Snowdrops and Snow

 

Swathes of snowdrops in Low Row

 

Blankets of snow in Keld

For hill farmers every year is the Year of the Sheep

 

For hill farmers every year is the Year of the Sheep!

 

Today some of our sheep have been scanned to see if they are carrying one or two

(or occasionally three) lambs.



Coming in off the fells for scanning

Adrian brings his mobile scanning equipment, quickly sets up and the process begins.  Andrew stands by to spray every ewe that is having twins with a blue mark .

 

Its an almost fool proof system and it is a great help to us at lambing time to know which sheep is about to have twins and which will only have a single.

 

 

 



The Year of the Sheep

 

The Year of the Sheep in the Chinese Lunar New Year starts today

 

Wuon-Gean Ho, a British Chinese artist and printmaker was commissioned by the Royal Mint to design their commemorative coin and out of the dozens of breeds of sheep, worldwide, she chose the Swaledale.  We are honoured and proud. 

 

 

 

 

To celebrate the Year of the Sheep here are some images of our Swaledales

 

Winter



Lambs on't wall!

Tup Shearing

Sheep on't road!



Some have a trickier start to life than others.

Grazing in unison at Wain Wath.

Foddering on the moor

 Taking an afternoon rest in the sunshine!










































 

 



First Signs of Spring at Hillcrest

 

Pure white snowdrops cluster together all over the garden at Hillcrest

with daffodils pushing through to follow later this spring.



Hillcrest Cottage is Pet Friendly

At Hillcrest we welcome well behaved pets and their responsible owners.

 

Hillcrest is pet friendly and we provide dog towels for those occasions when you return all wet, muddy.

The utility room / cloakroom has easy to clean hard flooring  The top opening stable door provides lots of light and fresh air making this the perfect place for dogs.

At Hillcrest we pride ourselves on presenting the cottage meticulously.  Guests with dogs are asked to remove all evidence of their pets before checking out to help us maintain these high standards.

 

 



Hungry Weather

We are having some marvellous winter days but it is hungry weather for our stock.

Following an excellent lunch at The Kings Head in Ravenstonedale we detoured off onto the moor to check the silage feeder.



These beautifully curved horns have a habit of getting hooked onto the metal bars of the feeder, trapping the sheep there until rescue arrives so they need checking regularly.

Happily no one was stuck today but better safe than sorry.

Hand Gliders at Tailbridge Hill

 

Tailbridge Hill is only a few miles west of Pry House Farm on the B6270.

We travel along this road regularly on our way to Kirkby Stephen, our nearest town.

 

 

 
 
 

 

It is always a treat to see the hand gliders and their multi-coloured sails sweeping around the sky high above our heads.

Putting the Goodness Back

 

Mucking out.

 

This is ideal weather for muck spreading.  The ground is hard and won't be spoilt by the machinery.

 

Manure is rich, black organic fertiliser that won't kill the multitude of meadow flowers, grasses and herbs that grow in these fields which in summer is turned into sweet, nutritious hay for our sheep during winter and lambing time and occasionally ......

 

 

...win prizes with.

 

 (You may be realising by now that we are all pretty chuffed about this!)

 

 

 

Championship Hay - Bringing home the silverware.



 

From this ..........

 

 

 

 

to this .....



 

to this..!

 

Andrew entered a bale of Pry House Farm hay in the Hay Show at Eastgate in Weardale at the weekend.

 

He won the shield for the best bale of meadow hay and he won the cup because his bale of hay was judged best in the show. 

 

We are all still smiling!

 

 

Eastgate Hay Show

 

Chris's nephew, Andrew, entered a bale of Pry House Farm hay at the Hay Show in Eastgate, Weardale yesterday.  We are delighted to report that our hay won.