The Spice of life

Five days ahead of her 11month date, at mid-day today, with no significant warning signs, Minnie gave birth to Darcy Spice (a variety of apple), an 8.5kg boy. Within half an hour we had a sharp shower, but I had already got a coat on him, and he sat it out with his mum - we try not to intervene, though it is very tempting to carry them down to the shelter, but we've found that our mums prefer to stay away from the shelter and crowding in the first few hours - with a coat on, and his legs tucked in he was quite well protected. Once the shower had passed, the sun burst through for half an hour, and I took his coat off so he could gain as much warmth and drying effect from it, but soon more showers were looming, so the coat went on and has stayed on now. Consequently, it was an hour before he stood - his first attempts at finding milk were frustrating (particularly for us) as he went in all directions, and licked a lot of rain off mums fleece, and took several hours before we felt he had started latching on for any significant milk. Minnie stood very patiently each time, and he was looking hard,  he was very active in between, so we felt he wasn't at risk and would connect in the end - a slightly floppy left ear had gradually improved by this evening - his sire is Ashhill Grenadier, so he is a full brother to Camelot.

Darcy Spice meets 3 week old Discovery

In 'other news', we have had a couple of mating trips recently - Bramley (2yrs) has met the handsome (Van Diemen) Qjori of Patou, and this week we visited for a spit-off, but she sat more purposefully than the first visit two weeks ago, so we have our fingers crossed - and Ambrosia (3yrs) has had a session with the charming CME Paris, and also took a bit of encouraging.