After finishing the blog yesterday evening, I ended up being seen by the out of hours drs at the Royal Glam. I was given the all clear but didn’t get home until 11pm. I’ve already had two restless nights so when I woke this morning I did not want to get up! Skye refused to come to Tregurnog again. Not impressed with that- she sleeps all the bloody time! So I was flying solo for the early shift. It’s a bit quicker anyway. I hoped I would feel better after my morning cup of tea. It helped but it didn’t cure my tiredness unfortunately.
I dragged myself to Garth Hall. I wandered around like I was wading through thick custard. Only Lookalike came for food by the paddock gate so he had a treat. Then I went to bag up hay for the alpacas. Suddenly the rest of the wellfield crew spotted me. Unlucky! I went with the hay and Atlas eagerly came over again. I put it out. I had attracted a small following of ewes too so I made sure it was out of their reach.
I left the one bag in the livestock trailer and fed Hennessey’s lot then went back to reload the bucket and get the other bag of hay. The boys were acting like they were starved. Clearly not. I fed them and then went into the girls. Some of them were practically growling at me for food. There’s no need of it. There’s plenty of grass with the weather being so mild. I left as fast as my tired little legs could manage so I wasn’t eaten!
Then I started the brown bum count. It was hard going walking around feeling tired. The count going up spurred me on. At the top I was up to 7 and I saw 3 more from there in the cabbage field. The raddle paste is wearing out again. The colour transfer is really faint now. I went through the paddock, locked the gate and went into the cabbage field via the drive. There were an extra 3 in there. Up to 13 now. Well done boys! I made it home, washed my hands, set an alarm and went for a nap. I wouldn’t make it through the day otherwise. Getting up was so hard. I dragged my arse up though, made dinner and slowly started to come round.
I had a phone call from the NFU in the afternoon to sort insurances out. With that all done I decided to tackle a phone call to Lloyd’s Bank. It was about 40 minutes on hold. That’s a part of my life I won’t get back. Still, I accomplished what I needed to do. Sitting around waiting with the phone in my hand was restful though. I was feeling better. I left for Garth Hall to trim more brambles. I got loads done so I was pleased with myself. Neil arrived so it was operation ring feeder time.
Neil got the tractor. I opened and closed the wellfield and barn gates then we went to the alpacas field. If you’ve visited, you’ll know how steep that slope is. With a round bale of hay up on the spike on the front loader, the tractor has to be put in slow mode and reversed down for safety. Once we were down, I opened the gates again. Neil drove in and lowered the bale. I unwrapped it and we set the ring feeder up around it. The nosey boys came over. Garth Vader started tucking in the second that bale hit the ground. We left them all happily munching away. Neil carried a big armful over to the big boys. They will have their bale tomorrow, when we’ve collected it!
I fed Hennessey’s lot then and we went to check the end section of the blue shelter pen. Neil will be fitting some gates there to make it easier to move the alpacas from field to field. We put the tractor away and then went to the barn to look for the cria scales. We can’t find it anywhere. By now there was hardly any light left so we searched by the light of Neil’s headtorch. No sign of it. We have the ADE ready for Sunday though alongside mite treatment for Leo, El Cap, Al Paccino and Chrissie. When we left the barn, we were chatting away to the 3 amigos, Susie, Elsie and Ant. “Where’s Wingnut?” I knew exactly who he was on about. “I’ve been calling him Lookalike but that’s so much more appropriate.” “I know. He’s ears go straight out.” We went through the paddock and we heard some owls. Neil did a few owl calls. We heard tawny and barn owls (or so I was informed) It was only 5.30! Early finish for us. Which is good. Busy day tomorrow.
When I was finally home for the evening, I put my slippers on and ended up with a thorn in my foot. I can confirm that it’s really difficult to get one out if the sole of your own foot. I ended up on tge toilet seat with my leg up. I balanced my torch on the bath and I could just about see it. Using tweezers I got it after about 8 attempts. That’s that bloody bale of hay that is. I felt so much better with it out. It’s a miracle I managed it. It was bloody tiny! Plenty to do tomorrow. I’ll need my foot in good working order and a restful sleep.
Helen x
