I have been trying to blog since the 12th, but internet has been very patchy. So patchy I cannot get it to upload photographs, so I am going to give up and publish post without any this time.
Written on 12th May: The weather has been mixed. We had thunder one day but we needed the rain. Plenty of wind for the wind turbine (just over 20,000 units now in 19 months). Plenty of bright light for the PV. Windy sunny days obviously very productive!
Great excitement: Prasad heard the corncrake yesterday. Not too far from Haunn. Farmer saw 2 Snow geese yesterday. When we first moved here in 1994 the snow geese came in every April to nest here. They diminished in number and finally about 10 years ago they stopped coming.
Lambing is nearly over. This afternoon, some walkers called in to report that they had seen a dead ewe near the Whisky Cave with bleating lambs near it. It is always appreciated when people come across something like this, that they tell us. It is difficult for a farmer to be in every corner of the farm all of the time at lambing time, so walkers' eyes are useful extra pairs of eyes at this time of year.
Farmer went off to bury the ewe and try and catch the lamb. It was quite clear when he got there that this ewe had not died from any illness but that she had fallen off the cliff. I won't go in to detail on the blog, but poor thing. The lambs had joined up with other ewes and lambs and he would have endangered them all if he had tried to catch them - high risk of mis-mothering at that time of day, and high risk of cliff-falls too. So not a good day in that aspect, but he will go back tomorrow and try again.
Charlie the pet lamb is still not a very good feeder. He is about to move into the Shelter so he can have access to fresh grass.
Farmhouse is busy with preparations for Farmer leaving on his annual walkabout. Have a look at the ForArgyll website for details. The Contractor came over this afternoon to talk to him and see where the cows and in bye sheep are, and to get last minute instructions. We are very lucky to have folk relatively close by who can come and look after everything and it is much appreciated.
I will write again soon.