Back to work

Farmer and family have been away on holiday.  The sun and sand variety.  Pedalos and sea urchins, tapas and turquoise waters.  The sun was hot, the breeze had a chill to it, and the sea was warm.  We had a lovely time.

We stayed in a village in the hills, with the sea below and mountains behind.  A kilometre walk down through narrow village streets and olive groves to a cove to swim.

The village shop had an amazing selection of fruit and veg outside and was open late into the evening.

A local Sunday market.

Some very nifty precision parking by Farmer - decades of reversing tractors pay off.

A seaside menu.

Three sunbathing fishermen on a Sunday afternoon. 

And all too soon, time to close the shutters and come home.

It is nice to remember on the way home that Oban can be colourful too.

Tattie holidays

It is always a bonus to have good weather, but especially as the days get shorter and we move towards winter.  It has been magical!  Traditionally the October holidays were the 'tattie holidays' as families would go and help farmers pick the annual crop of potatoes.  I can remember doing it as a child in Angus!   It was an amazing sight to see the lines of pickers bent double hawking potatoes into their baskets.

Have you ever stopped to walk into the Druids field and look at the cup markings on this?  It's not far from here, and we can point you in the right direction!

I know this isn't as big as the Old Man Of Hoy.. but I call it the Old Man of Ensay as it is near Ensay port.

Farmer has been taking advantage of the good weather, and getting all his sheep work done.   The tups (rams) have had a check over, a bit of a foot trim and medicine if required.   They need to be in peak condition for their winter task is about to begin again.

The ewe hoggs we are keeping for breeding have come into the cattle shed to learn how to feed.  It seems nuts, but the ewes do not automatically know that the lovely lamb pellet or ewe nut in the trough in front of them is actually for them to eat.  They have to learn.   Usually you put a few older ewes in to the pens with them so the ewe hoggs can copy them.   They are very skittish when they first go into the shed, not used to being inside, and not used to close contact with Farmer and his dogs.  It is much easier looking after them indoors - they are going to get caught in brambles!

Flocks of Fieldfare have been seen this week at Calgary, and Prasad has seen some here, so I expect we will lose all the Rowan berries soon.  I always hope the rowans will last long enough to attract some Waxwings as I have never seen one!

October days and nights

We are enjoying such a fine spell of weather.  It is October, and it is warm, and it is so bright.  So wonderful after the mixed weather of last month.

Farmer even found himself swimming on Sunday morning down below the farmhouse.

A solitary Thrift flowering on October 3rd.  We also saw Devils bit scabious, Ragged robin and a daisy flowering on the same day.

Some wonderful sunrises.

Some wonderful night skies.

Some clear blue day skies.

Pahoehoe lava from a Mull Geology guided walk.  Fascinating!

Red Admiral enjoying the Hebe on 6th October.

A Silver Y moth doing the same on the same day.

More night skies and northern lights.

More wonderful rock.

The last of the lambs away

Real autumn weather at the moment. When the sun comes out the light is wonderful. It is not cold, but it is, at times, very very wet.

Farmer had booked a livestock trailer onto the ferry to take the last batch of lambs to Oban Market.  Tuesday 27th was the breeding sale, so the one we needed to get our ewe lambs to.

We keep about 160 ewe lambs to overwinter and use as future breeding ewes.   Last winter we overwintered them in the cattle shed.  This winter we think we may do half outside and half inside.  This will cut the cost down a bit but also gives them the opportunity to learn the different fields so that in future they are familiar with being in fields rather than on the hill.

Cheviots are getting noticeably higher prices in the market at the moment.  I am obviously writing this after the sale, so can tell you that these Cheviot lambs fetched over £20 more per head than the lovely Blackface lambs we sold the same day.   This year it seems Blackface are really not popular with the buyers.

Walter was on hand, and trigger ready, to help Farmer throughout the sorting out procedure.

Ever watching his Master.

A little damp as it had rained earlier, but overnight they would dry out in the cattle shed.

This handsome Massey Ferguson 240 is over the road at our neighbours.  I couldn't resist walking up to take a photograph on my way home one afternoon.