Monday 23 February 2015

Thursday 19 February 2015

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!










































 

 


Friday 13 February 2015

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.
 
 


Monday 9 February 2015

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.

Tuesday 3 February 2015

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!
 
 


Monday 2 February 2015

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.