A sunny day with clouds was forecast so of course it was drizzling lightly most of the morning 🙄 I did the ducks and Rascal as usual. Mental note to muck the ducks out was added to my list of jobs. In the barn, I tried looking for eggs in the place that Neil discovered the nests. I found two eggs in the old nest and fed the ram, that was it. I cleaned the ducks out then, it doesn’t take long, it’s a small shed. I put clean wood chip down and shut the door to keep the Peckys out. Lastly I let them out. No eggs in Barry. Off to the jeep. Sian was flouncing around by the pen gate, flirting with the ram🤦♀️ Tart!
My first job at the alpacas was to fill the buckets and take the hay in the podfield. The hay bag was much heavier than I expected. It took a lot of my strength to drag it into the pod. I filled the ring feeder and there was still loads left so I dragged it back to the gate. I fed them then and watched Greyce, sit by the trough, watch the others eat and stare me down as if to say “It’s not for me.” So bloody frustrating! I filled the poo bucket up and ended up with a full bag and another half bag. My arms were getting tired by then, I’m not going to lie. There had been the mucking out, the hay dragging and poo bagging. Little did I know, that was only half the story. I fed the boys and then went to the girls field. I fed them and Eden came over to see me. I videoed her and then Raven and Babum. I left them and drove to the top of the field to give the boys their hay.
I had to get that bloody bag over the fence which wasn’t easy. It took some pushing and rolling. I emptied it out which totally filled that ring feeder so I won’t have to do it for a good few days. As I left, Ghost strolled in and tucked in enthusiastically. I couldn’t understand why the other boys weren’t there… When I drove back down, I saw the boys in the pen. Oh yeah, that’s why the others weren’t up at the pod. I had to shut them in so that Ghost could eat in peace. I freed them and drove back up with the empty hay bag to be refilled. I drove into the barn and there was a brown Pecky causing havoc somewhere. She was making a racket, knocking things over 🙄 There was one more egg in the hidden nest then I went to see what the hen was doing. I spotted something beige and found one egg. Better than nothing.
After that rest, I had to load the poo bags in the jeep. They need to be stored in the railway carriages. I struggled to store them there in August and September because of all the nettles. They are dying back and Neil cut them too. Time to move them. There were 16 there. Two trips with 8 then. I could do that. And I did manage it but my arms are aching from my biceps, up to my shoulders and my back and ribs too. Those bags were heavier than I remembered and it was a lot in one go. I could hardly carry that last egg back to the truck 😔 I let Skye out to play and got on with food. Of course its fish and parsley sauce day. Not the day to make white sauce 😂 But, for the sake of a good meal, I bravely overcame any difficulties 😉
After dinner, it was time to go the next round with Openreach. I thought HMRC were bad but they are right there competing with them. I got my complaint redirected a fifth and sixth time this afternoon. Unbelievable.
Helen x
