It was our first time back in the showing at Stafford since 2019 and it was great to be back! We have missed seeing our ‘Ryeland family’ as well as the buzz of the show.
We arrived on Tuesday , Mike set up Camp Ryecroft, I did my final titivations on the sheep , and the kids had an absolute blast with their friends. After a BBQ tea, fire pit marshmallows, it was time to rest ready for the main event! I wish I could say I slept but I was freezing!!!
Show day was a blast as always, with high and lows, but lots of fun and chatter. We got a third in the breeding ewe class but unfortunately it was only rosette. We did get great feedback from our judge though so onwards and upwards.
Time to wander round the showground, window shopping! I kept being drawn to my purple tractor but I didn’t have a spare £130,000 in my pocket to maybe next time hahaha.
I did get chance to meet Rob from @pasturetec and also had a natter with the vets from the Shropshire branch of @LLMfarmvets , always great to meet up and chew the fat!
After a fabulous evening at our favourite Chinese all-you-can-eat buffet with the gang, it was back to the tent for a good night’s sleep ready for Lucy’s turn in the spot light! That’s right, Thursday was young Handler day!!!
After waiting for what seemed an age, Lucy competed with her shearling ram Bowie and came a very respectable 7th in a class of 20! We were all very pleased.
We got home late on Thursday evening and Friday was a mixture of unpacking AND preparing for our first ever weaning event on Saturday 4th June.
Weaning day is when the lambs are separated and the ewes get to have the summer off! We thought it would be nice to share the excitement of this next step in the shepherding calendar and welcomed 5 visitors to the farm.
After an induction in safety everyone got stuck in. First we ensured all the fields were organised to take the groups once separated, then we gathered the flock and started separating off the ewes.
Once the ewes were off in their own field, it got noisy!!! Everyone seemed to enjoy their experience though and once all the work was done we popped the prosecco (non alcoholic as pretty much everyone was driving) and celebrated the graduation of the lambs AND of course, the Queens Jubilee!
Hope you’ve all had a fabulous week, I’ll keep you posted on what’s happening next on planet Ryecroft and of course you can always keep tabs on us through our social media platforms Instagram and facebook (the links are on our home page or the contact page).
But for now, take care of yourselves
Much love
Team Ryecroft
x