3 – Snow fell today on top of ice. It marked the start of a rough two-week spell of weather on the hills; just what we didn’t want with the ewes heavy in lamb.

The cold snap brought lots of birds to the garden feeders – tits, nuthatches and our regular visitors, the spotted woodpeckers.

On the farm we’re getting sheds ready for lambing, putting up pens in the nursery area and getting all the paraphernalia together – buckets, medicines, feeding bottles, powdered lamb milk and so on. Have made a special place in the stables for any orphan lambs (I’d love not to have them but I know they’ll come!) with heat lights overhead to keep them warm.  

11 – Despite the forecast of more snow over the hills our hardened band of “Walking Friends” met at Petersfield near Wooler, with the intention of walking to Yeavering Bell, a majestic hill crowned with an Anglo Saxon palace and also home to a herd of wild feral goats. Just an hour into the walk near blizzard conditions warranted a change of plan.

After sheltering in a wood for lunch we headed for lower ground, leaving the goats for another day. It’s quite amazing how conditions can vary so much from the top of a hill to the bottom.  From walking in several inches of snow we returned to green fields – quite a different world.

13 – Exercised the collies on the bike this morning and in the space of twenty minutes saw my first oystercatchers of the year, beside the river, four roe deer and two “boxing” hares on the Haugh, an absolute delight to watch and something I had never seen before.

16 – Housed the in-bye ewes with the exception of those due in the third week. They will come in later when the first and second week ewes have lambed.

18 – Rode my horse Yasoo to the hill this morning into a different climate zone. Bitterly cold, with a lot of snow still lying, skylarks, meadow pippets and curlews much in evidence.

Johnny brought a Blackface ewe down to the farm. He found her stuck on her back with an eye pecked out, the work of a carrion crow, or ‘corbie’, not birds we care for at all. Gave her an antibiotic and cleaned up the eye. Most probably she will lose her sight in that eye but it will be a few days before we know for definite. 

20 – First set of twins born, a week early.  

Bitterly cold weather, fuelled by an easterly wind, persisted from now until well into April. With no grass growing we had to give extra feed to the ewes.

All the lambs were turned out in lamb macs, lightweight polythene body covers, to give them extra protection from the cold or rain.