At Glensaugh the calving of our blue grey cows is over; cow L1 was last to calve, requiring minor assistance and can be seen in the photograph a few moments later displaying bovine motherly love”. This apparently aggressive behaviour is common within the first hour of birth and can (rarely) result in the death of the calf. It appears to serve no purpose and delays the calf’s getting to its feet and sucking. Both mother and calf are now doing fine.

Lambing is now also nearly over. The crossbred ewes have finished and the majority of the Blackfaces have lambed. The Cheviots (Thoka flock) are about half way through. Deer will begin to calve soon, and meanwhile the 2008 deer calf crop has been weighed and tagged and the majority have been sold to John Fletcher from Falkland who will process the carcases through his farm shop. A small number of herd replacements along with a few lighter calves will be grazed over the summer in the Hogg Park.

At Bows Cottage we have felled trees and stripped slates, glass, most of the timber and removed a quantity of useful dyking stone for re-use elsewhere on the farm. We are now waiting for CHAP Construction to come on site to demolish the remainder of the building, whose gaunt remains can be seen in the photograph. This building is thought to date from the mid nineteenth century and has been renovated at least three times during its life, most recently for use as a farm store.