August 2023

22nd

This morning I walked about the farmhouse garden, at a glance there isn't much to see, but the small amount of flowers here are absolutely bonnie.

We treated the sheep at our paddock for fluke; this was a precautionary measure as a young lamb died of fluke at one of our grass keeps; the older ewes appear resilient, but we treated them also.

Most of Charlie's sheep are spread across three grass keeps, in a few days only lambs will graze up the hillside paddock, adjacent to our farmhouse.

We first tried to deliver the wormer in incremental shots with a drench gun, but this just squeezed doses of air. We opted to use a syringe tube, as at least we knew that these sheep were receiving their medicine.

Charlie wadded through the woodland burn first, with no problems.

We arrived at Wolfcleuch waterfall, we tried to get here a week ago, but had no means to cross the burn.

My cade lambs came to see me whilst I was removing dock leaves from the farmhouse paddock with an electric strimmer.

Cooked toad-in-the-hole for Charlie's tea.

Opened the gate and lit the poly tunnel for the sheep, they were freaked out at 9:30pm this evening [a few hours after I posted about the cade lambs visiting me]; Charlie suspects a fighter jet plane, however the sheep are still in the poly tunnel an hour later, and not chewing cud ho hum.

20th

Today, we returned to England to fetch...

three auction lots from Railtons, Wooler.

19th

Midday we visited Maelin henge.

We found a reconstruction of a medieval house.

Beautiful butterflies walking through Maelin meadow.

We arrived at Flodden field, 6000 Scottish + 1 King and 2000 English people brutally slaughtered each other here; I am proud of either sides bravery yet angry at the Catholic church, for insighting them to do it.

Scent of roses in the car park were calming.

The beach at Spital, Berwick-on-tweed was beautiful, I adore the serenity of this beach..

These places, sparse spaces fill me with awe, not emptiness.

Over the horizon seen through mind's disociate eye.

We drove back to the Scottish Borders at speed, because end of the end journeys can be tiring.

16th

This early afternoon Charlie invited me to his work place.

He was turning silage today.

I sat, waited in his tractor.

Whilst he tended to the welfare of Limousin cows.

Visiting vets used the farm's crusher, a mechanical device that keeps the coo still, for examination and treatment.

The vet plunged her arm up the coos anus to find nothing really wrong with the swollen coo other than a blood blister.

Today was about turning silage [for winter feed] and the health of coos, but at this time of year, attention is focussed on harvesting crops.