christmas greetings

All of us humans and animals from the Slap self catering cottage would like to wish you all a very merry christmas and a happy new year from a very cold and snowy Orkney and look forward to seeing you next year in the better weather.

do you fancy a week in ORKNEY

WE ARE OFFERING FOR THE WEEKS OF DECEMBER A SPECIAL OFFER OF £150 PER WEEK INSTEAD OF £250, THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE CHRISTMAS WEEK, JUST PHONE OR EMAIL FOR DETAILS

Ferret

Domino the ferret turned up home today, he seems to have had a great time on his adventure, he had a nice full tummy, and just wanted to climb into his nice warm bed, and now hes sleeping.

Weather

This week has been the most wonderful week to see the Northern lights, the sky has been lit up, with lots of different colours. Friday last week Domino the ferret escaped out of his cage, at the moment the whole of our island is keeping a look out for him, hes proberly having a great time up on the heather hill catching rabbits and not in the slightest bit worried about what he is putting us through, i will keep everyone updated.

STUFF

Today has been really horrible gale force 9 winds, i was supposed to be on the plane to Aberdeen but after 2 hours bumping around on the Kirkwall runway and not getting any where, it was decided to get everyone off the plane as it was not safe to fly, by now it was 11am and the plane should have left at 07.40am, all planes were grounded so i gave up and came home, but first i had to get accross the barriers, they had huge waves comming over. I am now booked to fly next thursday(i will get my christmas shopping) All the sheep and lambs are now wormed and toe nails trimmed ready for the winter, the ram will be going in with the females on 1st dec so this should make our lambs due on 1st may 2011. Snow flake and Diamond the shetland ponies are due their foals in March and April of next year.

November

Gosh its cold and very windy, the churchill barriers have been shut since 09.20am and only opened at 15.40, gale force 9 winds, not nice!! We have 2 new additions, 2 lovely little fluffy chicks, they do not have names yet. All the other animals are fine, Iam just getting Puzzles winter pony coat cleaned ready for her to wear, she will not be happy as she does not like it, but with her been so old she needs some extra protection.Vinnie has been in trouble again, last night, he got into our christmas stash of food that i have been gathering up, he ate a giant jumbo bag of crisps, a lovely mess of crips wrappers every where.
Today we are getting all the sheep and lambs in as they need to be wormed and given their vitamin boosters for the winter,plus lots of toe nail trimming(lovley) the sheep will then be moved to new fields and mum and babies seperated, so their will be some noise for a few days.

october Its cold !!!!!!!!!!!

This has been a very cold week, tuesday and wednesday morning has seen snow on the Hoy and Orphir hills, yesterday morning the snow came down to lower levels, so winter is well and truley here. The ponies coats are already looked out ready to get on them as soon as their coats are dry.WE have started putting the winter food in the fields now for all of the animals. Their big shelter in the field has been bedded out with straw to keep them warm at nights.The cold has not stopped Vinnie(dog) taking his morning swim in the duck pond(yuk!!!) he comes back every morning all smelly and then has to be showered, which he does not like, i dont think he will ever learn.

october

i am now back from my holiday in the sun, it was a lovely break, and my suntan is already starting to fade. The animals have all been spoilt rotton by Tony and Tula who were staying at the Slap looking after the croft and animals while i was away.On the way home from my holiday i stopped off in Aberdeen to go to the Shetland pony sale. There were many lovely ponies and foals and i could have taken them all home, but as i only have room for 1 more pony, i bought a lovely little 8 yr old skewbald (brown and white) mare called Snowflake, she is 33inch in height. Snow flake came home on the boat from Aberdeen on tuesday night. Wednesday was a big day as Snowflake was introduced to all the other ponies at the house, Erland the little foal has fallen madley in love with her and follows her everywhere.
October is a busy time of year as the lambs need seperating away from their mums, all the animals need their feet trimming and worming before they are all moved to their winter grazing.When i get a photo of Snowflake i will add it to my blog.

september

i cant believe how the summer has flown by, we are now into winter, its cold, very wet and windy,the evenings are drawing in and its dark by 7.30pm.the animals are all tucked up nice and cosy in their houses all bedded down with straw.Last wednesday morning in the middle of gale force 10 winds and driving rain, the last one of our Little North ronaldsay sheep had a baby girl, she is black and the size of a kitten.Kath the lady who was staying in the cottage on holiday named her Molly.Molly and mum had to stay inside for a few days until the weather calmed down. Saturday morning they went out and are doing fine. Molly is growing really quickly. All the baby chicks and ducklings from the summer are all now fully grown and are now able to cope with the horrible weather.Erland our little foal is really big, he is a pest to his mum so spends most of his time with Puzzle and Diamond.Diamonds tummy is huge her baby is due in march next year.The ponies had their feet trimmed yesterday by the blacksmith, erland was very intreasted and watched what was happening.Bertie and Eddie the young shetland boys are becoming monkeys now, they like to help themselves to what ever is in your pockets, so i always have to have something tasty in them.Theres not much more news for now, but i will update my blog soon(i am going away next week on holiday to the sun in Tenerife for a week and am leaving my animals in the very capable hands of Tony and Tula who are comming to farm sit for me)i will think of you all while i am lying on my sun bed drinking pina coladas(makes achange from Highland Park Whisky)

shows

sorry, its been a few days since i updated everyone on the animals, we have been getting ready for the shows. 20 ducks were all bathed in shampoo and conditioned to make their feathers nice, then blow dried and kept clean ready for the South Ronaldsay and Burray show.Jedward chicken and mr Frizzle chicken were also bathed and blow dried ready for their big day. Bertie and Eddie the Shetland ponies, were shampooed and polished all ready for their big day. Wednesday morning, the show day, we were all up bright and early to get ready to load the animals. The ducks and chickens were no bother to catch and were penned ready to leave in the van. Bertie and Eddie decieded to be silly and would not let us catch them, so we had to leave for the show without them. Claire won champion waterfowl with her big drake, all the other ducks won lots of 1sts, 2nds and 3rds. Jedward chicken got 2nd and mr frizzle won 3rd place, Vinnie the puppy got 2nd in the gundog class and Brakken got 3rd.Dominmo the ferret won 1st prize in the pet show. County show day,5AM I was very clever!!! or so i thought!! i fed Eddie in the horsebox so he went in no bother, Bertie had other ideas and ran off taking his food bucket with him, no way would he be caught, so we had to leave for the show with just Eddie. Eddie won 1st place in the miniture shetland class, he was very well beahved and we are very proud of him, Vinnie the puppy won 2nd place in the dog show and jake came third, so it was a good day all round. Bertie was very happy to see Eddie when he came home.So thats the shows over for another year, all ducks and chickens have all been put back up to the pond, Bertie and Eddie have been turned out in a big field and me, im ready for a very large glass of wine.

chicks

This morning one of our chickens who has been missing for a month arrived home with 8 little fluffy chicks, mum chicken is very proud of herself.

swim

Frank Chalmers, the man who tried to swim accross the pentland firth 2 years ago, he left from the rocky shores of South Ronladsay and was to land on the rocky shores of the mainland of caithness, he swam for 7 hours and the at the last miniute the tide changed and took Frank further away from from the coast of scotland so he didnt quite make it as to qualify for the guiness book of records you had to go from shore line to shore line.Frank stayed with us for a month in our mobile home, with a camera crew filming his everey move. A dvd was produced about Franks trip called Crossing Hells Mouth, this is also to be shown on the 3rd August on TV on BBC4.Frank returned again last week to try the swim again, this time he was within 1 mile of the scottish mainland before the tides changed again and carried him further out to sea. Frank is going to try again 1 more time this week providing the weather and tides are good. You can see a clip of Frank on You Tube.or buy the DVD from Meerkat productions.

North Ronaldsay lamb

monday 19th july, today our little North Ronaldsay Tads had a little baby girl, called Maria, jasmine who was on holiday staying in the caravan named her.Maria is very small but very cute.

Animals

All the animals are doing very well, the bigger of the ducklings have now moved up to the big pond, to be with the adult ducks, they are enjoying swimming in the big ponds.
The ducklings in the shed have now moved to the paddock outside the cottage and are loving been spoilt with titbits by everyone that is staying in the cottage.

The sheep are waiting to be sheared, after all the rain we have to wait for their wool to dry, hopefully it will be soon as they are very warm.All the lambs are growing very fast and some of them are huge.

Eddie and Bertie the foals from last year are now in training for the shows, they have to learn to walk properly on a lead rope,get used to having their feet checked, and generally behave(which is difficult when you are just 1 year old)Claire and Grace are busy every night brushing the boys to get their coats looking nice.
The first show they will be going to is 11th august (Hope Show) and then on the 14th August is the big county show. Prince Erland (the foal) is getting very big, hes a real cheeky monkey.

Baby North Ronaldsay

28th june
today May our little North ronaldsay sheep had a little white baby girl called Bella, she is lovely.

This morning a duck that had gone missing arrived home with 12 baby ducklings, they are tiny but very cute.

baby north ronaldsay

14 june
today our first baby North Ronaldsay was born, he is very small and white, his name is Trev.

14th june 2010

baby foal

9th june 2010
today patience had her baby foal, he is chestnut with a white stripe down his nose, he is called Prince Erland of Ruemuera. Both mother and baby are doing very well.

Tuesday 11th may

4 baby ducklings have hatched today, 2 white and 2 black and white. All the sheep and baby lambs have gone outside, a big adventure for them. The lambs are all dressed in lovely blue plastic coats, this keeps the rain off them and stops them from getting hypothermea.

Monday 11th may

early this morning our big brown jacob sheep had twins, a lovely black and white ram lamb and a speckled ewe lamb, they are both up and feeding well.

sunday 9th may

today our pet sheep Kathryrn had a lovely big healthy baby boy called Barney, both mum and baby are doing well. 6 little quail also hatched today, they are no bigger than your thumbnail. Bbaby ducklings are hatching like mad, 7 today all thriving well.

new baby lambs

we have just had our first baby lambs born at 8.35pm, 2 little boys(white with black speckles)proud mum maureen and babies are doing fine.

new ducklings

3rd may 2010
7 baby ducklings have hatched overnight, 3 white and 4 black and white stripes, they are very cute. The older ones in the shed have now moved to a bigger grown up pen, they are very excited about having a bigger water dish, they spend most of their time splashing about and washing their new grown feathers.

May time jobs

May is one of the most beautiful times of the year to visit Orkney, with the summer weather at its best!

May is also lambing time, so why not join us and give us a hand with the new born lambs (you can help lamb, feed the orphan lambs or just be a shepherd for the day.) .

Daffy, Garath and Indi are 3 very tame ducks that live near the cottage, all the other ducks, and chickens live on the croft, they laze around their pond most of the day, they will wander down to the cottage to see if you have any scraps of food for them.Eggs are always in the incubator, some hatching some just ready to hatch come and watch us candle the eggs, we do this to check that the babies inside are growing.

Well worth a look, this is something that many people never get the chance to see,Domino is the ferret who lazes around his cage keeping an eye on whats going on. Come and meet our little pet North Ronaldsay lambs and sheep, they like to eat seaweed.May and Ernie are our little pet lambs who love lots of cuddles and last but not least

Puzzle the very small round shetland pony,along with her friends Diamond the black shetland pony and her baby Bertie Basset a lovely little colt foal who likes to greet everyone who comes to stay at the cottage.

We welcome people to come on the morning or evening rounds of feeding and checking all the animals and collecting eggs that have been freshly laid.

Book based on the 'Slap'

A book is out now 'Called When the Tide comes in'.

This book has been written by a couple that holiday in the cottage every year,It starts in Newcastle and ends up in Orkney and The Slap cottage, its on sale now in Waterstones and Amazon.

I've read the proof and if you like thrillers, this is for you.

Ducks and dogs !

All the baby ducklings are growing well.Daffy duck is now sitting on her nest, she has 17 eggs to keep warm,the ducklings should be due off in about 20 days. 2 baby ducklings hatched late last night, one is black and white and the other all white, they are very cute.

The older ducklings in the shed are growing really fast and doing very well, once the weather improves they will go out side into their pens.The 3 baby lambs are doing very well, they now have baby lamb cereal as well as their bottles.

Patience (pony) still has not had her foal, i think she is going to explode her tummy is huge.

Vinnie our puppy was caught in our fish pond today, he was chasing my goldfish round and round.He came in all wet and soggy and got on to my bed to dry himself.He is not very popular.

The sheep are all getting big tummies, their lambs are due any time after the 1st of May.

Diamond the black shetland pony is away on her holidays, she has gone to visit the stallion, so fingers crossed in 11 months time we should be having a foal.

Patience the white shetland pony is starting to get uncomfortable, her tummy is quite big, so hopefully not too much longer to wait for her foal to be born.

Daffy and her husband Gareth(ducks) are making their nest ready for Daffy to lay her eggs, last year she hatched off 19 ducklings.

The fields are now starting to dry up a bit and the grass at long last is starting to grow, so i think that spring is on its way.

Will keep you updated with the ducklings progress,(9th april) good news 12 baby ducklings hatched last night along with a baby chick, more ducklings due off next week.

15TH APRIL Today 3 baby orphan lambs came to live with us, they are called April, Cally and Sammy, they are hand fed 3 times a day.

Hatched !

Good news, 7 baby ducklings hatched over night, they are all doing fine, more due next week.

More new addtions

North Ronaldsay lambs due end of June 2010, 2 new cats called Darwin and Keda have joined us from the cats protection. We now have 14 new budgies in the aviary.Vinnie is a new labardor puppy, he is now 6 months old and a real monkey into everything.

Patience the white shetland pony is starting to get a big tummy, her foal is due in the spring.

All the other animals are fine, its very muddy on the croft at the moment,so hopefully some dry weather will arrive soon and start to dry up the fields.

Duck eggs were put in the incubator yesterday so they are due to hatch in 28 days, i will keep you posted.

New foal due

14th october- 2 new addtions arrived today, we have Eddie who is 26 inch miniture shetland colt foal and Patience a lovely white shetland pony who is due to foal in spring 2010.

My first post

Diamond the pony went away to the stallion on Saturday, but she is not impressed at the moment.

Patience is due to foal any time now, and the old pony, Puzzle is still on the go, Eddie and Bertie, the two Shetland ponies are doing fine.

The North Ronaldsay sheep have a rather impressive ram with them at the moment, with great big round horns and hopefully we will have lambs in due course.

Eggs are in the incubators, so it’s all go here at the moment