like my phone; when that gets close to being filled with gorgeous pictures of the sproglets, alpaca, lamb or plant, I add a SD card and all is well.

Shrimp 2014

We've just sold our 2016 lambs at market. Raised solely on our natural grass paddocks and their mums' milk, we were commended on their health and size and were rewarded with a very good price. Possibly the top price for lambs at that market. #Chuffed. We seem to specialise in making small things bigger; lambs, alpaca, plants. Shrimp, born two years ago, is now indistinguishable from my other sheep and she will go to the tup this year and have lambs of her own next year. Similarly Cleopatra lamb is well on her way to catching up her peers, and yet, earlier this year, she was sharing a bean bag with the cats, her nappy on, in the sitting room!

Cleopatra 2015

I'm not as gullible as I used to be, more's the pity. When I first started to keep hens, I was surprised to find a tiny egg one morning and when I next saw a neighbour I showed him.
"Lord!" he said. "That's very rare." He looked at me dead on.
"That's a Rooster egg." he said. I looked from he to it and it to he. He had me for approx 6 seconds, but he had me.

We had a Rooster Egg this week again, though I suspect that one of my hens, who has been looking worse for wear, lacking feathers and generally not looking her best, is finally out of moult!

2p, Rooster Egg, Standard Egg.