February 2024 Part Three - Feeding the 5000 animals!

Hi everyone! I was blown away that a few days ago I hit 70,000 views, and today I've seen that we've surpassed that and hit 75,000! All I can say is wow, I never thought this many people would ever visit and read my blog, so many thanks to you all!

 The final week of February was altogether a less stressful time, thankfully! James had a couple of further check ups & was busy making appointments for further assessments. He was also being proactive and set about trying to make changes to his lifestyle to lose some weight and get himself into a better position health wise.

Other news was that Russian Journalist & activist Alexei Navalny had been mysteriously poisoned. He was one of the loudest voices of criticism of Putin and his political empire, and for that face Alexei paid with the ultimate price. He'd already been poisoned once and managed to recover, but this time he was re-arrested, and put in another high security camp hidden away from the world, I think we all knew it was only time until he was murdered. His death prompted further criticism of Putin & his forces, but no tangible response from the rest of the world. Meanwhile the Russian invasion of Ukraine entered its second year. Ukraine was still heroically defending itself, despite everything Russia was throwing at it, chemical weapons, child soldiers, cyber attacks, as well as releasing criminals from prison to go to the front line.

In other news, Transport for London (TFL) announced that the overground was to be broken up into six different lines, in order to make it easier for people to use. I thought this was a fantastic idea. The underground is easy to use with the lines in different colours but the overground is trickier to navigate, I'm never quite sure what goes where, so anything to make it easier can only be a good thing. What I also really liked, was that each of the names given to the new lines were reflective of the history & communities of the areas that they serve. It was such a brilliant way to acknowledge & celebrate the individual cultures within London.

We also enjoyed a day out at Cholderton Rare Breeds Farm. We had been before, but we enjoyed it so much we fancied a return visit. And petting cute animals is good for both the soul and high blood pressure...well at least that's what I told James when I was trying to convince him to go.

What I love about it there is the simplicity of it. You get handed a bucked of animal food, and you go and feed them. No faffing about, no complex rules, just pure bliss and letting a sheep eat pellets out of your hand. Here you can see James demonstrating with this sheep who had rather large horns!

Despite it being february, there was a surprising amounts of lambs about, maybe they were all just a bit early? They didn't seem too interested in us, but seemed content to snuggle together to keep warm. It was a bit nippy! 

These two were intent on making sure the bucket was empty, desperately peering over the fence to make sure everything had been eaten. Talk about hungry horses & hippos, it's the sheep that are hungrier!

This highland cow can do something I could never. Scratch their bottom with the end of their horns. It was an impressive manoeuvre, they obviously have a spine that functioning unlike my own! I was becoming more uncomfortable again, the pain was getting worse, I had booked in another appointment to be seen by the Musculoskeletal team, I was beginning to worry that I was becoming known as a frequent flier to them! 

One of the rather forlorn looking donkeys, who seemed quite happy for us to rub their forehead and above the nose.

This picture makes my heart warm, with the sheep at the end looking like it's smiling at us. I mean it may well have been, we'd refilled the bucket and given them first pick. Maybe that's what a full bellied & content sheep looks like! 

Then we popped into one of the livestock sheds, to where the newborn lambs & their mothers were kept to keep them sheltered and looked after while they recovered. They were adorable, and the new mums looked so proud of the babies they had brought into the world.

The real highlight, was the feeding frenzy that took place with the alpacas. Before James & the bucket of food had even got close there was a burst of activity with the alpacas jostling each other for space and easy access to the food. Maybe we should have brought a bigger bucket! 

I think this was James's favourite bit, as he was mobbed for the bucket. But he got to pet them and feed from the hand, and it was joyful for me to watch. Talk about simple pleasures in life! 

Cholderton Rare Breeds Farm is situated not far from Salisbury, so you can combine the two into a fun day out. Adult entry is £9.50 for adults, a quid less for kids, and there's a range of other activities on, so it's always worth checking out their website @choldertonrarebreedsfarm.com for more information, what's on and to book entry tickets on busy days. Most of the time you can just rock up on the day, but certain weekends especially in the summer holidays it's worth booking ahead. And after all, no one wants to miss out on making new farmyard friends!