I've gone and done it now!

Physical exercise is not really my thing . I know I get quite a lot of exercise running around after 4 kids , alpacas ,the school and of course DH , but structured exercise has never really appealed to me . I do ride ,not as much as I would like at the moment , and I have started pilates , which I love , but it is fair to say that this is the most I have ever done in my life , more than I have ever done all put together ,and I am getting on to be starting out !
Anyway , I have agreed to do a sponsored walk ! It is a cause with which I have far too much personal history , my mum died from it far too soon and far too long ago , it is breast cancer. There is an organised walk along the lines of the moonwalk, but not at night and you can wear clothes ! So now I am in training for 20 miles of canal walking , can't quite believe that I have agreed to this , I normally only walk to the car and then into waitrose and back to the car ....... the walk is called 'the pink canal walk ' and I am doing it with a couple of friends ( more may materialise ) one is a really keen and sporty type , the other is like me - a couch potato , I shall keep you up dated on our progress.

Thank goodness !

A while ago ( about a month) I lent my incubator to the primary school so that they could hatch some eggs into chicks (!) .I did have a few sleepless nights when I prayed fervently that the eggs would hatch , and a few nightmares when nothing did and I had 200+ upset children to deal with , but last week the chicks began to hatch.

On the monday night the first egg'pipped' and by Tues morning we had 2 chicks - sadly one died almost immediately - but Tues and Wed were a hive of activity in the incubator and a source of fascination for children and staff alike .By Thurs we had 10 chicks and the final two hatched early on Thursday. Thank god we had 12 chicks . We had put 18 into the incubator , 4 were infertile , 1 died at birth and 1 never made it out of the egg , but on the whole I am pretty pleased with 12.

The children and parents have been a source of amusement for me and my children . I forget that , despite living in a rural area, many do not have the slightest idea how hens are made ; the parents have been as amazed as the children and the best question ( worst) was from an adult who asked what the chicks would be when they grew up ! hens ?! my reply was that yes they would be hens , or maybe roosters , the parent said ' thats fine with the yellow chicks , but what will the black chicks be ?' ' Hens '. the light began to dawn- ' do you mean that all chicks aren't yellow'? I suggested that different breeds might be different colours like dogs are different shapes and sizes ......

We have to choose 3 chicks for the school to rear and keep in their hen house ( not yet built) , luckily we put 3 different types of hens' eggs in , and will hopefully have 3 different coloured hens . There are 2 yellow chicks ( white hens) 3 stripey chicks ( legbar crosses) and 7 black chicks ( barnevelder crosses) - so fingers crossed.

I hate ...

world book day! there. I don't hate the concept - getting everyone to read a book must be a good idea , but the level of commercialism surrounding it is frightening . I have 4 small boys , all of whom are required to dress as a book character on world book day - great you may think , how much fun is that , well none at all for me . First think of 4 different characters which are appealing to said boys , and then get the costume . I'm afraid that I refuse to spend lots of money on buying or hiring costumes so it has to be feasible from what we already own. But it always causes a row , when we get to school and have to stand next to rented or bought costumes the degree of amusement for us all begins to pale , the kids all complain that their costumes don't look as good and I have a sense of humour failure ! Thank god it's only once a year

doing it again

Spring really is on the way ! there, done it again , but this time I'm right ( only this time ??) My daffodils are coming up along the driveway . Hurray! AND the soil in the poly tunnel is warm enough to start planting ( I think ) so tomorrow I shall commence planting with a few lettuces just to see how we do .

AND the chicks are due to hatch on Tuesday ! We have lent our incubator to the school , and Tuesday is the day of reckoning , pray something hatches , I cant bear the stress if nothing happens .

My epitaph!

My epitaph will be ' spoke too soon ' ! The snow is back , I cant believe the length of time we have had bad weather , nearly 2 months now , that must be a record . The animals are coping with resigned determination , the weanlings are doing really well and I have to say that the whole weaning process was much easier this year - maybe 'cos there were 5 of them and 3 'aunts' , now we have the trial of halter training , generally I enjoy halter training , but I am itching to get on with it and the ground is too hard and slippy to be safe ......

Since last week we have escaped the cold of Wales for a trip abroad... to Disneyland Paris , and it was just as cold there! We took the 2 eldest boys and left the other 2 with my long suffering sister . I'm petty sure she enjoyed having them , and they certainly enjoyed staying, we have a constant whine of ' I preferred Aunty Nessa's'! Anyway , the rest of us braved Disney , sorry to say it does nothing for me and DH , we are just too old and sensible ! but the twins loved every minute of it . It really is a master piece of marketing , cos when you look at it dispassionately you spend a lot of money to stand in queues, run from one queue to another and walk alot without actually going on too many rides ! But we had some lovely family time and we don't get to spend much one-to-one time with the twins, so on the whole it was nice , but we could have done it at West Midland Safari Park for a fraction of the cost!!

The veggies are sprouting nicely , and DH has dug over the beds in the poly tunnel and redefined them , so we are nearly ready to plant something , the early potatoes will be my first planting - cant wait. Despite the snow the hens have gone into overdrive and are laying a dozen a day, which I am finding hard to get rid of! but luckily a couple of new mums at the school gate have asked if they can buy eggs from me so ...

calm again , spring is coming !

the alpacas are back to being 'all fine' , Cerys' limp has gone and she is looking lovely - her cria is due in July and she is in really good condition , not missing baby Bilbo at all!

Finally I have got round to preparing the ploy tunnel - I have dug in a huge amount of alpaca poo , so handy to have a factory in high production - and have started my first seedlings. Last year we didn't get the polytunnel until June so we were a bit late starting, but this year I am determined to be off to a flying start . Sadly , my mentor and inspiration ( competition?) have moved to the USA , so I don't have quite the same level of 'go' that I had last season , but I see that Eliane has planted her tomato seeds as well , so who knows , competition from across the pond?

I have planted 6 different types of tomatoes , 2 types of couregetttes and some peas, the lettuce , rocket and radishes will go straight into the ground , and the potatoes are chitting on the window ledge. A little bit later I will plant runner bean and french beans ready for the glorious summer......

spoke too soon !

Did I honestly say that life had been a bit on the dull side ? did I ? You may have thought that by my grand age I would have got the concept of tempting fate , but clearly not!

On Thursday Cerys was cushing a lot , When she did get up she was not weight bearing on her front left leg - oh joy - first thought , broken . But after a few minutes she did begin to bear weight albeit very gingerly , and as the day progressed she got better . I did have a feel but she was not impressed , and it is difficult at my majestic height ( not) to hold and examine a front leg whilst the examinee is trying to sit and spit .... I put it down to pins and needles ! On Friday morning I looked out and this time she was hobbling on left front and rear right - quite a feat- and clearly there was more of a problem than pins and needles. Call to the vet , a very nice 'girl' came out and had a look , she'd never really seen alpacas before , except once when she came to me to do some micro chipping when she was a student ( get the picture?) Cerys is normally pretty cool , apart from the kicking , which she is very generous with , but on Friday she spat and screamed , tried to sit and was generally the most uncooperative she could be . I tried to keep her calm by talking gently to her but she couldn't really hear me since she was screaming so much , more in an indignant fashion than one of pain , but still ear splitting . Eventually the vet agreed with me that there was nothing really to find , and it was probably a sprain in all the slippy mud . Hurray! A dose of bute and she was fine - now why didn't I think of that ?

Today all is well , and the snow has started again!

ps . can anyone explain why DH always splits whole bales of hay , when I have specifically bought racks which hold a full bale ??