All is Calm!!

Despite this having been the most stressful time of my entire life - my joy now overfloweth!

My P problem was sorted to my immense joy and the immense shock of the postman who will probably never call again.  It was then a dash to The Standerwick Centre for the setting up of the GWR show.   The car was stifling so I made use of the air con which Carl has finally said can be used and agreed it does not use up more fuel than when having the windows open - something to do with air resistance - (Honest John gave me the ammunition for that one). Carl had gone on first while I waited for my P solution - most was done by the time I got there and the quality of the fleece on display is stunning - it makes my poor little fleeces look very sad!  I couldn't look closely at anything as it is all boxed up but there seem to be a startling amount of lovely greys, looking forward to seeing them.  The yarn is also fantastic - particularly impressive array of blacks and l some beautiful hand spun.  In the end I didn't get any hand spun good enough and having seen the quality I am incredibly glad I didn't enter anything - there are some fabulous hand spinners out there.  Everyone was working incredibly hard when I arrived.

We then had a phone call about another of the day's stresses and the die is now cast for further developments!  What exactly will happen next in our lives is a little unsure at the moment but a great wave of relief has settled over us and the future looks - - - interesting!  Now I must sort out extra water for the animals for tomorrow as they almost ran out today with the searing hat, find clothes for the show and then relax!

P problems

Okay - I am back, sort of!  Apologies to those loyal readers who have been checking for a new blog.  I confess it has been a trying time here and I haven't had the computer time or the heart to write.  However, that does not mean that nothing has been happening or that we have been miserable!  Despite the tropical weather here, the babies have been very lively.  Tilbo's leg is now fine and he charges round with everyone else.

We spent a lovely time  looking after the Shepherd's house and animals.  I was a bit nervous with how I would cope with all the sheepdogs and had visions of them all disappearing or getting ill - but they were the most impeccably behaved dogs I have ever known.  I have completely fallen for Jess and want to sneak her home with me.  The three legged one is gorgeous but had enough of the walks by the end of the day and just laid down and waited for the rest to return.  The two Kelpies kept looking round for the Shepherd and loved sitting in the back of his Truck.  I am now an ardent watcher of the sheep dog trials and have sent for a book to teach myself the sheep dogs commands - not that I think Amber, the Jack Russell, is going to be that responsive!  I have also decided I really want some geese as they are very funny.

Sam is loving his apprenticeship - he is power harrowing today and was fussing to be taken this morning far earlier than he needed to be.  He has passed all his basic moped training and now has the moped but it is not running quite right yet so I am still taking him everywhere!

The alpacas are all doing well and growing.  I think everyone who needs to be is pregnant.  Sam has given Bianca her course of medicines and she appears to have lost a little of the weight, although she is still rather a chunk!  The three little boys - Striker, Tilbo and Yossarian form into a little gang and stalk everyone else! 

Little Axle, Lina's baby, is still smaller but gradually growing.

On the negative side of things - I have sore nails!  People are always saying, "How do you do anything with nails that long?"  Well,  they are no problem (apart from a recently discovered contact lens issue) - until, that is, one of them breaks.  They have been long for a long time and the top of the finger is quite sensitive so when one breaks it is really uncomfortable until they grow again - one snagged so I sawed it off and now it hurts!  I have also been to get some trial contact lenses.  This is proving a further problem as my nails are so long it is difficult to get them out without skewering myself.  Once I get the next few days over I am going to have to tackle the nail situation.  However, that is the least of my problems so I shall put up with it for now!  My real stress at the moment is an extra P which has appeared somewhere it should not have appeared - I cannot reveal where at the moment but I can say that if this is not sorted in the next 48 hours I am done for!

Grace has recovered from her fly strike but now has slight sunburn on her back end where there is no fleece.  I am having to apply factor 30 Ambre Solair twice a day.  Luckily she is so greedy for sheep nuts and the sunscreen is a spray on so I can creep up on her as she eats!

So, bit of a heavy blog on pictures today but here are a few more.  Firstly, cria queuing up to drink!

Three little ones - and I am very embarrassed to say that I know these are the two female Dude babies - but I can't tell which is which!  Never had that before!

Finally, young striker who is a very feisty little thing!

Oh!  And just one more, three little cute faces!

Wouldn't you love a Nannette?!

Since the last blog we appear to have been everywhere - and without a single car misadventure!  As soon as I have finished this I need to get back to catching up with other people's goings on in their blogs as since we returned this is the first chance I have had to sit at the computer.

Sam has now had his apprenticeship confirmed and starts an intensive tractor course next week.  He has been helping the Shepherd this morning and spasmodically working at the farm he will be doing the work part of the apprenticeship at - so he has been busy.  He has however, found time to get Sapphire mated and attempt to start Bianca's fitness regime!  He has also managed to remove all the boxes of toys he sorted from the loft.  Now instead of a tidy and organised loft I have a ball bearing run all over the lounge, tractors and diggers lined up everywhere and an extra television has appeared!

We had a meeting of the GWR last night and I am pleased all is going well - including the number of entries, which is great.  Much of the meeting was spent discussing table cleaning in between classes and many suggestions were made.  In the end, however, we have decided to  rely on Andy with his Nannette!   I am still very unclear what a Nannette actually is but apparently it is more than a duster, more than a feather stick and more than a brush.  Andy swears by them and appears to have spent much of his youth wielding them and, apparently, they collect more detritus than anything invented before or since.  I feel a highlight of this years show will be when this Nannette is revealed and wielded in front of the crowds!

On a more sombre note - and miss this paragraph if you are eating - (although remembering the time I had a jelly baby incident and got a foot stuck under my P I would not advise eating near a keyboard anyway) - we returned to a nasty bit of fly strike on Grace.  Grace is my little Southdown sheep who had problems with fly strike and a touch of arthritis before I had her.  This photo is of her earlier in the year.

Sam phoned us on Sunday morning and said Grace looked like she had fly strike and so we raced back and sheared her back end straight away - what we found was dire.  I felt awful and discovered I had no crovect.  The Shepherd was up withing half and hour and sprayed her.  Immediately hundreds of little maggots started dropping from her - it is a horrible thing and I blame myself because we should have sprayed her two weeks ago as a preventative.  I shall not be forgetting that again.  I gave her some antibiotics and she is now livelier but still looks sad - and she is cold.  I have moved her to a paddock with a field shelter and given her lots of hay so I am hoping she will recover.

The wind has been dreadful today with rain, fallen branches and mud - much mud!  Two branches fell in the girl's paddock and they have been steadily stripping them of leaves.  They were not massive branches so no damage done.   For most of this morning we had a power cut which was an excuse for Sm to break open his survival kit!

The weather has been too bad for any new photos so here is a slightly out of focus one of Greeves from last week

Knitting is going well again after a bit of a quiet time and I am now  branching out into what I like to call 'embellished gloves' - a bit of colour or the odd rose or button!  I might photograph one tomorrow.