"We have been scratching the lambs against orf, a nasty infection that grows like huge cold sores around the lamb’s mouths and in turn it can spread to the mother’s udder.

This can turn very nasty and can be very painful. We scratch the lambs inside the back leg with a live vaccine. It’s a bit like when you have your TB jab at school, a scab builds up and then falls off.

Then the lambs are dosed with Vacoxin. This is to stop coccidiosis – a virulent tummy bug. If they get coccodiosis, then flesh just falls of them and they don’t thrive. Being a lamb isn’t all fun you know.

At this time of year the hoggs (last year’s lambs) are brought in off the fell to be clipped. It takes three dogs, me, Brian and the motorbike to gather them in. Some of the fell farms share fell land and the sheep can be miles away, so they have gathering days.

This is when they all get together; dogs, bikes, men, women and kids gather all the sheep down the fell and into pens, quite a sight if you are lucky enough to see it.

The sheep have to be clipped for their well-being. The fleece is worth next to nothing. Once over, farmers would be able to pay their rents for the farms out of their wool cheque but not now.

In fact it costs us more to get the wool off, than what we get for it. Once the sheep are shorn they are marked with the farmers’ individual mark – in our case, red on the shoulder.

The sheep are then sprayed to keep off flies, and their feet are also checked and treated if they need it.

They then go back to the fell for a few weeks until they come back to be dipped. Now we start on all the other sheep. Next month will be special for us because my stepson Stephen is getting married to Charlotte.

Well that’s it for now, I’m off to wrap fleeces and look after the sheep that has been attacked by a dog. Take Care.