I slept well last night and woke with a dry nose, feeling much better! Sorry (not sorry) Louis, I told you I would recover quicker than you š I woke up with something else too. The song “California Dreamin” going round and round in my head. I have no idea how it got in there but it’s driven the bloody “Wheels on the bus” out so I’m eternally grateful!š Despite the good sleep I was a bit slow to get up so I was late leaving for the farm. The truck windscreen needed scraping but the inside was worse – very wet requiring significant time to dry out, making me later.
When I finally got there, I drove in so that I could put the Jerry can of fuel in Cai. I did that and let the ducks out. I drove back out and parked up. I let the Peckys out and went to feed Rascal. The sun was blazing down and the low winter angle meant I had to shield my eyes when I walked towards it. There was another traffic jam at the ring feeder. It was sporting a new addition. Neil had secured an orange ratchet strap around it. I assume to try to prevent them from getting stuck. If it works, IĀ probably won’t say anything. If it doesn’t work, I will mock him mercilessly. It’s the kind of banter we have at Garth Hall š
I walked to the alpacas and it was another beautiful day. There had been fog forecast but there wasn’t any at Garth Hall although sometimes I’m above the fog and the valley below is hidden under it. I fed the boys and moved all but one bucket into the pen, in preparation for Saturday. I fed the girls and then the rams. Only Starsky and Hutch were there so I went to look for the younger two. I found them, after an uphill walk, at the top the outer circle, just grazing. I got the newly refurbished quadling and took it and the trailer up to Cai. I tried to load a bag of alpaca mix and a bag of Camelibra into the red trailer but there were Peckys ‘helping’. That makes any job last twice as long as it should šI took the Jerry can as well and set off. The trailer was heavy with that lot in it so I had to go down the slope carefully. I unloaded everything and began my long walk back up. I was on a mission to find Munchie who I hadn’t seen since scanning on Monday. There still wasn’t anyone stuck in the ring feeder. Neil’s invention was holding up to rigorous testing (so far). Then I thought I saw Munchie. I squinted a bit because my eyesight is shocking. It couldn’t be her, that ewe did not have a disdainful look. She almost seemed to be smiling. I got closer and marvelled how she looked so much like Munchie. I kept on walking and when I was close enough to see her properly, I realised it was Munchie. She was squinting because she was facing direct sunlight. The squint gave her an enigmatic smile, a bit like the Mona Lisa. I got closer and spoke to her. “How are you beaut?” She gave me her best look of disdain and turned her face away from me. Most sheep would run away from close human interaction. She doesn’t. She just looks away as if to say “You are the weakest link. Goodbye!” Her attitude stinks, it’s so funny š
On the journey back home, around about by Edwards’s, I found the fog. By the time I’d passed Longbow, it was much worse. By the time I got to Talbot Road, visibility was down to ‘as far as your hand in front of you, if you’ve got short arms!’ It was dreadful! Skye was oblivious to the fog and it was slightly better for our after dinner walk. Meryl visited me in the afternoon and we had a good chat. Louis has invited me to theirs on Saturday for Chinese. I hope he doesn’t rescind the offer now I’ve beaten him at ‘recovering from a cold’ š
Helen x
