Another good one

It has been one of those days at Rock HQ, one of those days where you are glad to be alive. The fresh air, the scenery, the animals make this the most fantastic place to live. Forget the mud, the foxes, the outside world, the jobs list and the weather, today has been just great.

A fresh covering of snow got the day off to a clean start, I tried to trace the fox back to its hidey hole but having five Bernese Mountain Dogs careering back and fourth it was a lost cause but we got to stretch our legs and see some parts of the bonsai mountain from different angles. Trevor and Misty tucked in breakfast and he has turned from a mental my little pony into a cuddly monster, albeit with teeth, but he fussed around Misty, seem like he has learned how to share, with her anyway. It is strange that in just a few weeks time Misty, the one on the right, should give birth to a foal that will be about the size of a hamster. A tiny thing. Needless to say we are very excited at the prospect.

The boys were turned out and they spent most of their time either chewing food or chewing each other. They seem to like their coats and they do keep them clean, that is, the horses stay clean, not the coats. They are covered in pooh and will need washing soon. Have to sneak them down the launderette when no one is looking as our machine is already breaking under the burden of cleaning my clothes which sometimes are so caked in mud they would crack if they dried out. A washing machine repair man came to Rock HQ yesterday as the thing had broken yet again, and yet again he pulled out of the working doings a collection of fencing staples, bent nails, baler twine, half dissolved extra strong mints and dog hair. I promised not to do it again and he promised Tracey he would return in a month to fix it again.

The extreme pruning took place while the snow melted, masses of branches were cut from shrubs with ideas above their station. This was a very therapeutic task and we found paths and steps up the hillside that were long forgotten. I took it on myself to carry on pruning out side the perimeter clearing a stretch of gorse bushes which will either make it harder for the foxes to sneak up on our chickens or make it easier for them to see the hens. Cosmo sat and watched while I hacked and chopped away, I would have cleared more except the jaws of the loppers broke.

This is the view from a standing stone just above our little patch, you can just make out a trail middle to right of picture. This is the route down to the gorse and then to our fence. Easy to see how they get so close without being seen.