Sunday 19 August 2012

Sheep

The mountains in California are very beautiful aren't they? They are very different to the mountains here. The Californian mountains are higher and they look drier also. We have sheep on our mountains and they eat the young trees so they can't grow. Our hills have more grass than trees because of the sheep. There are mountains in Malawi as well so I will take the photos from the Wanderers to show the Guides in Malawi. I haven't been backpacking yet with the Brownies here. At Christmas I will fly up and join the Guides and I hope I will go camping with the Guides. I haven't had a trail lunch like the Wanderers. It does look like food for explorers because it is easy to carry and full of energy. Thank you for sharing your trip with us!

I want to show you our sheep. Dad has to trim their feet and because it was dry he did it today. It started to rain but he finished them all. Dad thinks there maybe more goats than sheep in Malawi but we will find out.


The first photo is a ewe we bred ourselves. She has a Suffolk dad and a Texel mum. She had her first lambs this year and this is how dad holds them to trim their feet.

The second photo is one of this years lambs. He has a Scottish Blackface dad and he will go to the market before we go to Malawi to be sold.

The third photo is a wether. That means he has been castrated and he will go as hogget this year because he is over a year old.

The last picture is Dad trimming the feet. The hard bits grow round the side and hurt the ewe so they get cut off.

Next week the blog is going to the Otava school Mikkeli, Eastern Finland (20 seconds to find Helsinki but no Mikkeli on my globe!) I wonder if they will have lamb or hogget this week.

Thank you and goodbye Wanderers in California and hello Mikkeli!

VEG



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11 comments:

  1. Peck-Peck19 August 2012 at 19:59

    Why have you done this post about sheep?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Veg20 August 2012 at 07:18

      Hi Peck-Peck,

      VEG wanted to write about the sheep because they are part of our smallholding and they are part of the food we produce here.

      Veg's Dad

      Delete
    2. Anonymous20 August 2012 at 10:29

      Can only speak for myself, but I would love to see more pictures from Your smallholding and normal daily life.

      MaikD

      Delete
    3. Vinitha20 August 2012 at 16:08

      I second MaikD's request! I would love to see more pictures of your smallholding. It is a different way of life and it would be great to learn more about it.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous19 August 2012 at 20:36

    Is there any chance that you can show us a photo of your globe?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown19 August 2012 at 22:46

    Here is Mikkeli for you http://www.mikkeli.fi/fi/english/index
    Another link for Mikkeli http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikkeli
    Otava Folk High School (Finnish only) http://www.otavanopisto.fi/fi/

    Please show us your globe or atlas, you may need new or more up to date ones.

    Thank you for all your great work,

    C in MIA

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Markus Torniainen20 August 2012 at 07:34

      Hi!
      Great links!
      You can find Otava school here http://otavankoulu.blogspot.com
      (Otava Folk High school is our neighbour!)

      But you will here more of us later today!

      Teacher form Otava school

      Delete
  4. Anonymous19 August 2012 at 23:35

    I bet there'll come some nice roast, stew, kebab or curry from the wether/hogget.. Yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Unknown20 August 2012 at 08:41

    Only that particular area of the mountains is 'dry'. We're a big state - you can find everything from desert to misty pines and redwoods depending on where you are at the time!

    As an aside, every time I see a sheep I realize I'd forgotten about their awesome pupils. Heh.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Unknown20 August 2012 at 15:00

    Veg,

    If you have time on your visit to Malawi, try and get to Mulanje Mountain (Malawi's Highest Mountain). It is not too far from Blantyre and you can take day trip hikes up to beautiful waterfalls. Also in the area there are many bright green tea plantations.

    I am so looking forward to your blog when you are in Malawi!

    ReplyDelete