A 'blogette!'

Here we are again!   We think we've worked out the secret of the Picasa Web Albums and the amount of photos it takes to fill up the free space for blog photos - but it's still work in progress.  These photos were taken last week when the weather was really not too good and the boys got quite a soaking.  Fed up with the rain they had their afternoon feed then settled down for a bit of cud chewing.

Next door in the adjoining shelter are Gully (left) and Fidget and his favourite position at the back - letting someone else do the guarding!

Wee Eck covered in mud and with a little magnification, you'll see the white baby tooth which is still in situ  and refusing to fall out!

And finally............ an 'arty' photo of leaf colours and shapes, taken in the orchard.  Must go and try and get more photo space organised for 'the Sunday Post.'   Take care and hope the rain hasn't been too much of a problem for you lately.

Words only today I'm afraid as Blogger is telling us that we have used up all of our photo space - perhaps little wonder as our blog goes back to 2009 and hundreds of photos have been stored since then.  We've deleted lots of the old photos but that still doesn't seem to allow us to post new ones.  We'll see if we can get around the problem without buying more space then post another proper blog.

We are well as are all the boys.  The weather has been very mixed this week with rain, sleet, hail, gales - and sunshine!  The boys seem to be permanently wet but they don't seem to mind too much.  We've seen the TV pictures of the horrendous conditions some of you in the south west of England are suffering.  Hope you and your animals are all safe down there - and elsewhere if the weather is bad in your area.

We hope to be back in pictorial action soon.  Take care.

Shirley & Robbie

Boyz allowed.

"Whatya mean - I look like a camel?!"  Gaucho gets up close to the camera thinking that it might be edible.   Fyta is behind him on the left (doing what comes naturally -  and frequently!) and Faro is on the right.

A quartet of bonnie boys - Gaucho (back left), Fergus (front left), Fyta (back right) and Faro. We've had frosty weather this week so first thing in the morning the boys follow the humans around waiting for haylage or hay.

Wee Eck with Gully behind.  Lots of the boys have wet coats following rain and sleet which we've had over the last couple of days.

Now a trio of bonnie boys - Fidget (rear), Rufus (middle) and Fyta all keeping watch over some sheep in nearby fields. 

Fyta checking out the self propelled PRV (Poop Recovery Vehicle) on it's daily round of the paddocks!

A slightly different view of the paddocks - entry to Tigh Mhor is on the left and entry to the paddocks is on the right, with the old plough in the middle.   The boys are behind the gate, watching.  A sawn up tree is still 'parked' here waiting for someone to get his log splitting axe out for some exercise again (hint!)

And finally .............another nostril shot, this time of Fergus who loves his photo taken.   His head is covered in Dock seeds as he has been rummaging around a pile of the dead plants.  The boys don't seem to bother eating the Docks during the summer when they are green but they demolish them in  winter when the plants die off.

Neeps and hay bale.

It's the time of year when the boys enjoy eating neeps (turnips!)  Well, most of the boys anyway, some need to be coaxed a bit whilst others chew them eagerly.  Fyta here enjoys being fed his by hand so that he can scrape the bottom with his teeth then snap off a bit to chew.

Fyta chews a bit whilst Gully, who is not over fond of neeps looks on.

Faro loves them and prefers eating them on the ground.  His fleece is a lovely deep copper colour at the moment but has no length to it - a bit like his black half brother, Wee Eck. 

So whilst the boys enjoy their veg, the humans have a wee problem to solve - how to get this bale of hay from the car park down to the steading.  A crofter friend had borrowed the trailer several times and when he returned it he kindly gave us a round bale.  We could have taken the trailer through the paddocks but they are a bit too muddy at present and we didn't want to get stuck so it was a bit of a team building exercise - except 50% of the team was still having a long lie in her bed!  Getting the bale from A to B using only two strips of black polythene, lots of calories and a few choice words is no problem to an ex-military man, but............

..............steering one of these bundles along the front of the house and through the garden can be tricky!

We're on a roll now, it's all downhill but mind the black currant and rasp bushes!

Easey -peasey!  

And finally...........a view from the build site, over the boggy paddock and the turnip-filled boys to the hills beyond!

Another chilly week.

We've had a week of very low overnight temperatures but lovely, sunny days following.   The trees are all changing colours now, there is a dusting of snow on the mountain tops so the views are lovely.  Sometimes the mist rolls in as in this picture but the boys are unconcerned by the colder weather.  Faro is in the middle of the shot, ears and tail up looking like a proper macho!

Fergus's No1 priority is always his belly and here he is getting stuck into some early morning haylage whilst the remainder of the gang are outside.

The boys love their early morning haylage in winter and, like Gaucho and Fidget on the right will often lie in the frosty grass, eyes closed and chewing contentedly.  Turnips are also on the menu now which keep their teeth nice and clean.

Things are changing in the chicken run as Hunkey Dunkey the Buff Orpington cockerel, the Maran (behind him in the picture) and Delilah the old hen at the feeder, are all moulting.  The henhouse is full of feathers and these three look more than a little disheveled.  The three new hens however are growing fast, they've started to lay and are beginning to look like adult birds.  They still behave like youngsters though as they chase each other around, trying out their wings and puffing out their neck feathers.  By the turn of the year the old birds will have their new feathers in place and Hunkey will be in his element again.

'Himself' is still snipping and cutting at the hedges for a second week and the size of the bonfire of hedge trimmings will soon be enormous.  The boys are protected in their paddock  from the west  by this high Leylandi hedge which has now had a short back & sides.

Here are two happy dogs who are well known to the builders on our house site as they pass every day on their 'walkies!'   Sydney (left) and Coles are brother and sister and belong to our neighbour Ann whose brother Robert and wife Carole paid a visit to the site yesterday.   Robbie was left holding the dogs, and as he had the camera with him took this lovely shot. 

And finally............speaking of the house site, this is our new build from a different angle.  This is taken from the south looking north with the boys in their paddock down to the left (behind the cement mixer!)  Work is progressing well, we are just hoping that more of the outside work can be finished before the bad weather closes in. 

Pumpkins and other stuff!

Only Gully (left) and Fyta seem remotely interested in the pumpkin lantern whilst the other boys prefer grazing.  We made the pumpkin for the Halloween disco which we organise for Learning Disabled adults and their carers (www.corbettvip.btck.co.uk)  and I made soup from the scooped out pumpkin - delicious!

During a misty morning this week we decided to let the boys into some new grass in an adjoining paddock.   As always they seem to know when they are getting new grass and wait patiently at the gate to get in.

When the gate is opened they charge in and start running around in excitement.

In particular, Gully really 'goes bananas' jumping around, rearing up on his back legs and chasing the other boys around.  We tried to get a video of him doing this but it hasn't come out too well.  This is the same Gully who lead all the boys pronking around the paddocks at dusk one evening, but as always the camera is never handy when needed!  This photo is of Gully, not listening for worms as you might imagine but rubbing his neck and face on a big bunch of dead Dock leaves.  Fyta on the left, looks as if he is laughing at him!

A slightly different view of the boys in this paddock taken from the track down to 'Tigh Mhor.'  Note the large pile of shredded bark and branches in the foreground with the large rabbit hole in the middle!  In the middle of the photo is the long hedge which shelters the boys and the field shelters from the westerly winds and rain. During the past week 'himself' has been up the ladder with shears and hedge trimmer trying desperately to get all the hedges around the place cut before the winter weather hits.

We had a visit from friends Ann and Duncan who are 'house-sitting' our neighbour's house for a couple of weeks.  Ann loves animals and in particular Clydesdale horses and other 'heavy' horses.  Duncan reckons that Fergus (standing behind me) would qualify for the 'heavy' alpaca category!   Cheek!

And finally.............a colourful bunch of Geranium leaves, no flowers left now but their green leaves are turning into beautiful autumnal shades. 

Frosty nights are here again.

Like many of you we've experienced some really frosty nights during the past week meaning frozen water troughs and pretty cold grass for the boys to eat - the hay buckets soon get emptied in weather like that.  Here is Fidget in the early morning not at all impressed by his cold breakfast.  In the background are Fergus, Gully and Rufus.

All the boys have frost on their coats but because of Wee Eck's colour, it really shows up.  He is surrounded by Gully, Rufus and Fyta.

And here is the evidence of the boys lying out all night in the frost.  These melt patches in the frosty grass give the game away.  At least the weather is normally settled after the frost but towards the end of this week we had lots of rain - again! 

We had a lovely surprise visit this week when Joyce, an old nursing friend from Shetland and her sister Kathleen came to see what we were up to.  Joyce is in the middle of this picture with Kathleen on the left and a bunch of expectant boys looking for grub in the background!  Joyce and I were on  Health Visitor training for 9 months sharing a flat in Aberdeen in 1981 and haven't seen each other since although we always exchange Christmas cards.  I hadn't met Kathleen before so it was great to see them both and hear that lovely Shetland accent again.  Alpacas are not exactly unknown in Shetland as there is a small herd to be found there.  'Haste ye back' both, lovely to see you.

More autumn colours from the bottom of the garden with this Cornus (dogwood) bush which is glowing in the sun but still tinged with frost on the leaves.  On the right is a Ginko Biloba tree which we planted about 10 years ago and is only now beginning to grow in size and stature.  In the middle is one of those blue coloured firs which are kept in pots and never usually grow more than 18" - always take  gardening books 'facts' with a pinch of salt! 

Hope you can see some detail in this photo which was taken at 'locking up' time in the henhouse.  On a shelf on the left are the three new chicks - Black Rock, Bluebell and Light Sussex - with their new boyfriend 'Hunkey Dunkey' keeping an eye on them.  The two older chickens are in their boxes on the other side of the henhouse - but they tend to ignore the youngsters and are probably jealous of Dunkey's attention.

And finally...........Robbie had a 'All muck & magic' morning earlier in the week -  remember that TV gardening programme from some years ago?  These are the three poo composting bays, the furthest away being around a year old, the middle about 6 months old and the nearest is the 'work in progress' bay where almost a barrow load of the boys' efforts are dumped each day!  Half of the contents of the current bay have been transferred to the middle bay and shortly the oldest bay will be emptied on the veg garden and all the bays' contents will move to the left ready for next year.  Last year 47 barrow loads of muck were spread - wonder how many 'Monty Don' will manage this year?