February 2025

22nd

Another mother ewe has lambed tripplets, one died, leaving black and white twins for mother ewe to lick; very messy, required intervention.

I don't know how Charlie does this without gloves; he calls this cleansing, I call it gore.

Internet here is slow to upload mp4 files.

Been kept awake with clenching stomach spasms, yet doctor says I should not be in pain with my stomach; internet research suggests Irritable bowel syndrome IBS.

They like freshly opened bales of hay and will eat from my hand.

Driveway is going to be scraped again this autumn.

It's not a problem for our L200 but messes up the farmhouse, notably the kitchen, it's a near constant mop to keep the mud out. Yesterday my faery friend asked if I still heard messages (auditory hallucinations), I replied "yes, but I've become a better listener". Who in history has ever been contented to listen to their thoughts I asked myself.

This is the lambing count in the polly tunnel, three pens, five lambs with three mother ewes. There all quiet contented, although we are watching out for watery mouth.

Charlie still wears his ragged overhauls despite me buying him new overhauls; he's the same with clothes.

Here is the spray I used to mark gimmers that had been wormed; as we cannot sell wormed livestock at Longtown auction until the wormer has left their system.

We called in at Harbo in Hawick to pick up some wormer for the ewe lambs; this covers them for three weeks against fluke and tapeworms. Returning from Ancrum, swore I seen Stewart Copeland in Denholm, of all places. Returning to Woodburn we errected a pen, and lured several gimmers onto the driveway from the paddock with a bag of chaff.

21st

First twin lambs of the year have been born in Woodburn Farmhouse polytunnel at midday; both lambs are suckling mother ewe without intervention.

These two below have proper teeswater markings.

Charlie let me film them before he penned them off, then left them to bond; this is the 3rd year I've seen lambing at Woodburn.

As I was returning to Woodburn from Ancrum another mother ewe lambed; Charlie was in a rush to return. That's twins and a single lamb from two mother ewes.

19th

Loving these early morning Ancrum sunrises from my living room window.

Charlie kindly helped me with pre-paid electricity and gas yesterday, I have a warm house today.

18th

Fixed fan problem on my Optiplex 3070 micro, replacing the fan with a fan from my old Optiplex 3020 micro machine.

17th

It's snowing this morning, I adore the snow settleing on the countryside; winter is my favourite time in Scotland.

Trying to shift the flu with honey and lemon; have throat lozenges and paracetamol to lower my temperature.

16th

Visited Teviothead, Charlie wanted to see the Hizzy Cairn.

A lovely and quiet place, undisturbed to unwind, rest thoughts.

Interesting to learn the story of Johnny Armstrong.

I liked Teviothead Kirk, the bell has a nice sound.

We didn't visit anywhere inhabited and did not stay out for too long, as both of us are sick with flu!

15th

Charlie pulled some disconcerning faces whilst fetching hay bales today.

pulling an angry face charlie loads a hay bale into the back of our blue pickup

He never lets on that he's angry, but I've studied kinesics; so he can't hide.

a young ginger baby calf lays down length ways beside the feet of her mother
Inside a barn covered with straw a young brown baby cafe stands at distance facing the camera lens
a young brown calf lays down onto straw, had raise staring into the distance contented

Whilst he loaded hay bales, I took a few photographs of new born (2 days old) calves.

fat mother ewes in lamb rest awkwardly inside a poly tunnel, monitored by CCTV

We're still waiting on the lambs arriving, ewes are huge so any day now. From last year we've halved the number of ewes in lamb.

14th

Out for a walk today, along Alewater.

leonie with her bridge camera by the ale water, ancrum is seen in the distance behind her

This bridge is being...

Repaired by the council.

Snowdrops have bloomed in Ancrum Wood.

Since resettling in the Scottish Borders my health began failing me, maybe it's I've lived this world hard, for over half a century!

This website, to this day has 9,926 items, totalling 3.9 GB.

13th

Fan on my Optiplex 3070 micro is spinning hour after hour at max speed, making the air in my living room smell of circuit board.

Humming is extremely irritating, I've cleaned the inside of the computer, maybe I need to repaste the heat sink, or replace the fan.

11th

Cooked Charlie a steak pie.

Pleased with the pastry.

9th

Doing housework today, white snowdrops, our first flowers of the year have appeared through our lawn in the front garden at Woodburn Farmhouse.

Remembering last year, a woman in Borthwick valley posted a picture of her white snowdrops shaped into the word "black"; such a weird statement.