I have just had a week off at half term which we split into two halves. The first part we spent on the small holding repairing fences, stocking up for lambing and learning about pig keeping. The second half of the holiday was a trip to Scotland including visits to distilleries and of course the obligatory sampling of whisky.

Back in December 2004 I purchased 6 ewe lambs with the proceeds of a book on "Autonomic Computing and its impact on traditional ITIL based Service Management" which was published in Japan. The ewes have mostly lived in the field with little or no intervention from us and an occasional visit from the local shepherd. However, we wanted to be much more involved in the whole process and so intend to do the lambing ourselves. The first week I spent learning how to treat foot rot in sheep and checking if all the ewes were pregnant. Well the good news is they are all expecting and we have the possibility of 3 sets of twins so all being well we could have 9 lambs. The plan (and I use the term loosely) is to fatten up the boys for slaughter and keep some of the girls for future breeding stock.

We collected the pigs the Saturaday before last and so far havent managed to kill them. We have been suprised by how friendly they are,they all rush to greet us when we appear and squeal repeatedly until we feed them. I have checked them all over carefully and brushed them with pig oil and they nearly all have names. When they all have names I will post the pictures with the names.

The second part of the week we went up to Loch Tay in Scotland the scenery was fantastic lots of waterfalls and wild animals. I did have some problems with the food but I am coeliac (gluten intolerance) and it can be tough eating out at times. We did drive 20 miles on the Friday trying to find somewhere I could eat. We stopped at three villages and checked out 8 or 9 menus before we found somewhere I could eat. So if you like bread,cakes and pies you will do well in Scotland.

But, you do have to admire the scots, when the farmers got bored in the winter they used to form co-operatives to make whisky for the community. These small local stills are now illegal but they have left an indelible mark on the countryside. I can definitely recommend  a visit to the Edradour Distillery, it is a small traditionally run distillery producing 15 barrels of whisky a week the same way is has done since 1825.

So I was wondering why did the English never do the same?