A week of animal adventures

It has been a week packed full of animal adventure. In between working on some exciting papercut commissions I have had to rise to the challenge of various animal rescues and treating ailments.

Terry is in the middle of lambing (last count 40 sheep lambed, 100 and something to go!) These lambs are some of the first born who are now gambolling out and about in the fields. Lambing is an exciting and nerve wracking time in the village. Everyone is hopeful that Terry's flock will remain unaffected by the dreadful Schmallenberger virus that has been affecting lambs this year. (So far so good).

Whilst there isn't much we can do to help Terry and Paul whilst they lamb, as dog owners we are acutely aware of keeping our dogs on a very tight leash. Imagine our horror when we were up at the allotment this week (right next to these lambs) and met a young husky. No owner, no collar, no control. After about an hour and with the help of five other families we managed to catch her. A beautiful and very friendly dog but completely unknown to any of us. Several hours later our neighbours had managed to track down her owners. Thankfully Terry's sheep seem ok even though the dog must have come through their field.

Another rescue was of a beautiful male greenfinch trapped in one of the fruit cages at the allotment.

And the ailment? Well our poor girls seem to have got all sorts of bugs and parasites troubling them at the minute. Terry has very kindly provided some medicine for them and we've been to buy some treatment for their legs. So spare a thought for me this weekend as I throroughly disinfect two chicken coops, feed and drink containers and catch and spray 15 chickens!

Have a great weekend (and if you do have a dog - keep it away from the sheep!)

Ready set grow

This Saturday I thought I'd share a sneak peak of our allotment. It's not going to win awards but we are hoping to make more progress this year in turning our plot into a productive and attractive allotment.

The ultimate 500m walk

Spring seems to have sprung in our village and the sun has been encouraging us to venture out. So for today's sneak peak I thought I would share some of the sights on our 500m walk to the allotment. It really is heaven for my little boys.

The majority of our walk is up a lane. We pass a number of traditional stone cottages including the home of our best friends and a lovely lady my son calls Bertie (Betty)! This little stretch of lane often acts as a meeting point as we commonly bump into other villagers going to or from the allotments. A 5min walk often takes a lot longer than planned!

Past the houses we go past a stables, a builder's yard and a garage where they mend racing cars!

Then we go past the field with Terry's rams. Not long till their lambs are born though these handsome fellas don't strike me as anxious expectant fathers!

 Next to the ram's field is this magnificent walnut tree. Heaven knows how old it is but we had a bumper crop of walnuts from it last year. It is technically in the hedgerow so everyone can gather nuts from it. And we do! Most of the village enjoyed collecting some. The nuts are so sweet and taste completely different to those bought from shops. My eldest became quite adept at cracking open the shells.

A little further up and we turn the corner into the allotment. These girls are always crowding round the gate hoping that you are going to bring them some corn!

One of the families we share ownership of the chickens with keeps bees in this apple orchard which is on the allotment site.

Then it's past Terry's fine array of farm machinery....

And finally our walk ends at our allotment. The pictures below are of some of our neighbours plots.

 On a cold frosty morning when it is dark and raining this 500m can seem a very long way to let the chickens out. On a sunny day or glorious summer evening it is absolute magic and the walk can't last long enough.