Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Gordon & Bessie attack the Fence!

I have finally found the culprits! We have had to replace the plastic electric fencing posts with wooden posts, because we keep finding them strewn around the field with the electric tape flapping about all over the place.
We now know that Gordon likes to head butt the posts! Hopefully the wooden posts will stop him destroying all the fencing. However at the same time Bessie has been helpfully winding the fencing tape around her horns and then either breaking it or dragging it around the field. Not too sure how we are going to stop her doing this.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Gwen becomes a foster Mum

The old Exmoor Horn sheep Gwen has kindly become a foster Mum to a lost lamb. Two weeks ago a friend stopped by to say she had picked up a lamb in the road and although she had contacted all the farmers around the area no one said they had lost any sheep. I agreed to take the lamb off her hands who was baaing a lot for his mum, so I put him in a small paddock with Gwen who I knew would be kind. He took to her straight away and follows her everywhere.
I contacted the dreaded DEFRA to find out what the legal position was if I ended up keeping the lamb and after being passed from pillar to post I found a very helpful lady who told me the procedure. So if no one claims the lamb (who we have named Gareth) we will keep him.

Main House Lounge

We've finally started renovating the lounge in the main house. We have to replace the wooden floorboards, joists and skirting boards which were all rotten the same as the cottage lounge.
The joists had completely disintergrated and very wet. They had originally been laid straight onto the mud and earth, so that probably explains why I kept getting slugs appearing on the carpet, which incidently is also rotten! Walking from the hall to the kitchen is rather precarious at the moment as you have to walk a plank across the lounge and however I try I always seem to wobble. Hopefully this will not taken months and months and perhaps if I am lucky it may be finished for Christmas... have I spoken too soon!