A Year of Green Hills: 2011

It's time for our yearly review of the year...

By January the heavy snow of late 2010 has melted. I work on my indoor photography and find the 'sports' setting on my camera very useful indeed. The first twin lambs of the year are born, a girl and a boy.

February sees the lambing in full swing, with most of the pet ewes having lambs this month. We sadly loose Panda, the first sheep I called my own. Pip continues her life mission to be the cutest thing on the planet.

In March I turn sixteen and get a new mobile with working Internet. I have my first go at looking after Guinea Pigs. Let's just say it doesn't end well. *Cough, cough*

April arrives and a friend of mine comes for a visit, as does Cousin Sue near the end of the month. We celebrate Easter with some straw and cuddly toys on a sunny afternoon. The lambing is coming along well.

May sees great upheaval inside the dog pack - Kim moves to a new home and she and Sheila turn five. Lambing is slowly drawing to a close and we enjoy the sunny weather while it lasts. I visit the Balmoral Show.

June brings with it the end of High School and some GCSE exams to boot. Green Dog TV also makes its debut on YouTube. The sheep are clipped. Lambing is pretty much finished, but some pets remain in housing.

The summer holidays begin in July. The first short fiction story is published and happens to be three posts long! I test the dogs and Sheila and Pip turn out to be smarter than Ben - no surprises there. I go to both the Sheep Event and the Castlewellan Show. Round baling begins. Pip also starts work as a trainee sheepdog.

The baling ends in August and I go to Belfast Zoo. I finally get my GCSE results (2 A*, 2 A, 6 B and 1 C) and manage to get a place in a photography course which will last two years. Pip celebrates her first birthday. The pack gains a new member and returns to six with the arrival of puppy Teddy.

September sees the beginning of my photography course. I go to the Seaforde rally and meet up with the Kinelarty dogs. We say a sad goodbye to Cousin Sue, R.I.P. Pip celebrates her first Gotcha Day. Teddy has already learned to pose like a pro.

October is a big month for my photography as I become the proud owner of my first DSLR.

In November not very much happens, to be honest, but I do manage to get this photo of the family.

December sees the birth of the first lamb, Ben's first birthday, Teddy's first Christmas and one very muddy puppy. But no snow.

And we just know that

2012

is going to be brilliant.

So thanks for the support this year, and my you all have a happy new one!

PS: New Year's Day is also when I celebrate a certain collie's birthday, so happy nineteenth birthday to Fly!

And finally, it's the last blog hop of 2011...

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