by Tria Stebbing.

THE frozen weather seems to have been here an age and so do all the extra demands on us that the bad weather brings. The water has remained frozen solid, and when the snow fell on the already frozen ground the grazing froze too.

Last year’s lambs, now teenagers, became very excited by the snow and skipped and frolicked as though it was the most exciting thing they had ever seen. The older ewes put their heads down resigned to the cold and hunkered in under the hedges.
The change in weather meant we had to up our game with feeding, as with the limited grazing now covered, the flock had nothing much to keep them going at all. Luckily, we had stored last year’s bales in the dry and they still smelt as sweet as the day they had been baled.

During the winter months the sheep graze on top of a very steep hill in a neighbouring village. Over Christmas, me and him outdoors both succumbed to the nasty virus sweeping the region and as yet have not shaken off the lingering cough and breathlessness.
Lugging tight bales of hay up a steep Dorset hillside was never on my ‘to do’ list for January but it quickly became a daily event. The plus side of having to stop for air every so often was the amazing view of the snow-laden fields below us and a reminder of why Dorset has a reputation for being so beautiful. The sheep loved the hay and would trek over to receive it gladly, before settling down on what was left as a makeshift bed.

The thaw took over a week and every day the trek to the top of the hill became a bit more treacherous as the compacted snow got frozen into packed track ways.
The watery winter sun has now replaced the snow, and the hopefully pregnant ewes are sitting, chewing the cud and watching and waiting. If Humphrey has been successful, we will know shortly as we hope to have Alex the scanner back out mid-February to give us, it is hoped, the happy news.
Some smallholders and farmers have been lambing already – we made the decision, based on last year’s success, that we would lamb late again this year and are due at the end of April.
This spring we are not expecting many lambs as our ewe lambs were not old enough to put to the ram, so we are lambing on a smaller scale to build up for next year’s epic lambing if they all go to visit Humphrey.

The seasons are changing once again and the snowdrops are poking through the frozen soil, and I for one cannot wait for those lighter evenings and some warmth on my face when climbing up that darn hill.