Plump Hill Farm

17/06/2026

For anyone worried about our “flystrike” girl … here she is today, recently shorn and in fine fettle. Traces of iodine stain remain across her shoulders, but this will gradually disappear. Her sores have healed up nicely.

16/06/2026

Is it just me or does anyone else think our (working) sheep dogs are a tad spoiled? 🤔😂 They are 100% worth it though and I make no excuses! 🥰❤️

15/06/2026

Ok. So I think I can safely say that I qualify for prize donut 🍩 of the day, or maybe week or month. Year even.

It finally twigged this morning that I have been lovingly cultivating weeds … the only pepper 🫑 plant in the pots is the diddy one. The others are weeds, albeit I’m not sure of what variety 🙄

Next on my donut head list of chores today was to pop to the post office to collect my euros for my impending annual trip to France. The post office was shut.

I believe these things run in threes … so I have one more to look forward to today. Oh joy. I can’t wait 😜

10/06/2026

*** POP UP SHOP ***

This coming Saturday I’ll be at the Forest Bakehouse in Longhope with my pop up shop. 9.00 a.m. to 1.30 p.m.

See you there!

Deb xx

02/06/2026

Well the sheep have been shorn. Woohoo!!!! And another woohoo!!! The weather was also kind, which was a bonus 👍

A huge thanks to our shearer Harry Stephens and to our helpers Tony, Lesley and Emma. And of course Delilah and Ruby who were soooo helpful they spent the entire shearing period in our lambing quarters. It’s a little too exciting is this shearing malarkey! 😂

Can anyone spot the obvious error with Harry’s gift? Needless to say the error was rectified. I don’t think he would have returned next year if not. 😂

Haymaking next ….

Friends of Shropshire Sheep

01/06/2026

This is why we shear our sheep (tomorrow is the big day … I can’t wait!).

Flystrike is vile. Flies lay eggs, eggs hatch into maggots, maggots eat sheep. They are disgusting and it all happens so fast. We take preventative measures and watch our sheep closely. Despite this, the little barstewards got this girl. She’ll be fine but if we’d waited until shearing tomorrow it may well have been too late.

The only symptoms were that she looked a little agitated. Just a little. On closer inspection there was a very small dark patch below her shoulder. Once I got her in and started clipping the area it quickly became apparent that she was affected over a much larger area. She may not look very smart but at least she’s flystrike free. I would say this has all developed within the last 24 hours.

I hate flystrike with a passion.

PS. It’s diluted iodine you can see across her middle.

30/05/2026

I never watch Britain’s Got Talent, well not for many years at least! But I did tonight. And I voted for the first time ever. 5 times! So did Stuart. They only went and won! Woohoo!!! Huge congratulations to Such a joy. Such an uplifting moment. And so wonderful to witness such an upbeat moment when the world of farming is facing so many challenges. Hats off to you all. Champions 🥇

29/05/2026

27/05/2026

Thank you to everyone who attended at the last Sunday and especially to those who visited our stand. As always, we are so grateful to you for your support. 🥰

It was such a hot 🔥 one, wasn’t it?! Especially after soooo much rain 🌧️ in the weeks and months that preceded this hot spell. It’s incredible to think that this time last year we had no grass and within a couple of weeks we had started feeding our livestock our winter hay. What a difference a year makes! We have too much grass this year 🙄 😂

Next stop …. shearing! 🐑

25/05/2026

A little touch of brightness on a hot, sunny day, bees’ 🐝 paradise …. and the shearling ewes resting in the shade. I think it’s a day for all to follow their lead and to take it easy! Happy Bank Holiday Monday everyone. Take care in the sun ☀️