I have been worried about Lilly's integration into the flock as she lives almost exclusively in and around the barn, only venturing out when I arrive to feed her. This has been compounded by the fact that we are putting up a new lambing shed, so it is also a building site. At night I have closed the gate to the barn so that she is safe, and open up again in the morning, but this isolates her at the same time, she sleeps alone, and never gets to understand the safety that the flock would bring........ that was up until last night!

I had been over to give Lilly her 8.00 feed, and had discovered Peewee and her family, with Tottie and Dixie milling round the barn again, Lupin and her lambs were keeping their eye on what was happening from a few yards away. I had fed her, given her a cuddle and had left her in the very capable hands of Peewee, and for the first time had left the barn gate wedged open, ...... Nigel returned at midnight and came home to tell me what he'd found.

Lilly had bounded out of the barn when she heard the car and had greeted Nigel as he climbed the gate from the road. He had given her her bottle then picked her up to return her back inside, only to find that there had been an invasion! Lilly inhabits a third of the last extension, the part of the building that Nigel built with James to act as a nursery. Her boudoir is carpeted with clean straw, and she has an old bread tin filled with water.... The two mums, Peewee and Lupin had moved in for the night with their families, and Dixie was there too, so Lilly finally had company and protection from the flock... and she seemed perfectly happy with the arrangement, snuggled up with 4 other lamb friends.

This morning I arrived to find Peewee just vacating the premises, with Lilly in tow, she looked at me, said good morning, and carried on plodding her way up towards the stream as Lilly turned and ran to greet me..... I don't think I have to worry any more!! Hopefully she will venture towards the other sheep during the day as well, as she is perfectly proficient at grazing too these days.. the clover training has done it's job!

Over the past week we have been spending a lot of time over at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton, as Nigel's mum has not been well, and last night was not different. We had been round all the sheep, checking and feeding, showered and jumped in the car..... Lilly had eaten lots of clover flowers that I had picked from Dudley and Vincent's field and we had left her with the last few in her dish in the barn.... her "full" sign was up!!

So on the way back we took a rare hour or so to stop in Bedale at the "Taste of India". It was lovely to have time together to have a quiet time to talk and laugh together in nice surroundings...... and for someone else to do the cooking!

We were late giving Lilly her evening meal...not that it had done any harm, its the first time that a meal has been out of her regular routine since the day she was born, but what greeted me at the barn made me smile.  A certain mum had taken a third lamb under her wing, and was standing in the gateway of the barn making sure that she was cared for and not in any distress, there was no pushing or shoving....... It was the same sheep who earlier in the day had called to me across the field and had asked for a cuddle, and had buried her head in my chest, showing her lambs that people can be kind... a sheep who understands all about milk bottles and human contact... My lovely Peewee was looking after Lilly until we arrived, and had clearly chosen to do so.... Tottie and Dixie were not too far away and Lupin came over to join us with her twins too... Lilly was perfectly happy, and came bouncing over for her tea... They really are a nice bunch!

Yesterday was an important day for us.  Our first 6 Dorset ewes were bought from a farmer near Yarm, who does not have his sheep registered as pedigree, he has over 300, so I contacted the Dorset Breeders Association to ask how we could start a pedigree flock.  They informed me that we could get our existing sheep inspected and then get them accredited as being pure, assuming that they are, then any others that we breed with a registered tup will automatically be considered as pedigree.... It's why we went back to purchase 7 more.. and yesterday was the day of the inspection!

We had 20 to inspected in total, the original 6 that James bought for me, the new 7 sheerlings and our 7 gimmer lambs including my beautiful Ellie Mae.  

It's fairly obvious to see from their overall appearance that they are all Dorset sheep, and none have been crossed with other breeds, but they also look for blemishes, there should be no black marks around the eyes, or the nose or around their bums....... everything should be clean and pink... and I am delighted to report that they all passed with flying colours..... Each sheep is then marked with a new individual association number... this can be done with either tattooing, which I don't like the sound of, or with a 3rd ear tag, which is the way we chose to do it... We can now be included in the flock book and hope to be called the "Bishopdale Flock", its our first choice of name. Then maybe I can learn to show them and improve my knowledge, when I understand more about the breed?  There is a Northern branch of the society that we've also joined and they have classes and events during the year to help people such as us, who are new to these things... but I have to say that everyone we have contacted or met so far have all been incredibly nice and very helpful!

...... oh and just a note about Lilly... she has developed a liking from flowers! She started by helping herself to some little white chickweed blooms, but soon, with my help, progressed to clover...... I've just got to get her to eat them for herself as she's decided that it's fun for me to pick them all for her, and feed them one by one...  Ah.. but you should see her little wagging tail........ she's so happy!

Thank goodness......... I've been really worried about Lilly.  

Her days out in the field have been filled with chewing random objects and with sitting next to the main gate, waiting for me to come back... usually consisting of about 4 hours between feeds, and that's such a long time for someone so small.... 

Today I left her in good company with "Lucky II" who comes down to the barn with her lamb for breakfast each day... it comes from being inside with him when the weather was bad the first week he was born, and she has requested it ever since! When I returned with Nigel a couple of hours later, Lilly was no where to be seen.... I climbed over the gate and went to search for her... 

She wasn't too far away, close to other sheep in the field and happily munching grass on the other side of the stream.... when I called her name she looked up, said hello and bolted towards me, leaping the stream, and jumping into my arms where after jabbing me with her nose, snuggled in for the few minutes we were there.....  That Jab is really powerful... lambs do it when they are feeding, and Lilly is no different. She and others have regularly shot their bottles out of my hand, but being such a cuddly character, she also does it when I pick her up.. I can usually dodge it as I know the signs but the other day she caught me unaware and gave me a thick lip... Lambs are stronger than they look.

I'm so relieved that she is finally being more adventurous... These are tiny steps, but they are important ones to integrate into the flock... The next step will be to put her in a smaller field, probably with Peewee and Lupin as they have teamed up. Their lambs can help Lilly by playing with her and by teaching the flock mentality, that staying together give's protection...  Peewee will know and understand how it's done when you're a pet! Lilly will also have to learn that the barn will not always be there at night, so we will use the old trailer routine.. putting straw into a small trailer, to make it feel like the barn gives a sense of familiarity and protection from the weather.... we've used it every year and it works like a dream.... We used the large trailer with the lambs in the main flock this spring, and there were often over 20 lambs in it every night... and the ewes know that they are safe too.

I had a really early start this morning as we had to be in Northallerton between 8.00 and 9.00 and all the usual jobs had to be done first. I started with Lilly's bottle, as her stomach is empty first thing in the morning, from her feed at midnight. She has half, then we walk up the field to find Lottie and her boys..... she has the other half when we walk back down... I can't bare the sloshing noise when she runs around, and she knows the routine!!

Last night I had found Lottie's sickly child in the old garden shed at the top of the field, which James used to use for lambing before the barn was kitted out. Lottie has been using it for overnight stops because it's dry and shelters the lambs from the wind and weather... sensible girl!!... so I had picked him up, given him a drink and had made him a nice warm nest of hay...... I'd left him snuggling in for the night, and looking very thankful and rather perky!

This morning as I walked up the field to find him, I looked from side to side as he has been found in all sorts of places during the last week, but today there was no sign until I went into the shed.... someone else had been in there too, but they had already vacated.... but there he was... with a look of complete serenity on his face. He had clearly had a very good night, and had been exceptionally relaxed with his little head gently propped on the frame where the wall meets the floor, he's slept really soundly..... at some point during the night, his little body had decided to quietly shut down, without telling anyone, even him.... and he had slipped away into his last but now endless slumber....... Lilly had a look at him, and then we both walked away.

Lottie was half way down the field and had spoken to me on the way up, I went straight back to her, and as she greeted me, I knelt down, and told her what had happened.... I think she already knew, and Otto was vying for her attention, so I left them to it......... I think she is probably quite relieved........ and if I'm honest, so am I...... 

Lottie is one of my favorite sheep.  She was the smallest of triplets and I picked her up from the field when her mum lost interest in her and brought her inside to join Peewee and later Megan as my pet lambs... two years ago now.

This year she has had her first lambs, and is a lovely mum. I found her on the morning of the 25th May, at the top of the field, she had already given birth to one lamb and her second was having problems. His front feet were on either side of his face rather than forward of his head.  She looked at me asking for help so I pulled out this little hooves one by one and gently pulled him clear, he took an enormous breath and she loved him from that moment on.... he has a huge splot of brown on his bum and is known as Otto!!

Lottie's first lamb has developed some problems.... he has always "stood on a penny" a stance that usually indicates that a lamb is hungry, but in this case I don't believe he is quite put together properly.... He has always been small and does not seem to be growing.  This week I have watched very closely, and he simply doesn't frame unlike his brother who is now streaks ahead. He is always on the wrong side of the field or with another ewe, and I collect him and put him back with his anxious mother on an almost daily basis, and she is so relieved to see him. So a few days ago I started to assist in feeding him, and Lottie's reaction has been profound.... while I'm trying to bottle him, I sit down on the grass and hold him so he's comfortable, she comes along and puts the side of her face onto my cheek, rubbing it gently, I can't tell you how touching it is... she knows I'm trying to help, I think she's aware he's not thriving. She also tried to drink from the bottle after he'd given up yesterday!

If I'm being realistic, I'm not holding out too much hope for his long term survival as he won't suck properly, and I have caught him eating grass, too early at his age... he's not in pain at all and I'll keep trying, and so will Lottie!

It has to be done sooner or later, usually we use a smaller field but this time the regime has changed.  Today is the day that Lilly has been left to her own devices in the field, on her own.  I put her into her pen after her breakfast but left it untied so that if she chose to push it open and come out, she could.  

She followed me out, watched as I climbed over the gate... its been "Lilly Proofed" and then I sat in the car to see what she did next. She cried a little, bit not much, then proceeded to chew as many different items as took her fancy, never moving far from the gate.  After a few minutes she settled down on a nice dry piece of earth, curled up in a ball and went to sleep, waiting for my return, just by the place I'd climbed over........ bless her!

Nigel had gone to collect something with his tractor, so wasn't too long, so when I saw him come over the brow of the hill I reversed back from the gate to let him in and climbed back over.... she woke up and climbed my leg... I picked her up and she buried her head down the front of my top and sat motionless..... it  had only been about 20 minutes.

We've done the same this afternoon, only this time Nanny McHawkins took her back up to the top of home field before going into her own back garden through the gate which backs onto the field. Its a long way to negotiate on her own for the first time,but she knows it very well as I walk it with her several times a day... Nigel found her back in the open barn a couple of hours later....... I'm just about to go back to give her her tea and then shut her safely in the barn for the night...... 

Lilly has been making great progress... she was 2 weeks old yesterday, and the beginning of her 3rd sees her starting to take interest in a more varied diet, eating grass and herbage, but it hasn't seen then end of her fascination for dried sheep poo! We'll be trying her on creep feed any day.

Her other main subject of her curiosity is her father, and his tolerance of her is simply breathtaking... Lilly hasn't got the message yet that her constant attentions are not everyone's cup of tea, but Buster's gentle nature is obvious by the sweet look on such a robust face... when he's had enough of her, he gets up, places his nose against her and pushes her out of the way... he could be so much more forceful and rough, even dangerous, but no... he's a real sweetie, a gentle giant, not only with her but with us too.... 

Buster is also proving to be interesting for other lambs in the field, and our latest born, and hopefully our last for this batch, has been making friends too, He's a bit of a mistake with one of our hogs to be truthful, but after spending a couple of damp nights inside, at the request of his mum, she's very clever, he is sleeping less and is starting to making friends! He's got some catching up to do, and has a face only a mother could love... but take a look at his socks, I think he's had a Ryeland transplant!!

I've been told many times that hand reared lambs make awful mothers because they haven't been given the skills they need to do the job.... what a lot of piffle! Peewee became my pet lamb in March 2013, and rang rings round us all, she was one of the first born that year and so helped with all my jobs around the barn, making it her domain, she got under every body's feet... 

As she grew up she became full of character, doing exactly what she wanted to do and never giving an inch.... She's always been affectionate, but on her own terms, and until this year would come to sit in the field with her head on my lap, getting very disgruntled with others who competed for my time and attention.  .... We haven't tried this recently because she's had other things on her mind!

So when Pees gave birth to twins, for Nigel, she had rather a lot to prove, but my goodness she has risen to the challenge. From day one, she knew what to do and has been the most organised mum in the field. She keeps them close most of the time and has taught them where to shelter from the wind or rain, and from the sun if its too hot, she's always in the best spot in the field because she's so savvy.... and her lambs are bright as buttons and do exactly what she says.... 

She has teamed up with Lupin and Dottie who help babysit for each other, but as soon as she wants to feed them she says the word... They drop everything. If they are playing they stop... it they are asleep they wake up and if they are sitting with a babysitter they jump up and run across the field to their mum... 

Today Pees was sitting in the shade at lunch time, relaxing with her babies and we watched as one of her lambs rubbed its little face round hers, just as she used to do with me, and she spent several minutes absorbing its adoration and gently returning the love in bucket loads... A beautiful moment to witness.... 
She's fantastic!

When we bought the new Dorset ewes, we knew that shearing them would be sooner rather than later, as they had 18 months of baby wool and could hardly see where they were going... it also made them quite skittish as they couldn't see us properly and to trust us they need to see us and know who we are... they were also going to be put to the tup with the rest so that we can lamb again at the beginning of November..... blimey.. that'll be 4 lambings in a year!

So a friend came in at fairly sort notice to clip... Nigel has done the job before, but he was 16 the last time he did it which is rather too many years ago to mention!! We did all the Dorsets and most of last years hogs.... Nigel gathered each fleece and passed it over to me... my job was to take off all the doddings and then wrap the fleeces before packing them into the wool sacks... 

They are so big that I can't see where I'm going and feel as soft and warm as the sheep they came from and they are slightly sweaty.. and smell wonderful... if you like that sort of thing.. Each is thrown out onto a makeshift table, with the outside ends uppermost, then they are folded into the middle along their length, skin side out and rolled up. 

The wool from the young dorsets is really soft and long so I'll keep one fleece for myself to spin and share another with a friend who's eye's lit up when she heard my description..... they are beautiful!

We had an extremely windy day on Saturday, so the hogs spent most of it hiding under the wall to keep warm... today has been warmer so they have been out and about again and seem much happier to be free of their long coats.. it takes a few hours for them to get covered with grease again, but 2-3 days to get a new later of wool, even the tiniest layer will make all the difference.

The Dorset ewes were put out onto fresh pasture with their new bow... who has a permanent grin on his face! 3 have already been tupped and have bright yellow bottoms from the first colour of raddle.. the red and green dots are our farm mark and the blue stripe is to keep any flies away... it disappears within a few hours but protects for a couple of weeks before we do the main fly protection which will last until September when the danger of being struck is much reduced.... can't have my girls being uncomfortable!