Test 4

 

I'd seen from Orin that Siska's season was progressing, also as she'd started to flirt I'd had to separate them yesterday afternoon. The result of the 9am test today was 10.3nmol/L.

"7 - 12nmol/L (Approximate Range): This range typically indicates that the LH surge has happened or is happening now. The LH surge is the trigger for ovulation, and ovulation usually occurs 2 days after the LH surge."  So allowing 48 hrs for the eggs to ripen, Sunday looks like a good day. 

The eggs are not fertilizable until about 2 days after ovulation. The optimal fertility window is generally 3 to 5 days after the LH surge. So 3 days after today is the most reasonable single-mating choice. The eggs are likely just starting to ripen or are nearly ripe. Fresh sperm is very robust and can live 4-6 days, so it will be in the tract well before the eggs mature and should still be viable when they are at peak maturity. 

I am considered taking her for another test on Monday, just to make sure she has progressed normally, if there is any doubt, then maybe I could drive down to Merthyr on Monday evening for a second mating. That's a decision for another day, and bearing in mind that Siska who had keenly stood to be mated 2 and 3 days after ovulation refused the third mating with Lucca, which was 4 days after ovulation. She also got stroppy with Vesco the day after a test of 50 nmol/L. (at that time she ovulated on day 12 with a reading of 23 on day 13. We visited Vesco on day 14, 15 and 16 - but had no successful mating)

Please wish us luck. 

Changes

There are some changes afoot here today. Though I let Orin and Siska out together first thing, when I took them out again after their breakfast had settled there was some definite flirting going on. This morning is the first time that Siska has tried to get Orin's attention, but he is still far more interested in Beti! Still I didn't feel safe putting them in the pen together, with her flirting and standing, and him already wound up because of Beti's crescendo I don't think he would take much convincing!!

Beti has been quite desperate to get herself a man, even trying to climb onto the coal bunker to get to Orin who was temporally in the small pen. She has also been trying to get to Zeus, and even resorted to Ross this morning, he replied, "No, you're alright I've got my kong!" 

Siska has a blood test tomorrow at 9 am ... wish me luck for a busy weekend ahead! 

Everyone Still Together

Orin and Siska - Yes, still together!

If she is now progressing normally, and I've worked it out correctly, then by tomorrow evening she'll be between 8 and 9 nmol/L, so I've put the test forward to Thursday morning with the hope it will put her somewhere around 12 - 15.nmol/L. If that is the case then she'll be set to ovulate on Friday and Sunday would be ideal for mating ... but of course it does seem that Siska is writing her own rules!

Sammi, Zeus and Meerah

I so wish I had someone with me in the field on days like today, someone to point the phone at Sammi and video her playing with Meerah. WOW, the old lady can't half shift. I can't do it myself as I'm hanging on to knob head!!!!

Beti and Ross

My pair of lovable loonies always make me smile. 💗

Soft Cell - Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (Live At The 02 Arena, London / 2018)

Today I say goodbye to Dave for the last time. 

I want to post this memory from the 02 Arena, 3 Oct 2018. It was the first time we’d performed in nearly 17 years and it was meant to be the last... as it turned out it wasn’t to be and I'm glad it wasn't because we still had some more to do, we just didn't realise it at the time. 

I picked this memory because I think it was probably our most emotional and arguably our greatest moment. In an Arena show where there are bells and whistles, smoke and mirrors, lights, visuals, singers and added players, I felt the last moment should come down to just me and Dave, how we started, a singer and a synth player that set a blueprint for other British bands that came after. Such a nice and simple combination. Like a cabaret duo on a sea front promenade pub or bar singing current hits and standards with a bontempi organ and an over reverbed mic.

 I went and stood next to Dave so the cameras could get the money shot and the focus would just be on the pair of us. The Arena lit up with phones, over 20,000 people singing along, it was a magic moment and what it’d all been about in the first place.

Goodbye Dave and thank you, Soft Cell was yours, I was just the singer 🎤 🎹 ❤️

Marc Almond 

Back On The Mountain

With everyone back in, fed and watered, I was back in bed by 7.25am. A lovely cuppa and some Facebook snooping time before snuggling back under the duvet till Steve woke up. My God, somehow it was 9am - shit, where did that time go? Within minutes the phone rang, Katrina .. OMG, don't tell her I'm in bed, what will she think!!! 😏

Anyway, she had been thinking since I messaged her yesterday, and just had to let me know today; when she mated Anna to Zique a year or so ago she tested her on a Tuesday and the result was 1.1nmol/L, she re-tested on the Friday and it was up to 11.8nmol/L and by Sunday, the day of mating it was 45.9nmol/L. Oh bloody hell, now she did go up quickly, I wonder if I should change my Wednesday test to Tuesday? Once she gets going Siska usually doubles every 36 hrs or so meaning that by Wednesday AM she should be around 6.6nmol/L, I think I'll leave it till Wednesday unless Orin tells me otherwise.

Beti is behaving like the slapper of the house, she's desperate to get to Orin or Zeus, either will do but of course Ross now is of no interest for anything other than to play in puddles and chase the kong. I need to get him a new aqua kong, the black one sinks and was almost lost again today. 

I love the photo of Beti in the rays of the sun, just a lucky moment in time and a photo to treasure. I know some people think I'm nuts with all the photos I take, but it's the photos I didn't take that I regret, never the ones I took! Anyway, I don't have to explain myself to anyone, I can take as many photos as I like and post them all on my Facebook page. 

I walked everyone on the mountain today, it was great to see the guys excited to be back there. I guess the break has done us all good as we'd all got a little bored with the same old, though my main reason for staying away was the cattle. Just glad they were not there today. 

Everyone On Home Ground Today

Blanik Liszka - Test 3

 I love this photo of Siska - isn't she just stunning in her full coat, and I see more of her mother in her these days. 

Anyway, the results for test 3 left me speechless, 1.1 nmol'L. Come on Siska these tests are costing me a fortune, this is day 17, and she had ovulated by day 17 last time. Ok the benefit now is that I can get to our two appointments this week, I'm not going to retest till Wednesday, and just hope that by then she's over 7nmol/L and we can at least pinpoint when she'll be ready for mating! Whilst I am putting my faith in the science and not the tradition of mating around day 14, Orin is also confirming that Siska is of little interest at the moment - Beti on the other hand? Well yeah she's stunning to him!

Gyrn Goch with Orin and Siska

Nursery Tremadog

After a very long morning at the doctors' surgery with Mum, I was only too glad of a quick walk in the nursery with Orin and Siska. Because of the time, I was rushing round the woodland of my childhood,  but I thought, sod it, relax, enjoy it, look at the surrounding beauty! 

Then There Was Three

Orin and Siska had run in the field early and another after I'd finished the other walks, but with no one left to walk with Ross I decided to give him some one to one time on the mountain. I thought he'd love it, Loki used to, but sadly Ross didn't, he seemed lost and kept looking back waiting for the girls. 

Look at that sky!