I have said it before and I will say it again – sometimes you just take a photograph that totally shows why you make some of the decisions you made…

you might think this is a bit of a weird blog but I rarely get time to go out shopping to buy something with Birthday money I am given. However, I did need a new handbag and with money from my parents, mother in law and brother in law, I finally bought one. I always try to shop locally so Elizabeth James Designer Italian leather handbags suited me perfectly near the Corn Hall in Cirencester … Mum asked what colour is it and I said – it changes in the light – see what you think!

one minute we are enjoying sunshine and free spirits…

and the next its cosy and heating and frost!

minus 7 this week – in April 2017 – amazing!

The weather first hot then wet then hot and now cold has confused most of us let alone the grass – yet it continues to grow madly.

whilst hedges were dealt with months ago, the fields need keeping in order.

A time for topping and tidying- do not let the grass grow under your feet – so we have to flail top and collect where necessary in order to keep the farm functioning as we want it to!

I am a great believer in reading your chosen subject and very much hands on experience – those of you attending husbandry courses and Alpaca experiences find that out very quickly!

So it is little surprise that I attended a Wensleydale Society meeting recently and witnessed how other breeders work alongside these magnificent quadrupeds.

travelling through parts of the Cotswolds I have never seen, it was a great experience and I learnt a lot.

I have to say they are rather um “selective” and like their ewe nuts to be a certain size… leaving the large ones behind… rather interesting because the large nuts were the top brand ones and the smaller the cheaper!

Nothing can give a better sense of beauty than farming and whilst I do not get out often due to livestock commitments, I can really appreciate the scenery when I do …

Whilst I have a massive sense of pride in all we have achieved so far at Kensmyth Stud at Clay Meadow, it is also the home of our “lads”. With Oliver gaining excellent results at the local Cirencester College in Business and off to University, Mitchell meantime continued his studies in Media and Film at Cirencester College too – local lads using local facilities and doing well!

We were all delighted that Mitchell could fly the flag for his home at Clay Meadow, between South Cerney and Siddington, Cirencester, having attended Cirencester College and achieving top grades in his media when he received an invitation to a Presentation at Cirencester College recently.

Mitchell was awarded the ” The Immediate Media Prize for Media and Communications” amongst hundreds of other high achievers of the College – also being presented with awards for their success.

The words read out at the Presentation for Mitchell were:

“Mitch is a highly talented and creative student who achieved a triple distinction star in Media and gained a distinction in every single one of his 18 units, a truly outstanding achievement, requiring consistent motivation and high standards. He also used his creative flair when producing videos for clients and was the driving force behind an installation video made for the Corineum Museum”

Well with the Alpaca shearers booked for later on, the method is totally different for sheep so we had a shearer recommended to us for our “long wools”. with a hectic farming  life requiring husbandry (120 plus toenails on average each time) and topping a necessity to keep good grass growing all the time despite munching mouths, it was the time for the first shear for the Wensleydales!

Having bred Pedigree livestock all my life (even hamsters when I was little) and having helped pull out my first foal aged 7 years – breeding Alpaca has always given a sense of achievement with every new birth and new registration – we have bred over 50 cria now and in 2018 reach 10 years of breeding Alpaca – flying in the face of adversity when so many have given up.

But when I decided to add a handful of Rare Breed Wensleydales and had the “lambing baptism of fire” a while back, I was reminded of that sense of pride you get … when you register your first progeny for the very first time…

The purebred Wensleydale Register and Kensmyth first Blacks and Whites are added!

and yes – the lambs have been tagged with EIDs in accordance with all rules – just as Alpaca are!