Last year lambing was done and dusted by May 3rd. Not surprisingly given the staggered introduction of the Rams we still have a handful of ewes still to lamb. After our worrying bout of ‘watery mouth’ matters returned to normal fairly quickly and so far apart from the small outbreak of Orf all seems well and the barn area is strangely quiet.

Last night when Katja and I did the 11.30 stint there were only six ewes in the area around the barn with a handful more and their lambs inside in pens. Brought home sharply by the fact that yet another cycle in our farm life was concluded and the words of the sing “Another day older and ……..” we’re inescapable. The scene at the ‘orphanage’ was very different as the mass of lambs fought for Katya’s time and bottles of milk!

The bulk of the ewes and their lambs are now in the field by the drive and the fairly strong breeze we have at the moment ensures the aroma of sheep pervades the house!

Yesterday  morning at an early hour Antje was taken to Birmingham to catch a flight to take her back to Germany. As with Katrin the week before, the week felt far to short but of course rather that than the reverse!

In the evening Janine and Marisa arrived having safely coped with having to drive on the ‘right’ side if the road! This morning they accompanied Tim on his walk round the animals in the fields while Leslie and Katja fed the lambs in the ‘orphanage’

The British weather takes some beating; suddenly watering cans are back in use. Next week Jasper is away for three days on a course so Becky may find herself with rather a lot to do. Certainly all the vegetable plots look good and the greenhouses are in full use. The sweet peas sadly went out a little early and I fear that for a second year running their yield of sweet scented blooms may be slight. The garden as a whole looks good. In truth every hedgerow around us looks splendid and in Inkberrow itself the flowering cherries and magnolias look lovely.

On the beaurocratic front, the highlight was a session with our Natural England lead adviser who helped us negotiate our way through the new annual return and updated us on issues that were in the pipeline. We are very much hoping that this year we will manage to conclude the field fencing that Natural England are helping to fund.

News of Ulula is good. The number of people ordering their Demeter baby food continues to grow. A side benefit of having Wwoofers like Katja and Katrin is that we have help on hand to cope with material that needs translating or conversations that need to be made with staff in Germany!