The thing about living in a 500yr old house is that when it comes to doing any work, it's never straight-forward.

The chap who's putting in the downstairs bathroom has taken a day and a half to NOT drill through the wall. Built to last eh......

JT has been setting up my SCBU in readiness for lambing.

When he first asked me, 2 years ago, would I be interested in taking on an orphan lamb, I agreed instantly. I knew nothing. It's not like you see in films or pretty pictures. My Cumbrian friend who had sheep said, "Be warned: all sheep try to die. Some start sooner and try harder". NOW I know what she meant. But with all the enthusiasm of the ignorant I went out with my bottle. Of course, if I'd thought it through, I'd have known they would crap on me. It's natural I suppose.

JT said "Two conditions: don't get attached to them and don't give them names".

This is Fluffy. You can see why. She was the tiniest of 3 lambs born to one ewe and just wasn't getting fed. This year she's having twin lambs of her own. Erm....yes. We kept her. More about Fluffy anon.

Yesterday, there was a succession of men in high visibility jackets apparently giving tenders for the removal of the bridge. We now know that this will take over a whole weekend and will involve a great deal of mess and noise.
Question is: when will we get a new bridge?

This is the digger

that was being towed by the tractor

that is being lifted back onto its tracks

after hitting the bridge.............

This is the tractor

that was towing the digger

that hit the bridge..............

This is the bridge
that straddles the road
that divides the farm
that will have to be taken down
that was hit by the digger
that is causing the upheaval
for James.

How beautiful it all is: the view from my back door at dawn.

The sheep are getting extra food in the form of treacle. Yummy Mummy! They love it and it boosts their nutrition.