February With Hannah Russell, Little Alf & Friends

It’s coming to the end of February, one of my favourite months of the year; have you noticed the nights are starting to get lighter and the spring bulbs starting to push through the ground? It's a symbol better weather in on the way and for me, life is starting to become easier with the animals outdoors.

It’s a big week for my small holding at Swinton Green; my two sheep Izzy & Ida are getting scanned to see if they will be expecting lambs, at the moment it’s 50/50 but I have my fingers crossed. It’s the first year with my own sheep breeding programme, I’m pretty nervous but excited waiting for the results from the vet who is visiting later this week.

I’m hoping to build up the flock of Valais Blacknose sheep, I love the breed as they have huge characters. Ida especially loves cuddles whereas Izzy would make a great mum as she loves to be leader of the herd, making sure all my six sheep follow her around the fields.

I am settling into my new office and studio here on site. We moved house just over six months ago and at the time I didn’t have my own office. I have been working from my bedroom, which hasn’t been ideal as I’ve struggled to concentrate!

Now I’m finally in and getting back to writing. My next book has just been sent to the printers which is due to be released on 1st March, it is aimed at under 5 year olds and features my bunny Bumble. I wanted to write a short story on Bumble as he has such a huge character and didn’t have the best start in life… I’m hoping my young readers enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

February has also been busy training Winston, you might have read about him in my previous articles. He is now seven months old and growing everyday. He is picking up basic commands - sit and stay - pretty well, the next stage will see me teaching him to fetch.

Next month I’m hoping to go visit the three alpacas I have chosen. I can’t wait to see how much they have grown from my first visit and for them to join my team here at Swinton Green.