It’s been a busy day. I spent time weeding our kitchen garden, and we have lots of vegetables to plant this year at Woodburn Farmhouse.
We used ewe pellets to lead the flock from the paddock onto the farm driveway. Charlie trimmed the hooves of two ewes. A sick cade lamb, which was too weak to stand yesterday, was dagged and is now back to drinking bottled milk. This seems to be helping.
The law of the land states that all livestock must be numbered and that to transport them, a livestock movement book is required.
Our friend couldn’t find the key to the field’s padlock, so we ended up lifting the sheep over the gate one at a time. The Zwartble mother ewe stood by patiently while we helped her lamb over.
When the rain stopped in the early evening, I decided to trim the last of the dock leaves in the paddock, finishing the job a day earlier than planned. I was exhausted by the time I came down from the hill. Charlie helped me put down the strimmer and brushed off my clothes before I changed, trying to get rid of the grass pollen that was making me sneeze. I had been strimming for over two hours, and my body wouldn’t stop shaking. This time, I made sure to cover up because I’m allergic to grass pollen, which can cause my skin to swell and look like cellulitis.
When I went to A&E, the doctor thought I had this, but my tests came back negative. Even so, taking anti-histamines (piriteze) helped reduce the swelling.
We bought a petrol strimmer because the dock leaf problem in the paddock is overwhelming. The lambs haven’t done well grazing there, and it almost feels like the farmhouse paddock is cursed, especially since the lambs at our other two fields are healthy.