Still Bleating on.....

It's all about sheep around here.  Lambing is coming to an end and the first lot have been moved out into the big field.

Well, Easter came and went very quickly - Hot Cross Buns

Easter Eggs

and now we're back to sheep, sheep and more sheep.

My little pen of four lambs has now increased to 12 - and it isn't really a lot of fun, although thank Goodness we've had such lovely weather.

Four times a day I have to wash up all the little bottles

The aim is to get all the lambs confidently drinking from the bottles on a rack, but because they come to me in dribs and drabs (no orphans, just rejected by their mums) they are all at different stages, so instead of me looking serenely on as they fill themselves up, this is the reality

all pushing and shoving and trying to get the bottles off of each other

But slowly they are getting the hang of it, and yesterday I managed to get four on the rack

and this morning eight,

so things are improving.

As far as the war with the rooks is going, Jonathan set up an ingenious tunnel into the chicken house that we hope will be so daunting they won't risk going in.

It certainly terrified the chickens - only one dared to come out this morning.

Away from the animals I am persevering with my Skype piano lessons.  By the second lesson I managed to tape the phone up to the piano quite successfully, and I thought all was going well.  My teacher said she was having trouble hearing me though, and asked where the microphone was on my phone.  Well, I had no idea, and she suggested it could be on the bottom.  Well, off course it is, and turning the phone onto the side meant she could actually hear my beautiful playing.  This solved another of life's mysteries for me too.  I'd always wondered why young people always hold their phones horizontally when they are talking to someone - I thought it was a strange affectation, but now I know they are talking into the microphone.  I shall now be far more patient when my mother tries to talk to me through the TV remote.

What else am I doing in these long, isolated days?

A bit of knitting

with thanks to Ros for finding me a nice, simple sweater pattern,

a bit of quilting

and a bit of crochet

which is well past it's due date and I need to get finished.

Life Goes On

This has been a very difficult week for East Garston, with the funerals of three wonderful local characters who will truly be missed.

However, life has to go on.

People who have been reading this blog for a while will remember this picture of my pet lambs, Mabel and Lucy, sheltering from a summer shower in the chicken house:

Well, now I'm bottle feeding Lucy's latest triplet (she could only cope with twins)

But that's not the only one

There are so many that George thought I might need a hand

They always make me think of piranha fish they way they swarm around trying to get milk from anywhere:

 

 

And at four times a day this makes for quite a lot of work.  However, once they get used to the bottle, and three of them are already, I can feed them from a rack that makes life much easier.

Meanwhile, they are nice and snug in their little house, safe from the cold wind and any hungry foxes.

A Busy Day

What a busy, bubbly, high-spirited crowd we all were in the workshop today - hardly surprising when Lynne Johnson was taking the class.  The door was open wide to let in the sunshine and from outside we could hear the sounds of spring - lambs bleating, bird song - a perfect day!

Alice brought in the Butterfly quilt she made to show us

This picture really does not do it justice - I think the colours haven't come out because it was such a bright and sunny day - the quilt is actually all different, vibrant shades of purple - not greys and blacks which it looks like in the picture.

Ros and Alice showed us what they've done on their Medallion quilts:

 

 

We loved Alice's flower border - she's used bondweb

 

 

and then the ladies working on their Antique Samplers compared blocks

And then it was down to work for the rest of the morning.

After lunch, we returned to the workshop but Sue and Jenny were missing and even Lynne had disappeared........
                                              ...............Aha!

 

 

Thank you Ladies - made my job a bit easier!