Monday 15 November 2010

Phoenix Rising

I'm back!  Sorry the blog disappeared for a while - just a few things to get to grips with.  Anyway, I am back from the ether and all is fine.

I cannot say that the past weeks have not had their fair share of dramas.  Firstly, I killed a bunny.  Driving sedately in my Mule I noticed a baby bunny careering crablike into the side of the chicken house and almost braining himself.  I jumped out and picked it up to discover it had just escaped the clutches of Cruella (the cat) who was prowling the barn.  I didn't like to leave it there so tucked it up in a box of hay and put it in the back of the Mule so I could take it back to the bin shed to recover (we are overrun with rabbits so probably not my best plan).  I zoomed back up the top with bunny in the back but when I went to get him out - no bunny!  I zoomed back down the field and found he had bounced out and landed face down in a large puddle.  Once he was retrieved I took him back up, bunny in the cab this time, and fetched a syringe of water for a drink.  Unfortunately, the plunger was rather stiff and I shot it down his throat so fast he gave one gulp and expired.

That evening we were sitting cosily around the log burner when a dreadful smell started.  Sam got the blame until Carl went over to stoke the fire and noticed the chimney was exceedingly hot - we had a fire in the chimney!  Carl sat and squirted a washing up liquid bottle of water up the flue until a large cremated bird dropped down followed by many sticks and bits of shell.  We had to stay up very late squirting frantically and retrieving lumps of foul smelling debris.  The next day Carl was up on the roof in a gale poking brushes down and then in the lounge poking them up - I have never seen so many bird bones!

Crisis averted, Carl built a rather smart walk in cupboard - somewhere for him to go if life gets too much for him.  It all started when he tried to install a gun cabinet (but that is another story).  He is currently demolishing a wall in the dining room and as Sam's bedroom door is in the process of being bricked up he now has to emerge through a hole in the wall in the dining room!



The alpacas are all soaked and follow me around the fields moaning.  Greeves looks even smaller now where he is so wet and the others are growing so well.  This picture does not show the vast tracts of mud behind me!

I am afraid Greeves is not too good at the moment.  He developed diarrhoea yesterday so I have wormed him just in case and given him some rehydration fluid.  May be a vet visit tomorrow.  The toenails are all growing at an alarming rate but it is difficult to trim them at the moment with all the mud.  Lina's favourite place now is behind the field shelter.  Everyone seems to want to get behind the shed but Lina guards it fiercely!

Wind has also been very strong and a whole line of washing blew away.  Most of it has been retrieved but my only comfy bar has disappeared, as has one of Carl's best socks.  I just hope that the bra does not turn up entangled round one of the Gentleman Farmer's cows (I would rather never find it!).

The cut has been a very exciting place with a tree down (which I managed to drive under) and a car crashed into the hedge at the bottom.  Saturday the beating wagon got a flat tyre half way down and there were an awful lot of brawny young men there mending it.

The other bit of excitement is that the Ram has arrived and is now in residence!  The Shepherd brought him on Sunday and my girls are not impressed.  Stumpy keeps head butting him and George just charges off in the other direction.  He is having a little more luck with Sam's sheep, just hope mine don't traumatise him!

3 comments:

  1. Good to see you back! You certainly look as you have had your share of challenges!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good to see you back, I've been wondering if you were all ok. Hope Greeves is ok and all the hours you've put in with him pay off.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good to have your blog back. We were missing it.

    Rob n Les

    ReplyDelete