What's new at Windshiel

And we're off - October 2025

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 11:31:57 GMT

Off to a good start... off of the water... and off our heads?

Oatleycleugh Barn is open for business!

After a few trial runs with some friends and family to gather feedback and practice the changeover, we opened the doors to AirBnB guests this week and welcomed a lovely couple on their honeymoon. We love the view from the hill and we think Windshiel is a special place to visit, so it’s nice when other people feel the same. The bookings are flowing in, a mixture of people we know and brand new visitors. With getting off to such a good start we are really looking forward to meeting people from all over in the future.

We are working towards having our own booking site, but for now here's the link to the AirBnB page...

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/1371826487866580292?source_impression_id=p3_1761219097_P3IjUV9EPB1UYyCA

The Dorsets started lambing right on time on the 2 ^nd of September. The pedigree year for the Dorset breed starts September the 1 ^st , and this year is the letter ‘I’, so there are some of the kids friends being honoured with this batch with an ‘Indi’ and an ‘Isla’ running about the front paddocks. Having them lamb in the front fields always brings few double looks as lambs bleating in Autumn is slightly out of the norm, but we always enjoy it as a good topic of discussion.

We’ve been enjoying having Ted’s boat in a harbour near Edinburgh but the time came at the weekend to take it out, clean it off and put it to bed in the shed for winter. This ‘retirement’ project has been years in the making so it’s been great to get to spend some time on it during the summer months.

And finally - the end of September brought the annual Ellemford Show, a small local agricultural show that plays a big part in our Autumn social calendar. Joe has been chairman for the past few years, and this year he managed to take more of a back seat and enjoy the show, however was fully involved in the speed shear and after party of course.

Annual Update

Sun, 08 Jun 2025 16:25:35 GMT

Annual update!!

I can’t believe that it’s over a year since my last blog post. How time flies! We’ve been through two lambings and two calvings since then. The weather this year for both was ideal; dry and sunny. Adding to the new life on the farm, we also have turkey chicks, hen chicks and ducklings.

Proud turkey parents showing the young ones around. There are currently eleven chicks.

All the animals are enjoying the sunshine and the welcome rain has helped to get the grass growing again.

Oatleycleugh Barn

This is our new holiday let project – the renovation of an old stone barn on the farm. We are on the home straight now as it’s nearing completion. Last week we had solar panels installed on the roof. It’s so exciting to see that we are generating our own electricity! I was convinced it would rain non-stop once the panels were up. Mind you we could do with the rain! We also had batteries installed, so we can store the surplus generated. Keep an eye on the Instagram & Facebook pages for updates on the Barn.

@windshielfarm

From this:

To this:

Lambing must be round the corner!

Mon, 19 Feb 2024 18:13:28 GMT

Scanning time !

February is sheep scan time. Last Monday, Fraser came and scanned all the ewes and ewe hoggs. Fraser has been coming to Windshiel for years and more often than not it snows when he comes. Thankfully it was a beautiful sunny day last week when he came, which makes it a much more pleasant experience for sheep & humans involved. Fraser even needed to rig up his tarp to keep the sun off his monitor. Assisted by Joe, Sharon & Diezel, Fraser scanned over 750 ewes by lunchtime. The results for the ewes were pretty good, but not so great for the ewe hoggs. The ewes expecting triplets have been separated from the rest of the flock to get a bit of extra feeding. I always feel that once we've scanned the ewes, lambing is just around the corner. As is the Spring: warmer, lighter days, new growth and hopefully plenty of grass! I know from past experience however, not to get too excited, as we all know how fickle the weather is in these northern parts & we're quite likely to get snow in April!!

Hopefully the weather will play ball for the next Portobello market on Saturday 2nd March, 9:30am in Brighton Park, Portobello, Edinburgh. Unfortunately the February market was cancelled due to forecast wind gusts, so this will be our first one of 2024! Thanks to all our lovely Porty customers who ordered meat for home delivery in February!

Happy New Year!

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 13:17:15 GMT

Here's one who escaped Christmas.....

Belated Happy New Year!

Let's hope that 2024 will be kind to everyone.

There are still four turkeys strolling around the yard here at Windshiel, all having escaped Christmas. They have been enjoying the sunshine on offer the last few days, as have we. It's so welcome after what seemed like months of rain and sloshing around in mud! Although the cold, crisp weather provides it's own challenges, most notably frozen water troughs. Water has to be taken out to the livestock everyday in this weather. Another issue is getting the electric fence posts in & out of the ground, to move the fence each morning for our cattle who are strip grazing kale and turnips. Still it could be a lot worse and we could be having to cope with snow, which so far (touch wood) we have avoided.

We're looking forward to the next market at Portobello on Saturday 3rd February 2024. We'll have fresh mutton, lamb, pork, bacon & gammon available to buy along with frozen beef. Meat orders for collection at the market or for local & national delivery can be emailed to seb@windshiel.co.uk. A link to available products is on our home page. If you're in the area, come along and say hello.

Team Windshiel fundraising success!

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 17:46:22 GMT

Edinburgh inflatable 5km completed!

We did it!

We completed the Edinburgh inflatable 5km course on Saturday 9th September 2023, raising over £2000 for Berwickshire Group RDA. On what must have been the hottest September day on record, Team Windshiel comprising Joe, Laura, Angus, Lucile, Tom and myself completed the course of 32 inflatable obstacles. We ran, clambered and bashed our way over and through the obstacles, completing the circuit twice to make up the 5km distance. No mean feat in that heat!!

We were presented with medals and a certificate for our efforts and succeeded in raising £2301 for Berwickshire Group Riding for the Disabled ( a group I volunteer for). Huge thanks to all our supporters.

Sheep Farm of the Year 2023!

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 17:25:51 GMT

Sheep Farm of the Year 2023

Sheep Farm of the Year 2023!!

Joe and Laura attended the Scottish Agricultural Awards 2023 presentation in Glasgow last evening and came away with an award for Windshiel – Sheep Farm of the Year 2023.

The farm was nominated and reached the final three and the judges visited a few weeks ago, but we didn't know the result until it was announced last evening at the awards presentation. Joe has been instrumental in driving the farm forward since he returned to join us full time after his agricultural studies in Aberdeen. We are honoured to see all our hard work and farming methods being recognised in this way. Well done to all!!

What's New at Windshiel

Fri, 18 Aug 2023 09:06:21 GMT

Team Windshiel

Team Windshiel is Joe, Laura, Tom, Angus, Lucile & Sharon who will all attempt to complete the Edinburgh 5k inflatable run on Saturday 9th September 2023. They are challenging themselves in order to raise funds for Berwickshire Group RDA . Sharon currently volunteers with the Group which provides a therapeutic riding experience for all ages. We have set up a justgiving page, so if anyone would like to support us in our efforts, all donations will be gratefully received.

What's new at Windshiel

Mon, 30 Jan 2023 16:48:10 GMT

A new year......a new intention

Christmas Day saw the arrival of 13 new piglets, thanks to new Mum Sausage, who is doing a great job with them. They now have free range of the farm yard and are ready to go up the hill with Mum to a new outdoor pen. In the meantime they are getting up to mischief and enjoying a rare sunbathe in the cow's hay!

Next job on the horizon is sheep scanning. The tups went out in early November and with scanning will come the moment of truth! Hopefully all have worked well and we can look forward to a good, healthy crop of 2023 lambs.

Can't wait for the mornings to get a bit lighter and the days to get a bit longer.

Our first market of the year will be on Saturday 4th February at Brighton Park, Portobello, Edinburgh. It will be good to see our regulars again after the break and to supply them with some quality meat from the farm. Mutton seems to be in demand, with plenty pre-ordered. As usual we'll have fresh lamb, pork, mutton, bacon & gammon, along with frozen beef. Deliveries of meat can be made locally within 15 miles of the farm, free for orders over £30. We can also courier meat anywhere in the UK for a charge of £8.

What's new at Windshiel.

VF4326 — Sat, 20 Aug 2022 16:40:29 GMT

Piglets!!

New additions to the pig herd, born on that very hot Tuesday in July!! Well done Mama pig - fourteen healthy and hungry piglets to feed!

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What's new at Windshiel

And we're off - October 2025

Off to a good start... off of the water... and off our heads?

Annual Update

Lambing must be round the corner!

Scanning time !

Happy New Year!

Here's one who escaped Christmas.....

Team Windshiel fundraising success!

Edinburgh inflatable 5km completed!

Sheep Farm of the Year 2023!

Sheep Farm of the Year 2023

What's New at Windshiel

Team Windshiel

What's new at Windshiel

A new year......a new intention

What's new at Windshiel.

Piglets!! ﻿

Tips for writing great posts that increase your site traffic

Piglets!!