Clipping 2018

Back at the end of May we got our sheep clipped. The very hot weather had left them hot and irritable. The clipping trailer was installed in the lambing shed, and over the course of two very hot days, all the sheep were clipped.









The usual suspects were on hand to help. Teddy...



...and Jess.







Thanks to adding a gate at one end of the trailer, a third man could clip too. This got the job done just that little bit quicker.

























In quieter moments, Jess played ball.











My pets were saved for last - which is just as well, because I had a challenge getting them gathered. Clearly I have too many. Rosie was up first.






Margo looking for her boys.



There they are, standing with Millie's girls. From left to right is Angus, Andy, Abby and Annie. My beautiful A-lambs!



Bob's turn.



Maggie's too.



A lighter Rosie and her nephew Angus.





Bob's almost done.



Margo is hiding.



For Penny, Maggie and Morag this was their first time being clipped. I was thrilled to see that Morag has a spotty tummy. It's very cute.







And that was clipping for another year!

The Castlewellan Show 2018

As usual I started by making a bee-line for the Home Industries tent to find out how my photos fared in the competition. In the Unusual Angle category, my photo of Sheila came third.



In the Portrait categories (Colour and Black & White), both of my photos came second.





And I was very happy indeed to see that I had won the Farm Scene category!



It was so hot I didn't really pay much attention to what I was photographing, leaving me pleasantly surprised when I got a few got shots!













This little lamb was called Tiny and was only a couple of days old.











This Blackface ram was huge!







My show companion for this year was Fly. She made many friends.





Little goats!



We wandered around, baking in the sunshine.









Fly made even more friends.











Fly was entered in the dog show. She didn't win anything, but she was my winner!



A fellow dog show contestant.



The best behaved dog winner!



Towards the end of the day was a cattle parade. This bull went on to be the champion of champions.





There was also a sheepdog demonstration - with ducks and geese!



It was Fly's first day out at a show like this. She walked well on the lead, took the bigger animals and the noise in stride. She was a bit snappish with other dogs but an angel with people. For a first timer I think she did very well.



By the end of the day I was hot, sweaty and had a spitting headache, but at least I had some prize money home with me.