I had a good sleep and woke up a bit late. I did a load of washing-up and put that in an airer to dry before I left. It was brisk to say the least. I was late to Garth Hall 😬 I let the ducks out and collected the 6 eggs in Cai, left by Neil at close yesterday. I took them with me to feed the Peckys. I picked up one more egg and put them all in the truck. There had been no sign of Rascal so I was a little concerned. When I got close enough to the barn, I heard him 😂After feeding him, I went to the alpacas.
There were some showers but all in all, not many it was the wind that was the issue, until I got to the podfield. Then Arwen was the issue 😂 I had a lid on the bucket and Ffion’s portion in a margarine tub with the tablets already in it. Arwen still pestered me though but I think it was 1-all after today. Next I got the main bucket. There was a shower so I briefly waited in the jeep. I went unter the boys shelter to give them their food. When that shower eased, I went back into the podfield and collected enough poo to fill the bucket and make a full bag out of the half that was there. I put it in the jeep. The hay was looking low in the pod so I decided I would put that out on my way back.
There was another shower but that wasbit really. It didn’t last long. I took the feed bucket, the scoop, scraper, poo bucket and a bag. I left them at the fence and fed the girls. Somehow there was only enough for 2 troughs. I have no idea why. I’d put the usual amount into the bucket 🤷♀️ Thinking of the weight loss of some of the mothers, I think I’ll put some ewe nuts out for them too so I’ll need to get some from Jenkins’s on Thursday. I’ve got 2 busy days coming up so it will need to be Thursday. There are ewe nuts there I can use until then anyway. I also noticed Raven. With all the wind in the field, her fleece was dry. She looked particularly pouffy after her blow-dry. And also dark brown rather than black. Hmmm, Raven is a name for a black alpaca not a dark brown one. I’m going to have to rethink her name 🤔
There wasn’t much poo around for some reason 🤷♀️It took a while to collect another bucketful. I nearly lost my cap on a number of occasions. The girls field is more exposed than the podfield, hence Raven’s blow-dry 😂 I had my hood up to keep my hat on. As I worked, the wind energised me. I found another poo pile and almost filled another bag. I took all that and went into the top of the boys field. There was loads left in the middens (poo piles) there. I filled that bag and another bucket, making another half a bag. The wind was terrible in there. I had my hood on and the ties done to stop my head blowing off, let alone my hat! There was more poo in the podfield so I decided to go there next. I took the things I needed and piled them by the fence. Then I got the wool bag of hay. I swung it and got it most of the way over.
I unloaded all the hay. That should keep them going until Thursday🤞 I picked more poo in there and then went to finish in the boys field. I put the poo over first and then the big wool bag. I dropped it over the fence and climbed over after it. As I was climbing, I had a thought: “Wouldn’t it be funny if the wind caught that and took it across the field?” It’s large, light and parachute shaped. It would really fly if the wind caught it. It wasn’t going to happen, I thought. As I lowered my foot towards it, within a few inches even, a gust came along and whipped it up. “Bugger!” 🤦♀️ Every time I got close, it blew further. Sometimes it went so high I couldn’t have caught it if I had been there anyway! I chased that bloody bag across the field, chuckling to myself. It would make a good blog story. But that sodding bag didn’t stop! It was going really high now 🙄 It headed to the hedgeline. It was bound to stop there! I got closer, sure it had stopped. Then when I was getting closer it bloody blew off again! I didn’t want to chase it all the way over the Duffryn (next farm) It was going high though. Up over the fence it went and the back end clipped the top-line of the fence and got entangled. I rushed a bit more, it teetered there and began to lossen but I was quicker. Just as it was about to break free, I grabbed it! I tried folding and flattening it so it didn’t fill with air again. I stuffed that sucker in the boot and leaned on the back door catching my breath. Phew!
I still had to fill one more bucket in the boys field. It took longer than I’d hoped but I wasn’t in a rush. I took my 3 poo bags up with me and stored them in the barn with the other bags. I was pleased with myself though. Back at home, I put the bed clothes in the wash to go on the line. A combination of the wind and the bedclothes, my line ended up at a 45° angle 😬 I doubt there’ll be much more going out on the line this year. Fixing that’s another job for Louis. After dinner, my plan was to finish the stuff on Sage. I got one invoice done and on the second one, the fault came up again. I re-read the extender instructions. I hadn’t done it properly. Off I went and got that properly attached to the WiFi. Technical genius me. The last step was my password. It wouldn’t f-ing accept it. I don’t know how many times I tried. I wasted all the afternoon on it too. I was livid. The VAT started working again after a break, despite me not being able to login so I did input those two invoices 🤷♀️What a day!
At close, the four great escapers were out 🤦Not a care in the world. The ducks were there too, quacking at full volume. I got everyone’s food from Cai and went back to Barry. The white one, James Coburn was nowhere to be found. I’d only walked across the paddock and back mun! I fed the others and shut them in Barry. When I was nearing the duck shed, she came round the corner of Cai 🤬 I couldn’t get her in Barry without them all coming out so she’ll spent the night in the run without food.
Despite almost losing the wool bag, there had been no wind damage. Luckily.
Helen x
