Extreme sheep feeding

Another week has nearly reached the weekend.   

We had an exciting start to the week with some fantastic gales, but no power cuts this time!  Forecast was for snow but we only had sharp and wild bursts of hail.  

The weather was dramatic and wild with lots of spinning for the turbines, and whilst we thought our waves were dramatic, they were nothing like some of the ones we have seen from Shetland and the Outer Isles.  We don't seem to have sustained any damage which is a big relief. I could have done without Farmer's comment when he came back from the feeding the first morning when the winds had died down, saying: "Rooves are still on down at Haunn"... (should I have been worrying about them?)

Farmer hurt his back again at the weekend, and had us quite worried for a while.  Luckily now, it seems to be better, but goes to show he will always need to be careful. 

  

I helped him with lifting bags of feed and the troughs for a couple of mornings (the wild and windy ones) until he recovered.  Jamie has been in to do the bedding up, which can be sore on  Farmer's back.   These 3 Zwarties frequently graze in behind this gate and forget how to get out again.

We had a meeting with the architect this week to talk more about the 'Bothy Eco-Camp' project.  It is all very exciting, as it feels like a very appropriate project for us, in terms of providing accommodation that will not cost the earth - financially or environmentally, and it will be sustainable in terms of energy use (wind and wood) and affordable (accommodation).   My only problem is that I hate the word 'glamping'!  It is going to be low impact but it is going to be alot more comfortable than camping. What to call it instead? Answers on a postcard please!   

Studio doesn't look very different from how it looked last week, but we are nearer being ready to clean up and furnish, which is exciting!  Duill bathroom is close to the finish, just a few more days and it will be ready.  The new windows for Toechtamhor are being delivered next week.

In the Cattle shed the logs are keeping dry. We still haven't resolved the issue of where to source the kindling and the logs from - as the log supplier has said he is stopping too.  Farmer went to look at the NWMCWC wood to see if he could access it with his tractor and loader, so that we could collect our own and process it ourselves.  We have a mountain of the green net bags as the last supplier we used didn't want to re-use them, despite our having collected hundreds for him! 

The 'heather eye' is clearing up slowly.  3 of the tups have recovered now, but one is still suffering.  They are still in isolation and will be until we are really sure that they have recovered.

The grey aracona chick born last autumn has suddenly started to crow!  Oops - not another layer after all.  His attempts to crow are hilarious, very croaky and strangled.   The hens are beginning to lay now and with the lovely sound of birdsong in the trees, the signs of spring coming are heartening. 

We have been seeing the Golden Eagles alot, over the house and Prasad got some lovely photographs on his blog.http://treshnishbirdlog.blogspot.co.uk 

One of the couriers followed an otter up the track the other day when he was delivering a thermal blind for Studio.   

I finally finished the website upgrade this week. There is a new Wildlife page and a News/Special Offers page.  Do have a look and if you notice any of the pages 'jumping' as you load them, please do email us and let me know!

I cannot remember if I mentioned that I have joined Blipfoto.  I am enjoying the discipline of taking the camera out every day and posting one photograph a day from that day.   It is now light when I do the school run to Calgary in the morning so dog walks with Coco will resume next week.  

Have a good weekend all!

Temperature drops and rises

The bull is out in the little field opposite the Cattle Shed.  I loved the way he went to the furthest corner and sat as if he was looking at the view.  (He is the black spot in the distance.)  He will be going off to market next week and we are looking for a new bull now.  Farmer has been sitting by the fire of an evening looking up other breeds to see if we might slightly change what we have to sell - he is keen on the traditional Beef Shorthorn, or White Shorthorn. It is an exhausting armchair journey, looking it all up and then coming back to the thought that the Aberdeen Angus suit us very well.  

We have had this bull for a good few years, and he has a fantastic temperament as well as throwing easy calving calves - small when born but who gain strength quickly.  This is the latest - ever - that we have kept the cows outside.  It has saved us having to buy in another month's supply of straw (sorry Tom) and they have not been making a mess on the ground.  Another delicate balance comes into play as the one of our favourite moths (Six Spot Burnet Moth) likes to sun itself in the cattle hoof marks left behind by the cows, but Farmer doesn't want to poach the ground. 

I am not a big fan of the new Blogger site.  For some reason the only way I can upload my photographs is to upload them into a picasa web album first and then move them across from there to the blog.  They land in an order of their own, and usually I then move them around to try and make better sense of them.  But the order below is quite a good reflection on the week.  Lots of snatches of weather and light in between the building projects!

In and out of the Storage Container to check on what paint we have to use up before ordering anew.  Ecospaint Dark Ice is going in Studio kitchen!

Sky high clouds, taken on a dash down to Duill to see how that is going.

Alan painting the Studio sitting room, first coat of Ecospaint Bengt.  And with paint on the wall, it begins to resemble a room again - the old doorway has disappeared and created a good relaxing sitting room...waiting for the stove to be fitted now.  

Another mad storm passes over towards Calgary. The hoggs have been in the field between the farmhouse and Shian and Duill for a few days. The Zwarties (the brown ones) are good at getting out..

Cavelo Nero catching the sun.  This Italian kale is a mainstay over the winter. 

Shian's kitchen wall is crying out for a window I reckon, but not this winter. I have been banned from thinking up any further projects. Enough is enough Farmer says.  Shian has a new cooker which looks very smart and is the right size this time. The one that was too small has gone down to Middle.  Nothing is wasted!

We are enjoying seeing the Hare every day as he runs through the farm yard.  What a privilege. 

The weather has been getting colder - we have had a few of those days when you get a bit of everything - including snow and hail.  And some good winds!  The Kingspan turbine is still out-performing its neighbour - by a staggering 50%, and we have had some hopeful news from Kingspan and then from our installer, Border Hydro, that we can have a new chip fitted which, with updated settings, will increase the performance from the Proven.  

The heating is back on in Studio now.  Radiators had been taken off to allow for the wall insulation to be added in the sitting room and bedroom.  All warm and cosy now.

I was very happy on Monday when the bathroom arrived for Duill - and all the pipework for Neil the plumber.  We only have a few weeks until it is booked!  Neil the builder is busy putting wall insulation in the frame on the outside walls before Neil the plumber arrives..  

The new Velux window in Studio gallery bedroom shows in this top right corner of this picture. 

The 'Bengt' sitting room walls.

Coco - and no I'm afraid she wasn't just sitting there obediently on her own. (Her lead was hooked round a fence post.)  We are going to a dog training class in Dervaig which is great, very helpful.  It is just the in between class training which is lacking, as I find it very difficult to apply myself so she is on a lead all the time.

Regular readers of the blog may remember that Moira, the wonderful dog trainer, came here last summer and did some training with us when Coco was very young!  Her programme of dog training classes will be held here from Easter onwards, and they are going to start doing Dog Agility too. 

For any of our guests who bring their own dog on holiday with them, there is an opportunity to have a 1:1 class with Moira here at Treshnish - if you want some training advice or to try out some agility.   We will link her website once she has it up and running.  Quite alot of her work is doing 1:1 sessions around the island.  And to think she moved to Mull to retire!

Moss covered dyke near the farmhouse. 

 Studio main bedroom - Ecospaint Savannah. It is lighter than this photograph shows.

Farmer has been continuing with sorting out the sheep.  The Zwartie hoggs are now on their own and roaming looking for ways to escape between the Stack Yard outside Shieling and Studio and the big field Shian and Duill sit in.

I have started Blipping!  I THINK if you follow the link you will get to my site.  Some of the photos I Blip you will probably see on the blog too.