May started off with a very tiny wee last lamb, quickly and aptly named ‘Toots’.. she was born on Star wars day or May 4th (May the force be with you ) and we were worried that mum being very young herself ( cheeky last years lamb getting in with the ram when she should know better ) didn’t have enough milk.
The last few months have been very full on, what with the spectacular apocalytic, pandemic that has hit the world .then a drought.. then a moorland bush fire !! sounds biblical doesn’t it .
This is my catch up blog because it seems the whole world has conspired against me and my date with a laptop once a month…
They won 3 times it seems but now I need to empty my thoughts out online sorry .
Read More »Fab’uary, March and April’s madness- Its a hat trick !
November descended on us all like a sneaky ninja … ( well it was dark, and black a lot )
We feel like we’ve fairly trotted from one job to another non stop since forever … But what a lot’s been achieved .
October rocks up ,… Read More »Ram alang a ding dong ..
June is the best month as far as our favourite ginger is concerned as it means all her favourite things .. Cake , friends , presents and chocolate . 
We always celebrate a birthday and it generally lasts more than a day, shame the cake didn’t last as long .
A surprise visit from our besties also went down a treat too.. we love you guys.
June 13th was Nora’s due date , and we had planned for Andy to be home for the early days , we couldn’t have planned it better as he had only been home maybe an hour when Nora
went into labour !
We camped out in lambing shed to be rewarded in the early hours with the birth of
As first timers we were quite nervous , there was so much that could go wrong however Nora was a true textbook pig and did everything according to what we had read .
Thanks Google
Nora has turned out to be a fabulous mum looking after her litter .. we clearly brought her up well .
Nora was looking fairly pregnant by 
the Beginning of May, she was (if it was a baby bump) in her final trimester and looking pretty
“Nippleicious “
Andy loves his piggy ,so she gets quite pampered and well looked after.. if I’m honest she’s actually a bit spoiled …
Nora has had an internet acquaintance over 
for a sleepover !
She held out for a week and then had to give in to his charms .. floozy , but hopefully we have piglets on the way , thus..
“Nipple cream for our pig “
Apparently it’s the year of the pig ,and February it seems is definitely the month of the pig here at a Grobdale !
We had felt for a while that Nora needed some help on the fertility front,
she wasn’t showing any signs of coming into season so AI (artificial insemination) hasn’t been an option ,
We have found Social media to be a powerful tool and I’ve used it to sell and source all kinds if things including this time ,a loan Tamworth boar .
It took just over a week of messages and phone calls .. on the journey I found her brother and her parents !
Our second December here at Grobdale, and we feel settled , less fly by the seat of your pants, maybe even comfortable.. dont get me wrong , every day has an out of your comfort zone moment or three but the majority of the time it’s jobs that we’ve done before or at least something similar ..For instance painting 
your loan Tup with raddle !
If you’ve followed the link above ( click on the underlined word raddle ) you’ve read that by putting a dye or raddle on Gibbs , 
makes sure that he leaves his mark on any of the girls he’s mounted , so we know who could well be in lamb and who’s due first if she is pregnant. All good information to a good shepherdess (and I am trying to be).
The loan tup Gibbs was turning out to be rather lovely to deal with , hopefully he’ll be as easy to load and return to his owner at the beginning of next month ..
So November’s here and the pigs decided , between themselves one day 
that they needed a change of scenery ..
So one afternoon we decided to take them out down to the loch ,their first walk out was hilarious they were just proper giddy pants.
The freedom caused them to work up a fair old appetite , as if they needed any encouragement and when they’re hungry the noise they generate is rather impressive compared to their size I can only compare it to
A hundred violins being played REALLY badly !