Well the days have been full and busy - and mostly wet ! and until last week the nights were disturbed by a trip to the field or stable to check on any lambing sheep - now most of the lambs are with their mummys but we have one little lamb being fed on a bottle, he was really quite weak at first, he is called Mr Fluffy and the funny thing is now that he is convinced that Reg the Labrador is his carer and follows him around everywhere. Mr Fluffy is very obliging and even shares his bed !

Yippee ! lambs finally born this morning, quite a surprise as there were twins - and the scanner had only picked up a single lamb ! one ram, one ewe lamb, both up and about and doing really well. Lots of activity too on the hedgehog front with lots of scampering around as they are now waking from hibernation, with hedgehogs of various sizes being found sleeping in hay piles and scampering around the garden paths at night - great to see !

It is a beautiful misty morning here at Borough, the birds started singing early and I have just checked on the sheep for any signs of lambing as I noticed yesterday when feeding them that a few were uddering up for lambing, they are not too full in the udder so I am not expecting anything for a few more days and according to the dates when manly the ram joined them they should be lambing at the end of March.

The starlings had been gathering for days now, making a tremendous din whilst settling in a couple of trees on the farm. They normally do this when they are gathering for the off. It is a sight to behold when they swarm for a quick fly by and then re-settle in their tree. They will soon be leaving for their summer abroad which means spring for us is finally here.

We awoke to another crispy morning - the snowdrops are still creating a wonderful carpet of white in the woods and still are a sign of spring to come. The lambs who have shared the woods for the winter have enjoyed nibbling the ivy from the trees and the barks are now quite bare. Manly the ram is due to be removed from his duties and the flock can then be reunited. I noticed this morning that several ewes need to have their feet trimmed - another task for the forthcoming weekend. This weekend the dawn chorus has lightened the mornings.

Today was a big day for our small flock of devon and cornwall longwool sheep - I had booked a pregnancy scanner to visit the farm this morning. THe ewes were run into a stable last night so their fleeces would be dry - better for the handlers ...... and their stomachs empty - better for the scanner to pick up images of the lambs It was a mixed result - basically Manly the Ram had done a good job of serving the older ewes and they were all in lamb - mostly with twins with the exception of ' bad hair day ' who is having a single.

I'm writing this on a crisp frosty sunny morning, the snowdrops are now in full bloom in the woodlands and there are some on my desk in a tiny vase which is putting a smile on my face. On my right hand side is Aussie the cat who as is often the case - has joined me in my work. At last, on Friday I took a walk up to cox tor on Dartmoor with the dogs - it was a beautiful morning on the high moor yet the town of Tavistock sat in a thick mist which made a great back drop to the photographs I took.

Wow ! so much has happened and now we have emerged into a new year - with snow drops pushing through the undergrowth in the woodlands. and tulips and hyacinths coming up in the garden - there is much sign that spring is around the corner.

yesterday was such a wet and blustery day - and I was waiting for the scaffolding to arrive as the solar panels are arriving tomorrow - ready to be fitted onto the barn roof later in the week. Working outside between the torential rain showers, and then dashing into the office to tackle the accounts.

whoopeee ! the yurt canvases are now all clean, dry and folded away in the snug barns for the winter months. Good news for next season is that we have been selected to appear in coolcamping kids which is due to be published in May 2012 - we already have some bookings for the season and plan to open in late march - which I am sure will soon be with us. Manly the ram has settled in nicely with his ewes and the lambs will be due to be born around that time too.