Room for a small one?

Okay, so let me introduce you to 'Snowflake'. Snowflake is the first-born lamb to The Funny Farm this season, and belongs to a right haughty-looking mother called 'Muriel', who's actually quite pretty when she lets her guard down, and doesn't know she's being watched?



Here, on the other hand, is the newest member to The Shaun Club, and I swear was still wet behind the ears when I first laid eyes through the 'noculars the other day, curled up like a wet rag in the grass? Welcome to 'Liquorice Sticks'. Like Muriel, Mum 'Mildred' is equally protective of her baby, as the photo shows: "Come one step closer Wellie-Baby, and you're history angel!"






And THIS little beauty (below), is 'Adora', who's asleep all the time in the corner of the barn, with Fresian friend 'Piskie' behind (always got incredibly dirty knees has Piskie for some reason...)



Adora's Mum and Dad are truly, truly adorable, and gentle little souls to look at..... I'll try and photograph them for you this coming week.

In no way am I suggesting that I'm 'A Small One' (!) and certainly not as gentle on the eye as the previous little darlings...(!) Now we have a vision of Wellie with the bit between her teeth in the biting cold Northerly Wind on Saturday afternoon, absolutely determined to make a start on the new Asparagus Bed. Sorry to bring the blog back down to earth!

I had thought that the ferny-fronds would make a really 'natural' divide between the kitchen garden and the sick sheep pen, but I encountered so much Couch Grass root along here, that I had to abandon Plan A for Plan B.

Plan B materialised after an icy-cold glass of Pinot Grigio (thankfully!) namely; barely-visible netting behind (to stop the sheeps nibbling) and then Fruit Bushes, with training possible of cordons, espaliers, etc. etc., and the soil being covered with weed-supressing fabric, permanently mulched with well-rotted farmyard manure/shrub-shreddings to keep the couch at bay, and make the bed look as natural as possible. Because, if you think about it, the fence, once netted, has created one side of a fruit cage for me, without any expense, and I can seasonally attach more netting at crucial times, to stop birds pecking out new growth buds at this time of year, and ripening fruit later in the year.

You see? There's a positive solution to be found in most negatives.....

And whilst the Dray Wate Wane was numbing my goosebumps, I fancied that I might squeeze a cheeky crop of Potatoes into the bed before I do any of that, given that the fruit is/can be containerised still. But I'll have to sleep on that one for a while, as I do with every 'Wellie Idea', until I prove my own theory completely wrong. Do you have brilliant ideas one day and shoot them down in flames the next? Pushing the boundaries - always important if you want to make progress, me thinks.

As you can see, the quality of the FYM I tipped onto the still undug triangliar bed in the foreground is excellent quality, so very well done girls and boys in the fields of The Funny Farm (credit where credit's due afterall, eh?!), and if we can just get this really cold snap of weather elbowed, I could continue with the great leaps and strides that I'm achieving whilst I'm 'on a roll'.

Still, turning yet another negative into a positive, this frosty weather does make picking up little parcels of sheep-poo for making Funny Farm Liquid Feed, a darn site easier!

Stay warm, and Safe.

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