There was an alpaca walk booked at 10am, which I was concerned about. I was worried it would already be too hot. I was rushing around getting myself ready with hat, fan, drink and making the bottles. I was doing well. I was earlier than scheduled. Josh messaged me. “It’s postponed. She’s just tested positive for Covid.” I wish I’d known sooner, I would have gone earlier when it was cooler but I was timing my jobs to finish at 9.45 so I would be ready for the visit. Never mind. The boys had time off.
And boy was it hot. There was a breeze in the paddock but it was only blowing hot air over me. I set off with plenty to do. I’d left the blue barrel full so I went straight to top up the mammys water. Everyone else had some so I got the feed buckets next. I had to go over the field for Luna, Eden and their cria. They were staying in the shade until they had seen the bucket. They aren’t stupid! I shooed them all in, fed them and then Hennessey. I thought she felt a tiny bit heavier. I’ll need Josh to weigh her to confirm.
I got Leo and El Cap in with food and shut their pen. Then I fed the other 4 boys. They have quickly cottoned on to the new routine. I put water out for Vader’s gang and fed them. From that point I could see the top tub still had plenty of water. I turned the mule around and parked up next to the boys’ bath. The 4 had finished eating. I went in through the small side gate and retied it. I then had to tip the bath out to clean it. There is a lot of algae in it because its too big for Leo and El Cap to drain quickly enough. Once cleaned it I put some clean water in. Tex and Atlas had a good old drink and they moved off. I was able to let the other two out then. Later, when I’ve got help, the bath will be swapped for the smaller tub in the mammys’ field. Then I fed and watered the girls. Their bath still had a lot in and was clean now that it’s partially covered with a black pallet. Sunlight will encourage algae growth. Also, Neil’s nemesis, Clara/Bernadette likes to put her feet in it. He goes mental! We thought the black pallet had stopped her nonsense. Apparently not. I’m going to put off breaking the bad news to him. There’s nothing he can do when he’s off sick anyway.
There was still just enough water to top up the sheep’s bath. Then I fed Elsie whilst refilling the blue barrel. The one IBC was low enough that the pressure wasn’t good so I swapped the hose onto the other one. I’ll probably need to refill those this evening from the well. My morning jobs were done. Everyone seemed to be ok. I went home out of the sun for a bit.
During our dinner we had rain, thunder and lightning. By the time we got to the farm for the afternoon the sun was back out and it was scorching again. Josh had brought a lamb from Tregurnog that had got itself trapped in a gate tie. We checked his leg which was swollen. It had improved for him to be weight bearing. Josh had given him painkiller. He will more tomorrow. No wonder the saying is: all sheep want to do is escape or die. 🤦♀️ Then we had an unpleasant job. Remember the ewe that died and was moved? Well Josh had to scrape it up, bag it and take it to the hunt. Luckily I was spared that but I had to help him wash the back of the truck out (especially as its not ours!) The smell was putrid. I don’t know how he managed to move the remains. All of this was caused by people interfering. Anyway, it’s clean now. We refilled the IBCs from the well and then drove down to the alpaca area and left the back open to dry.
Next we moved the bath into the mammys field and the plastic trough into the boys’ field. I put water in both. Josh fed the mammys and Hennessey. I also fed Vader. I left him to fill more poo bags while I refilled the barrel and topped up the sheep’s bath. Elsie had her bottle and then wandered off. I was about to turn around when I remembered I was supposed to be picking Camelibra up. Phew. Just in time. It was stifling in Cai but I managed. I drove the mule over yet more ferns. I’m doing a good job of killing them. I parked up and carried bags down. We were both still tired after the long day yesterday. A bit of good news to end the day with – Hennessey is now up to 11.05kg! I thought she felt heavier this morning when I fed her 👏
Helen x
