31 July 2015

Curious Belle

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Blue Belle is a very curious pony. If there's a quad or a tractor passing by her field, she is watching closely.



A close-up too, because I couldn't resist.


Some dainty back leg crossing going on here:


She's so pretty...

28 July 2015

Woolly Ballooning

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Remember back in April when we reseeded a field? The grass has finally grown enough to have the lambs let onto it. They love the lush new grass, and are, as Dad puts it, "ballooning".


(This one I actually recognize as one we are selling today.)



Sheila loves checking the sheep every morning. It's her favourite thing to do, now that she's a little older and running to round the sheep up tires her out much more.


The curious lambs inspect the quad...






This fellow is being sold today too.


Sheila loves her job! (Even when it's raining, like it is here.)


Some more curious customers - every time the quad stops they come to investigate.




Some weeds have sneaked their way in with the grass.


The new grass is going down a treat with the lambs.



Eye-Patch Lamb relaxing on the new grass. I've yet to come up with a proper name for her. Suggestions?


It took me a while to find Gloria, but here she is:


As soon as she realised she was having her photo taken, Gloria went to seek protection from two huge ram lambs.



Gloria's bodyguards looked really intimidating so we moved on...


The flock of lambs has another two fields to roam as well as the one with the new grass, and it was surprising how many of the lambs hadn't realised there was yummy new grass just next door. These lambs included Dave, and his new best mate, a Goliath of a lamb... I've just noticed that I've called these two David and Goliath. Heh heh.


Dave is probably the same age, if not older, than Goliath, and just look at the size difference. Even with my help for the first month of his life, Dave is tiny. It just goes to show that having a mum who cares about you goes a long way!


Poor Dave. I just want to cuddle him.


Sheila is the most intelligent dog I've ever had. If there is a sheep in trouble, she soon spots it and jumps off the quad - while it's still moving - to investigate.

Then again... it's behind you!


Some more curious lambs.


And one more photo of Sheila, just because...

27 July 2015

Ben and the Beach

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Last Monday evening was beautiful, so I made a spontaneous decision to visit the beach. Just about to get out of the car and walk through the dunes down to the beach - guess who is excited?


One last look at the mountains before they disappear behind the dunes for a while.




Having at little break.


When we arrived down at the beach, the clouds were making the mountains look very dramatic.


Barefoot on the beach - but this is Northern Ireland, so my toes got pretty numb from the cold!


Going out to sea...



We paddled here.


Not Ben's paw prints, but I thought they looked good.


Ben isn't much of a water dog, as you can probably tell from his expressions in these photos.



We did have great fun, though, until the rain chased us away.


It shouldn't rain on a beach. It's just wrong.

26 July 2015

Naming Nova

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The ewe-lambs, or "hoggets" as they are more widely known, are one-year-old female sheep. They currently live on fields of ours that are a short drive away. They should be having lambs in February.


It was raining when we went to check on them, so all of these photos are taken from inside the Land Rover.



This one has made a buzzy friend.



The grass is always greener...



Now this ewe-lamb is interesting. She is a well-made Texel in every way, except for her black bottom. I've been following her since she was born in the 2014 lambing season. She isn't difficult to spot in a crowd! It has taken me this long to come up with a name for her, however... meet Supernova, or Nova for short. Think about it.


You can see individual rain drops in this photo.


"Alright?"



It was no surprise that Pip was hiding in the boot. She is scared of the window wipers!