24 December 2017
11 December 2017
I'm on Facebook!
I have finally joined the 21st Century by being on Facebook! My page is @highfieldtextiles.
I am currently doing a knitted version of the 12 days of Christmas on there. Here a couple of photos from the series.
I am currently doing a knitted version of the 12 days of Christmas on there. Here a couple of photos from the series.
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| 9 Golden Angels |
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| 11 Knitted Snowflakes |
22 November 2017
York Steiner School Advent fair
I will be having a stall at the above event this Saturday 25th November from 10 til 4. I will be in Jane Schaffer's ceramics studio rather than the main school hall. Look forward to seeing people there!
9 November 2017
Pop Up Butchers Shop Date Change
Please note that the pop-up butchers shop this month will now be held on 18th November NOT 25th as previously advertised.
There will be Bacon and Gammon available this month in addition to the sausages and pork, lamb and mutton.
There will be Bacon and Gammon available this month in addition to the sausages and pork, lamb and mutton.
28 September 2017
Autumn Fruits
Had a bit of time today to take some pictures of the Autumn fruits in our hedgerows. A very abundant year for Hawthorn and Sloes but the blackberries seem to be mostly rotting rather than ripening. I will add in the crab apples when I next go to that part of the field!
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| Green Acorns |
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| Blackberries |
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| Hawthorn berries |
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| Wild rose hips |
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| Sloes |
21 September 2017
Brimham Rocks day out
Time flies when you are having fun (or just very busy!). Now the children are back at school I can catch up on blogging etc! During the summer holidays we had a lovely day out at Brimham Rocks, near Harrogate, North Yorkshire. The children had a rock climbing taster session. The son was up like a spider until his lack of height meant he couldn't reach the next holds! The daughter was more cautious and reach wasn't a problem but long legs and bony knees proved a challenge too! They both thoroughly enjoyed it and want to do more.
After the taster session we explored the rest of the site and played around on the fantastic rock formations.
After the taster session we explored the rest of the site and played around on the fantastic rock formations.
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| Colour co-ordinated! |
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| A new strata! |
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| In a bit of a hole! |
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| Let's see if I can push it off! |
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| Peek-a-boo! |
12 May 2017
York Steiner School Spring Fair
I will be at the York Steiner School Spring Fair tomorrow, 13th May. The School is on Fulford Cross (off Fulford Road) in York, YO10 4PB. The fair is open from 11 am to 4 pm.
I am taking some of the sheep and lambs as well as all my woolly stuff so do come and see me!
More info at www.yorksteinerschool.org
I am taking some of the sheep and lambs as well as all my woolly stuff so do come and see me!
More info at www.yorksteinerschool.org
27 April 2017
Catching up with more lambs
Bit of catching up to do! Here are 5 more ewes with their lambs. The first is Nicola with her fawn katmoget ram lamb relaxing on the bales.
The second is Serena with her moorit ewe lamb
Next is clover with her twin Charollais cross lambs, one ewe, one ram.
Then Billerhowe Moorit had twins, again Charolllais cross but this time they were both black! Both are ram lambs.
Lastly for this batch, Tessa had twin moorit ewe lambs.
Nearly there - 3 more ewes have lambed and I'll put them on the blog tomorrow. 4 left to lamb (if they are going to as I'm not certain they are in lamb).
The second is Serena with her moorit ewe lamb
Next is clover with her twin Charollais cross lambs, one ewe, one ram.
Then Billerhowe Moorit had twins, again Charolllais cross but this time they were both black! Both are ram lambs.
Lastly for this batch, Tessa had twin moorit ewe lambs.
Nearly there - 3 more ewes have lambed and I'll put them on the blog tomorrow. 4 left to lamb (if they are going to as I'm not certain they are in lamb).
20 April 2017
Triplets and twins x 2
Three more ewes have given birth. Our unregistered Shetland gave birth to Charolais cross twins on Tuesday. They are both mostly white, one ewe, one ram.
Last night we had quite an eventful evening. Two ewes were lambing at the same time on opposite sides of the barn! Our Soay cross ewe needed quite a bit assistance as she had two ENORMOUS Charolais cross lambs, both rams. They are definitely the biggest lambs we have ever had!
The other ewe was April (Shetland) who had been looking uncomfortable and huge for several days. It turns out she was carrying triplets!!!! She also needed quite a bit of help as two of them were coming head first but with the legs tucked back. This was both of the rams lambs(!), the ewe lamb was fine. All three are grey katmogets, the two rams are slightly different shades of grey and the ewe has a bit of white on the top of her head. We are monitoring them to see if April manages to feed them all or if we will need to supplement them with bottle milk.
Last night we had quite an eventful evening. Two ewes were lambing at the same time on opposite sides of the barn! Our Soay cross ewe needed quite a bit assistance as she had two ENORMOUS Charolais cross lambs, both rams. They are definitely the biggest lambs we have ever had!
The other ewe was April (Shetland) who had been looking uncomfortable and huge for several days. It turns out she was carrying triplets!!!! She also needed quite a bit of help as two of them were coming head first but with the legs tucked back. This was both of the rams lambs(!), the ewe lamb was fine. All three are grey katmogets, the two rams are slightly different shades of grey and the ewe has a bit of white on the top of her head. We are monitoring them to see if April manages to feed them all or if we will need to supplement them with bottle milk.
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| 'Three! that wasn't what I wanted!' |
19 April 2017
Easter Weekend Lambs - Part 2
Here are the rest of the Easter born lambs.
Late Sunday evening first timer Ginger gave birth to a single moorit ewe lamb. She is being a very protective mother, stamping her foot if you go near and giving you the 'hard stare' treatment, as you can see in the photo!
Almost straight after Ginger had finished Alexandra started so it was a very late (early morning !) before I got to bed. Alexandra had twins, both are fawn katmoget, 1 ewe, 1 ram. The ram has unusually long and straight wool for a Shetland. The ewe lamb isn't really yellow - I just got iodine everywhere in the dark!
When I had got up later on Monday morning Darcey was starting. She also had twins, both rams, 1 fawn katmoget and 1 moorit.
During the day, when I popped home for a couple of hours, Jess had a single black ram lamb who is huge! It's a good job Jess is an experienced mother as I am surprised she managed it on her own.
Last thing that day Gooseberry had a lovely grey katmoget ewe lamb.
That's 25 ewes lambed and 15 (probably) to go!
Late Sunday evening first timer Ginger gave birth to a single moorit ewe lamb. She is being a very protective mother, stamping her foot if you go near and giving you the 'hard stare' treatment, as you can see in the photo!
Almost straight after Ginger had finished Alexandra started so it was a very late (early morning !) before I got to bed. Alexandra had twins, both are fawn katmoget, 1 ewe, 1 ram. The ram has unusually long and straight wool for a Shetland. The ewe lamb isn't really yellow - I just got iodine everywhere in the dark!
When I had got up later on Monday morning Darcey was starting. She also had twins, both rams, 1 fawn katmoget and 1 moorit.
During the day, when I popped home for a couple of hours, Jess had a single black ram lamb who is huge! It's a good job Jess is an experienced mother as I am surprised she managed it on her own.
Last thing that day Gooseberry had a lovely grey katmoget ewe lamb.
18 April 2017
Easter Weekend Lambs - Part 1
The Easter weekend has been very busy, we have had 10 ewes lambing over the 4 days. This is part one with the first five of those ewes.
Good Friday saw the first of my daughter's three ewes giving birth. Dahlia had twins and they have fantastic markings - it's just a shame they are both rams. However, we might keep the black and white one for breeding. He is technically a black and grey yuglet fleket (meaning he is basically white but with coloured eye patches and coloured patches on his body). The other one is a grey bersugget (meaning he has patches of various shades of grey on his body).
On Saturday we had 3 ewes give birth. Firstly Lavina had twins, both are ewe lambs, 1 black and 1 black gulmoget (black with light coloured belly, chin and eyepatches)
Next was Robyn. Although she is a Shetland we put her with the Charollais tup this year to produce cross-bred lambs for meat. She had two large ram lambs. Because they are cross-bred they are white with slight beige patches.
Last on Saturday was Echo who also had twins, a black ewe and a black gulmoget ram.
Finally for this instalment, Monroe gave birth in the early hours of Sunday morning. She had twins, both rams, one a lovely dark fawn katmoget (fawn upper body, brown belly and legs and chin and badger-like face markings), the other was a plain moorit.
5 more to come in the next instalment!
Good Friday saw the first of my daughter's three ewes giving birth. Dahlia had twins and they have fantastic markings - it's just a shame they are both rams. However, we might keep the black and white one for breeding. He is technically a black and grey yuglet fleket (meaning he is basically white but with coloured eye patches and coloured patches on his body). The other one is a grey bersugget (meaning he has patches of various shades of grey on his body).
On Saturday we had 3 ewes give birth. Firstly Lavina had twins, both are ewe lambs, 1 black and 1 black gulmoget (black with light coloured belly, chin and eyepatches)
Next was Robyn. Although she is a Shetland we put her with the Charollais tup this year to produce cross-bred lambs for meat. She had two large ram lambs. Because they are cross-bred they are white with slight beige patches.
Last on Saturday was Echo who also had twins, a black ewe and a black gulmoget ram.
Finally for this instalment, Monroe gave birth in the early hours of Sunday morning. She had twins, both rams, one a lovely dark fawn katmoget (fawn upper body, brown belly and legs and chin and badger-like face markings), the other was a plain moorit.
5 more to come in the next instalment!
16 April 2017
Playing and Chilling!
There are 5 more lots of lambs to update you with but I don't seem to have managed to take any decent pictures of them yet, they are all blurry. I'll try again this afternoon! In the meantime here are some pictures of the children playing with the lambs, a chicken-ewe face off and a seriously relaxed lamb!
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| Attacked from all sides! |
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| Cuddles |
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| Chicken - ewe face off! |
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| Chilling out! |
13 April 2017
Twins x 2
Two ewes decided that 4 am was a good time to give birth today!
Fifi (Shetland) had moorit (brown) twins, 1 ram, 1 ewe. Both easy births and very quick to get up and suckle.
First time mum Greta (Shetland) also had twins. The ram lamb is white with brown hocks and a few other brown spots. The ewe lamb is white and is very skinny, so we are keeping a close eye on her to check she is getting enough milk and keeping warm.
Fifi (Shetland) had moorit (brown) twins, 1 ram, 1 ewe. Both easy births and very quick to get up and suckle.
First time mum Greta (Shetland) also had twins. The ram lamb is white with brown hocks and a few other brown spots. The ewe lamb is white and is very skinny, so we are keeping a close eye on her to check she is getting enough milk and keeping warm.
11 April 2017
More lambs
Eden (Shetland) lambed on Saturday late afternoon. She had twins, both rams, one is a fawn katmoget and the other is a moorit (brown).
In the early hours of Sunday Bronwen (Portland) lambed a single ewe lamb.
The next two ewes lambed on Monday, Dahlia (Shetland) at breakfast time. She had a single white ewe lamb.
Then in the afternoon Ebony (Shetland) lambed also had a single ewe lamb but this one was black!
That's all up to date with the lambing so far!
In the early hours of Sunday Bronwen (Portland) lambed a single ewe lamb.
The next two ewes lambed on Monday, Dahlia (Shetland) at breakfast time. She had a single white ewe lamb.
Then in the afternoon Ebony (Shetland) lambed also had a single ewe lamb but this one was black!
10 April 2017
Next instalment of lambs
I am slightly behindhand with updating the blog, been a bit busy in the lambing shed over the weekend and not got to the computer. Saturday saw 2 ewes giving birth. Dawn (black shetland) gave birth to twins, 1 ewe, 1 ram, both black.
In the evening Galina (portland) gave birth to a very small ram lamb. She wasn't due for another week and I think that is why the lamb is so small. It took quite a lot of help to get it to suckle for the first time and was quite shivery. It now seems to be ok thankfully.
In the early hours of Sunday morning Clarissa (Portland) gave birth to a ewe lamb.
More lambs have been born yesterday and today so will update those when I have had a chance to take photos and can get to the computer!
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| 'Leave me alone!' |
In the evening Galina (portland) gave birth to a very small ram lamb. She wasn't due for another week and I think that is why the lamb is so small. It took quite a lot of help to get it to suckle for the first time and was quite shivery. It now seems to be ok thankfully.
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| 40 winks! |
In the early hours of Sunday morning Clarissa (Portland) gave birth to a ewe lamb.
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| Contented. |
6 April 2017
Ladies-in-waiting
No new lambs today, so here are a couple of pictures of very pregnant sheep!
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| Distinctly pear shaped! |
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| Caution: Wide load |
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