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| The boys send their festive greetings to all blog pals. |
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| Couldn't resist sending this shot of Wee Eck sorting out his bit of swede! |
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| And finally (just before Rudolph appears) .............this was taken at 8.10am on Tuesday. Note the full moon still in the sky. Every morning this week has been the same, bitterly cold with the moon still glowing. 'Outa here - have a great Christmas. Later, 'gators! |
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| When the thaw set in last weekend we took the opportunity of moving the boys down to the lower paddocks where the steading and field shelter are deeper and the boys can get right out of the weather if they want to. There was little snow on the ground when this was taken but the frost was severe and the boys kept filling up on hay. When the steading door is opened the boys put on their most appealing looks to get more hay. Front to back we have Rufus at the front, then Fyta, Faro, Gaucho on the left, Wee Eck, Gully, Fergus and Fidget. |
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| Beware - intruder! Fyta knows that the hay is stored in the steading and when Robbie's back is turned decides to sneak in and grab a mouthful! Rufus is the lookout! |
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| Our two white boys, Fergus (R) and Fidget. These days they are more of a dirty grey than white! Like the other boys, they like to lie or roll on the ground. Lately with the severe overnight frosts they like nothing better than to lie outside getting covered in frost and when they stand up there are melted body shapes on the ground. |
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| Wee Eck (Echo) giving a typical toothy smile whilst eating his hay. We keep the open steading clear of straw but it soon fills up with unused hay and the boys seem to like lying on the bare floor. The other field shelter close by has thick straw on the floor and the boys decide which one to use - if at all. Democracy in action! |
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| Peek-a-boo, Faro! Being the guard, Faro always wants to know what is going on. If I go into a steading or shelter, he will follow to see what is happening. Thats what he's up to here. |
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| And finally..........more necklaces, some pure alpaca fleece and others mixed with Marino which I've been making whilst sheltering from the wintry weather. |
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| Bad weather this week meant more time for knitting indoors! This shows a neck band (top left) and a cable scarf I've knitted. Fergus's fleece was used for the scarf whilst the neck band is Fidget's fleece. The scarf is completely reversible and has a loop to hold it in place if necessary. |
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| We moved the boys to the top paddocks this week to let them get at the better grass before winter really hits us. Here are some of the boys with the Highland cattle Lola, Freda and (wee!) Hamish further up the slope. Faro is approaching and displaying his usual recognition signal when he sees us of his tail thrown up over his back. The reference books say that this is also a sign of submission, and/or aggression but Faro doesn't present either a submissive posture or aggression. Being the herd's guard this signal is obviously also for the other boys' information as well as a sign to us. |
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| A rear shot of Faro with his tail flicked over his back again. Rufus is also in the photo and you may have to magnify this to see it more clearly. Faro is the only one of the boys who uses this tail signal, we've never seen any of the other boys use it. |
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| And finally......... I think Robbie could have used a different camera setting when he took this photo which would have lightened the scene a bit. However, perhaps a bit of magnification will show the boys in their paddock (middle left) with the Highlands lying down in their part of the field (middle right). The shot was taken facing west towards Glen Strathfarrer, Strath Glass and Glen Affric with patches of mist rolling up the hillsides. |
