Margot Leadbetter

I was doing an extra shift this morning, so completed all the chores at 6am, before driving to work at 7am. As it turned out, I was not needed, so by 7.45 I was back home again, and caught William snoring UNDER the duvet, with his head on my pillow!
Anyhow, we have all spent the day at home as we have been waiting for a friend of Chris' to collect the five junior runner ducks (including Wellington).
Chris has spent the time dozing in the chair on the field and Sorrel has tried manfully to look interested in the livestock, but if the truth be known, she is generally terrified of hen,turkey and pig and she does remind me so of Margo Leadbetter in "The Good Life" , especially when she was almost pushed into clambering over the pig fencing to say "hello" to Gladys and Nora!
She came along with me to check Belle on her eggs, and bravely kept the bile down, when we found a blown, discarded and badly infected egg. Belle abandoned her nest and remaining three eggs soon after this, so Sorrel and I dashed the eggs back into the kitchen to check if they were still alive. We bobbed the eggs in some warm water and two of the three "jumped" in reaction so these two we placed in the hastily set up incubator in the kitchen. The ever broody Blanche is again sitting on some eggs, so if and when my promised turkey eggs arrive, then perhaps Blanche will take charge of any little ones that come along!.
By teatime I am sure she had totally been overdosed with animals , so after making them a nice tea, she has gone with Chris and Janet to their ballroom dance class-----not a chicken insight
I am definitely working all day tomorrow! The whole animal shebang will be in Chris and Sorrel's hands....gulp!

Sorrel arrives and Ann's open day!

Sorrel arrived this evening, by train, so after we picked her up we had a bit of an indulgent "fish and chip" supper, before coming home for the obligatory dog mauling (above)
We have a lot planned, over the next few days, and as always it is lovely to have her up and visiting

Before we met Sorrel at the station in Prestatyn, we called around to Ann's co-operative allotment to support her open evening. She has a brief open "night", once a year, and sends any money she receives to Charity.

Her allotment is tended by around 8 0r 9 people and looks professional, well organised and comprehensive...I am so jealous! (above Janet with Jess and Chris with a shorn William)

Ann giving a guided tour

Synecdoche, New York

fantasy? psychosis?neurological injury? depression? or a combination of them all, Synecdoche, New York is a confusing, stimulating and rather bleak study of playwright Caden Cotard's (Philip Seymour Hoffman) last "great" stage production. Having said that...nothing in this Charlie Kaufman production is what it appears to be on the surface, and the movie's surreal message of a man making sense of his life is not an easy ride at all!
I am not sure that I actually enjoyed the film, but I did find some of the performances by a mainly female cast wonderfully judged.
I especially liked Samantha Morton,Dianne Wiest and Catherine Keener......Morton was especially good and played subtle "brittle" rather than her usual slightly mad "flaky"!
I need friends John and Niige to see it and to discuss it at length over a wine

The Great Escape

We have this 1930's postcard stuck on the fridge! and boy did I wish that the pig enclosure followed these four simple rules!
Last night, just before I was to drive to Llandudno to meet up with Chris, I raced around the field locking up the turkeys, ducks and chicks. Hazel had agreed to come round later to lock the hens up, so after a bit of racing around , I was good to go!
Or so I thought!
Just as I was walking back up to gate, I heard a burst of hen clucking from behind me and Gladys and Nora pushed themselves through a hole in their fencing and shot past grunting and squealing! Nora dropped kicked the hen fencing and trotted over to the hen feeder to bolt down huge mouthfulls of layers pellets while Gladys, excited at her new found freedom, galloped back and forth in piggy hysteria.
Now, for those who don't know, pigs are notoriously difficult to round up; they need to be "guided" and coxed rather than herded and prodded back into their quarters, so after 20 sweaty minutes, I was no nearer returning them to their home.
It was time for more drastic action when I spied two passersby walking their dog in the lane and called to them to help me. To be fair both of them (two ladies in their late sixties), gamely agreed to lend a hand, and I asked the less robust woman to guard one path next to the allotments, to prevent the pigs from running in circles.
She looked a little nervous, so I "armed" her with a lid from the compost bins.
"What do I do if the pigs come my way?" she worriedly asked
"Look fierce!" I replied!
I gave the other lady (who I found out later was called Anne) a dustbin lid and we slowly cornered both pigs in my lowest vegetable patches, where they had chomped their way through some baby sweetcorn and parsnip tops.
After a bit of hard work and a bit of shouting,and dustbin lid pushing, we managed to get Gladys back into her pen and after waving a bowl of pasta at Nora (I had cooked some for Susan who is still not too well), we managed to get her in too, but the whole exhausting, messy experience had lasted 45 minutes!. The ladies looked a little fraught but somewhat exhilarated and after thanking them and fixing the fence I managed to drive to meet up with Chris and we had a nice meal out!
Poor Hazel!,
My rudimentary repairs to the fence failed soon after I left and Hazel (who is the size of Audrey Hepburn) was left with two escapee pigs when she called in to lock the hens up an hour later!
Bless her! without help, she gamely tried to get the girls back, and an hour later she was still battling away.....
This morning, all I have been doing is patching up the fence holes!
Animals are therapeutic? pah!!!!
Hazel and I are off to the cinema later.....my treat me thinks

The healing nature of animals

Now I don't want to sound like a Walt Disney movie here, but animals do have the uncanny ability to sooth and heal.

Now perhaps I lost sight of this today as a trip to the vets and animal feed shop cost me 64£!

The shopping basket comprised of:-

Stockholm Tar to cover feather pecked wings,

steroids, antibiotics and medicated shampoo for William,

flea treatments for all the dogs, (and Albert)

antibiotic spray for Gloria's sore foot,

red mite powder and poultry wormer

and frontline field mite treatment for George

Jane, Belle's sister, and one of my best layers strangled herself to death in some discarded cord yesterday and I have spent a somewhat fraught morning trying to clean Maddie's teeth for the very first time...so animal care is not all fluffy bunny, "let's have a group hug"kind of moments......BUT.....I have often witnessed just how healing contact with animals can be for people.

Almost daily the grieving family of a local lady who died unexpectedly, visit her grave. I have mentioned before how they will bring their children and grandchildren to the field to feed the pigs and hens after they call down to the graveyard, and I watched their latest visit from afar, as I was filling the water feeders.

The animals swarm around , with glee, awaiting their titbits of bread and fruit , but it is a certain stillness of their visitors that I notice the most. The interaction between sad human and the animals that demand noting more than a food treat, is I honestly think far more therapeutic than any psychiatrist's chair.....Simple interactions between species are ordinary but I think quite magical.

This got me thinking of Finlay. For those that don't know, Finlay was our first dog, He was a bouncy, demanding Welsh terrier, and he and I were totally inseparable.when he was around 18months old I remember taking him to work with me, and for an afternoon he was the centre of attention on the Spinal Injury ward.

One patient I wanted him to "meet" was a 17 year old farmer's son from Norfolk. He had sustained a particularly nasty spinal injury following a car accident and was on strict bedrest after being paralysed from the neck down. The boy always talked in glowing terms of his farm dogs and missed them dreadfully, so I thought a "dog" visit may be beneficial, especially as frustrations and grief reactions seemed to be translated into, what some health care professionals described as, "difficult behaviour"

I always remember putting Finlay onto this boy's bed and quite gently he lay down in the crook of his arm, with his head resting on the boy's shoulder and neck. There was no silliness, or usual frantic lip licking, but there was a stillness from both animal and patient which I remember well to this day.

Finlay provided a warmth and a contact that the boy so desperately needed but couldn't quite verbalise and the emotion that followed was terribly moving to witness.

I have said this before but it is so funny what you remember isn't it?

Even two years after Finlay died, I can still shed a tear thinking about him

(Above) photo of Finlay at Christmas 2004

Annette, one of the ladies on my chicken course, sent me an email yesterday, she attached a photo (above) of her father with his hens, and I must admit I did smile as if you remove his cigarette (and add some scruffier clothes) it could have been a photo of me!
Off to Llandudno later to have dinner with Chris and some of his colleagues

The Class of 2009

Tonight was the last session of my "chickens for beginners" course and I must admit that I am sorry that the whole thing is finally over. I have very much enjoyed leading this friendly, supportive and like minded group and organising such a seemingly simple activity, has given my confidence such a boost over the past 6 weeks or so.
Above seven of my nine students in their "official" group pose!

Relaxation

I have been pretty knackered today.so Sunday has actually meant rest,relaxation and the completion of necessary jobs ONLY. After their walks the dogs crashed out (above Maddie and Albert), with the exception of George who I think is suffering from field mites between his toes, so he is spending his time biting and licking his feet.
Another trip to the vets tomorrow me thinks!