Sunday 27 March 2011

Get it down ewe!

I love today, apart from the fact its my Dad's birthday, today is always a day I find inspiring, the return of British summer time, the clocks spring forward an hour meaning the jobs list can be tackled when I get back from work, dogs can be walked in evening sunshine (or rain, this Wales afterall!) and time can be spent on the helipad watching the suns journey across the horizon until the summer solstice halts its progress and it begins the return journey. The day got off to a good start, Roxy is still with us. She is still being picky about what she eats, preferring gold plated savoy cabbage to her usual rations, and she seems to have developed a taste for the pink medicine drinking syringe full after the other in preference to everything else. This is time consuming but at least we know she is getting a few calories each time. Roxy has started talking to the other sheep through the stable wall, probably telling them how good her bed and board is. On a sad note she has taken to staying in the very spot where her stillborns were last laid on the floor. If only they could talk.
Geisha nearly signed her death warrant today and close observers would have detected a limp in yours truly after a confrontation by the tack room doorway over a bucket of feed. We are down to the last few bucketfuls until I get some more next weekend. Why not get some before you run out I hear you cry, well I would have except Hazel the almost 4x4 who had new brakes and discs all round a week or so ago has demonstrated a substantial lack of braking (she, like Vic threw herself down the Bonsai Mountain on autopilot when the brakes failed) so was I was not inclined to hitch her to Trixie and a ton of feed until the mechanics have had another go at fixing her. These are different mechanics to the chainsaw non fixers but the same ones who got what is known as a bollocking for forgetting to set Vics handbrake properly. Anyway, with precious bucketful of grain I stopped to feed the rabbits, Geisha spotted the bucket on top of the hutches ambushed me with six Ryelands and while I was defending the hutch doorway she knocked the bucket over. In anger and desperation to stop the contents spilling I swung my right leg to right the bucket but primarily to "move" the goat, I missed both and hit an unknown but solid object which gave a sensation like a broken leg. Howling in pain I fell amongst the rampaging Ryelands and after several unwanted and very close encounters with various woolly backsides managed to crawl to the doorway of Rock HQ where first aid was administered by Tracey, my beautiful and oh so patient wife who rightly asked what lessons could be learned from the experience. Kick goats rather than solid objects was the wrong answer but suitably chastised I waited for the swelling to go down while drinking a thoughtfully provided cuppa. Geisha ran past, smirking, as did several rabbits who suddenly found their hutch doorway wide open. It took an hour or so to restore order and catch the final escapee bunny who favoured life under the hutch rather than in it.
Now the freezers are empty fresh pork has been ordered from Stable Sprite who has around 29 piglets queueing up to be volunteers as the main ingredient for barbques. He was kind enough to donate a couple of packs of bacon to the Rock HQ food store. I was loathe to admit it but it was far nicer than our last lot. Thanks to Stable Sprites generosity in four weeks or so we will have restocked Mr Whirlpool with sausage and pork and Stable Sprite has even shared the secret of the bacon.

No comments: