The year round: Horse came to rescue in the snow

On this remote hill farm several miles above the top of Swaledale we started the winter last Monday with lots of skiing for three children aged between four and nine.

The youngest is already quite confident on skiis which my wife bought on eBay.

She let them slide downhill after which she retrieves them on a quad bike.

Next day the quad bike refused to tackle the depth of snow and so she jumped on a horse and got to her poultry without using a saddle. It seems we are going back to the old days.

Our best laid schemes for mating our top ewes to particular rams follows our success at the ram sales at Hawes where we took the championship with a shearling.

He was a triplet while the smallest of the litter was called Lazarus.

I told my wife she could have him if she could rear

him which she did successfully and he fetched 6,000.

A triumvirate bought him, including some locals who knew his breeding well.

This snow is hindering tupping time as some lots were in danger of being buried in snow and had to be moved into bigger lots elsewhere.

Lamb trade continues to rise slowly.

I had to change plans as some of the flock were on ground that was in danger of snowing over them.

A group of heifers we added recently have their water supply near its limits.

I had to go up to the spring and divert some into a fresh channel and this seems to have cured the problem.

The children have been prevented from going to school, which is ten miles away.

They should be picked up daily on a bus for the village school but we hope that they will soon get back into the school routine.

But there is no sign of any improvement.