It’s that time of year again and here I am with the cup of tea and mince pie- half eaten-it takes a awhile for the computer to warm up!

One word sums up the year: WET with the odd storm force 10 gale thrown in- at least 2 in January and one a couple of weeks ago- force 7 or 8 winds became almost breeze like in comparison. Its pretty impressive what winds of that force can do – lift a six foot trough out of gloupy mud and move it 30 feet, take a heavy wooden sliding door off its track and drop 10 yards away. It is also pretty impressive what damage the wretched birds do when it is very wet. Flocks of seagulls turned one 6 acre field black in a couple of weeks. It did recover but was no use at all all winter and I’ve rested it for most of the summer.

Calving started in January and wasn’t without its dramas- a cow down with phosphorous deficiency- means they loose the use of their back ends- as she started calving, another with mastitis. Guess what, the cow with mastitis was Nina- the drama queen was at it again! Glad to say that both cows and calves- albeit with the vets help- survived. Seven calves this year so in a couple of year there will be lots of lovely beef available.

Lambing started in April. The major problem was how wet it was as I like to put the ewes and lambs into pens for a couple of days but the area that I usually use was still under water. Every time Stew was home the ewes went all bashful and crossed their legs and refused to lamb but how they got on with it once he’d gone back to Dundee! This was the first year I’d been brave enough to actually help a ewe to lamb, rather than just rushing to the phone and summoning help, and wound up doing it several times! On one occasion I’d just finished helping a ewe with her second lamb when, whoosh, another landed in my lap- triplets! Our first ever set and from a gimmer -a ewe lambing for the first time_ and she reared the lot. The last was at about 2am on a morning in late May when I was lying there trying to help a gimmer produce a big ram lamb wondering if I was doing the right thing and who the hell did I dare call for help at that time of day when luckily the lamb started to come. Mother and son did just fine.

It was perishing cold for most of lambing but, thankfully, dry. One morning it was so cold at 5.30 am that the ewe and the lambs she had just produced didn’t get chivvied gently into a pen; both lambs were picked up and marched across the field pronto to get them out of the wind before they- and me- froze to death. Luckily the ewe knew the procedure and trotted after us. The more dramatic afternoons was when a gimmer decided to try to kill one of her new born lambs. Help was summoned this time and Colin- one of the guys who does our harvest, muck spreading etc- came to the rescue as he had done several time when I was on my own and there was a ewe needing help and I could not catch her. He suggested putting the ewe and the lambs in separate but adjoining pens, set up so that the ewe could see, but not get to, the lambs. For a couple of days I caught the ewe several times during the day and put the lambs to suck off her. I had resigned myself to having to rear the lambs myself, ordered all the necessary bits-and spent the money- when she did decide that she would take them and was a great mum after that. The final tally was 31 lambs

No major mechanical works, except refurbishing the baler, for Stew this year but lots of drainage stuff until, guess what, it got too wet – which was about early September! What we have done so far has made a big difference and will be better still when we can actually finish it. One part of the job saw the resurrection of the concrete mixing team from the midden and effluent tank days- glad to say that we haven’t lost our touch.

Harvest went reasonably well which was a relief as it had been so darn cold the grass didn’t really start to come until the middle of June but then it did make up for it. The newly refurbished baler decided to break its belts – the one bit that hadn’t been changed but were a week later. Thank goodness for helpful contractors.

Shapinsay show was a bright sunny day, just one of the few. Took both big horses- Sundance dazzled- it’s surprising what a bath and a load of chalk can do. Conker looked splendid but that’s as far as it went – he was a complete berk and thoroughly disgraced himself. I have now banned him from going anywhere with one of his lady friends- he goes alone or not at all. Sundance was reserve champion horse.

We have carried on as WWOOF hosts and have had lots of help from all over the world: Australia, Canada, Alaska, Germany, Switzerland, America, South Africa and England. It certainly gives a variety of perspectives on life. One of the Australians did environmental works in an area suffering from water shortages- very difficult to get my head around that one this year! One of the English girls produced a crazy coincidence that only a scheme like WWOOF could bring about: she was studying veterinary medicine at Girton College, Cambridge- my Alma Mater- and had spent a year on the same corridor where I lived for my second two years at college. Tabi was great fun and a huge help as she was used to handling animals and wanted to do a lot with the horses as part of the practical experience for her degree. I also had help from Leona, another vet student who lives on the island again wanting equine experience. So we have now got one of the ponies dragging a tyre about and my Christmas present is going to be a set of chain harrows. The current WWOOFER also has horsy experience; the mad fool does vaulting- gymnastics on horseback- so again the ponies are making progress.

We also got some terrific help in October when Ma and Pa came for their first ever visit. Dad got well stuck in –"happiness is a big heap of timber"- and the shed that Stew and Noel had been building soon had a roof put on it. Poor Mum got a bit frustrated until I let her loose on the hover – I am still not very domesticated, not even enough to want to explain how the darn things work so someone else can do it! It was great to see them; unfortunately the weather wasn’t very kind except for one beautiful Sunday when we went to look at the Shapinsay Mill which is being restored which was fascinating; an amazing project being undertaken by a lad from Yorkshire.

Shed Before Work                                                                             Shed After Work

Talking about Christmas presents Stew’s Jag has now been exchanged for a pickup truck- much, much more useful although currently it is down in South Wales along with Stew who is working there. It is an interesting commute.

Well I’m getting to the bottom of the page. There is now an alternative to packing up those wellies and trekking North- although the invitation is always there- we now have a website for the farm: www.farmofgarth.co.uk with lots and lots of pictures and all the newsletters including the relevant photos. Just realised I’ve not told you that the dogs are all fine and still here although Jack is slowing down a little, Buddy’s snores have got louder and Jess is still exhibiting his own unique style of working the sheep. Merry Christmas and a terrific New Year folks.