Country mouse - Tessa Reading
Spring has sprung, but there are less picturesque aspects to the season than those that are viewed fleetingly through a car window. This weekend, we wormed and dagged (the ovine equivalent of a Brazilian) our sheep, and those that hadn't produced lambs were spray-painted with a big, blue B for barren sheep.
Gangs of skittering lambs are not immune to human intervention either. From an early age, each one has an elastic band fitted to its tail so that it will fall off and cut the risk of infection from fly strike. Having applied the band, I like to give each one a quick cuddle before they skip away, tails wiggling frantically. I doubt it's much consolation for the lamb, the rubber band looks pretty uncomfortable.
As we worked, blossom and daffodils bloomed confidently in the spring sunshine, but they were no match for the fruity wafts emanating from the kennels' flesh house. Birth and death are always close at hand in the country. When the day's work was complete, last year's lambs made a different kind of debut when they appeared on the table in the form of a particularly delicious Moroccan style stew.
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Chelsea Flower Show 2025: What else to do in SW3 if you're coming to the world's greatest flower showThere's more to Chelsea than just the Flower Show so we've rounded up some of the best places to eat, stay and shop.
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Uniquely unique? The Yorkshire grain silos transformed into a home that's a symphony in glass, steel and curvesAmid the beautiful countryside of North Yorkshire, on the edge of the Castle Howard Estate, The Silos is a property for which the word 'house' simply doesn't cut it. And that's not the only way in which it's made us throw out the dictionary.
