Rosette for Ambrosia.

Being first class of the day, the marquee was a bit quiet.

 Friday was Adults and Seniors classes at the Royal Bath & West Show, and when I realised a few weeks ago, that Ambrosia would be just into that age group, it seemed a good opportunity to enter her into the class which would be smaller, because many of that age would be pregnant, and so not going to shows - it turned out to be a good move, as she was awarded a rosette for 2nd place, from judge Val Fullerlove, who complimented Ambrosia's various attributes, and of course, it gave us another turn in the ring for the Championship - all good experience. And so now we can concentrate on programming our breeding for this year - hopefully shearing before the end of the month will enable that to happen.

Judge Val Fullerlove sees the amusing side of Ambrosia's reluctance to be seen;

We concluded the day after the show, by collecting our other girls from their temporary grazing in a rented paddock up in the village - it's great to have them back. On thursday we wormed the herd in preparation for their return, to minimise the risk of bringing back new parasites  to our land, and that went smoothly.While they were away we checked them three times a day, and we would often turn up to find one of them with a large dead bramble stem attached to their fleece, which isn't easy to remove because of it's tenacious grip on the fleece, and the need for gloves to avoid having your hands ripped as they resist you pulling it off. This short spell away made us appreciate the hazards of rented grazing (albeit minor in this case). This afternoon I hoovered the paddock to leave it good for the next occupant (Goldie the mare).

Our paddocks have improved greatly over the month, due to the several short spells of rain that we've had, the weeding and the fertilising. I've also improved the gates to the shelter compound, to prevent Bramley from escaping when she adopts her post-shearing slenderness.

Today, they were treated to the bathing troughs, which was a welcome homecoming treat they enjoyed, though it's not been as hot as yesterday.

Update on the cr*p circles (see last post for explanation): they appear to be favouring the longer grass as a latrine.

As we were looking after our grandson Oscar, today, I took him to the show this morning, - it was Suri day today, so I collected some Suri fleece that Mrs. Smallholder had arranged from Felicia of Popham Alpacas. It also gave me a chance to see a bit more of the show that you don't have time for when you are showing...

Small boy doesn't find the trains whistle so exciting when he's sat behind it!