Farewell, Gotlands

We've finally decided that the Gotlands aren't right for here.  They are known to have a tendency to develop foot problems and round here, especially this winter it has been really wet which has exacerbated their problems and we have had almost weekly issues wth catching  one of the , inspecting their feet, spraying the cuts , grazes and sores with   antiseptic.
And there is someone in Deerness who would like some black sheep. And Deerness is likely to be a bit drier than here.

So a  rounding-up and a loading up

 and then take them to  Deerness , the East side of mainland Orkney .

Delivered to their new home . ( Reversing the trailer is quite an art)

 And they will spend the first few days inside .

The lamb in the photo is going , eventually , once weaned, to the Transalpine Redemptorist Monks on Papa Stronsay.

The first cut

Its been a lousy wet Spring . According to the Orkney Lambing facebook page  the cattle have all just gone out.  We have used the in house grass-cutters to trim the bank , but they need to be fenced in to safely be let loose.

So the lawnmower has had to be used. It wouldn't start, so after a brief pause  it reluctantly got going. And set to work

There was a before

 and then  a during

and finally an after 

There are a couple of other bits that need cutting as well but i'll wait a few more days ( or weeks) until it all dries out a bit more

Nick's a boy

Our only chick so far this year  made their first appearance here

and was opportunistically  given the name of Nick .
And a great relief - Nick  is male . its the tail feathers that give the game away

A tree no more

 there aren't an awful lot of trees in Orkney. but we have a few. They were planted about 20 years ago and we are sheltered enough from the prevailing Westerlies that they got established.

But there was one  that was a bit too close to the house. All we would need is a really good-going winter storm and it may end up in the roof. So we decided that is would ( sadly) have to go


Of course there may be a tree surgeon in Orkney. Google doesn't say there isn't, but if you look closely at the most likely result  - http://www.mytreedoctor.co.uk/kirkwall/orkney/  - it doesn't actually say so . It looks like a little computer program that puts a placename into a standard web page  - try it .

Kirkwall

Thurso


 So an afternoon was spent with a ladder and a saw.

Next Years' firewood

Now you see it

 now you don't

So we will leave it to coppice . its still tall enough to offer some protection from the Winter Westerlies

Sunday Afternoon

 Of course sunday afternoons are for cutting the grass.
So I did. And it's only the 2nd time Ive had to cut this particular bit this year .



 So 1/3 of the way through.

There is a bit more to do , but there were a few obstructions who were in the way. And as it was a nice afternoon, and that bit isn't too long,  and it would need the sit-on lawnmower, i thought i would leave it for another time




But I also had  few other jobs to do .

Erect a barrier to stop the sheep exploring round the hen house, making a mess and getting in the way, whilst leaving enough space  for the hens to get in and out .









And the final job was to bury a chicken that we found had died in the night,

Just a normal sunday afternoon really.

The horned sheep sheep-feeder

 

Sheep with horns have a problem at a feeding trough. They can get their horns stuck under the metal bars across the feeding trough.

Much pulling and tugging ensues, as you might suspect

So "something  must be done ". 

I've got various length of drainpipe that first made an appearance last year  as part of an attempted Archimedean Screw 

It started like this

Gets cut in half

  has some blocks added to the end ( and some drainholes through the pipe )

And the horns don't get stuck! 

 

 I wonder if it will blow away in the winter .

Trimming the bank

we have a bit of a bank between the wall and the fencing. I had to repair the wall in march last year . But finally the grass has started to grow, and it needs a trim.  One option would be to use the strimmer. But why do that we have our own lawn-mowers. So we corralled a couple of the sheep  and let them loose.

 Before

 

 After

 
So that worked well. But we obviously left them a day or two too long - they were bored with eating grass so managed to get over the wall and decided to explore other places . luckily they were spotted early  , are easy to round up and herd back into a field.

Rats

The rats are back. We've had days when eggs   in both the duckhouse and henhouse are there first thing in the morning, but arent there a bit later.





Burrows have appeared around the  duck house and also burrowing into the henrun, probably after the food.














And burrowing into the henrun.

Just removing the food at night seems not to have worked, so a bit more drastic action is required. The rats dont seem to like the mesh, so thats keeping the, away from the  source of food.
















And a rat box, with poison in it.

Air Fares

We've had our transport problems in the past - cancelled and delayed flights due to the weather or due to the fact that the  SAAB 340  planes that they use were last built in 1998, and so have been kept going ever since.

And we have noticed the eye-wateringly high fares that the manage to charge.  Of course they can - its a monopoly supplier on an essential air route.
And when you add 'dynamic airline pricing' its not surprising that Islanders get ripped off.
Dynamic Airline pricing :
Which is more likely - finding a businessman who must got to the destination tomorrow and will pay £250 for the privilege , or 25  visitors who will pay £10 each.
So they take advantage of the fact  that they have a monopoly.

So the Facebook page

 Islanders against Flybe & Loganair's excessive prices

9000+ likes so far.
And we need to tweet @flybe daily to  make them aware of the numbers of supporters it has

We are not alone

The weather has been  miserable - as indicated in Cold, Wet and miserable  and the situation in Orkney has made the BBC website  with

'Orkney cows stuck inside with the rain '

where Robbie  Fraser (the neighbour helping with the lambing  last year) interviews a local farmer
of course the headline  doesn't reflect the true situation

It should be 'a coo' . And the plural of coo  is kye.

But its too wet for the  cattle to go out in the fields and  farmers are running out of feed for them .
And the grass isn't growing so they wont have silage for the cattle when they are inside next winter.
So they will have to sell off some cattle and get half the normal price for them , so that they can feed the ones they keep through the winter

And our biggest complaint is the mud