Wednesday 23 April 2008
Easter fun, lambs and special birthdays
I have been so busy with Easter B&B visitors that my blog has been a bit neglected and I have yet to master the art of adding a video but watch this space.
I know we shouldn't brag but we do think our little Nicole is just beautiful and this Easter bonnet was almost entirely her own work.
The bees and butterflies and eggs were all laboriously hand drawn by Nicole although her artistic aunt made the actual hen and Karen helped assemble it ready for the school parade.
Karen and Will had also made an Easter egg hunt with clever clues placed around the garden and farmyard, which had the children running and shouting in great excitement. I've done a video of this but the blog doesn't seem to like it! Will try again later.
In the evening William and Karen had us round for a super lamb meal - their house always looks so lovely and welcoming.
We loved this photo taken of our Jess with their dear old Gem taken by our regular visitors, the Hamsons. Gem is now sadly no more but was part of our Cote Bank scene for many years.
They came at Easter with their new dogs who won prizes just after Easter- the new pup, Freya, is showing real promise.
What varied weather we have had thrown at us - just in time for lambing! Although it has been cold, we have been spared rain, for which Nic has been grateful.
He has kept his twin lambs safely in the warmth of the buildings down at Stubbins but the singles up here, which had to be born in the field, have fared a bit worse and quite a few have had to be put in the little field building to give them a bit of shelter and help.
I know we shouldn't brag but we do think our little Nicole is just beautiful and this Easter bonnet was almost entirely her own work.
The bees and butterflies and eggs were all laboriously hand drawn by Nicole although her artistic aunt made the actual hen and Karen helped assemble it ready for the school parade.Easter day brought another fall of snow which looked very pretty for a few hours but had all melted by the time we got back from Easter Sunday church, to the slight disappointment of the children.
They had had a wonderful time early in the morning collecting the chocolate eggs that our hens always lay on Easter morning. Miracles all round at Easter- one of them being the speed at which a chocolate egg will melt when a hen sits on it along with her own egg!
Karen and Will had also made an Easter egg hunt with clever clues placed around the garden and farmyard, which had the children running and shouting in great excitement. I've done a video of this but the blog doesn't seem to like it! Will try again later. In the evening William and Karen had us round for a super lamb meal - their house always looks so lovely and welcoming.
We loved this photo taken of our Jess with their dear old Gem taken by our regular visitors, the Hamsons. Gem is now sadly no more but was part of our Cote Bank scene for many years.They came at Easter with their new dogs who won prizes just after Easter- the new pup, Freya, is showing real promise.
What varied weather we have had thrown at us - just in time for lambing! Although it has been cold, we have been spared rain, for which Nic has been grateful.He has kept his twin lambs safely in the warmth of the buildings down at Stubbins but the singles up here, which had to be born in the field, have fared a bit worse and quite a few have had to be put in the little field building to give them a bit of shelter and help.
Of course we hate having to bottle feed orphan lambs - luckily only two have been rejected by their mothers, who took to one twin and resolutely refused to accept the other- but little Tilly enjoyed feeding the greedy little lambs.
She got the hang of it very well - perhaps having a baby sister helped her- most children can't master keeping the bottle tilted enough but she did very well with a bit of help from Mum.
All finished and the second lamb is waiting for his turn! Jess, as always is in attendance! She just lives for lambing time and accompanies Nic down to Stubbins at dawn to check on the twins and then races along behind the car back here to keep an eagle eye on him as he walks around the singles in the fields around home. She won't be left behind and cries at the door to join him if we think she looks tired.
She got the hang of it very well - perhaps having a baby sister helped her- most children can't master keeping the bottle tilted enough but she did very well with a bit of help from Mum.All finished and the second lamb is waiting for his turn! Jess, as always is in attendance! She just lives for lambing time and accompanies Nic down to Stubbins at dawn to check on the twins and then races along behind the car back here to keep an eagle eye on him as he walks around the singles in the fields around home. She won't be left behind and cries at the door to join him if we think she looks tired. I'm not sure what will happen as she ages - probably will have to go down in the car with him! Next year we hope to lamb everything in the sheds as Nic is getting older and the 2hourly walk around the lambing fields is exhausting for him although he never complains. he just loves his sheep and is very proud of this year's crop of lambs which are particularly fine Gritstones and very healthy and lusty.
The twins have all lambed in the first 18 days -unheard of for us but most welcome as most are now safely out at grass with their mothers.
We do have fun with our guests! This is Harry who celebrated his 18th Birthday here last Sunday and to much hilarity we brought in the breakfast loaf of bread complete with candle for the birthday boy to make a wish on. Harry and Sam have been coming here on holiday with their parents since they were only about 4, so we felt very ancient on Sunday seeing this lovely young man at the grand old age of 18. His band had just won in a national competition in Manchester the previous day so it was celebrations all round.
The Williams boys were particularly impressed with Nic's snazzy sawn off jeans - times is hard in the hills! As Nic wears a boiler suit over his jeans these are rather practical and I think he has rather good legs, so we are all happy!
And not to be outdone, our friend Nick posed for this picture - not sure if his wife will be happy as it certainly does him no favours! It's the hat and the specs that do it!
The twins have all lambed in the first 18 days -unheard of for us but most welcome as most are now safely out at grass with their mothers.We do have fun with our guests! This is Harry who celebrated his 18th Birthday here last Sunday and to much hilarity we brought in the breakfast loaf of bread complete with candle for the birthday boy to make a wish on. Harry and Sam have been coming here on holiday with their parents since they were only about 4, so we felt very ancient on Sunday seeing this lovely young man at the grand old age of 18. His band had just won in a national competition in Manchester the previous day so it was celebrations all round.The Williams boys were particularly impressed with Nic's snazzy sawn off jeans - times is hard in the hills! As Nic wears a boiler suit over his jeans these are rather practical and I think he has rather good legs, so we are all happy!And not to be outdone, our friend Nick posed for this picture - not sure if his wife will be happy as it certainly does him no favours! It's the hat and the specs that do it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)