Our most important piece of news is that, after nearly a year, we have been granted planning permission to install a 20Kw vertical axis wind turbine at West Ilkerton. This is very exciting and also rather daunting because there's now a lot of work to do in preparation. Hopefully by August we will be generating most of the power we use on the farm (as long as the wind blows). It's our ambition to lie in bed during bouts of bad weather and think of all the money we're saving!
In case anyone is worried that West Ilkerton will be blighted by a noisy, monstrous great turbine, the whole structure will be just over 12m high, and it will be almost silent. See http://www.alvestaenergy.com/ to get an idea of what it will look like.
On the subject of electricity, some regular visitors may remember that a few years ago the Sycamore trees at the front of the house were pollarded because their branches were a danger to the power lines and the house. Well, they grew back so fast that they were a danger again, so Sarah's boyfriend, Luke, (who's a tree surgeon) trimmed them down again for us. More like a coppice than a pollard this time. It's just as well he did, because two of them were completely rotten inside and full of foul-smelling liquid which sprayed everywhere - and we'd just cleaned all the windows!

Lambing didn't go as expected. For a start, Sarah was supposed to be No 1 Shepherd this year (sadly Bernie, the original No 1 Shepherd, had to retire) but within a few days she was very ill with a chest infection. The chest infection didn't respond to antibiotics because it was caused by a virus, which has now given her swollen glands and a high temperature. She's in bed, and under doctor's orders to stay there for at least a week. You just can't get reliable staff nowadays....

In the lambing shed

So, yet again, Chris did the bulk of the work (3am to 7 pm) and I did from 8 pm until 1 or 2 am. We were helped by our faithful band of guests: Sophie Perks and friends and Alex & Charlie Howlett. Also, a vet student called Jake came for a week to gain some practical experience with sheep. I think he's decided to specialise in dogs & cats!

The poor sheep had lost a lot of condition in the snow during February, and the first lambs to be born were underweight. An additional problem was several ewes had little or no milk. The result has been more tame lambs than usual. Once all our willing bottle-feeders (Sophie, Alex and Charlie) had left, Chris and I had a breakfast 'Board Meeting' to discuss the urgent issue of who was going to feed 11 lambs six times a day with a bottle. By lunchtime we had bought and installed a Shepherdess lamb feeder www.scanutec.com . This is an ingeneous fake Mummy, which is essentially a bucket full of hot water with another bucket full of milk inside and two teats on one side. The whole thing is heated by a device which switches itself on and off, giving hot flushes for added authenticity. The lambs love it, as they can help themselves whenever they want. They are growing rapidly, and don't seem to get the pot bellies of bottle-fed lambs.

The weather for the past month has been pretty good. In fact (dare I say it?) we need rain. It's such a help to get warm, dry weather at this time of year because there are so many baby animals outside. Yesterday was beautifully warm and sunny, so I took some photos:

Calves enjoying the sunshine

Our new bull, Wellshead Duke

Exmoor Horn ewe and lamb

Our first foal (Ivy's foal) As you can see, he's a colt.

Ivy, Claret and Christmas Pudding have foaled so far. They all have colt foals. Still, an alive colt foal is better than no foal at all.

A few days after birth, Claret's foal was very poorly and couldn't get up. We weren't sure what was wrong, but thought he could have a navel infection. Chris gave him an injection of 'Pen and Strep', and within 12 hours he was running behind his mum again. In fact, he was so lively we couldn't catch him to complete the three-day course of injections!

Claret with her colt foal the day after he was injected (still looking ill, but standing, suckling and impossible to catch). He now appears to have made a complete recovery.

Some RSPB volunteers are doing a bird survey of the farm, which should prove very interesting. Mike Howlett, who stayed in the cottage for a week during lambing, took these photos of a buzzard and a dipper at West Ilkerton:

Chris went out counting deer and took these photos of West Ilkerton from the unusual vantage point of Butter Hill:

Make a line up * from the asterisk, and West Ilkerton is the grey blob just below the cloud shadow on the far hill.

See?!

http://www.westilkerton.co.uk/

Well, It turns out that the snow we had at the beginning of the week was only a dress-rehearsal. We woke up this morning to this:

First we fed and watered all the animals in the farmyard (including a little heifer calf which our cow, Livelong, had at midnight last night), and then we put the horses out in our safest fields to stretch their legs:

Winaway knee-deep in snow

By midday the snow stopped, thank goodness, so Chris wrapped some lengths of chain round the tractor tyres and braved the hill to Cow Field to get some silage:

One lump or two?

After lunch we went over to the other side of the farm to find the sheep and bring them back to the safety of our sheltered valley field, away from the northerly wind. The snow was already drifting dangerously. One ewe had died, and two others were suffering from cold and exhaustion, but we managed to get the flock to follow the tractor tracks slowly over the fields and down the lane to The Cleve. If panicked, the sheep jumped out of the tracks and became stuck in the snow. We had to go very gently, and the dogs stayed at home. The silage bale on the front of the tractor acted as the carrot and I was a well-padded stick, complete with cuddly Winnie The Pooh hat. Mist The Sheepdog would have laughed, but the main thing is it worked. The flock is now in a sheltered field, with plenty to eat.

The sheep finally made it to the Cleve, just before dark.

The only animals which seem to be perfectly happy in this weather are the Exmoor ponies.

Whilst skidding around defrosting drinking troughs and feeding hungry animals, Chris and I stocked up on potential Christmas card photos. Please vote for your favourites by leaving a comment at the end of this blog (guess where they are on the farm, too):

If you didn't know cows could be smug, you do now!

Happy New Year Everyone! We're getting a proper winter for a change, so let's hope it'll be followed by a proper summer, with plenty of sun by day and the odd refreshing shower by night.
I'll start with some sad news: Basil the Shire had to be put down before Christmas because his heart was giving up and he was filling up with fluid. He was put down at home, munching on his favourite food.

Dear Old Basil
Now for the good news. We had a great Christmas, and 18 people (four generations of the Eveleigh family) sat down in the dining room for Christmas lunch.

Sarah on Bella and Chris on Tempo at the Boxing Day meet

Calving started on 2nd January, with three calves in one day! Two bull calves and one heifer. Mothers and babies are fine. It's always a thrill to see new life appear as if by magic.

On Tuesday David Kennard came to West Ilkerton with his sheepdogs, Mist and Gail, to film a scene for his latest Mist DVD with our singing Exmoor ponies! You'll have to watch Channel 5 at Easter to hear the full story. See www.mistthesheepdog.co.uk for further details. If you haven't seen the Mist stories on Channel 5, you've missed a real treat. The DVD is one of the most watched in our self-catering cottage.



David Kennard filming at West Ilkerton

I had a lovely surprise in the post today (makes a change from bills and junk mail advertising monogrammed silver toothpicks as the perfect gift for HIM!): Chris and Cherry Hughes sent me a DVD full of photos of the 2008 pony handling course. Here are some of the best (more of the best on the Exmoor pony page of our website http://www.westilkerton.co.uk/ )

Everyone was given a talk about how to handle ponies

Here's Claire with Rocky. He didn't like having his headcollar buckled to begin with, so Vanessa taught us a handy trick with baler twine

Nikki and Kirbie: love at first sight

The ponies appreciated Colm's laid-back attitude

Vanessa showed us how to use a rope to teach a pony to lift its hind feet

Then we had to do it (Boudicca was overwhelmed by my bottom!)

On the second day we took the ponies into the yard and introduced them to scary things like trailers, hoops, plastic and road signs

Nikki with Kirbie and Cathy with Bucks Fizz

Shaun with Sunny Delight

Lisa with Fanta

Cheryl with Boudicca

Nikki with Kirbie and Cherry with Sandy

Rocky, Lisa, Vanessa, Kirbie, Nikki, Sandy, Cherry, Philip, Boudicca and Cheryl

The grown-up Harry Potter, ready to fly off on his turbo-charged glove-on-a-stick to work his magic on more ponies

The pony handling course was a great success. This year we handled the ponies before they were inspected and branded, and it definitely made each process less traumatic. The foals have now been turned back with the herd for the winter, and will go to their new homes next spring. All three colts passed inspection. It was decided that the young filly was too small to inspect and brand, so she'll be presented for inspection next autumn.

The colts are:
Ilkerton Sandy 265/22 (named by Cherry)
Ilkerton Kirbie 265/23 (named by Nikki and Cheryl)
Ilkerton Rocky 265/24 (named by?)


Many thanks to Vanessa and Philip Bee http://www.positivehorsemanship.co.uk/ for running the course, and to Vanessa, Philip and Lisa for helping on inspection day.

The adult ponies were obviously overjoyed to be reunited with the youngsters, and the mares instantly suckled their foals. Hopefully, by handling them and then turning them back with the herd for their first winter, we will have given the foals a good start in life.
As the fox says in The Little Prince, 'You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.'

Here are a few photos of the pony handling course (more to follow):

George came home from Scotland for a few days last week. It was great to see him again. He's sold his car to Sarah, so he had to drive the Beduki. (Don't worry, it doesn't go on the roads; he borrowed our car to go and see his friends!)

Sarah came home for the weekend. It sounds as if she's having a wonderful time at the RAC Cirencester. I think we've had a carefully edited version of events so far!

The sheep have been gathered off Ilkerton Ridge (the area of moorland on which we have grazing rights) for the winter. Beetle was a great help.

When Chris goes round the farm every morning he tries to take his camera with him. It's an old-fashioned film camera, so he always has to wait a few weeks for the photos to be developed. In his latest batch I especially liked this one of a cow sympathising with a newly-shorn Exmoor Horn ram. The poor sheep had to cope with endless bad weather after they were shorn this year.