Today I went to visit a friend who has been doing a scaled diagram of a sheep shelter for me. Well, it took me about 15 minutes to get the car de-iced before I could go anywhere! This is the first day this winter that we've woken up to so much ice. I heard later in the day that even the gritting lorry went off the road!! Also, a school bus, but thankfully there were no children in it and the driver was unhurt. The half hour drive to my friend's house took a little longer than usual because there were icy spots on the road. I also noticed a thin layer of snow on the highest hills.
Shetland can be very beautiful in the snow. here are a couple of photos to let you see what I mean.......

But getting back to my sheep shelter, I was very pleased with what he came up with. I had bought 14 sheets of corrugated iron and wanted to put them to good use on the shelter. Here is the plan. It's based on how he built the shelter for his own animals.

This diagram © Colin Arnot 2012

Having two openings means I can also have a dividing wall between the two ends if I need to and still have sheep separated, which is a good thing if I perhaps plan to have lambs born on the land in the future. The open end has only been left open to see the internal part of the diagram. This will be closed like the other end when the shelter is built.
I'm very pleased with the plan and can't wait to have it up in the field especially now as the weather is turning wintry. Shetland sheep are very hardy. Soays need more shelter in adverse weather conditions.
Well, that's really my news for today. Tomorrow the sheets should arrive in the field, so hopefully it won't be long til building time begins!!. I'll leave you with a favourite Soay photo of mine.

Hand feeding Yaisah, twin sister of Shulah.

Well, it's been several months now since I updated my blog. The summer seems to have flown by and through one thing and another I've just felt unable to get stuck into writing.
I've been setting up a small business from home called Croft Cottons and have opened an Etsy shop of that name.
I haven't got all the stock listed yet. It's a busy time of year! I am making things from excellent quality cotton such as wedding and baby bunting, pillowcases, cushion covers, hand made fabric covered buttons, toddler to teen clothing, purses, bags...........it's an ongoing project shall we say!
One piece of very good news is that my lace shawl took 1st prize at our local show and I also won 12 other rosettes for various things including photos, jam, pickles and the like.
I was very proud when a photo of my Soay sheep Shulah took 1st prize in the animal photograph section and my lovely cat Magda got 2nd prize in a photo of her. You may have noticed, it's not my photography I'm proud of, it's my sheep and my cats!! And that's just how it should be.

Since last posting on here I have bought two more Soays. They are wethers. One is 2 and a half and the other 1 and a half. here are a couple of photos of them. First is Bram................

And here's little dark faced Brok

And last, but by no means least my 'grey sneedled specky faced' Shetland called Beulah........

Believe it or not, that is the name given to a Shetland yow (ewe) of this colour. She has a beautiful face. Here's a closer one of her face......

My final piece of news is that I have my own piece of land now to put my sheep on. Well, technically it's not mine but I have use of it for the unforeseeable future, so it's much better. I can actually see the sheep out the bedroom window if they're grazing in the middle of the park. When I come out the front door with the food bucket they see me and all start running towards the gate. Most of them can now be hand fed, which is great if you need to get hold of one for any particular reason! Brok is always first at the gate and has now started arriving with a piece of long grass hanging out each side of his mouth. Perhaps his way of saying thanks for the ewe nuts I bring!

Well, it's gone 1.00am and I should be in bed so I'm going to sign off now. I will update you soon. Will be building a sheep shelter very soon before our winter weather sets in. You never know here in Shetland just how good or bad it will be and Soays in particular do not cope well with the wind and rain. Shetland sheep are very hardy and cope much better.

Oh, I almost forgot. I got a new arrival in the field a few weeks ago. A little lamb, which would appear to be last year's lamb, just arrived one day. No ear tags or paint marks. Nothing to tell me where she came from or who she belongs to. So she's still with me and her name is Landiah. Isn't she a little sweetheart...........