March 2023

30th

I'm missing a day because the date on my computer says March 30, so I'll have to look at the pictures on my phone to help me remember. This is the first time this has happened to my short-term memory. I would much rather write HTML and be able to customize the look of my website, so I am deleting my WordPress blog today.

28th

I travelled to Hannington to buy an iPhone I saw on Facebook Marketplace. Charlie bought me a new purse and two pairs of warm cable tights. I went back to the farm house that afternoon, fed the sheep, and had a nap by the cosy open fire. I gave Charlie my old Oppo phone because he has never owned a smartphone and is a little hesitant to part with his £10 Nokia burner phone. All the lambs are doing well. I've been giving the Zwartble mother ewe extra food because she has to feed three lambs. It will be fun to watch her raise them without my help. Five cades are currently being fed twice a day, approximately at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., on two bottles each.

Large, clear plastic container filled with a substantial amount of a light beige, powdery substance. A portion of this substance appears to have been transferred to a partially visible, smaller blue and red bag sitting in a red bucket. The setting appears to be a kitchen or similar domestic space, evidenced by the tiled floor. The overall impression is of a food ingredient, possibly flour or a similar baking component, being measured or transferred.
White enamel pail containing four clear glass jars. A metal whisk with a burnt appearance rests inside the pail. The pail has a wooden handle. The overall setting appears to be a kitchen or domestic environment.

Lambs drink milk powder that can be mixed with hot or cold water. Emptying the cap container into a jug, filling it to the brim, and integrating hot and cold water into lukewarm water results in the production of four bottles. Some lambs need days to get used to this milk, and if a lamb comes into cade sick (often with a wet mouth), it has to be lap nursed. Some hungry lambs drink water to supplement a lack of milk yield, this can kill a lamb. A cade lamb's survival depends on patience and persistence. Ten of the lambs arrive unable to nurse, so the bottle must be manipulated to trick them into swallowing.

White plastic jug being filled with water from a kitchen tap. Inside the jug is a pale yellow powder, possibly flour or polenta. The sink is stainless steel and somewhat dirty. Part of a bottle of washing up liquid and a yellow sponge are visible in the background.
Four baby bottles filled with breast milk sitting in a kitchen sink. There are also a couple of mugs and some cleaning supplies visible in the background. Spilled milk is evident on the sink's surface.

After feeding Charlies dog Sam, I took him for a walk down to the burn, but the soft bugger pulled back not wanting to get his paws wet; he crosses over the burn for Charlie though. The burn appears idyllic; however, the houses constructed adjacent to the water, two of which are log cabins, are directing their waste into it. Unlike the older two houses, including the 1920s farmhouse where I have been residing, these waste water pipes are not buried underground. I have been struggling to find a focus for my blog since I began creating a WordPress blog. I believe that this is partially due to my exhaustion, as nursing the cade lambs was a difficult task that kept me awake until the early hours of the morning. A deceased ewe is still awaiting removal.

27th

Kept myself in my flat today, had mild exposure.

26th

Bottle-fed the five cade lambs by hand at three minutes past midnight. Although the task initially appeared daunting, it was effortless once I began, and I continued until the lambs had consumed their milk. I'm trying to wind down so I might get a few hours of sleep now that it's almost one o'clock. A ewe who had triplet lambs is doing well, and all three are still alive without any help.

Flock of sheep in a barn. There is one adult ewe lying down surrounded by her several newborn lambs. Another adult ewe stands to the left of the scene, slightly outside of the main group. The lambs are huddled together, resting on a bed of straw. The overall atmosphere is peaceful and domestic.
Black sheep lying down in a straw-filled pen with two black lambs nestled close by. One lamb is partially visible behind the ewe, and the other is clearly seen lying against its mother. The pen appears to be a wooden structure, and there's an orange bucket in the background.
Grassy hillside on a cloudy day. In the foreground, a sheep with two lambs stands in a field. In the mid-ground and background, several more sheep are visible grazing on the hillside. A farmhouse and trees are visible in the distance, suggesting a rural setting.

Charlie spent the day constructing lamb creeps in preparation for weaning the lambs to pellets. The pellets are too large; he requested lamb pellets, but they gave him sheep pellets instead. The Saint Boswells market booked one of our lambs as a ewe, resulting in a loss of money for the consignees. Additionally, there are other issues. After putting food out for the sheep, we walked across a burn and enjoyed the view of the valley.

25th

The last two cades have gone outside this morning, it was fun to see them placed together, in their new environment. After days of the little tup cade bleating every hour, I'm relieved that the farmhouse is quiet now! Because a ewe only has two teats, Charlie thinks that one of the lambs will have to come inside in a few days as cade.

Two lambs, one white and one black, standing on straw. The white lamb has some darker markings on its face and ears. The black lamb has a small patch of white fur on its head. Both lambs are looking directly at the camera.
Close-up view of a sheep's face. The sheep is predominantly white with some patches of light brown or tan fur, particularly around its ears and neck. It has a yellow tag in its ear and its nose is pink. The sheep appears to be in a pen or enclosure, with a wooden fence visible in the background. The overall impression is one of a farm animal in its natural environment.
Group of sheep with long, shaggy coats standing in a barn. They appear to be in a pen filled with straw. A building and a partially visible shed are in the background. The overall atmosphere is rural and agricultural.
Close-up view of a black sheep with long, gray-brown fleece, standing in a pen filled with hay. Two other lighter-coloured sheep are visible in the background, partially obscured by a metal feeding structure. The black sheep appears to be the focus of the image, its face clearly visible and looking directly at the camera. Yellow ear tags are visible on the black sheep.
Four lambs lying down in a pen filled with hay. Three of the lambs are predominantly white, while one is mostly black with a white marking on its head. The lambs appear to be young and are huddled together, suggesting a sense of comfort and companionship.
Sheep standing behind a wooden fence. The sheep is predominantly light beige/grey in colour, with a significant amount of fleece. A small, light blue marking is visible on its back. Its udder is unusually large and dark in color, suggesting it may be pregnant or have recently given birth. The sheep is standing on straw.

We're running out of hurdles and space, and there are only eight more ewes left to lamb. It's tight ship until the end of the month when more grass keep will be available. I really wanted to go back to my flat today, but I agreed to stay another day and night because there is so much to do here. Lambing season is almost over, cades have another three weeks of bottle feeding, though.

Panoramic view of a grassy field or clearing, bordered by a dense coniferous forest. In the foreground, on the left side, is a dilapidated wooden structure that appears to be an open-sided shelter or lean-to with a weathered wooden roof. A long, dark gray object resembling a trough or large, weathered timber rests on the ground. The overall impression is one of a remote and somewhat desolate, yet tranquil, natural setting.

Charlie pulled over to the side of the road near Selkirk and joined me as I walked along a gravel path that led to a football field in the middle of a forest. The place was only used for one day, and then it was left for nature to take it back.

Flock of sheep and lambs grazing in a lush green pasture. The scene is peaceful and pastoral, with a rolling hillside visible in the background under a somewhat overcast sky. There's a mix of adult sheep and several young lambs, including one light-coloured lamb standing out in the foreground. The overall impression is one of tranquility and rural life.

I went to the grass keep to see how the flock was doing. They appeared agitated when we approached, so I wondered if they had received any unexpected “visitors.” On one side of the field, there is a walkway that runs between a picturesque vista of the Eildons. There is a nice shade of green in the field, especially where the sheep were fed last year. It took about ten minutes for the sheep to calm down and recognise us.

Clear plastic jug filled with a creamy, off-white liquid. A wooden whisk is partially submerged in the liquid. The jug sits on a metallic draining board in a kitchen setting, with parts of other kitchen utensils visible in the background.
Four lamb feeding bottles filled with a pale yellow liquid, likely ewe formula. The bottles are labelled NON VAC and have nipple attachments. They sit on a dark counter top in a kitchen setting, with other kitchen items visible in the background. The overall impression is one of preparation for feeding a lamb.

We were curious about the Reavers festival in Hawick, but there was so much to do that we drove down Hawick High Street and did not see anything. We subsequently fed and watered the flock before taking the dog for a walk over the hill. Even though the burn was not flowing at a rapid pace this evening, he was apprehensive.

24th

Getting ready and giving the five cade lambs bottled milk at twenty minutes before midnight and twenty minutes after midnight is difficult when you're stressed and worn out. I will be able to return to my flat for a break in two days. I will return in three more days, and the lambing season will be over in another week. Charlie woke me up at 8am with coffee, and his health has improved with rest. The farmhouse is fresh and airy, with a damp, lingering cold, and it is raining outside. Since we can't afford the necessary fifteen-pound tickets, I'm a little disheartened that we won't be going to the monthly music night at the village hall. We should be able to go out at least once a month, especially after lambing season!

A mother ewe has been confined with the newborn lambs, but Charlie had to leave for work before he could nurse the other lamb. The poly tunnel is starting to appear full; after all the sheep have gone to the grass, the structure will be changed to let in more air from the outside. Additionally, only 25% of this year's ewes will be inside after everyone else has gone to market. I've discovered a fascinating fact: tup lamb meat is so bad that it needs to be spiced and seasoned to make kebab meat. I wonder if all of those Saturday night drunks are aware of this. I rarely eat take-away food or even restaurant food these days, as eating establishments are suspect and therefore cannot be trusted.

Three weeks ago we'd planned to attend an event, a monthly folk night at the village hall, but were completely out of cash and tired out from three weeks of lambing. I'm excited to see both of the cade lambs go outside tomorrow and have their cage disassembled because I'm sick of cleaning up poop and urine and the bleach odor is getting to be infuriating. The cade that has been ill for days has finally recovered. My hands are swiveled up from washing them over and over with Detol disinfectant soap. I've been at the farmhouse for four days, but tomorrow afternoon I'll go back to my apartment and look forward to a hot bath and some peace and quiet from the constant noise of cade lambs. Charlie entered the house smelling of fishy ewe afterbirth, as the ewe had just given birth.

23rd

The cade tup's watery mouth and stomach bloating have lessened after taking antibiotics, demonstrating how thin and fragile he has grown. In the morning, he was hungry and sucked from the bottle while standing up. After three days of getting worse, he is finally starting to get better. Just like the other lambs outside, who have been fortunate enough to have been raised by their mothers, cade tup is also more conscious of his surroundings and bleating. We hope to see him leaping and rediscovering his playfulness. The death rate has been slashed because the herd has had 45 lambs and none of them have died. After putting chaff and sillage by her feet yesterday, the mastitis-affected ewe is getting better and is walking today.

The dog is excited to observe the sheep being fed and watered, and he eagerly runs up and down the farmyard, collecting sloppy mud on his long coat in the same manner as a brush would hold paint, while following Charlie. Before we constructed a kennel to serve as a fence to deescalate him, he was brushing and rubbing the mud against the walls, cupboards, and doors of the farmhouse. That's why he brought all the mud into the farmhouse.

The tup cade got sick again tonight, and he's looked miserable for three days while I've been nursing him bottled milk every two hours. I'm sad tonight. This evening, I assisted Charlie in the feeding of sillage and chaff to ewes and the filling of water containers. Charlie is a sheep farmer who enjoys his work. However, I am not interested in pursuing this profession. Nevertheless, I am pleased to assist Charlie in navigating the lambing season for the benefit of the lambs, ewes, and himself. Additionally, I derive enjoyment from the self-defining experience. Since we've run out of coal, I'm burning logs tonight. However, I cleaned the fireplace earlier, so the flames are roaring through the glowing vented grate.

22nd

Charlie was unable to place his sock on his foot due to his severe back pain. If he doesn't make a breakthrough this year, his farming career will be over because everything at the farm house is on a tight budget. Unless he reduces the size of his flock to a manageable level, he will be unable to work. A ewe gave birth to two lambs last night, and the lambs had a terrible time finding their mother. For a while, it seemed like they would have make-or-break lambing issues because they are so erratic. At times, I worry about these sheep as a species, since they most likely would not have experienced these issues had it not been for centuries of agricultural intervention.

Time and date stamp is wrong on this video clip.

I am against captive, confined environments in live stock farming, in retrospective hindsight a clear line has to be drawn between compassion and intervention. It's a pleasant, sunny morning, and I noticed the driveway is once more clogged with mud as I peered out the stairwell window. The farmhouse pond was full of frogs last night. There is an abundance of coding work that must be completed on this website; therefore, I must strike a balance between the addition of new content and the correction of code. There are five cade lambs to look after today, four have health appetites, after two days, one is still being nursed to suckle, but he's responded well to anti-biotics. The lambs that come have loose skin and look sad. Each lamb has a unique story to tell.

All day long, I tried in vain to get the new cade tup to start sucking. In the evening, Charlie shock him gently and his belly rattled, and thus stated that the tup had a wet mouth. Charlie administered another anti-biotic injection, he appeared weak, they can deteriorate quickly. Another two lambs were born, mother ewe is happy with them; I didn't even notice them, Charlie has penned them in so other ewes cannot interfere. Almost all the ewes have given birth, there are forty-five lambs and another ten more ewes due to lamb; we could have sixty-five lambs this season. It's pouring with rain outside, I am at the farmhouse, there is not much around for miles.

21st

Visited doctors and got all clear on the moles on my back, doing a poo sample to test for Zoonotic disease and also further blood tests because I am still anaemic. Spring vibes are urging me to travel again, in another month, I'll be rambling some mountains, maybe. Driving out of Hawick and into Borthwick water, the weather was sopping, but cleared as we got to the farmhouse; I am not into livestock farming, the prevailing smell of excrement, so won't be having that much to do with that after lambing season has gone, but it has been an experience, I've learned so much about sheep.

There are five cades now, one mother cade has a bad bag, one of her lambs has been supplementing her diet with water, which will eventually kill the wee puke, so his whiteness been bought into cade. The two Zwartble cade lambs are now living outside, and are doing OK, I've noticed they are beginning to nibble at sillage. Today I am pushing Charlie to get the sheep to grass keep, one lamb has just had her ears tagged. Charlies also got to send some to market, to pay the rent! It's the Weavers festival in Hawick this weekend.

We dropped one tup and five ewes to grass keep, the other sheep welcomed them, one was jumping up and down with excitement to see her friends arrive; all, although some bewildered, are glad to be returned to the green field to graze. At midday I had a chance to see some new born calves at Charlies work place, they are so quiet compared to lambs but inqusitive none the less.

We returned to Hawick, I collected my prescription and noticed how miserable they are in the pharmacy, Charlie stated they'd always been glum, and that they were glum to his ex-wife. The mother ewe that has got mastitis is looking absolutely miserable, Charlie thinks it's because he's run out of Loxicon, which is an anti-inflammatory painkiller; he is optimistic she'll pull through, but I don't like to have doubts.

Six penny stand, the cage is bigger than it looks here. I am feeding this lamb every hour, he is only drinking small amounts.

There are three cade ewes outside and two cade tups inside, one of the tups is unwell, we call it "standing on six pence", if you look at the photograph below, you'll know what I mean. Mother ewe did not have enough milk for him, if he had stayed outside he would have abated hunger with suckling water and died.

20th

Been bedridden for the last twenty-four hours with a weird zoonotic disease. I have not been within proximity with livestock in my life, but have been helping a farmer who has been a livestock farmer all his life. My stomach is cramped, and I feel bloated and sick, my body is swollen, and I am tired most of the time; some of the cade lambs came in unwell, I believe they have passed illness onto me. It was a week before I realised we needed disinfectant soaps etc, I have not handled livestock animals and Charlie handles live stock every day, accustom and unaccustomed appears to have mislaid basic animal husbandry hygiene.

Took some Doxycycline antibiotics (left over from treating a tick bite infection) this morning and after a few hours bed rest I'm beginning to feel better. I've been trying to spin dry my clothes for the last eighteen hours, I resorted to ringging them out into the bath tub, then placing them back into the machine to attempt another spin. I want to get my clothes dry because I am feeling much better, so I'll be planning on returning to the farmhouse for a few days to help with the lambing; despite suffering illness; the farmhouse is quiet, and I adore the surrounding countryside, plus I am helping a Charlie with his livestock, he was, and I think still is, in some ways struggling.

During the early evening I washed my clothes, feeling much better. When Charlie came most of my clothes were still sopping wet, so he's picking me up tommorrow to take me to the farmhouse. I have appointment with the doctors because there are swollen moles that are bleeding on my back, so thought best to get these checked out.

19th

Yesterday, I returned to the farm house after visiting the lambs at the grass keep. The ewes, lambs and tup showed no signs of being pleased to see us, but walked down to our car to check for food, I guess they were looking for sillage. We checked the water supply, and walked the fields boundaries to check for any breaches in the perimeter fence. He's thrown everything in the air to get this grass keep, and has no petrol for his car, so it's looking as though I won't be getting any visitors today, because, after six months of living in the borders, he is the only person that I have in my life; no other friends, but a professional depersonalised, acquaintance to substantiate rapport.

18th

Was at the farmhouse, took a few pictures.

There are two chaffs, one is of lesser quality, and smells of sherry, the other is good quality. We often joke about the sheep being piss heads.

17th

Five lambs were born to three ewes last night; the Dorset ewe had two lambs without any intervention. Our first cade lamb has been placed outside, she is heavy, fat and has become too big and strong to rationalise with her being nursed indoors. Initially she had a bit of trouble with other mother ewes, but this was just to define ground, so appears to be settling into her natural environment, her projection responsive with the herd.

My left foot is in agony, whatever is wrong appears to be worsening; I am going to have to go to hospital if the problem gets any worst. There is much nerve damage in my feet, because of trauma induced dissociation. I have recurrently banged both feet into doors, corners, etc, significantly over the last decade. I also have a problem with hand co-ordination, reaching out to household objects such as hot pans, the kettle, etc, scolding my hands, wrists and arms.

A mother ewe has become unwell, she is seated by a ventilation slat in the poly tunnel, she is panting; her lambs are hungry. Charlie gave her an injection, but she'll have to be watched, and her lambs supplemented with food; hoping she survives this, because I don't want to be nursing any more cade lambs!

16th

The valley is drenched in rain, the lambs in the field are not enjoying this weather, but a standing straight against an east facing stone wall. There is groundwater everywhere, thin slabs of mud protrude where the tractor tires have been. Charlie shouted for a bucket of disinfectant, I found Charlie in the poly tunnel pulling at a dead lamb with bailing twine, from between the hind legs of a sick and distressed ewe.

I have lit the farmhouse fire to keep momentum up, during this gloomy day, but the cades have been fed and are leaping with vigor, playing together. As I was feeding them I thought of the other lambs outside in the field, they have it rough but nonetheless have the love of their mother with them. The dog is barking and creating a disturbance to go outside, but he'll paint himself in mud, then brush this mud all over the farmhouse, so he's staying inside; for now.

After midday we transported several ewes and a tup to the new grass keep, it was fun watching them return to a green field, they'd been there the previous year, and yes they did recognise it. After I stopped at the flat to put on some thermal leggings we did a second run to the grass keep, with ewes and lambs, the ewes already there from the first run recognised the second run, excited they ran over to greet them. I unsuccessfully attempted to purchase a pair of earring clips in Galashiels. The ewe that Charlie helped this morning died, she was mopping and lying down, lambs were visiting her, sort of knew she was going to pass away, but Charlie decided to administer her an injection of Loxicon to give her a chance at getting over her dead ewe.

There is good news, although a lamb and mother ewe died, another mother ewe gave birth to a big lamb; her waters had been broken for a while (but her sack was still wet) so it was significant, in hindsight, that we got to her in time. Another ewe, a Dorset has also begun to lamb, I am feeling anticipation and somewhat excited for her, some of the ewes that give birth later than the others often yearn for lambs of their own.