Long sunny days are a shear joy

This is it, the longest day, the sun is shining, the grass is growing as are lambs and calves.

The horses have cast their winter coats and so have we. Another week or so and we will make a start on clipping the hoggs, the youngest (and woolliest) sheep.

It will be the first time they’ll have experienced having their fleeces removed so it can be a bit more challenging to hold them still.

If all goes accordingly then it takes only three minutes to shear the sheep from start to finish. This year, after the particularly long and hard winter, there’ll be much less of a crop.

The sheep tolerated some pretty abysmal SAFE Rescuing lambs weather conditions and as a consequence lost a bit of overall condition.

When they recover they too cast off their coats, all of it or partially.

This means there’s some pretty untidy sheep knocking about at the moment, but not for too long once we get busy with the shearing.

The pet lambs had a lovely little field to graze, Edith has done a fabulous job of rearing them on the milk bottle.

For whatever reason they ventured down the steep bank towards the river, and then two took a tumble into the water.

They managed to clamber out but couldn’t get back into the field.

It was like playing hook-a-duck trying to grab them with the crook but eventually I got them and sent them on their way. I hope they’ve learned that the grass was not greener on the other side...

@AmandaOwen8