A carpet of Primrose

You can see this patch of Primrose from quite a distance.   They are on the Point.  I had a blissful walk out there this morning. 

Lots of Dog Violet too.

And Celandine.

And Wood Anemone.

This is a really poor photograph, so you will have to take my word for it, that the white dots are Wood Anemone, the pale yellow dots are Primrose and the deeper yellow are Celandine.

Lambing update

It is never advisable to count your chickens before they hatch, certainly not with regards ewes and lambing, but I think I can compare this year's weather to last year's can't I?  Or perhaps I will court danger?  I decided to look at the weather forecast for the next week before I said anything, and apart from a windy night on Saturday night, the weather is looking fairly settled with occasional light rain and quite a few sun symbols, so I think I am safe to say ... the weather so far this 'lambing' has been a lot better than last year.  Last year we were desperately worried about the lack of grass because the weather had been so cold and dry.   The fields this year are a lot greener, and so far we have not had the 'lambing snow'.

It has been really lovely to see the trees beginning to glow fresh green, especially in the late afternoon/early evening sun.  The community woodland at Dervaig is checking its larch stands to see if they have got a disease called Phytophthora ramorum that is attacking larch trees. Just knowing they are concerned about the Langamull trees and that they are only 4 miles from here, has made me really look at ours.  Suddenly I am seeing larches all over the place!  Thankfully they all look quite healthy. 

This Zwartie hasn't had a lamb yet, but looks as if it won't be long until she does.

Cheviot ewe with a set of twins in Scoma.

The view from Scoma back to the farm.

Checking the ewes where the quad bike cannot take you.

The turf dykes of the Black Park catching the sun, with Rum in the distance.

Some ewes are fiercely defensive, and this one gets the prize.  She circled me in a menacing manner as I was trying to photograph her twin lambs before she took them off to a safer distance.

The 2 Luing heifers we bought from a friend on the mainland are now outside in the field by the house.  On the first of May (Beltane) we put the bull out with the cows, and they will go to the bull for the first time.  

Easter weekend

I cannot remember a more beautiful Easter weekend.  Wall to wall sunshine, wild flowers, fantastic dark and starry skies.  I dont have time to write today so here are some photographs, from the packed Good Friday ferries to last nights Aurora Borealis.  Farmer has been kept busy lambing and I will catch up on the real stuff here soon.