Saturday's Fank

On Saturday, my niece had her 7th birthday.


Her Mum - my sister - was taking her and some cousins and friends ten-pin bowling, but the Wee Guy worked at the sheep with Big Brother all day. 


All. Day. 


So, while this wee girl readied herself for blowing out her candles...

(are you seeing her ear? That was her present, and boy, was she chuffed!)

...the Wee Guy spent his day here.

Here he is with Big Brother, discussing the day's strategy.

Or maybe, it was what they had for breakfast they were comparing. Apart from sheep, and the merits of Border Collies, food is one of their favourite subjects.

There they are in the middle of the photo, ready for the opening of gates for their own sheep.

The Wee Guy would say, 'Yours', and BB would duly open his gate to let another of his sheep in.

'Nope'

'Yours!'

And in it comes.

This was the first time I'd seen this happening, and by the time I'd spent my morning a few minutes there, I reckoned I could have done it myself.

Of course, I didn't offer. I didn't want to show them up.

Ahem. Moving on...

The sheep get moved up here, over there, into here, out of there, and down through here.

Did you get that?

Good, cos I haven't a clue.

Until, just before I left, I realised they were coming down the passage and the different owners opened their own gates to allow their own in.

I had always wondered how on earth they took all the sheep from the machair into the fank, and were able to doze their own, pedicure their own, and separate them into their own fields if that's what they were wanting to do.

Now I know!

And now to a selection of some of the sheep.

They must be twins.

'Oi, are you girls twins?'

"Ignore her. Just turn away, and she'll leave us alone."

So I did.

Remember Jenny Miracle. Here she is in all her splendour.

I don't know what these are, but their white faces and colourful markings make them look like ready-made jumpers. (Er, 'jumper' is a sweater to you guys over The Pond)

Aren't these guys lookers?

Now, wait til I see if I get this right? I reckon they are Blue-faced Leicester on Cheviots.

'A Chairstiona - am I right?'

She's not answering me, but I'll correct it later if I'm wrong. Not that, when it comes to sheep, I'm likely to be wrong, of course. I mean, I knew what they were anyway. I didn't need their owner to be standing beside me on Saturday telling me. 

Yes, well, moving on...

Coming towards the end of the sorting...

...and the last lot are being guided (for 'guided', read 'scrambled') up through this gate, where they will hang around in the waiting room until it's their turn.

Boy! I could do this myself the next time. 

Yeah. Wot-evah

Some of the Winners at the Barvas Show

West Side show

Isn't she a beauty! This is Gruagach an Eilein of Brue.

 Here she is being judged. The photo shows CA with Adam Henson, who (apparently) is a well-know TV presenter. Quite a coup for the Barvas show to have him open the show and judge the cattle.

Here, he's explaining what he's looking for in champions, and every time he chose a winner, he explained his choice.

Of course, well seasoned experts like myself knew all this, but for those onlookers less experienced than myself, this was a real bonus.

And here she is with her rosettes. She won her category - Highland heifer over 16 months - and was Reserve Champion for the show overall.

Is this not the cutest thing ever?

 Er, no, CA - not you. I mean the calf in the next photo.

Ahhhh, Mr Wayne. Winner of ... of... er, some category. It may have been, 'Winner of the Best Looking Owner's category'. Yes, actually, I think that's the the very one. 

Yep, we knew you were something special.

 I'm not sure how y'all managed to survive without having seen the Sunsets from the last couple of nights.

Never mind, here's one from....er, a couple of nights ago, I think.

 9.15 pm the sun finally dipped below the horizon...

 Today, some of the sheep were being moved to another croft. The boys and some of the cousins helped Big Brother move them across the machair and to another croft.

 Here's BB heading to a sheep that's just lambed. She had twins, and this is the last sheep to lamb.

This means that I'm off Maternity Watch. And y'all know how stressful Maternity Watch is for me.

Knowing that the lives of these sheep and lambs are totally dependent on me.

 ...because of course, BB couldn't do anything without me, could he?

Could he?

We'll move on methinks.

 Okay, confession time: not only was this the first time I'd set foot in this Maternity Ward all lambing season...

 ...these are also the first photos I took of this year's lambs. 

Dear me, what kind of crofter's wife am I?  Er, please don't answer that.

 No more terrified calls from my kitchen window.

Calls like, 'Catherine! Catherine! Is there something happening in the Ward?'

'Go check. Oh, I can't stand it when these poor sheep are in labour. Go and see if she's okay. Quick!'

 And tonight's sunset.

The photos do not do the colours justice at all.

This is the photo as I took it. I wish I could doctor it so it looks just like the picture I am seeing out my window.

 The ball of redness, and the pink sky surrounding it...

...with little cotton clouds dancing in the sky, to add extra touches of beauty here and there.

Truly, there is no artist like the One who has created absolute beauty.

Excited? You Bet!

Can you tell I'm excited?

No, the Queen hasn't contacted me to let me know she'll appear for next year's birthday celebration.

No, the invitation to William and Kate's wedding hasn't finally arrived in the post.

No, the Wee Guy  hasn't signed Peace Treaties with all and sundry, thus giving us a war-free zone.

But this....

....is happening.

Woohoo!

Busy, Busy, Busy

What a busy day I had today.

 First of all I had to move some sheep from one part of the croft to another.

I enlisted some help, but you all know that I was the one doing the hard work.

 Up the road. Towards me.

 Closer,

 and closer.

Er, yes, that's a windscreen wiper. Okay, so yes, I'm in the car. I'd better confess. And now I'm having to reverse all the way back to the house. Sheep...roads...priority. You've heard it all before.

 They were nicely behaved today, walking quietly passed the road into the house.

 Big Brother, his sister, DR and the kids liked to jump into the photos just to make is seem like they were doing the work. 

You all know better, though.

Into the pen for a bit of this and a bit of that.

 A pedicure,

And the lambs were marked. The Blue is Big Brother's colour; and the Orange shows the ram the lamb came from. (This is Mr Wayne's. Doesn't he look good!)

 And these are just cute.

  One of my nephews with a lovely Blackface lamb.

I'm done-in. All that work with the others just looking on. I need some hired help here.

And now, time to wind down