30 August 2010

Ben is sad

11 comments
Because tomorrow is my first day back at school.

Ben

27 August 2010

Suckie Capture FAiL

4 comments
On Saturday I took a notion that I would go out to the field and catch Suckie. What a stupid idea.

You see, Suckie is very tempermental - sometimes she would run to you and others she would avoid you. On Saturday, she was in "avoid mode".

I went into the field and sat near the gate, shook the bucket I'd brought of nuts and waited for Suckie to come running to food. To my surprise, she didn't, and all of the other sheep had ran off.

I walked up the hill, and the closer I got to the sheep, the further away they got. I shook the bucket again and they got scared off - and there was still no sign of Suckie!

After half an hour of me walking towards the sheep and the sheep running away, I gave up and headed for home, only to find that the sheep were running after me... lead by a very excited Suckie! I set the bucket down and this is what happened:


All of the ewes pilled in! I tried to ctach Suckie, but she was too fast for me, and ran off as soon as I got too close. Eventually she took her head out of the bucket for long enough to get a picture.


With Suckie, you can look but don't touch!

26 August 2010

Well, this is awkward...

4 comments
Awkward

Yep, it’s that time of year again! The rams are back on the main farm and getting very angry with us and themselves.

CLEAR OFF, HALFWIT!
Rams

Ahem. Anyway, that ewe on top of a ram got there because she jumped over the wall and landed on top of him. She had jumped past me (just missing me).

Here’s the bigger picture:

Awkward

You can clearly see the pain on his face.
 
This is Bernie (known because he’s the one with a barnet).

Bernie

And there was another awkward moment between him and Ernie - ‘cause Ernie was on Bernie’s back.

Ernie

And the awkwardness doesn’t end there.

Rams

This must be some kind of really weird sport!

On the plus side, Snowy’s back!

Snowy

She’s such a nice little lady. She should be having a lamb (or two) this year. Sugar, on the other hand, we still haven’t decided about.

Sugar

There are only four months left till Christmas! Where has the year gone?!

23 August 2010

You're my best friend

2 comments
...My lamb!



This lamb is Fly's new best friend, because he got through the gate and couldn't get back out because it shut behind him. He was one of the cutest lambs ever when he was little - and he still is! Fly didn't really like him that much - he wasn't a very tactful friend. He just barged past her when she came too close.

 Get outta my way, dog!
Fly & Lamb

The meanie! I'm sure Fly would make a great friend, if given half the chance!

I'm a lamb and she's a dog - it just won't work.

Speaking of friends, Sheila has a new friend, too. Meet "Ball".


Ball made Sheila very dirty.

I'm not Sheila, I'm just your regular three-toned dog... who closely resembles this "Sheila".
Sheila

Okaay... anyways, Sheila can jump on things. Black plastic for a black dog, yes?

Sheila

I'm sure I could put that to good use.

20 August 2010

Working mums

1 comment
Have gotta eat something.

We went to our usual collection point on Wednesday, and Rua was tucking into a delicious snack... of horse poop. Charming.

Working mums, have also gotta be mums.


The little brown and black kitten is called Oily, because he fell into some oil and few weeks ago. The gray one is a little lady cat and follows people everywhere - hence my abilty to take photos of her.


Now, I'm not a cat person, but that is one cute kitten!

And don't I know it?

This kitten lives with Blue, a dog.


Of course, Blue would like to eat the kitten, but hey, he's a Border Collie!

~~~


18 August 2010

Hat trick

No comments
Sunday was one of those days. The sun was shining and it felt like Summer. The day before I had noticed that there were some cows next door, but I was too busy to go and see them and take pictures of them. By the time I had finished with the silage, the cattle had moved on. But I was not deterred.
The next day, I headed out with Ben on the quad to try to get a few pictures of them. They were quite close by so I was able to make a few noises and they came over to find out what the heck was going on.

What the heck is going on?

It was really hard to get a few pictures of them, because the wall was so wide, and the fence was so high, and the grass was so long... and I could go on. I had to stand on the quad and hold the camera up as high as I could on some occasions. For some of the photos I couldn't even see the screen - I was just taking pot luck.

This is the family photo.

Only two of the adults came over to see us, but all of the calves did.

Ben's reaction when he saw this...


Was bark bark bark bark!

I calmed him down and he stopped, but he kept his eye on them none the less.

To make him pay for his mistake, I taught him to wear my hat. To be honest, he didn't need much teaching, and I just put it one him and took a photo.

Good looks, charm and a hat? Who could resist me now?

16 August 2010

Cheering up your Monday

4 comments
...with a Ben!

Chew, chew, chew!

 Ben never fails to cheer me up every day!

Here he is chewing on his favourite bone, which is chicken flavoured. He loves it. I got it for Sheila last year, but she never really showed any interest in it, then Ben came along!

And here's a blast form the past... a video from  last August!



It's definately the sort of video you would watch on a Monday.

Have a happy Monday!

(Those were two radom things to cheer you up today!)

15 August 2010

Our first blogging award!

6 comments

Apprently, I'm a Versitile Blogger. Cool. There are some rules to this award, though.

Rule 1: Thank the person who gave you the award.

Thanks, George! And thanks...




!

Rule 2: Share 7 things about yourself.
  1. I'm called Ruth and I'm 15 years old, and my birthday is on March 3rd
  2. My favourite birthday ever was on the 3rd March 2003, because of the date - 03/03/03
  3. I don't like school at all, partly because I have to get up at 6:30am every day
  4. My favourite food is sandwiches, and if there's a party, I will eat them all. Really
  5. My favourite subjects are (in random order) English, ICT, Art and Countryside and Envirionment.
  6. I once took a lamb called Liz to school for the open night. She peed three times, all in the same place, in the science room. She also had to be helped in by the door Senior Teacher.
  7. I'm a perfectionist, which is why this blog is always changing... I'm always trying to make it look nicer.
Rule 3: Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and you think are fantastic.

I'm going to modify this slighly, and include some bloggers I've known for months, but are far too brilliant to ignore.

Wyndson Farm
Pip Gets Back in the Game!
Dog Daily Photo
One Dog, One Camera, Pirceless Moments
Just Another Dog Blog
365 Days of Puppy in Pictures
Emma Rose
Sugar the Golden Retriever
Three Heeler's Wild
Lucy's Human
24 Paws of Love
It's a Dog's Lyfe
Sharper
The Crazy Dog Blog
WorkingSheepBlog 

And I've ran out of blogs, but I would like to include these ones, too.

Black Walnut Woolens
Coconuts From a Plam Treo

That was so difficult! Now to spread the word...

Rule 4: Contact the bloggers you picked and let them know about the award.

Thanks everyone and goodbye!

14 August 2010

Sugar the sheep... at large

6 comments
Last Tuesday, it was Sugar the Golden Retriever's birthday, and I gave her a present. I called a sheep Sugar (I was stuck on names, so Sugar it was). Let me tell you a little more about Sugar...

Sugar is a Suffolk sheep with a little bit of Texel in there, too. It's not much, but you can tell because if you saw her back legs, they are spotty in places -  a sign of Texel interference!

Nothin' wrong with a little bit of Texel is there?
Sugar the Sheep

Another thing you may notice about Sugar is that her face has little patches of light brown, another sign of Texel interference.

When Sugar was born, she was massive, huge and fat. She had lots of rinkles around her neck, a sign that she had plenty of room to grow. In fact, she was so big, her mum needed help getting her out. She grew quickly, and was strong and healthy. Her mum was good, too, and they were both out to the fields in no time. That was back in February, and today she is still massive (in fact, she's our biggest ewe lamb).

Healty weight, remember?
Sugar

Sugar has had a life-long passion with food, and because she was so big, she kept getting stuck in the creep feeders. We would got to look the sheep every day, knowing that Sugar would be stuck. She was able to get in - but as she ate more, she got bigger, and bigger until she was stuck and couldn't get out. My dad had to lift the feeder every morning so she could get out and run off to her mum.

What can I say? It was so tasty...
Sugar

Sugar might be having lambs next year, because of her size, or she might have lambs in 2012. We don't know for sure yet.

12 August 2010

Barking News: Rua's New Pups!

2 comments
Do you remember Rua?

Rua

If I mention "Ben's Mum", do you remember now?

If you don't, let me fill you in. Rua's name comes from the Welsh word for 'Red' and she herself comes from Wales. She had Ben and pals on December 5th 2009. There were eight of them. They were supposed to be Border Collies, but turned out to be Sprollies. Here they are at six weeks (see if you can find Ben!):



Rua's owner decided to try again, and Rua gave birth to seven Border Collie puppies on August 10th 2010.

Rua and the Pups

While bringing the lambs to the collection point, my Dad asked about Rua, and that's when we got the news.

Here's what greeted us...


Seven puppies! Wow! Major puppy lust!

The surprising thing is, there are two black and white puppies in the litter, from two brown parents. It's thought that they bred back.

This is my favourite of the litter, a nice little brown and white female. Aww.


Border Collie Puppy

PitaPata - Personal picturePitaPata Dog tickers
TO BE CONTINUED...
OCTOBER 2010

10 August 2010

A unique present

6 comments
It's our pal Sugar's birthday today, and she's a modest nine years old.


I have been thinking of what to do for Sugar's birthday, and suddenly it clicked (while I was drawing silage, may I add).

Happy Birthday Sugar... From these lambs!

Birthday Lambs

Ok, so it's not a real photo, but have yopu ever tried putting a hat on a sheep? It's hard.

Bet you didn't expect that? But wait, there's more!

This lamb (the brown-faced one) needs a name, doesn't she?

Lambs

Well, I was stumped - until I thought of the perfect name! Meet Sugar the sheep!

Happy Birthday Sugar!

From the dogs (and sheep) of Greenhill Farm!
We wish you many Golden Woofs to come!

Click here to visit Sugar's blog.

9 August 2010

A day at the beach

4 comments
Ben at the Seaside

This is a first. Not just for Ben, but for all of our dogs! Ben is the first of our dogs ever to go to the beach. Sheila was the first dog in the house, Kim was the first dog to bite a sheep on the neck and now Ben's the first dog to go to the beach. At least his first isn't a violent as Kim's.

We went to Murlough Beach, which I hadn't been to since Sasha was young. It was very exciting.

There's a short walk before you reach the beach itself, and Ben didn't behave very well on the way. He kept walking out in front of me, and trying to jump p on passers by. He soon got a chance to cool off, though, in the cold sea.

I let Ben off and he stayed with us for most of the time, and we soon relaxed and had a good time!

Look ma, the sea!
Ben at the Seaside

The bag of treats really helped him to stay with me and my Dad.

I will do whatever you say - for the treats. I will even lie down in the wet sand - for treats.
Ben at the Seasid

The numbers of people there drove him crazy, but he stayed with us.

Ben at the Seaside

After a while, we were all feeling tired, so we sat down on one of the dunes. Ben insisted he kept watch.

Ben at the Seaside

I'm enjoying this.
Ben at the Seaside

Do I get a treat for that pose?
Ben at the Seaside

You may notice that Ben is foaming at the mouth a bit, and that's because he wouldn't stop drinking the sea water, even though I could tell from his face and the expression he was making that he knew it tasted funny.

After a while, I realised I was giving Ben way too many treats, so I gave him a toy instead.

Yummy! *Nom, nom, nom...*
Ben at the Seaside

*Nom, nom, nom...*
Ben at the Seaside

The view from our june was nice, though.

The Seaside

And there were crabs everywhere, albeit dead ones.

Crab

There was a 'stream' in the sand, with water coming from nowhere.

Ben at the Seaside

Lanky Ben was running... away from the sea (it scares him).

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Ben at the Seaside

We had a brilliant day!

Ben at the Seaside

And it was very relaxing.

Ben at the Seaside

Best Beach Buddies!

Ben & Me at the Seaside


And yes, I did rip my trousers.