A trip to the sales

Always nice to have a day out together, and yesterday we headed off to catch the 8.40am ferry to Oban as we had some serious shopping to do.

It was the day of the annual Tup Sale at Oban Livestock Market, just out of Oban on the road to Kilmartin.  In days gone by before Tescos, before William Lows, Oban Market was at Lochavullin and there were so many tups for sale in the one day that there were 2 rings on the go at any one time both selling single tups pot by lot.   Ironically yesterday the site of the old mart, the Tescos car park, was waist deep in water, due to biblical amounts of rain over the previous few days!

Our journey started unexpectedly when the back axle of the truck went, a few miles out of Salen.  Luckily we had left enough time and were able to limp, very slowly, to just the other side of Salen where we knew we could leave it, and arrange for the insurance recovery to pick it up and take it to Tobermory.  We were able to contact J who was also on his way to the ferry and he kindly gave us a lift.

It was the first sunny day we had had and such a relief from the heavy rain of the last few days.  Farmer's new rain gauge (a Christmas present) showed that between 2pm on Monday and 1pm on Tuesday we had 60mm of rain!  Yuck!

The car deck was full of livestock trailers.  The cafeteria was busy with farmers having breakfast and catching up on the news.    I arranged breakdown recovery - and phoned to explain to the recovery driver what the story was.

Every year we need to buy new tups in order to ensure that the tups are not breeding with their daughters.  So there is a steady flow on and off the farm of new and old tups.    In the past we have bought from Lanark, from Fort William, from Dingwall and privately from other farms on Mull.  This is the first time we have been to the tup sale in Oban.

It was initially disappointing to see there were only about 50 Blackface tups in the catalogue.   The atmosphere at a tup sale is quite different from a ewe or lamb sale.  For a start the numbers of sheep is far smaller at a tup sale.  The number of buyers at a tup sale is obviously much higher as individual farmers and crofters all need new tups.  So whilst there may not be a huge number of sheep in the pens it is lively and sociable.  You end up seeing other island and Argyll farmers you may only see once a year.

Farmer managed to bid on 2 Blackface tups and was pleased with the prices.   On to the Cheviots and he was hoping to get 3 or 4.  He had an idea of which farms he wanted to get them from, and all you can then do is hope the prices don't go over our budget.   Armed with a note of the lot numbers he was interested in Farmer started to bid.  By the end of it he thought he had bought 4 Cheviots and happily went off to pay for them.  In the office he was told he had only bought 3.   He paid for them and once our tups were loaded into our neighbours trailer we headed down to the ferry.

Just as we arrived at the pier J whose tup we thought we had bought got a call from the mart saying that V Carrington hadn't taken his tup - or paid for it!  For some reason it transpires that V Carrington is Farmer!  So there we were, in the middle of the queue to load on the ferry, being told we had one more tup...  In the end they told him they would deliver it to Mull tomorrow in a lorry that was coming over to collect calves.  Phew! Though collecting it without the truck would be interesting!! We would just have to worry about that later.

All that sorted, it was wonderfully sunny and we sat in the warm late afternoon sun having a coffee from the wonderful Food from Argyll Cafe on the pier.

Our neighbour kindly delivered us and our new tups to the door, just in time for a stunning sunset.   Later on we went to supper in Toechtamhor and were treated to a fantastic aurora.  It was interesting standing outside with everyone sharing the colours they were seeing.  I realised that my eyes really don't pick up the colours very well compared to some people.  Perhaps that is why I love using the camera so much.   I could see the green but not the pinks and reds or blues that others could see.

June 2nd 2018 #30dayswild

#30dayswild

Burnet rose and Birds foot trefoil in the Black park.

Calf sales

It is a while since I last wrote a blog.  We were about to sell the cows I think, and I planned to write a long and hopefully comprehensive blogpost about the decision and what made us finally decide.  In effect what happened was that we sold the cows on the Tuesday and at crack of dawn on the Thursday Farmer and family set off for the October break holiday, so I ran out of time.

I will write in full about the cows going at some point but until then, some photographs.

Lifeboat Day, and back to work on Monday.

Sunday was Lifeboat Day in Tobermory and we had to drop a friend of Daughter off to take part, so were there from beginning to end.

We had coffee at CafeFish as they were opening up before Lifeboat Day started. The smells coming from the kitchen were amazing, and the view from each window was delightful.

One of the raft race entries.  This one from the Council. At the other end, a sign said No Dumping.

Along the seafront a robin sings its heart out on Loch Duich.

I took a very short trip with Sealife Surveys across to Calve Island, to look at seals and on the way back we came past this waterfall and the little painted boats.

The fire brigade team won the adult race.  They then dowsed everyone else.

It was a great occasion, and hopefully raised much money for the RNLI!

Back to work today, and Farmer tackled the ragwort in the Graveyard field.  Our main silage field this year is the one directly below the house.  He wants to cut the graveyard field as well and cannot afford to leave ragwort standing, as it is poisonous in the silage. As the bracken mower is broken he has been pulling ragwort by hand to stop it going to seed. The graveyard (Kilmaluaig) is barely visible under the Rosebay willowherb and bracken.

Nice to see lots of Marsh Woundwort growing in the field.

Not the best activity for a Farmer with a bad back.

But satisfying.

The dogs enjoyed their afternoon, though Cap (left) doesn't venture far from the buggy given half the chance.

Farmer picked up a bag of sea plastic that we had collected earlier to put in the recycling.

What's in a word?

To wake up to a hard frost like this in December or January would be quite unusual for Treshnish, but to wake up to this in April is unheard of - until now.  

Farmer had an errand to do down at Gribun, someone to visit, and so it seemed like a great opportunity for the family to go too.  It had been ages since we had been along that beautiful dramatic road together, and we might as well make the most of the weather.

Armed with a camping gas stove, plenty of water, pasta, cheese and pesto - as well as the teabags for the obligatory cuppa, brewed up on the beach, we set off.  

We never usually have time to stop at the old fank just beyond Dhiseig. The walls of the cave at the back of the fank were bone dry.  It is beautifully built and you can almost hear the sheep bleating and see them race from one side of a pen to another to try and avoid going through a gate or down a race.

Farmer obliged and drove us to the top of the hill to look at the view.  He made his visit and completed his first errand. The second errand was to cook up our dinner on the beach.  Daughter said it was the best pasta pesto she had ever eaten - the fresh air factor.

Gribun beach is close to the road, under those dramatic cliffs, grey sand and lots of shells.  It looks out over Inch Kenneth.  It is a fair drive from Treshnish so we don't go there very often, but it is great for shells and sunsets.  And we had it all to ourselves!

This is the farm at Gribun where Tig was born.  It is a year to the day since she died.

The next day we had a visitor from Skye. Alistair and his wife Helen run Edinbane Self Catering Cottages, on a croft which they look after in a sensitive and lovely way.  

We walked down to look at the 2 roundels Guy had fenced for us.  This solitary tree has a chance now of spreading its seed and forming part of the wildlife corridor across the fields. It was great to chat and catch up on things! 

On Monday Farmer attended a meeting organised by the NFUS (National Farmers Union of Scotland) with Paul Wheelhouse MSP, the Minister for the Environment at Knock Farm, to discuss some of the issues surrounding sheep farming with sea eagles.  

We have never been sure at Treshnish to what extent our lamb loss might be attributed to sea eagle predation. We have had one or two guests tell of having seen a sea eagle take a lamb here, but neither of us have seen it and as there are other predatory birds here too (hooded crows, black backed gulls) we don't like to lay blame at the feet (or talons) of any one particular predator.  I think we are more likely to lose lambs to the occasional walker whose dog is not kept under close control than to a sea eagle but that is another story for a later date.


What's in a word? (quite a lot if you ask me). It has always upset me, on Farmer's behalf, when lambs taken by sea eagles were referred to as 'unviable'.   It was reassuring today to read about the Mull farmers meeting with the Minister in the Scottish Farmer, and to note they are now using the term 'vulnerable' instead.  I feel this is a far more responsible word to use and far less contentious.  Every newborn lamb is vulnerable, whether it is born in a shed out of sight of a predator or out on the open hill like our island lambs, until it has got on its feet and had a feed, and some take longer to do this than others.   It is the same with calves - though obviously they are not going to be picked off by a predator - unless we find that wolves are re-introduced to Mull next. (I jest...)

It was brought to the Minister's notice during the meeting that there can be between 40 and 60 lamb carcasses found at any one nest site, which amounts to a considerable number of lambs across the island given the number of nesting pairs.  If you farm and have a nest within hunting distance of your lambing grounds, you will suffer financially from the loss of lambs.  This is undeniable.  

Any loss we might incur from sea eagle predation can be offset by the benefits we experience from tourism and the number of valued guests we have who come to Mull to see the eagles.  So for us, there is more than a balance - but for those farmers who have no tourism diversification, they have to rely on a pitifully small pot of compensation money which is distributed to those in the sea eagle scheme.  We have not joined this scheme. 

Despite the issues, Farmer and I are both still in awe of the sea eagle when we see them.  They are impressive, huge and majestic birds. I enjoy seeing them as much as the next bird watcher!  And having won the RSPB Nature of Farming Award in 2011, we like to think we have a good relationship with the RSPB - particularly those who work on the island and do a great job.

There is a nesting pair of sea eagles far closer to Treshnish now than before, so it will be interesting to see if they hunt over here more than in previous years.  Watch this space!

Whilst the meeting was on, Daughter and I went off to catch the ferry to Oban.  We took the scenic route via Ulva Ferry, and were alarmed to see clouds of smoke from a wildfire, which had been accidentally started in Glenforsa and was quickly making its way towards the forestry near Salen.  The Fire Service and a lot of volunteers worked incredibly hard and the fire was eventually put out, without causing damage or harm to humans or houses. I wondered if, that night, someone was lying in bed asking themselves if it was their cigarette which had started the fire?  We were in to 43 days without rain by then.

Over in Angus the weather was lovely at times. I drove to Edinburgh to see our accountant. I got lost a few times. Ended up following a lorry into a lay-by rather than exiting the Edinburgh by-pass. Ended up in Milnathort because I got in the wrong lane.  And ended my journey that day down memory lane drawn into the familiar sights of hedgerow trees and snow covered hills in the distance. 

The shopping was glamorous and exciting.  (new bolts for the aerovator)

Farmer got on with plenty of chores whilst we were away and a few early lambs arrived too.  More ewes are coming to the food on the Sitheans now.  A load of hay was delivered yesterday and it is a relief to have extra feed in hand, for we may well still need it. 

Before we knew it we were back on Mull and there had finally been a little bit of rain. The parts had arrived for the blue van so we took them to Duncan at Croig.  For such a large amount of money I had expected the box of new parts to be enormous, it was surprisingly small. Saw this lovely fungus along the way. 

And on the way back from Calgary to the Treshnish turning Farmer noticed this beautiful old wall running along the steep edges of the raised beach below the road.  Lived here over 18 years and never noticed it before!

Eventually the hens have got into the right egg laying routine and are producing enough eggs for us to give away.  I picked daffodils from our garden for the cottages too. 

Soft sunset over Calgary this evening.