June 2009

albion 4x4During the good spells of weather we had in March and April I spent time trying to catch up on some fence repairs round the farm and assessing all the fences for further improvements over the summer. With the amount of fences we have this involves walking many miles around the farm with a note pad and pen. In doing this I was reminded of how special the scenery is in some of the more remote parts of the farm.

This all came to an abrupt halt about a month ago, after I went and did something stupid and tore all my shoulder muscles after a fall. This was particularly frustrating as I had spent all day clambering up and down off my roof rack, balancing on top of walls with a fencing mallet and carrying out various other hazardous tasks, before injuring myself tripping over a small stone. I’m only now getting towards full use of my shoulder again. For weeks I did little other than walking round spraying thistles because this was one of the few jobs I could do without moving my arm too much. I gradually progressed to the point where I could drive the tractor again and used this opportunity to do some maintenance of the fields, harrowing and rolling some of our mowing meadows. I’ve even done some muck spreading. I must be turning into a proper farmer!
roy
Though our cattle sheds are still not finished, we have finally managed to get some cows inside. After temporarily fencing off part of the building and putting in temporary water troughs and feeders we got all last year’s calves inside, to give the cows a well deserved rest before they started calving again.

Over the last couple of months my new dog, Roy, has really settled in. At first he was very jumpy around new people and noises. As you may have seen I had him fastened up by the shop from time to time to get him used to having different people around and the different goings on of cars, deliveries, etc. Spending time down at the shop has done him a world of good, with all the staff around fussing over him he has become much more relaxed, though he is still a little wary of new faces and I am trying to get him more comfortable with the butchers as he seems to have a phobia of white coats for some reason?

Now Roy is a bit more settled, and I have regained use of my shoulder, I will be making him a pen overlooking the shop so he has a safe space with room to move around when I need to leave him for any period of time.

Most of the sheep have been lambing so I haven’t been able to practice with Roy on them and I have just been concentrating on getting him fit for working on the moors. As well as being out and about with me on the farm during the day and going for walks at the evenings and weekends he has been with me for a few long runs round the tops with me, to hopefully get us both fit for the summer.

He has been feeling particularly sorry for himself of late after having a trip to the vets to stop him chasing after the females and having to wear a lamp shade round his head for a week. This he managed to smash up on a daily basis, needing hundreds of cable ties to stitch it together and making him look more and more like he should be in a Frankenstien movie. He does seem to be back to his old self again now though and as I am just starting to do a bit of work with him on the sheep he is cheering up no end.