...and here we are again at Ronas Voe
The calving was fast and furious to begin with so lack of space in the byre meant that we had to turn out cows when their calves were a few days old. The weather was great and the ground drying up nicely.
Naturally another week brought rain, hail, sleet and snow and it hasn't improved much in the weeks since so the second wave of calves is still in the byre and I don't see them going out for another few weeks yet...but I'm feeling pretty cheerful today, only another three to come and that'll be the calving over for another year. We might even get the rest of them out of the byre before the 15th of May..blissful thought.

windswept

Hurricane force winds off the scale on Christmas Day, then stormforce 10 on the 28th and this is what's left of the old henhouse at Knowes. The wind seems to be coming up again now so perhaps a gale for the NewYear?
Looking back, last years Christmas pictures are all snow and glow, hungry but photogenic sheep; so a very different image of Shetland for Christmas 2011.
We celebrated the season in the time honoured way, gathering and feeding friends and family, toasting absent friends and loved ones, but this year, because of the gale and the resultant 24 hour powercut, we ate by candle light. Which was lovely.
Drew and Jane decided to add a 'slow food supper' to this years festivities, so perhaps a new tradition is established for the 28th! Now we are looking onwards into 2012, and looking forward to not bothering with the bells!

winter work

So, the last of the cows are in the byre for the winter, a week or two earlier than last year.
We had a good few weeks o' weather at the begining of November but the ground was still fairly wet and churned up as you can see here.
This is Lizzie putting out a few beetpulp nuts onto the silage as a little treat for the last of the heifers. The picture was taken a couple of days before they were finally put into the byre and mighty happy they were when we took them down the hill to join the other cattle inside.
This picture was taken at about three in the afternoon but, as you can see the light's fast fading. Since then, of course, we've had some pretty rough weather - high winds and torrential rain- as you'd expect at this time of the year in the far north.
I love the byre, first thing in the morning especially. The cows seem so peaceful and content; warm dry and well fed. There is nothing which makes you feel as calm and peaceful in yourself, as a cow's breath.

Craft Fair

Here's Lizzie with our little 'shop' at the craft fair; two and a half days of greeting old friends and making new.
At the back of the picture you can see one of Lizzie's lovely felt hangings; motifs taken from pictish carved stones. This one is of motifs found in Shetland, do you see in the middle there, that's the Old Scatness bear.
I think that this might have been the best Clickamin Craft Fair yet. It was run in conjunction with the Shetland Food Fair so a pretty marvelous showcase for the delights of the Old Rock.
After the frantic weeks of the run up to the craft fair it seems quite strange not to be sewing but we're having a peerie break just now, taking in the last of the cows, battening down for the winter; but we will be back to making felt when I get back from a couple of days on the mainland. Next stop Christmas.

November

Meanwhile, in a galaxy far far away, another month clunks into the bucket of eternity... and we are flat out on preparation for the Great Clickamin Craft Fair starting on November 11th.

I say flat out but that of course means I start sewing at about 2pm after I've fed the fowl and the cows and wandered around the Hillhead and the Knowes pocking things with a stick and musing my muses. Lovely day so a lot of that.

Half the cows are back in the byre now and the rest will be soon. The last of the calves will be going off to the marts on saturday.

The bull with his seven heifers should be o.k. outside until after the craft fair. At the moment they seem to be happy staying way up on the hill; they can just be made out in silhouette on the skyline- if I can count the eight of them as I drive up the track it means that I don't have to climb up to check on them!
Right, I've set myself the target of finishing five rabbits before bed so I'd better make some coffee and sew!
TTFN

Hello all you lovely people out there!
What a busy time we have been having, here in Shetland, to be sure; three lots of heavyish snow, children coming home for the holidays and going again; Tom and Natalie engaged!! and Lizzie off on her travels with the Learning School ( isn't that tautology?)
Anyway, this month she is in fabulous New Jersey and off to see the sights today, I know this because she just called me. It is so different from my day when one could just drop off the radar for months on end (yes, I was a bad lass) well, thank goodness, these days we have emails, mobiles, Facebook, cheap transatlantic calls and blogs so I pretty much know what my kids are up to whenever I choose to look and they can keep tabs on me.
So,what have I been up to today? Oh, just the usual stuff, you know, silage related things, in one end and out the other
...aaand taking delivery of my fabulous new stove!! and isn't she just beautiful? she should be, I can tell you! Yes, I'm all of a flutter. should be able to manage a dozen loaves at once! have to get a bigger freezer! ttfn x

first snow

Took this picture last week sometime, when the snow was all fresh and lovely, but there hasn't been any fresh snow to speak of for a few days and it is all looking rather grubby and tired.

Ha! sounds like me after this morning spent attempting to get water to the little bull and his six companions in the byre at the Knowes; doors frozen, bit of hose I found to siphon in through the crack between the doors also frozen, bin to siphon into, three miles away at the Hillhead. harrumph.

Anyway, the snow in the garden looks quite disgusting now as it is covered in bird poo; I'm still feeding the ducks n hens and turkeys in there (not to mention dozens of starlings.) Actually I think they could go back to the hen run now as the polecat problem must be by-with until spring. Did I tell you Lizzie caught nine of the blighters in the end?

So I have decided to come home for lunch and shall have another go at the water this afternoon when I go over to check the smoker; we are trying salmon for the first time, Tom brought over three sides the other night. Drew found a recipe for the brine on the net (where else?) But I'm not sure how long to leave it for, I'm trying six hours with oak chips. Be good if it works.