Bringing home the bacon !
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 needed a real man ..
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 !
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lambs Henry and Harry , give them a grassier patch and move the bulldozers in ! Here’s the video 
your loan Tup with 
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).
that they needed a change of scenery ..
to the livestock .. a good friend Jean had a pony that needed a home, so I couldn’t say no and when we met Gemma pony a section A (tiny hardy sturdy little unit ) she seemed just the thing to keep Lotte company … just got to get them used to each other and avoid the kicks !
but I’m doing it too, there’s an avenue of Beech trees, on my route to most of everything that is stunning at all the spokes of the leaf colour wheel and right now it’s on the turn. There will be more photos as it transforms
actually finally run out of water just as the rain started ,so a man needs a shower .. what does he do ? You guessed it ,he showered naked in the rain ..
we spotted another sheep up on the top , separated from the main flock , a tell tale sign she’s about to lamb so we took the kubota up to check her out . The lamb was coming so we hung on to watch , but it all seemed to be at taking a bit too long and 
she wasn’t going to let me get near and without a dog or a crook (or any sheep wrangling skills for that matter) so we bombed back to the house and rang a man with a dog . Within the hour he had her caught,birthed , and shown us how to tube feed the lamb . Mum and baby claimed the first stall in lambing shed and by bedtime the lamb was suckling as he should..