Nothing Much.

It has been a fairly uneventful week. Nothing much to talk about here. I did really well on all of my midterms so that makes me happy. We went to the farm this week and learned all about horse shoes. Also, I made a friend.

Laming in Scotland

Yesterday, I returned from my week of lambing in Scotland at Clonrae Farm with Kieran and Colleen. We had so much fun and learned and unbelievable amount. I am properly exhausted after spending a week there. Madge, if you are reading this, I cannot thank you enough for having us on your farm for a week, feeding us delicious food, and putting up with all of our questions.

This was my favorite experience of the year. My arms are bruised from trying to manipulate babies out of their mother's birth canal and my muscles are sore from lugging around buckets of water and tackling sheep but, it was more than worth it. I've become quite the sheep wrangler. They can be really tricky to catch and sometimes the process of doing so can be like bull riding a sheep.

Within the first couple of days at the farm I found this website that provided basic information about lambing sheep. I am proud to say we experienced every single one of those birthing situations, even the difficult ones (it's the best way to learn). This is the easiest way to see what we experienced without typing it out word-for-word. Warning: if you become queasy easily, this webpage may not be for you- Sheep101

For those interested, here is our daily schedule: We went out to the ewe shed every morning at 8 to feed the pet lambs (orphans) and water the nursing ewes, went inside for breakfast around 10, then back to the shed for lambing/feeding/watering until lunch around 1 or 2, after lunch we were back outside for more lambing/feeding/watering/bottle feeding until dinner time around 7. Sometimes that was the end of our day although, a few nights we went back out after dinner to bottle feed the pets again. Luckily, there were plenty of people around to help and pick up our slack when it was time for rest. We all brought some school work to do but, by the end of the day we ended up passing out instead.

While there, we were lambing Scotch Mules. They are a cross between Scottish Blackface sheep and Blue Leicesters. The ewes were then crossed with Suffolk and Texel rams. The babies grow nice and fast. The farm hand says we were there for one of the busiest lambing seasons they've had in a while. I think he said we had over 200 new lambs in that single week. I believe it, we were busy workers.

I cannot get over how cute the lambs were. I just wanted to squeeze them. I loved them even more when they were begging to be fed because they made me laugh. It amazing to see how much they grow in just one week. We saw them go from wobbly newborns to little rambunctious buggers hopping around in the fields. Here are a few pictures from the week.

I think this picture deserves recognition. The lamb stood on the ewe's back then, the ewe stood up. That takes some serious balancing. Too. Much. Cute. 

Finally, after all that, I decided I deserve to get myself a little present. =). New wellies with Scottish Terriers all over them. I'm obsessed. 

Halfway Through Spring Break

I'm posting from Scotland today!! It was my first full day at Clonrae farm, lambing with Kieran and Colleen. We are having a great time and have learned so much in only one day. I'm excited to learn even more this week. It's really neat walking through all the sheep and finding random lambs that were just born. Here is a picture of some of the little buggers I was bottle feeding today. They're too cute when they're hungry and begging.

Jason and I did make it to Howth on Monday, as planned. The weather was perfect and the peninsula is beautiful. I know what I am doing next time I need a break from school/ studying/ people. I was really sad to say goodbye Tuesday morning but, I am happy we had such a good time. Also, I'm sure jason is really happy that he finally got to see Google in Dublin.

I miss him already.

P.S. thank you, Aunt Renee, for my green scarf. I love it

That's all. The farm today left me exhausted and I am ready for bed.

Here is a bonus picture of Kieran's hands covered in iodine solution after she caught the bottle upside down. I couldn't stop laughing every time I saw her orange hands.

Galway

Right now we are in the midst of a 2 week long spring break. I'm posting a little late this week since my time has been tied up. Jason has been here since wednesday and we've had a really good time so far. Unfortunately, he is leaving on tuesday, bright and early. =(.

This past weekend we were in Galway. I am so happy I finally got to see some of the west side of Ireland. We took a Galway Tour Company bus through the burren and Cliffs of Moher. Here are some pictures from my weekend so far.

 

One of my favorite things on this trip was seeing a fairy tree. Fairy trees can be kind of confusing since there is so much superstition surrounding them. Some people believe if you harm the tree (break a branch off of it) you will have bad luck. Fairy trees have ribbons tied up all over them. The ribbons are tied to the tree as an offering of good fortune. I really enjoy the romantic aspect of it all. 

There are a few more adventures to come tomorrow (hopefully, Jason and I will be heading out to Howth, as long as the weather is nice), then I'll be back to studying some more. Next week I'll be in Scotland learning all about sheep and lambing. I'm so excited. 

Cheese and Wine

Midterms are done for the time being and I feel so relived. I have another one in 3 weeks. I'm not feeling very creative, my brain is in melty mode. But, I could tell you a ridiculous amount of information and farm animals housing, growth, and nutrition right now if I was asked. For now, I'm going to finally catch up on some z's, then head out to cheese and wine with my classmates later this afternoon. I'll leave it at that, for now.

Here are some pictures from the farm this week. It was a beautiful day.  =)

They make the loudest baby baas

Learning to body condition score dairy cattle.

Proof that we do see the sun here.

Cute little teaser pony 

 Learned how to body condition score horses (and dogs), as well . I love them, they're so sweet. 

Bonus Picture. I see so many rainbows here! There must be soooo much gold. 

1st years, 2nd years

One thing people may not know about the Veterinary school in Ireland, and also in the UK, is that here, veterinary medicine is an undergraduate program. Normally students leave *secondary school (US version of High School) and go off to College/University (Uni). So, normally VetMed is a 5 year undergraduate program that is really tough to get in to. Interestingly, University College Dublin has the only veterinary school in Ireland. For us students with a prior degree, they have created the 4 year graduate entry program which is just the same as the veterinary programs back home in USA. Hence, our AVMA accreditation.

The first two years of the undergraduate program are an elongated version of our first year with electives (lucky undergrads...). During our second year, we combine with the 3rd year class of the undergraduates. Which is pretty confusing because by this time next year everyone in the school will call us 3rd year students, even though we've only been here for 2 years.

This semester we have started to integrate with our new classmates. It is really nice to see some new faces in our classes (seeing the same 40 people 40 hours a week can become daunting). It is a little weird because they're younger than all of us (sometimes it shows) but, they are expected to do mostly the same work that we do. They do remind us to not be so serious sometimes especially since our class has the tendency to do a lot of work and not get out often. I'm really excited to have new people in our class.  

This week, to help make the assimilation easier, there was quiz time. It was a way for us to mix up with some of the 2nd years, most of whom we don't know yet. We were asked trivia questions then, scored later on. My team didn't win, the questions were tricky! There were some prizes, and they fed us sausage, chicken finders, and sandwiches... so, I was happy.

All the other days of the week were uneventful. 

Tonight I watched the USA vs Canada hockey game. Canada won.. it's awesome for my Canadian classmates... A little sad for the Americans. We'll get over it. 

Two more midterms next week. So, as always, more studying for me.

*Edit: One of my classmates pointed out to me that high school here is not called college and is, indeed, secondary school. They sometimes add College to their name to "try to be fancy." I'm still learning! Thanks, Ciara!

Valetine's Day

I cannot believe another week has passed already. Time is going by so quickly, I have my first midterm on monday (Subject: reproduction) and another two midterms the following weeks (animal nutrition and farm animal/applied breeding). I'm in total study mode.

But, that didn't stop me from having fun last weekend. Anyone who is friends with me on facebook saw most of the pictures from Vet Ball last weekend. I had a really great time, getting dressed up was so much fun, and I can't wait to do it again. I still can't believe my dress is 7 years old...

 

The rest of my week was filled with class and studying, with the exception of Wednesday night. There was a VBMA meeting on marketing which was really interesting. I love that these meetings give me so many ideas on how I can, one day, contribute to a business (hopefully, one of my own at some point).

Also on Wednesday night, UCD Ents hosted a comedian show starring Neil Delamere. It was hilarious. I thought I would be worried that I didn't get much work done Wednesday night but, I had such a good time at the show that I left feeling care free and It was good. I always have to remind myself to unwind every so often... The next day I was back to studying.

This week at the farm we got to interact with calves. We did some disbudding (with local anesthetic), burdizzo castrations, and gastro tubing. I love it when we get hands on experience in school. Unfortunately, I only have one picture from the farm. It is a picture of a calf suckling on Colleen's fingers. They're too cute.

Today, is Valentine's day! Tonight, I am having a video date with Jason. =). I sent him a valentines day package in the mail last week so I really hope he gets it today.

Only 19 more days until he comes to visit me in person!!!