May hasn’t given me much to say. Little lambs are getting bigger, piglets, calves, chicks are getting fatter.
Fat tummies!
The grass is longer and greener. Everything that can breed has bred, apart from Doris the Pygmy goat who is going for max coverage by cleverly kidding in July, a couple of days after the wedding. Prizes for guessing if it’s 1, 2 or 3 kids??
The sky is blue, and the blossom is out.
My favourite colour this year has to be this very delicate pansy.
I feel everything is just breathing a sigh of relief after the hard winter and spring, and the cycles are getting back to normal.
The highlands are popular with everyone, but especially with the birds who get very close to grab a beak full of hair.
And it’s no good hiding when you haven’t thought it through!
This lamb peeping over the hill either has a very long neck or is standing guard while the friend is feeding.
Harry had an early clip in preparation for Open Farm Sunday on June 10th and can now fit into the traces of his cart.
The pile of wool is impressive.
Also, Rolo has lost his winter coat and is ready to give pony rides and be brushed for a whole day.
The remarkable Duchess had 11 very healthy piglets, so we will be knee deep in piglets on the 10th; they will be at that delicious age of untying shoelaces and enjoying a scratch.
The third yurt has gone up. Like mushrooms they appear silently, apparently overnight. It is easy to forget the effort involved but with practice the manoeuvre seems to take less and less time.
Hazel is now complete and ready for the its first customers this weekend.
The leading authority on Yurts, Paul King, drove the yurt up from Bristol. Having made the yurts himself he was interested to see the yurt wood and the finished products. Interestingly, he explained on a sunny day the Mongolians always knew the time of day due to the sun shining through the roof throwing a light on the floor - not sure you could time your eggs by it but we will think of a way to mark off the hours on the floor. I expect Mongolia sees a little more sunshine then Wensleydale. However, as we are setting our sights on Southern Europe for a week, I gather we are leaving a forecast of wall to wall sunshine in Wensleydale for a cold wind and cloud. Bother!
Hopefully I will come back rested for the final preparations for the big day of the wedding, with some energy left over to enjoy my favourite event of the year at Berry’s which is Music in the Courtyard on the 24th August. We are selling some flashy tickets at £25 a head and we will be dressing to impress and enjoying Gavin’s cooking by candle light and then listening to the concert with music to suit all tastes. We will have to warn the yurt goers to buy their tickets in advance and pack a frock.
On that note, I’m off to pack my frock. Never know I might get taken out to dinner!
