• The Blog
  • About Square Sparrow
  • Contact Square Sparrow

Squirrel

Smallholding 11

2 years ago Scotland, Smallholding

Lambing time: it’s good to be baa-ck!

And suddenly it was spring! Since 2016 began, life here at The Sparrowholding seems to have been one long, relentless stint of soil sampling and spreader testing (HunterGatherer) or tutoring pupils plus proofreading hundreds of thousands of words (Yours Truly). Our only respite during these four months was a snatched escape at the end of January, which comprised lunch at the rightly renowned The Peat Inn Restaurant in Fife (subject of a future blog post so watch this space!) followed by a rare and relaxing overnight stay at the Dunkeld House Hotel, during which we enjoyed strolling together at leisure along an extremely full, more-grey-than-silvery Tay.

Since that bijou break, it’s been flat out for February, March and April, so it’s quite a relief to see this frenetic period of our respective freelance years coming to an end. The farmers have eagerly returned to working the land (meaning that HunterGatherer now assumes his spring/summer guise of welder/mender of agricultural machinery), and the Scottish exam diet has begun (meaning that my tutoring commitments have reduced dramatically – for a few months at least!).

While we’ve been busy, our Shetland ewes haven’t exactly been idle either… All winter long they’ve been cultivating their own “crop” of bonnie, bouncing lambs, and with lambing now over breakfast time in the feeding area is a guddle of bleating babies and anxious mums, each trying to find the other after all the Ewe-lac nuts and JustGrass Blox (courtesy of FarmerBruv) have been gobbled up. During the day, the 24 lambs split their time between sleeping and playing – just as you’d expect of any self-respecting bambino (or perhaps that should be 'lambino'!).

Here's a mini-video plus a few photos of what our mini woolly jumpers have been up to during the past weeks...

LAMBS-2016-montage-green-tub-single

Lord of all I survey! Feed tubs that double as beds...

LAMBS-2016-montage-feeding-ewe-lamb

The best breakfast comes from the milk bar ;-)

LAMBS-2016-montage-red-tub-better

Well, that's one way of making sure you get the biggest share!

LAMBS-2016-montage-green-tub-lots

How many lambs does it take to fill a plastic tub?

LAMBS-2016-montage-single-close-up

Did someone call?

LAMBS16-april28-heavy-snow-tub-ewe-lambs

Spring, they said. There will be sunshine, they said...

 

3 years ago Family, Flora & Fauna, Livestock, Scotland, Smallholding, Uncategorized

Welcome to our new blog home!. The Square Sparrow blog has a bijou new home – just like Pickle the pet lamb....

Lamb peeking out of barrel

Welcome to Square Sparrow’s new blog home where you’ll find photos, anecdotes and snippets about food, family and Scottish country life.

It’s only taken me five months to summon the words, the energy and the time to compose a long-overdue post, and this one doubles as a welcome – a welcome to the Square Sparrow blog’s lovely new home here on WordPress.

Copious lashings of gratitude are due to web guru Andy at Interphase Design for all his hard work (on the site) and patience (with me!). I really hope you enjoy the new look and the ensuing tales from The Sparrowholding.

Life has been ridiculously busy over the past few months, which is the only excuse that I can tender for my dearth of posts this year. As any of you who follow the Square Sparrow Facebook page will be aware, however, April saw a new addition to our little menagerie in the shape of Pickle the Pet Lamb.

This woolly bundle of joy was rejected by his mum from the moment he plonked unceremoniously onto the grass, and his arrival heralded a few weeks of sleepless nights as we attempted to “play mum”.

Lark-like HunterGatherer did the dawn feeds and owl-like Yours Truly was responsible for the late night shift, often feeding by torchlight in the rain and even, on occasion, sleet!

PICKLE-2015-may-barrel-inside-fleece

Doesn't matter what the weather does outside, I'm snug and cosy :-)

Still, our initially feeble wee friend has now grown into an energetic, lovable, woolly rogue whose presence brightens our every day. Even though we weaned him a couple of weeks ago, his resonant voice booms out across the paddock any time he sees (or even hears) humanoids approaching the fence – no doubt he fondly imagines we might still be bearing a bottle!

If you missed the photos on Facebook, here’s a wee reminder of his progress over the past twelve weeks…

How could mummy not love me?

How could mummy not love me?

PICKLE-2015-aug-paraphernalia

The necessary paraphernalia for rearing a Pickle.

PICKLE-2015-july-bottle

Don't want to miss a drop!

PICKLE-2015-may-doorstep

I've knocked politely. Now may I come in?

 

PICKLE-2015-may-head-in-trough-asleep

I just felt so sleepy after my lunch...

PICKLE-2015-jun-daisies

So many daisies, I don't know where to start!

PICKLE-2015-jun-fencing1

Helping put up the fence that's intended to keep FatHorse thin

PICKLE-2015-jun-sunny-day

My kingdom!

PICKLE-2015-may-washing-machine

Don't think I'll get in - the wash cycle says "no wool"...

PICKLE-2015-aug-alister-wall-building-good

This drystane dyking business is a piece of cake!

PICKLE-2015-aug-sitting-room-AJ-best

He used to let me jump up on the sofa - what's changed?

PICKLE-2015-aug-portrait-best

What a dapper chap I've become!

 

PICKLE-2015-aug-alister-best-outside

But I'm never too old for a hug :-)

Page 4 of 4«1234
Contact

Address: Somewhere in deepest darkest Kinross-shire

Email: info@square-sparrow.com

Name: Square Sparrow

From The Blog
humorous festive blog from Scottish smallholding
Festive bleatings from the Sparrowholding in Scotland
1 month ago

‘Surely it’s not that time of year again?’ I hear you cry – and I can only concur. In the halcyon days (daze?) of my youth, my dear old mum regularly warned me that each year would fly past faster as I aged matured. Only now do I realise that I should have listened to […]

clump of stunning primroses in spring in Scotland
Lambing, tubs and other signs of spring in Scotland
9 months ago

Even by Yours Truly’s intermittent blogging standards, it’s been rather a long time since my last rural bulletin, so buckle up and hold on tight for a whistle-stop tour of spring in Scotland, as viewed from here at The Sparrowholding. In my defence, one of the reasons for the paucity of posts to date this […]

shetland sheep fleeces lying on the ground
From Shetland fleece to Shetland shawl: Tufty’s coat of many colours
1 year ago

Some of you may remember that last June I posted a short video of HunterGatherer, using old-fashioned hand clippers to shear Tufty’s gorgeous Shetland fleece. Well, the stunning fleece which appeared in that self-same video has been on a rather exciting journey since the day it left The Sparrowholding later that summer in the car […]

Tags
country lifescotlandfarminglife on a smallholdingfamilylifestylesmallholding in Scotlandsheepanimalsagricultural show in Scotlandshetland sheeplambing in ScotlandhomegrownfoodshowinggardenChristmaseating out in Scotlandthe good lifeFifeScottish bloggerScottish sheepsmallholdingcountrylifesheep shearing in Scotlandculturetattooedinburghagriculturemusiceducationgardeninggarden blogperth showHighland ShowLambing timemarriagehorseslifestyle bloggercelebrationfriendsdyslexiaspellingweathersport
Copyright © 2018 Square Sparrow. All Rights Reserved.

Created by Interphase