diary of a comedy sheep farm

[spin cycle]

tuesday

popped down to arkwrights first up....out of coffee and admiral wanted new bird feeder.....i indulged her...funny thing is at the moment she is good/bright as a button mornings but goes down hill mentally in afternoons....anyhoo arkwright asked how our neighbours wedding went....there indeed had been a wedding next door but we wern't involved....fair enough weddings can get big enough plus we had other stuff on....BUT ....sat morning a lycra clad cyclist appeared in our yard asking about it.....after a puzzled start it turned out he was scouting for a barn for his daughters wedding....cheapest quote he'd had was £7.5k.....anyhoo i recounted the tale to arkwright...'cor ta hell' he exclaimed....then i teased 'you'd better get saving for when annie gets remarried'....'that i arn't' arkwright turning red 'i paid for first blighter i aint again'....he knew i was teasing but got so flustered he under charged me...i point it out....corrected i depart....arkwright slumped on the stool....granville grabbing a 'womans weekly' from the shelf to fan his employer lest it develop into a hot flush

K and i arrived at farm same time...i was desperate to get off pasture topping but K had a problem.....cos she'd had a miserable start with her ewes i'd given her a suffolk x triplet ewe lamb to bottle feed and rear on to go into her portion of our flock....anyhoo this lamb has grown well and has started bleating early in the morning much to her grumpy neighbours chagrin....it was on my 'list' to make a follow on pen for biggest orphans next some grass...K chided me to make room in the barn promising she'd finish it off....twas a 'nudge' i needed and a good job done

either side a lunch finally got to finish the topping

found another elderly wilt on field today with twins.....HOWEVER she had no mark....last autumn we'd gathered all the ewes and marked them in priority for vaccinating (i bought 100 doses of toxovax) but had slightly more to do than that....SO.....best ewes got a yellow marker stripe on back....next best got blue....culls got purple.....except during lambing (and again today) i keep coming across ewes with no grade stripe....about 15 i reckon in all ....which begs the question 'where the feck were they at autumn muster

 

[onthehoof]

where the feck were they at autumn muster

Are you sure they are your sheep and not someone else's that have 'wandered'

 

[spin cycle]

Are you sure they are your sheep and not someone else's that have 'wandered'

but that mean that my sheep didn't get out but other ppls got in with mine ....doesn't sound very likely......UNLESS.....my lot got out...'liberated' some one elses and brought them back.....is that whats meant by 'theave'

 

[robbie]

tuesday

popped down to arkwrights first up....out of coffee and admiral wanted new bird feeder.....i indulged her...funny thing is at the moment she is good/bright as a button mornings but goes down hill mentally in afternoons....anyhoo arkwright asked how our neighbours wedding went....there indeed had been a wedding next door but we wern't involved....fair enough weddings can get big enough plus we had other stuff on....BUT ....sat morning a lycra clad cyclist appeared in our yard asking about it.....after a puzzled start it turned out he was scouting for a barn for his daughters wedding....cheapest quote he'd had was £7.5k.....anyhoo i recounted the tale to arkwright...'cor ta hell' he exclaimed....then i teased 'you'd better get saving for when annie gets remarried'....'that i arn't' arkwright turning red 'i paid for first blighter i aint again'....he knew i was teasing but got so flustered he under charged me...i point it out....corrected i depart....arkwright slumped on the stool....granville grabbing a 'womans weekly' from the shelf to fan his employer lest it develop into a hot flush

K and i arrived at farm same time...i was desperate to get off pasture topping but K had a problem.....cos she'd had a miserable start with her ewes i'd given her a suffolk x triplet ewe lamb to bottle feed and rear on to go into her portion of our flock....anyhoo this lamb has grown well and has started bleating early in the morning much to her grumpy neighbours chagrin....it was on my 'list' to make a follow on pen for biggest orphans next some grass...K chided me to make room in the barn promising she'd finish it off....twas a 'nudge' i needed and a good job done

either side a lunch finally got to finish the topping

found another elderly wilt on field today with twins.....HOWEVER she had no mark....last autumn we'd gathered all the ewes and marked them in priority for vaccinating (i bought 100 doses of toxovax) but had slightly more to do than that....SO.....best ewes got a yellow marker stripe on back....next best got blue....culls got purple.....except during lambing (and again today) i keep coming across ewes with no grade stripe....about 15 i reckon in all ....which begs the question 'where the feck were they at autumn muster

Never you mind about pulling Arkwright's leg. Haven't you got a couple daughters that'll need grand weddings paying for at some point!!!!!
I hope for your sake lamb prices keep up, 2 Bridgeton style weddings will eat the old mart cheques quick!!!!!!

 

[Sharpy]

but that mean that my sheep didn't get out but other ppls got in with mine ....doesn't sound very likely......UNLESS.....my lot got out...'liberated' some one elses and brought them back.....is that whats meant by 'theave'

Sounds more like they are recruiting likely looking sheep in the hope you cull the newcomers, thus allowing them to continue the freedom they require!

 

[spin cycle]

wednesday

admiral phoned up 1:30 am with 'panic attack......could not get back to sleep after calming her down ....had planned to vccinate/worm some lambs but a heavy shower 8am and showers on/off all morning put paid to that.....try again tommoz....bit jaded anyway TBH

had an easy day...carted some hurdles out to catching pens in bale and went to bank (balance ok).......lunch....very long.....fell asleep ......ran an errand for mrs spin afternoon and knocked off a bit earlier

but that mean that my sheep didn't get out but other ppls got in with mine ....doesn't sound very likely......UNLESS.....my lot got out...'liberated' some one elses and brought them back.....is that whats meant by 'theave'

as it's a bitta 'slow news day' i'll recount a bit of 'pigeon lore'......homing pigeons have been used for centuries to carry messages....carrier pigeons becoming a strain.....but in renaissance europe they became particularly important.....agents or spies could use them...they were faster than human runners....harder to intercept and follow.....in cities merchants/commerce also used them for relaying sensitive market information......of course efforts to intercept/disrupt the pigeons were made.....the most popular was to cross a pouter or cropper pigeon with a homing strain.....the former are the 'sex gods' of the pigeon world both in terms of display (puffing out their breast) and libido.......lack of homing instinct though meant they needed the latter as a cross to enable them to range looking for 'talent' and nous to lure them back to the home loft.....they became known as 'thief pigeons' or 'horseman pouters'......broken to a home loft they could be left to range or let out in cities with the aim of distracting.. courting and luring carrier pigeons back to their home loft for the owner to 'harvest' the information for profit or advantage

as times changed their use changed from one of 'intrigue' to 'sport'..........rival fanciers flying out their birds trying to steal pigeons from other lofts....particularly popular in scottish cities....glasgow foremost......flown from tenement rooms or heavily fortified lofts.....rivalries getting out of hand leading to theft,,,, attacks....even arson.....i think there are still a few ppl that keep/fly them for for pleasure these days

ps a pigeon in scotland is called a 'doo'

 

[spin cycle]

found some for sale in bristol

 

[JSmith]

View attachment 1039931

found some for sale in bristol

I used to have black an white pied ones when we were kids, my brothers still got a loft full of god knows what aswell, mainly tumblers of different descriptions, and racers for training gun dogs!! Place said racers in a trap on the ground, send your dog out to flush the game and then press a remote control that release the pigeons therefore simulating the flush of game!! Pigeons happily make there way back to the loft, everyone’s happy! Grandad used to fly racers quite successfully I believe, so that’s where our interest comes from

 

[primmiemoo]

Fascinating colours on those birds. Would they be from the same clutch?

 

[Lodekka]

Haven't you got a couple daughters that'll need grand weddings paying for at some point!!!!!
I hope for your sake lamb prices keep up, 2 Bridgeton style weddings will eat the old mart cheques quick!!!!!!

Well i’m sure the collective ‘helpful’ souls on here will help you out with wedding arrangements when the time comes.
You have a bevvy of handsome waiters to be on hand to manage guests.
Couple of tarted up tractor/trailers and maybe I could throw a bus in for the guests..

Our prices could be reasonable - with a bit of discussions....

And the good salespeople of Naam and roundabouts will provide all your needs for food (kebab’s), discounts on Turkish haircuts etc.

Simples...

 

[spin cycle]

Fascinating colours on those birds. Would they be from the same clutch?

yes....those in the picture are called 'mealies' colour wise

looks like 'horseman pouters' have a facebook page with 1200 odd followers

 

[robbie]

yes....those in the picture are called 'mealies' colour wise

looks like 'horseman pouters' have a facebook page with 1200 odd followers

No worse than the ploughmen group or drill operators UK or McHale drivers group or Trimble operators or baler drives or conventional baler drives uk....(actually that one is @carbonfibre farmer little baby) that some sad sad people join.....honestly some peopleare unbelievable

 

[Will 1594]

bit more scrap for spin

 

[spin cycle]

No worse than the ploughmen group or drill operators UK or McHale drivers group or Trimble operators or baler drives or conventional baler drives uk....(actually that one is @carbonfibre farmer little baby) that some sad sad people join.....honestly some peopleare unbelievable

charlie's small baler group has 10.4k members .....moderator a bit lax though.....got posts about mowers round balers etc

thinking about starting one for vemeer round balers...if i could find another member

once i stumbled upon a 'pet mice' forum.....from what i could make out it had two members and they were both slagging each others mice off....calling them 'feeders'.....which i presume meant the mice were only fit for snakes/raptors etc

 

[spin cycle]

bit more scrap for spin

OI...where's that?

 

[Will 1594]

OI...where's that?

Some where you would get lost ,and not be understood ,
eboracum or eoforic

 

[spin cycle]

Some where you would get lost ,and not be understood ,
eboracum

TBF thats most places

thats york i take it.....might be one coming up at cheffins .....i may have other 'irons' however

 

[robbie]

charlie's small baler group has 10.4k members .....moderator a bit lax though.....got posts about mowers round balers etc

thinking about starting one for vemeer round balers...if i could find another member

once i stumbled upon a 'pet mice' forum.....from what i could make out it had to members and they were both slagging each others mice off....calling them 'feeders'.....which i presume meant the mice were only fit for snakes/raptors etc

There's a couple of good ones that are dedicated to people who love lamps, they're both worth a look!!!!!!

 

[spin cycle]

FYI...if you google 'gorse sniffing forum' ....page 153 of this diary is the top result

 

[Sharpy]

FYI...if you google 'gorse sniffing forum' ....page 153 of this diary is the top result

Did anyone ever find out what happened to @Chopsy Varmint ?