One door closes

Farmer was invited to help gather on the Isle of Eorsa last week.  Eorsa is the teardrop shaped uninhabited island in Loch na Keal.   There is no house - though there is a 'hotel' shed for shelter!  

There have been sheep on the island for generations.  It is hard work having a flock of sheep that you can only access via a boat in good weather.  The ewes thrive despite that and Eorsa produces good healthy lambs.  But finally Iain Thomson 'the singing shepherd' has decided to call it a day.   He tried to find someone else locally to take the ewes on and continue the tradition but there was no one who was able to do it.    So the gather on Friday was to take not only the lambs off but the ewes as well. 

Iain.

On their way out there, with A and his dogs.

Eorsa. From the Gribun side.

 

From Eorsa to Inch Kenneth with Gribun on the left of the photograph.

Looking up Loch na Keal.

In the fank.

Sorting lambs and ewes.

Looking for the barge.

Tea time.

Loading the barge.

On the barge.

Farmer took this photographs on his phone.   The day went well, and they had to wait for the tides, so it was dark by the time they landed back on Mull.   They will be sold later on in the week.

For Iain, the Eorsa door closes and a new door opens.  We wish him well!  

September storms and some sunshine

September slipped by in a haze of storms punctuated with sunshine, weeks split into pieces with new and familiar guests arriving and leaving. And suddenly it is the end of the month.    Here are a few photographs from the month.

A few calm days, great for drone practise!

The Rowans are loaded with berries this year.

This young 'hen' has turned out to be a cockerel ?

Good days for washing and drying!

SO many Rock doves.  They spend the day waiting for the hens to be fed and the bird feeders to be filled up.  They have learned to hover like humming birds on the bird feeders.

With the lambs away the ewes can recover some energy.

Not so the cows.  The calves are still with their mothers, sneaking up on them for a drink whenever they can!

Not a very glamorous job but it has to be done.  Our septic tank has not been emptied since we moved here.   There is now a company coming to the island who have a small bowser so can drive across the field.   Even so, Farmer had to pull them out as they got stuck.

Calm days. And the Eilean Ban from Croig is out below the house.

And after the storm, the seaweed.

And a sunset to cry for.

Autumn light..

....Ulva Ferry.

...Loch na keal..

.....Loch Scridain.

Changes afoot

Summer has definitely lost out to Autumn, which to my mind started early.  And today, there are only 2 Swallows left in the barn.  The others have already flown.   It feels very quiet around the farm yard without their graceful flight and calls.

So the lambs are all sold.  They went on a lorry last week to Oban with Farmer taking the extras along in the livestock trailer.   Some fetched a good price, others an abysmal one.  However, overall, we sold more lambs than last year, and brought home a larger cheque even though our average was down.  

What is slowly dawning on us is that we would be better off moving the hill flock towards Cheviot, rather than clinging on to Blackface, which none of the finishers seem to want.

We can both remember the farm advisor Donald saying to us when we were first at Treshnish (24 years ago!) that the hill would be too hard for Cheviots.  That has always been in the back of our minds whenever we have discussed the idea of changing - because it was the first advice we had had on the matter.  Since then several other people have assured us that Cheviots would do fine at Treshnish and indeed there were Cheviots here before there were Blackface.    Our neighbour on the Torloisk side has moved over to Cheviot and they seem to be fine!

So we will be buying additional Cheviot tups to put to 150 Blackface ewes.  That should give us about 50 cross ewe lambs to put on the hill in 2 years time!   You have to think ahead.

Heather on the Sitheans.

From Lainne Sgier rocks across Calgary Bay.

You get a good view of the road towards Treshnish from 100m up!

This is the forest near Langamull.  After felling, before replanting.

And a stunning view over the devastated land to Croig, Quinish and beyond.

Meadowsweets before they seed.

Silverweed turning.

Every few years we cut this Fuchsia back as it is growing into Middle Cottage walls!  It grows back very quickly.

An inquisitive calf.

There has been great excitement around the bird feeders.  A young Sparrowhawk has been practising his hunting.  He still has a long way to go.   We haven't seen him catch anything yet, and he has been attacked by a Buzzard in the trees round the house, and mobbed by Swallows.  Today, while we were standing talking to a guest by the washing line, he swooped several times, clumsily, into the bird feeders but failed to take anything.

The final change is that Daughter is now away at college. The farmhouse is very quiet, and funnily enough the internet seems to be a bit faster...!

WE HAVE SOME SPACES IN OCTOBER IF YOU LIKE THE IDEA OF AN AUTUMN HOLIDAY AT TRESHNISH!  PLEASE GET IN TOUCH AND I CAN GIVE YOU DETAILS OF OUR SPECIAL OFFER!