The Castlewellan Show 2019

Between talking to friends, holding Sue, and navigating a huge crowd, I didn't take many pictures at the show this year. I first got my camera out for the sheep, of course.











A few sheep on their way home after a tiring day.



As always the castle made for a lovely backdrop.



Sue and I watched some dog agility. She was very interested! She was wearing a homemade collar and lead which both held up really well to the amount of pulling this puppy did. There was just so much to see!



As for my pictures, I entered five this year and four came away with prizes. I also found out that I was the overall winner of the photography this year which was a huge surprise and made me very happy indeed!

Clipping 2019

At the end of May we got our sheep clipped. Last year I had some difficulty gathering in my pets for clipping - sheep aren't as stupid as many would lead you to believe, and they knew something was up. I did get them in eventually! But it lead me this year to come up with a different way of doing things. They day before clipping, I let the pets out of their field to wander around the yard. Clipping is done in the lambing shed so they didn't have far to travel to get clipped this time.

There was no stress or fuss - even jumpy Barnaby was relaxed.



Bridget isn't as nervous as Barnaby but she has her moments! She wasn't worried either.



In fact she was climbing on the flower beds!



Before I had quite so many pets, I often let them wander in the yard like this. It was quite nostalgic, really.



I left them so they could wander into the lambing shed at their leisure. Most of them were born in this building.





Rosie and her mini-me, Barnaby.



The following day it was pouring rain, but Pat and Barry arrived anyway, and Barry set to work clipping the pets.



Bob had been ready for clipping for weeks - he was very happy to be rid of his thick, dark fleece.





Over the following week, we got the rest of our sheep clipped. It was my job to keep the sheep coming.







My main helpers were Teddy and Fly. Teddy is an old hand at this job - he's been helping for seven years. This was Fly's first time helping and she did amazingly well. She's one of those dogs that can turn her paw to anything.













Clipping is always a job that's great to get done!

Gertie and the Homemade Halter

This halter started out as a white piece of cotton rope, but after dyeing, stitching and whipping, it became a cute little lamb halter. Gertie had the honour of testing it out.









The lane was beautiful in full bloom.



Taking sheep for walks requires a lot of patience as we have to stop all the time for necessary snack breaks. Thankfully I'm stopping all the time to take pictures anyway!







I'm really happy with how this halter turned out - I'll definitely be making more.

Halter by The Sophisticated Sheep (use code GREENHILL10 for 10% off).

Spring Walk With Minty

Minty, one of the smallest pet lambs I have ever come across, is catching up with the others. She's now as big as Lily, Rita and Gertie! I'm very proud of her for making it so far. She's really starting to look like her Cheviot mummy too.





I took her for a walk on the lane - I love our lane in spring, it just bursts into life!





Of course, this being a walk with a sheep involved, there had to be plenty of snack breaks.





It's lucky Minty suits mint the colour, given her name.







So many pretty colours...









She wasn't halter trained as well as some of my lambs but she's managing brilliantly.







I love flowers, even though I can only identify a handful of them by name.



Good girl, Minty!



Halter by The Sophisticated Sheep (use code GREENHILL10 for 10% off).