Welcome Mika

The more the rain falls, the higher and faster the grass grows !  The faster the grass grows, the faster the horses cows and sheep eat. The faster the animals eat….the faster they resemble Sumo Wrestlers in training. Lady, our Shire mare has, over the past few months started to develop a distinctly more maternal form, lumps and bumps have appeared where a sleek and shiny body used to be. Jowls have taken the place of her previously healthy jaw line and when Lady works herself into an enthusiastic gallop, the world pays attention and the earth moves. The ewes and lambs have, over the recent weeks grazed in pastures which, thanks to the Lime and manure we added to balance the PH level, (Gosh,  sounds  like I know what I’m talking about ! ) looks more like something out of Junglebook than James Herriotts “All Creatures Great and Small”. The grass is, to the ewes tummy high… the lambs trails through the grass look like a corn maze, Crisscrossing around and across the pasture. The moms, who are THE formation eating team, spend their days head down inching through the grass. Occasionally a dewy wet head lifts and a half hearted baa plots the location of the milky bar for the brat pack busily hunting for some trouble to get into…or cause. Occasionally one of the lambs has a snack attack and mom doesn’t have to interrupt her munching as junior aggressively head butts her swollen udder…..but woe betide a lamb that tries to snatch a quick  sneak attack on another moms milky bar.

 We have a new little helper on the yard, smiling with enthusiasm each evening, little Mika arrives, sunshine or torrential rain. It is always great to see the children interacting with the animals and to watch their confidence grow around the big horses. Mika has an ambition, she wants to be a vet and watching that little lady engaging with the animals I have no doubts that she will achieve her ambitions.

I am trying to complete my entry but confess that I am working under extreme stress as a box of chicks have just arrived and they are all peeping so loudly I swear the box is jumping on the table. It’s almost time to go down to the barn, the chicks need to go home and everyone at the ranch is ready to eat ! Have a great day, take care, keep safe, M