The First Lambs.

Yesterday saw the first of my lambs born, or at least the lambs I look after. I've spoken of the sheep before and have probably posted a few pics of them MATRON asked me about the sheep the other do so here are a picture of the new lambs and also most of the rest of the flock.

On Tuesday I got the mower out in the afternoon as it was a nice day. For some reason people seem to think that checking over and preparing the mower for the summer is a nice job for a wet winters day. All I can assume is that they have a better place for doing this than the cold draughty old barn where my mower is kept. There is a lot to be said for doing this job well before mowing time as you never know what you may find when you start removing guards and covers and I must confess to not following my own advice on this matter as I've only just got around to doing it. I didn't expect to find much wrong as it was a new mower last year, there was an oil leak that I knew about, I removed the cover and cleaned her up but couldn't see anything wrong with the pipes so just nipped the connection up a little, I can't see any oil after using it for a couple of days so hopefully thats sorted that. I did notice a small cut in one of the belts so that could do with replacing sometime, it doesn't look to be very serious though. Everything else was fine and I just changed the oil, cleaned the filter and made a few adjustments to the controls and we were ready for our first cut which I did yesterday and today. It was nothing more than a roll and taking the tips off the grass really. I will gradually lower the cut over the comming weeks.

Big Bertha getting pampered.

Woody asked when I sowed the Tomato plants that I showed you. Well those ones were sown just before Christmas, there were more than that but its not easy to get them right from that early, mainly because of the short days. I had the heat for the Orchids so that was okay but I could have done with more light as the Tomaotes tend to go leggy. I have another lot sown in January and then a few more sown in February. The thing I have to watch out for now are the whitefly, I have real problems with them and of course as you noticed yourselves the plants look nice and juicy - just the same as they do to a whitefly so I reckon they are all queing up somewhere just waiting to get stuck in.

I managed to get the scanning done for Vicki, by the time I'd done though it would have been quicker to copy them out by hand because first off the scanner wouldn't work. Its like that, everything works fine with it until you really want it for something and then it starts quoting this 'Code 9' thing at me - like I know what its talking about! I plays its game for a while before I eventually get angry with it and start deleting drivers and stuff at which point it gets worried and starts to suck up to me by promising to scan whatever I want. So I forgive it because really I like it, its a very nice scanner. So I'm all happy and set about making the copies for vicki only for the printer to start making little yellow triangles and telling me that it's off line and to check the cables. It has me under the desk banging my head, Tom things its a great game and soon realises that he has me cornered and the only way I'm getting back out from under the desk is to give hime a fuss - and then some more fuss, and so on... Of course by now I've realised that the printer is a liar and is well and truly connected every way possible and is just having a laugh at my expense. In the end I did the usual trick of turning off the computer and restarting it and it did the trick, everyone was speaking to each other again and Vicki got her papers copied - finally after a whole night of messing around. Actually I like my scanner and printer, I think my computer is the main problem, its getting old like me, and like me it gets a bit confused when you ask it to do to many things at the same time - maybe Santa will bring me one for Christmas - I think I said that last year didn't I?

Take care,

Bob.