Mountains and Muck Heaps

2009-10-27T09:03:00.000-07:00

Tuesday 27th October

Unseasonably warm here, I have turned the heating off and haven't even had the woodburner going for the last couple of evenings.

Lots going on again as ever. We took Star out to her new home last Thursday, I think she will do well there with Ivy who was already in situ to be companion to an elderly horse who coincidentally passed away the morning that we took her over. Not planned. Emrys, a little section A pony who had been at a loan home for 3 years had to come back to us last Tuesday and went to his new home on Saturday morning. He is a lovely first pony and the children love him. A good match there I think. Alfie and Chico are to go to their new home this weekend to further their training as a driving pair. We may have homes for another couple of animals in the next few days. That is the way it seems to go here, nothing moves for quite some time and then we rehome several in quick succession. My few minutes of fame on BBC Radio Wales was broadcast this last Sunday, since then we have had contact from an animal welfare trust who heard the broadcast and wants to help us. It all helps.

Tomorrow is very interesting. We are involved in a reality nativity that is being filmed for S4C and have been asked to take a donkey along to film the trailers. We are using Eeyore, our 4 year old that came in this spring. All he has to do is walk up and down and be filmed in various poses etc. I have warned the people that you should never act with children or animals but hopefully Eeyore will rise to the occasion and do his stuff. Just in case we need a bribe to get him to move quickly we are taking Millie who has been on the set before and she will make sure he knows the ropes. That and some pony nuts, extra strong mints and a mint and molasses lick thing that he adores. I am a firm believer in bribery at times.

Friday evening is also interesting as Adrian and I are off to a black tie reception in Llanelli where we will receive a donation from the Ray Gravell and Friends Charitable Trust. Needless to say I went into panic mode as I certainly had nothing to wear having got rid of all my posh dresses etc when we moved here. I have borrowed a dress (thanks Julie) and took the bus into Carmarthen yesterday to pick up the rest of the necessities like high heels (ouch), make up (how much?), tights (4 pairs as you never know) and not least a bow tie for Adrian. That proved the most difficult to find actually. Apparently nobody in Wales must go to posh "do's" or at least not round Carmarthen and I went into 6 shops before I could find one. I am clearly out of touch with the shopping world and even more so with fashion. Anyway, I might not look like a goddess but at least I won't disgrace myself and that is the main thing. I quite enjoyed my trip into Carmarthen actually. It gave me an opportunity to wander round on my own and shop by pricing things in various places to get a good deal. And there were lots of them around.

Digit has made a full recovery and should go home soon, he hasn't contracted laminitis as a result of the steroids, sighs of relief all round. We moved lots of horses from field to field today to make the best of the grass that is left and to rest some of the fields for the winter. Which will soon be upon us I fear. It remains to be seen if it is as hard a winter as the last one. At least the pipes shouldn't freeze this time as Adrian has lagged most of them with appropriate foam thingees that will insulate to a really low temperature. I really don't want to go through another big freeze.

2009-10-21T06:36:00.000-07:00

Wednesday 20th October

Another busy time, also one fraught with the dreaded swine flu. Tabby our groom got it first and is still off sick, Adrian next and then myself though we had a lesser attack, only took us a week or so to recover. Sure makes you feel washed out though. There is a lot of it about, everybody we know has had some contact with someone who has had it. Mind you I am only assuming that the symptoms that we had and which matched those on the website meant that we indeed did have the illness, neither of us went to a doctor, don't think you are supposed to are you? Amazing what Lemsip and whiskey can alleviate.

Still enjoying wonderful autumn weather for the most part. Did rain like hell for most of yesterday and of course that coincided with a visit from a load of school children who came up for the day to "do things." We made sure there was some mucking out to do after which I was bombarded with questions about animals and the farm in general. Post lunch was pony rides for all the children before they had to go about 2pm. We can class the visit as a complete success and have hopes that the children will do some fund raising for us this year in their school. it was a first time for this sort of visit, we have had Brownies and home education groups but this was the first of it's type so we can now launch ourselves on an unsuspecting world.

Only blot on yesterday's landscape came when it was noticed that Digit, a pony here on livery was looking decidedly unwell. His eyes were swollen shut, his gums had lost all their colour and he had lumps all over his body. The vet was called and duly arrived, she expressed her concern and the only thing she could think wass that Digit had some sort of allergic reaction to something, we know not what. Had we not acted as quickly as we did, it could have been much worse. He was pumped with steroids, adrenalin and various other drugs and made a complete recovery even though it took several hours. His owner was here as it happened (she was helping with the school trip) and stayed on with someone else till nearly 11pm last night just to make sure all was well.

Keeping the motivation going for all the fund raising projects is difficult. We had to cancel one due to unforeseen circumstances and now really must get to grips with the rest. It is really easy for me to think there is plenty of time but big events take lots of planning to get right and time slips away so very quickly. The sponsored ride needs to be sorted but I can't do more on that till I have the go ahead from other people on various aspects and so it goes on. Now that the worst of the swine flu is gone and summer activities are finished I shall hopefully get my mind to it more easily.

2009-10-04T09:06:00.001-07:00

Tuesday 6th October

Crikey, another month has gone by.

September was glorious and dry mostly, sunshine all round.

I have been out and about walking, gardening and doing outdoor things mostly, making the most of the weather. The goats have been enjoying the front paddock, it has a decent shelter in it so they stayed outside for most of the month. The paddock looks pretty good now, they always do a good job of getting rid of the rubbish plants anywhere they go.

We lost another of our cats, Hobo, whom we believe must have had a heart attack. I found him in a state of distress behind the back door one morning. We took him to the vet who I think realised that he probably wouldn't make it but he had a pain killer and antibiotic and we took him home to see how he was in the afternoon. By 4pm when Adrian went to have a look, he had died quietly and without pain in the bedroom curled up on the bed, one of his favourite places. Adrian buried him under a big slab of slate in the back garden, I must assume that the slate has been put there for that purpose previously as it is too big to be there.

Sunday I had to walk over to Bethlehem (no, not that Bethlehem) about 5 miles away I suppose. Not a bad walk and when I finished the business I had there I decided I would walk up Garn Goch, an Iron Age hillfort that sort of overlooks Bethlehem. It was quite a hike up there and I did manage to find myself in the centre of the local hunt on the way up but eventually I reached the top and my goodness what a view.

I walked all the way along the ridge following the valley and don't know just how far you can see but it is obviously for miles.

The weather wasn't brilliant that day as you can see from the haze but I should imagine the view on a sunny day is to die for which is of course why the people would have built it there in the first place I suppose.

Anyway now that the summer is over and the strangles etc has gone, I should have a bit more time to post things.

2009-09-04T05:32:00.000-07:00

Friday 4th September

And there is a decided chill in the wind today that foretells of autumn I fear.

It would have been nice to have a summer to go before it but I think that is now not going to happen though weathermen have vaguely spoken of an Indian summer this month. I do hope it hurries up.

We had some rain this week though. My God did it rain. Tuesday I think was about the worst, so much rain that the drain at the back of the house to take the ditch run-off got blocked and I opened the door to the downstairs loo to find it swimming in water again. Well, I was wet anyway so another half hour or so clearing the ditch and drain didn't make all that much difference I guess. The good thing is that it has meant plenty of grass for the ponies that need it, the bad being that some of the ponies that don't need rich grass are a bit porkier than we would like to see. We never did get the hay field cut and of course that's gone now but maybe next year we will be successful.

I spent a lot of last weekend and this week clearing out my woodshed for the winter and cutting up all the stuff I could to make room for other wood to dry out. Every woman should have a woodshed, it is a very therapeutic place to be. I have my wind up radio and I potter in there moving bits around, rearranging so that I can find what I want when I want and generally forgetting about everything else. Good for the soul. I may be very glad I did because the wind feels quite keen and I may just decide to light the woodburner this evening. there won't be anywhere in the room to sit then as all available seating will be taken up by basking cats and dogs. I still have the better part of a bag of coal so should it be necessary, I have something put by as it were.

The sadness of the week was losing Sophie, one of our oldest cats. Last December we lost her mother Tula who just walked off one day and never came back. Sophie only about 6 months younger than her mother so we reckon about 14 but had a very bad start to her life, a wild cat born in a ditch in Suffolk. She was always just a bit timid, not very robust but a good little hunter. A month or so ago she started going down hill in the same way that her mother did, lost lots of weight despite always eating and being wormed, became more or less incontinent and wouldn't search for a litter tray or go outside and seemed to have lost the plot a bit though at other times she was the same old Sophie, purring away.

The crunch was on Wednesday, we made the decision and rather than have her wander off like her mother, we took Sophie to the vet for the final act of kindness. I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I couldn't stay and watch. I can when one of the horses is dealt with but I just couldn't do it with Sophie.

But there you are, she had a good innings, was a good animal and we did the right thing.

2009-08-23T05:42:00.001-07:00

Sunday 23rd August

Oh look it's raining.

Both tired after yesterday. Together with 3 volunteers and 2 ponies we did pony rides at the Twm Sion Cati Festival all day. It was hard work, a shame that the Festival wasn't better attended but in the long run it probably worked out to our advantage as we had steady trade all day and we couldn't have coped with more than we had. A total of £94 including collection tins isn't bad really. Susie and Sophie coped quite well, in fact Susie had a good blast round the field afterwards as she was still full of beans and Sophie did well for her first outing.

We were cancelled for today, just as well really as the weather has turned foul again and we would have probably wasted our time standing about in the rain. So we have had a quiet day, just Adrian and myself, no volunteers and some space to breathe.

I decided to take myself off for a walk, going nowhere in particular, just needed to go somewhere on my own for a while so I put a map in my backpack along with a fleece and a waterproof (what else) and headed off. Didn't even have a mobile phone or any money now I come to think about it so it is just as well I came to no harm as I would have had no means of calling for help or money for a phone box, not that there were any where I ended up.

I walked for several miles, I guess with a vague thought about heading eventually for Lyn y Fan, nothing fixed about getting there, just the direction really. I stopped for a break and consulted my map to find that I wasn't all that far from where I have learned that the author of "The Wind in the Ash Tree", Janine MacMullen lives. At least I knew the me mentioning her in previous posts as being a bit of an inspiration.

Well, you have to go and check it out don't you so I set off down a very steep lane that I knew was going to feel a lot steeper when I was trying to climb back up. There was a drive about half way down the lane and I stood at the end of the drive and had a look. I couldn't see much and I would never have gone any further, she doesn't know me from Adam and anyway we crave our own privacy so respect other's. Certainly it was a white house behind a wall with several outbuildings. Couldn't initally see an ash tree until the breeze moved a sycamore to reveal a huge ash tree in the front garden. Even then I couldn't be sure, there are lots of ash trees in Wales after all.

I thought about moving on back up the lane; ok. it was probably her house, might never know different but I would assume so. Then just as I as turning away, the breeze moved another tree and I saw the wind vane on the chimney, a unicorn. That told me all I wanted to know. It is her house, I found it.

I stood there for some minutes, blatantly staring at the place, no one appeared to be about. Have to say at that moment, as I stood there I felt really strange. It was different to how I felt when I went to Thomas Hardy's house or Ann Hathaway's cottage or even when I went to Charles Dickens' house years ago. They were all famous authors, world famous and I doubt that Ms MacMullen has a following quite so large as any of them but I as still felt a bit humbled.

With things the way they are here at the moment, I didn't know if I should praise or curse her really. Perhaps I should look upon it as a bit of an omen that things will get better for us in the near future. Ms McMullen stuck it through good and bad times. We should do the same, things can only get better.

2009-08-21T05:25:00.000-07:00

Friday August 21st

It has been a long time since last I posted.

In m own case it could be said that I am suffering from a bit of a melt down. Maybe it is lack of sunshine, maybe we are both just burnt out. It has been a tough 3 years or nearly so as we will have been here 3 years on the 17th October. In that time we have both worked ourselves silly, putting in so many hours I couldn't begin to even count, certainly Adrian has and it is beginning to tell on us.

In the year since August '08 year alone we have had flood and tempest, frost, snow, frozen pipes that meant no water on site for 11 days, strangles, conjunctivitis, ring worm, being told by 2 major charities that we should close, we have done open days, events, trips here and there to deliver ponies, collect ponies, collect hay and feed, been to welfare meetings to raise awareness of equine welfare. We have struggled to get more money into the Trust all the time, relentless in our quest to keep afloat here, to push the place into the 21st century and wake up the Sleeping Beauty that we know is the Lluest Horse and PonyTrust.

We have learned to live on less money because there simply is none. All the things I came here to do, my writing, make butter, bread, my garden, my goats; everything has had to take a back seat to bringing money into the Trust. Adrian is still working 80 hours a week, few rest days, he has never taken all his holiday allocation and we are still running 1 groom short.

Where this is all going to lead to I really don't know. We are due to go to the Falkland Islands for a visit there (Adrian is a Falklands veteran and he is being sponsored to work with some of their horses) but that isn't until November and between now and then we have to carry on, we can't give in, we can't say no we won't do it because the animals still must be fed and mucked out and tended and the fund raising must go on and on and on.

Next year is the 25th anniversay of the founding of the Trust. I hope that it will prove to be a better year for us, that we can slow down just a bit and enjoy being here again. At the moment I have to say that I'm not enjoying it much at all.

2009-08-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

Monday the 10th August

I have to say I am finding it incredibly hard to find time to update myself here. By the time I have downloaded photographs, updated 3 other sites and done everything else, the day is gone and I am ready for my bed.

Not to say there isn't a lot going on other than just computers. At the moment it is all about events and fund raising things. The 2nd of August was the pub olympics which was a lot of fun, organised by Tabby and Julie it started at 3pm but due to visit0rs that arrived at the farm and required a full tour, we didn't get there till nearly 5 and had to rush through our events. Am I proud to announce that Adrian and I would have got the booby prize for the worst score of the event? Well sort of. It was a great afternoon though, people were very supportive of the Trust and it makes you feel good.

Since then it has been lots of comings and goings in a way, a couple of horses have come in for remedial training etc and it seems like we have been out and about a lot lately though I would have to look at my other diary to tell you what we have been doing.

So having done that ....

We hosted a group called Interplay one day. They are a charity that integrates special needs children into activities round and about south Wales and we first met them at the Waterfront Museum in March. Adrian was day off really but we helped Tabby and another volunteer get sorted in time for Interplay's arrival before we had to shoot off into Llandeilo. The group of 15 had lunch then did some grooming and were so pleased at how the children reacted that they will bring another group up to us later this month. They would like to do more here but we lack the facilities really. Everybody ends up using my downstairs loo and the house is not our own when that happens.

I was thrilled when the sun finally came out, we had 5 whole days of sunshine. Unfortunately the grass is so long now that I couldn't cut it the first couple of days, then we were busy and now it has rained again. Always the way I am afraid.

We spent 3 days doing various events that meant we were out with a variety of animals. First was the Grandparent's Intergenerational Activities Day at the National Botanical Gardens and then 2 days at the Waterfront Museum in Swansea where the donkeys took part in a "Miner's Seaside Holiday" exhibition.

Bit of a rant coming so prepare yourselves.

Parents, please look after your children. Anybody who has anything at all to do with horses and donkeys can tell you they can be dangerous. We police our animals, don't expect us to police your children as well. The number of children that headed straight for the back end of the animals while their parents stood back watching them is not to be believed. All of us were having to say, "Don't stand at the back end, mind your feet, don't crowd the donkeys, watch yourselves." The doting parents stood idly by while we kept a fixed smile on our faces while thinking seriously about murder or at least ABH in a lot of cases. Poking a donkey with a walking stick is not a good idea, nor is stabbing my dog with a sharp stick either. We have to be polite and courteous, it is a shame so many young children aren't taught the basics as well. NO, it isn't a mule, it isn't a cow, it isn't a yak, it is a donkey but no she won't appreciate you stuffing your fingers in her ears.

It's no wonder we are tired at the end of an event.

Birthdays and Pony Hooves

2009-08-01T06:09:00.000-07:00

So how did I get to be 56 all of a sudden? Where has all the time gone to and why has it gone so fast? I swear to God that someone has worked out how to condense time so that when a person gets to 50, the 365 days in a year are squashed into something like 180 days. I got together with Adrian 16 years ago when I was 40. In another 16 years (it will feel like 8 or so won't it?) i shall be 72 years old. That is a very scarey thought let me tell you. In fact I don't want to think about it so I won't.

Adrian is not a happy man. One of our loan ponies has come back today, he only went out this spring and the loanees have had to bring him back as they lost the grazing. On first glance he looks ok, perhaps a bit on the chunky side but for him, not bad at all. Till you get to his hooves.

Now this particular pony does suffer a lot from laminitis, it's quite common really, lots of animals get it and for a variety of reasons; rich grass is one of the most common causes actually.

But it is definitely a controllable condition through diet and correct management. When the pony went out, we were assured that they would keep an eye on him and that he would be ok, they had had experience of laminitis, no worries.

Clearly they hadn't considered the farriers knowledge of how to manage hooves that are affected. The pony's front hooves have been dubbed (chopped) back so far that on one the farrier has gone back to toe callus, there is little of the hoof wall at all and the poor animal is not able to walk on hard surfaces without suffering discomfort. He will be alright on soft ground but not on concrete or gravel, anything like that.

It will grow back and eventually the pony will recover and be sound again but it shouldn't have come to that. There is no reson why he had to be trimmed as far as that, it doesn't relieve the laminitis.

My husband is livid and has taken photos of the hooves. The pony cannot go out again probably till next spring and then we will have to consider whether or not he is best to stay here where at least we can keep him trimmed in accordance with the laminitis. He is a good pony, loves children and if managed properly, would be loved to bits. I think he was in this last home, in fact I am sure he was but it would appear that the farrier didn't know some aspects of his job very well.

Rant over.

2009-07-27T08:55:00.001-07:00

Phew! The car passed it's MOT. I feel as though I have been givien a reprieve at the eleventh hour for a crime I didn't committ. Silly isn't it? Even a pass costs over a hundred pounds now. Obscene really. But at least that's done for another year.

Struggling to find a "trial and tribulation" at the moment. Things are moving along nicely and I am touching wood as I type that it will stay that way for a little while. Strangles more or less a thing of the past as is the conjunctivitis although we still aren't happy about Sparky's eyes, they aren't quite right. We will cease the ointment and wait to see what happens and if the treatment was masking anything else. The prospective loanee for Bonny came over today, haven't heard from them for a couple of months, in fact we thought they had given up but they showed up today and the final arrangements for the animal are now in place.

And a break or two in the rain for most of the day meant that Millie and Adele had another outing and training session. It is obvious that Millie is bored with walking round and round the school as she wouldn't. Just stopped and stood there for ages at a time, Adrian and myself urging her on as nicely as we could without leading her but it was quite clear that she wasn't interested in what we were doing. She wasn't frightened or worried or anything, just not interested. Adele was much better, did several circuits of the school with a rider and is much more responsive than Millie. We know Millie well enough to realise that the next move has to be outside the gate and along the lanes. You really have to keep one step ahead of her all the time as she has a very low boredom threshold. She will be interested again if we take her round the lane but only once or twice and then we will have to go another direction with her even if it is just the reverse of the original one. We will also have to start long reining her as she has only ever been lead (when she wasn't leading us) and doesn't understand the leg aids yet. I predict much fun over the next months.

Oh my God.

2009-07-22T05:54:00.000-07:00

Can it really be?

Is it true?

There is a break in the clouds!!!

It has stopped raining!!!

I can see sunshine!!!

No, hold on.

This is Wales.

It is actually raining while the sun shines.

Better luck next time then.

The phrase "Forty days and forty nights." keep popping into my head for some reason.

The Herd

2009-07-20T04:14:00.001-07:00

Here are photos of the new herd, now complete again and more or less getting on together.

Isn't he a heartbreaker?

This is Dave, one of the two new goats that I brought home last week. I just couldn't call him anything other than Dave for some reason. He is a pygmy so has a bit of small goat attitude but it adds to their character I think. Can't recall how old he was now, not all that many years behind him.

And this is Winny, very doe like in her appearance and the largest of the four. Very Anglo -Nubian in her manners, panics at the drop of a hat and though incommand of the herd, looks to Dave for protection.

Here we have Violet in the foreground with Kaiser my other pygmy goat. And the final one is of all of them in my front garden. Well at least they aren't trying to head butt each other to death.

All in all a fine little group. We did try them in the same stable and it sort of worked but on reflection I think there is more work needed there. We have to let them sort it out amongst themselves really and not push it.

2009-07-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

There is a song by Flanders and Swan that is a parody of the children's nursery rhyme "January brings the snow."

I think the lyric for July goes something like, "In July the sun is hot, is it shining? No, It's not." probably not a direct quote but you get the gist.

So true, so true.

I think it has rained every day now for about 10 days and I am beginning to remember what it was like last year and the year before when the rain seemed to be endless. All the fields are flooded again and this evening I went looking for my husband 45 minutes after he had popped out to feed Sasha her 7pm meal. He was in the barn having brought in 6 shivering ponies. We have probably lost the hay crop again as the farmer hasn't had a couple of dry days to get up here and what has really hacked me off is that I have a split in my wellies and consequently wet feet whenever I venture outside.

After a little while the whole rain thing loses it's charm. After a dry spell, you welcome rain for a day, but not every day. Still it is part of living in Wales I guess, we were told it rained a lot and at least I never have to water my garden. I am annoyed that I seem to have blight in my greenhouse again despite spraying it with whatever I was supposed to spray it with but I am beginning to think it is par for the course.

The new goats are settling in well. I would be happier if Winny was a bit more forward but Dave certainly makes up for that. I decided this afternoon that I would go and sit in the stable with them so they could get to know me a bit better and Dave spent the whole half an hour trying to eat my waterproof while Winny got close enough to be stroked but only with Dave in between us. They have been grazing with my other two goats in the area in front of the house and the distance between them gets smaller all the time, won't be long before I can put them all in a stable together, next week I think will be fine. Soon I shall be able to walk all 4 goats and hopefully the 4 dogs round the field. Even better than before. I really look forward to that moment.

Back again

2009-07-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry chaps, I have been absent again I know but it was a manic week last week and some things got left. Don't give up on me.

As you all know last week was the sponsored ride undertaken by Tabby and Bethan, 135 miles over 6 days and not all of it went smoothly. At one point they got totally lost and without a map, luckily they had their GPS signal device so they could find out where they were by a phone call.

While they were away I was updating websites and facebook sites and keeping on top of my own e-mails, they seem to go on forever. And of course I am not ashamed to admit that at 9pm every evening last week I pulled the plug and watched Torchwood. As Dorcas would have said, "It's my one weakness." Actually it's not my only weakness, I am just a bit partial to single malt whisky and M & M's as well and last week I managed to slot in all 3 weaknesses. Oh well, never mind.

The return of the intrepid explorers coincided with a visit from our patron who played the part of Ianto in Torchwood. It is the first time he had visited and he was a very nice young man, he is now a keen supporter of the Trust and we hope to see him again soon. Once the girls came back and some photos were taken, we all stuffed ourselves on cake in the barn, a bit of a celebration was in order for their achievement. So we never really finished until gone 8.30 that evening and I was in bed and asleep by just gone 10. Shattered.

Sunday evening the people came and did their bat survey. There were 4 of them stationed at various places round and about the two barns and one of them was hooked up to some sound gear. It was a long evening for them, standing outside until gone 10.30. I found having people round here at that time quite off putting. I am not used to it at all now, once the last person leaves usually 4.30 or 5, we have the place to ourselves and all we have for company is the animals. Not a bad thing.

We think we may be at last coming out of our infectious period. No strangles now for nearly 4 weeks, the first infection has at last wandered off and the conjunctivitis is only hanging on to one horse and a donkey. Millie looks like she is beginning to heal up as well, she managed to tear a 6 inch length of skin off her face at one point but in fact that has helped in a way as there is nowhere for an infection to collect and she is starting to heal up even if she still looks a bit like something from "Thriller." How very topical of her.

We now have about 12 horses ready and waiting for the day when they can go out, someone has booked 3 of the shetlands and someone else is interested in Hamish, another shetland. Good news that is slightly dampened by the fact that another pony is to be returned, Champion, the palamino 12 hh pony is to be returned to us in a couple of weeks. His loan home have lost the grazing. They were quite upset by it all, Tabby could hear that in the background. Luckily he is a cracking first pony and assuming his fitness is up to scratch he will soon find another home I am sure.

Reassurance

2009-07-07T05:28:00.000-07:00

Along with networking etc, we take a lot of phone calls on a daily basis.

Quite often we have to take them retrospectively as we are rarely in the office to take calls and even though we also have a phone in the main barn that rings 7 times before it goes on to voice mail, you don't always get there in time.

However I did get there in time this morning; as it happened I was cleaning out the stable that my goats are using temporarily.

It was a very nice lady from Leeds and she was asking for advice.

Apparently she had bought an elderly horse (she was told aged 20's, vet says 30's) from a dealer. It was not in very good knick but over a period of time she had nursed it back to full health, had it's teeth and feet done as much as could be, wormed it etc and she was very happy with the result. The mare was also very happy in it's new life and was showing how happy it was by greeting her at the gate, taking her children for very brief lead rein rides and enjoying her new found owner's attentions to the full. According to the caller, there are no physical problems with the mare that were causing any difficulties, all is well.

However, it is an elderly horse and she had been advised by various people that as such the only thing to do with the animal that old was to have it put down now. Get rid of it, chuck it out now, it'll never be of any use to you so save yourself money and do it NOW.

The lady was asking me if she should do what they said or should she keep it. I was a bit unsure of how to answer, after all I haven't seen the animal. So I asked her a few questions, the main one being "What do you want to do ?"

"I think she is fine and I would like to keep her."

"Then I would go with your gut instinct and keep her then. She may not last long, she may not last the winter but at least she will have had a summer of sun and love and when she gets to the end, that is what matters," is more or less what I said.

We have animals here of all ages, from 11 weeks old to 40 years old. Some animals live longer than others, some go before "their time" just like humans do. Just because an animal is over the age that we, the humans, have decided is their allotted span doesn't mean you automatically pull the plug on them. You don't pull the plug on your granny just because she hits 80 years old, nor should you assume that the elderly equine is incapable of enjoying their elderly life. Our 40 year old mares, Ginny and Lucy still canter around the field, bask in the sunshine, enjoy the food bucket and still try to graze even though they only have about 4 teeth between them. And indeed why shouldn't they? But one of the geldings who is only about 28, despite all our attempts, is simply fading away with old age. He is skin and bone. Nothing spare on him. But for the time being, he is as healthy as he can be, eats all the time, has a bit of a shine to his bony body and is himself. We will probably lose him this winter as he just isn't carrying enough weight now to get him through the cold weather no matter how many rugs we put on him. But we would no more have him put down now than fly to the moon. He is still himself and enjoying life and that is what counts, not the number of years he has behind him.

That was what I was trying to get the lady from Leeds to see and to be honest, she already knows what she wants to do. She wants to keep the mare until the end. All she needed was to hear it from someone else. You could hear the happiness in her voice.

So lady from Leeds, if you are in fact reading this, good luck with the mare, I am sure that she will give you great pleasure even for a short time and that when her time does come, you will deal with it in a compassionate way. It is the last act of kindness you can give any animal. She has been very lucky indeed to find you.

2009-07-06T03:39:00.000-07:00

That'll be another weekend gone then.

I thought I would have so much more time to myself but as is often the case, you are actually busier when you don't go out to work full time.

Saturday was the Llangadog Carnival; a local event that we attended to raise awareness of the Trust on a local level. Doesn't that sound like I have worked in the modern world?

We couldn't take any ponies off site due to our strangles so we "borrowed " Corky and Suzie, two magnificent animals we have locally at loan homes and headed the procession right behind the Carnival queen. In the photo you can see the two horses, Suzie is in front with Bethan on board, Corky (all 17.3 hh of him) just behind. We walked through the village to the Rugby Club and stayed the afternoon manning the Lluest stall. Despite earlier rain it stayed fine all through and though we made no money at our stall, at least we made some more contacts.

A lot of our job is all about contacts and networking. You meet 25 people and hope that one of those will make a donation or perhaps know meet someone who knows someone else, someone who could help with fund raising or can spread the word about what we do. It's very hard work I have to say. On Saturday I met a woman from Arizona who is into rescuing the mustangs of the Western United States. Now that would be an interesting link to have, her rescuing mustangs and the Trust involved in rescuing Welsh Mountain ponies. I gave her a leaflet and hope that she contacts us when she gets home. You never know what could come out of that sort of contact. They probably have the same problems rescuing mustangs as we do apart from perhaps laminitis due to rich grass. There isn't a whole lot of rich grass in Arizona I should imagine, not that I have ever been there. I lived in Upstate New York which is about 2,000 miles from Arizona. Be nice to go on a fact finding mission though just to see what they do there. At least we would be guaranteed sunshine and no rain.

2009-07-03T08:41:00.001-07:00

Into July now aren't we?

Somebody tell the grass to stop growing please, it is all I seem to do at the moment. Where I come from in Upstate New York the grass has stopped growing by July. Here it just goes on and on. And the edges, God save me from edges. When I die my idea of heaven will be somewhere that the grass is always green and tidy but never requires any maintenance. Did you know that before the lawn mower was invented, men cut the grass on country estates using a scythe and were accurate to a quarter of an inch long? Isn't that something? Twenty first century man can't achieve that unless it is on a golf course.

The donkeys look a bit of a mess at the moment. Adrian is going to find out if this eye rubbing is a "donkey thing" or if it is just something that Millie has taught the rest of them to do. With that and conjunctivitis they all look pretty skanky today. We had to put stuff in Eeyor's eyes, he is a dead certainty for conjunctivitis but the other three donkeys are on hold although they all have raw patches running from their eyes down the nose from the rubbing. There are 5 others we treated for conjunctivitis today as well, looks like hay fever but it isn't. Trouble is that it is quite contagious so if we aren't careful, the whole lot will get it and we have been there before.

Also had a phone call to say another pony is coming back in from a loan home so that will be 37 and another one we can't shift for a while. Apparently it isn't getting on with some other horses that are on the site so he is coming in for his own safety. We will soon have to put them on coat hangers in the wardrobe to find room for them all if we can't lift our quarantine soon.

Hot, hot, hot

2009-07-01T06:42:00.000-07:00

And so it is up here so I don't know how they cope in the cities. I managed to do some work outside this morning, my fruit garden looks 100% better but round about noon I had to give in.

More problems with the animals, this time the donkeys. They get really hot and uncomfortable in this weather and have been rubbing their faces on trees and posts etc. The all have bare patches on their faces and Millie our Poitou donkey has a big scratch down her face halfway to her nose. Looks very strange and very uncomfortable. Adrian and Tabby have bathed it in tea tree oil to soothe it and keep the flies off but she will still rub.

Adrian is in the barn now with the clippers; every summer we try and clip Millie off. The Poitou donkey is really hairy, it has a coat a bit like an afghan hound actually. As a result anything you put on her tack-wise slides round. Clipping her down as far as we dare-well, as far as Millie will let us- sort of gives us a fighting chance to stay on her back and not end up hanging underneath her belly or sliding over the top of her head like I did once. As I type Adrian is all in one piece and despite the odd rear hoof flicking up, Millie is being very cooperative about it all. Trouble is that she is easily bored and he may only get one side done before she decides she has had enough and won't stand still or wrenches the clippers out of his hand. She does that with a smile on her face as well, a huge joke to a donkey.

Also arrived today was the dvd of our television debut. We were one of four groups of people, oddly enough one other couple came from Ipswich, that's two of us from East Anglia looking for new homes. Interesting isn't it? I wonder why?

Just arrived is our first foray into on line grocery shopping from a well known supermarket. We worked out how much it would be to take our Ford Ranger into a large enough town to do a reasonably priced big shop and the amount that we were charged for them to come out and deliver it to my door was several pounds cheaper. We have to go at least 6 miles to get a decent shop and a really big shop would be 30 miles from here easily. That's one of the disadvantages of living up on a mountain. My dream is to grow enough of my own stuff and hopefully have a milking goat as well to stop me having to dispose of all those plastic milk bottles that you get. I fear that is some time in the future though. And if you look at it, the driver is delivering all round this area so that means there aren't an extra lot of cars polluting the atmoshpere. Rather him in a hot and stuffy vehicke today than me, he looked well broiled.

2009-06-30T09:25:00.000-07:00

Well everybody I'm back again.

Sorry I wasn't around this weekend but I was in Northern Ireland to help with Alex's Silver Lining Appeal as you know and I am only just now getting myself back to sort of normal.

It was some weekend. The garden party was a huge success, so many people coming to support Alex through her chosen charity. Don't know what the total is yet so wouldn't presume but I know it will be a good one and I can only say a huge thank you to all the people there who were so kind to Tabby and myself, offering superb hospitality and great friendship. Most of all though I thank Alex who I think I will always see as a courageous and inspiring woman who puts all of the rest of us to shame.

We all have problems in our lives that niggle and seem huge but we can go to bed and most times wake up in the morning to find the solution. Alex and the millions of people like her wake up in the morning knowing there is no solution. There is always hope though. As Lluest's charity motto says, "In the face of uncertainty there is nothing wrong with hope."

I can honestly say that when I watched Alex move through the day on Saturday, I could understand that sentence.

I think she may still be incarcerated in the hospital today so don't know if she will read this till she gets out but I think I speak for all of us here when I say that we all hope for the best for her.

Oh heavens, I've gone all emotional.

Meant to be

2009-06-24T07:58:00.000-07:00

It seems that it was indeed meant to be that we should come to Lluest.

This is a follow on from my previous post; the comment about Jeanine McMullen piqued my curiosity and I did google the good lady. According to a thread I found on another website she lives somewhere here in Llanddeusant. That is about the biggest coincidence that could have happened. Our postal address here is actually Llandduesant. How spooky is that?

I read her books and before that I listened to the Radio 4 programme "A Small Country Living." Jeanine McMullen was a big inspiration to me, removing to a smallholding and making a life for herself. I realised I wanted to do something like that. It made no difference to me that her books were all about the 70's and that things probably would have changed. And as Adrian was of the same mind we went for it.

When we acquired Merlin our greyhound, I recalled that she'd had a greyhound or perhaps Whippet that it was also called Merlin and when we agreed on the name, I remarked that Merlin was part and parcel of our hunt for a new life. By that time we were well and truly looking for something, we knew not what, but we both knew we would find some sort of place we could go and Merlin's very bizarre arrival was sort of an omen to me. Some time I will have to tell you about that, it was really very strange.

Anyway time went on and I forgot all about Jeanine McMullen and the books and then we found this place in Wales and I was again reminded about it all again when I noticed a big old ash tree near the side of the barn.

Just like in the book, "Wind in the Ash Tree." It all fell in place, we sold the house in Suffolk in 6 weeks to the very first people that looked at it, and exactly 6 weeks after the sale we moved here.

And now to find that the lady that inspired me so much actually lives in the same parish as the one we have found ourselves in seems to me to be the final piece of our puzzle if you like, we have come the full circle and ended up right where we belong.

If I can find out an address, I will write a letter to her and thank her for getting us to the right place. I wouldn't expect a reply, not my style but I feel tht I owe the lady a lot.

2009-06-21T07:57:00.000-07:00

How many people can do this on a Sunday afternoon? I suppose the answer is how many people want to but I like it. I have always wanted to be able to take the goats for a walk and living here I can and I can take the dogs with me as well which is even nicer. It is something that strangely I have always fancied doing. Another dream realised.

The small goat in front is Kaiser (Bill) and the huge brown lump with the flappy ears that always manages to keep herself in front of me is Violet. She isn't a milker nor of course is Kaiser but I don't care, I like my goats. Yesterday I worked all day on making up two new information boards for someone to take to the Cwm Ddu fete on the 27th June, the same day we will be in Northern Ireland so afterwards to clear my head I took the dogs up the field and the goats joined me. Today I got Adrian to take a few photos just to prove I did it.

A few more photos that I took this morning then. I wanted to try and get the purple haze of grasses that you see in the field. I think I have captured it.

Isn't that just the biz? And one of the grasses themselves. It is nearly up to my knees in that field. Soon be time to try and get someone to cut it for hay. We have tried for the last 2 summers and failed. Most of the contractors are too busy to do small fields, they want to do hundereds of acres, not the 6 or 7 we have. As hay is one of our biggest expenses here, we would like to do our own and the grass contains a lot of herbage that our ponies thrive on. It is better for them than some of the posh hay we end up buying.

And just a couple of the dogs this morning, can't resist it. If you recall I said they run hell for leather for no apparent reason. I think it is the noise of the grasses that fascinates them.

So that's another day done and dusted. I really don't know where the time goes. I have been working all day apart for the these two sorties into the fields and I still haven't transplanted the cabbages. Did cut the back grass though. That takes an hour and a half on it's own. Hard work. I shall definitely transplant the cabbages tomorrow.

Off now to make spaghetti sauce and perhaps throw together a cake without using any eggs as our solitary hen has gone on strike.

shearings and meetings

2009-06-18T07:14:00.000-07:00

Been a hectic couple of days up here one way and another. Also rather disappointing as our much awaited television debut didn't take place. Monday should have been the date and I checked my e-mail from the producer but we didn't appear so it must be next week. There was I clearing off the mantle shelf for my BAFTA and it didn't happen. Oh well, fame comes at a price I guess and I must be more patient.

Now then, the picture above is of two recent additions to my flock. The one with horns is Gregory and the other is named Timothy. Not sure what breed they are, Gregory is badger faced and Timothey has a bit so Suffolk in him but heaven knows about the rest, I don't think I have ever met such a large sheep, Timothy's feet are bigger than mine and I reckon he is a lot bigger than Cquirt, the Shetland pony. A couple more photographs of this pair are called for I think

Gregory is a very handsome sheep and knows it. I understand that castration came only after he did a runner from his previous home one spring time and was found several weeks later entertaining the ladies in another farmer's field. I believe that there were lots of Gregory look alikes in the field that year.

This is Timothy, a magnificent guy. But I am afraid it is Tim, Tim, nice but dim as there isn't a lot going of between the ears unless it is food related .

They are now living with my girls, 5 Balwen ewes we bought last year. They are probably less than half the size of Gregory let alone Timothy but after a day or two of not being sure, everybody gets on together very well.

Better than I had hoped actually as yesterday I had to to take them for shearing. The farmer at the bottom of the hill offered to do my sheep with his or at least let me shear them on the same day and he gave me a ring in the morning. First problem of course was to get them to his farm, he offered to bring some of his sheep along to coax the Balwens out of the field but I was pleased to find that as I rattled a bucket Timothy and Gregeory followed me so the girls followed them and we went out of the bottom gate, onto the road, across the bridge and down to the farm. How good was that? The farmer saw Timothy and blanched a bit I have to say. He has big sheep but not that big. Anyway bless him, the farmer did Gregory and Timothy and one of the girls and I did the other 4 girls. They are all bald now in a sheep sort of way. The girls had never been sheared before so weren't keen and being Balwens (semi-wild mountain sheep), tried their normal tricks of either trying to jump out of the pen or trying to thread themselves through the gate but all went well though I am afraid there was no point in keeping their fleeces as they were in so many bits that all they are fit for is chucking. I was shot to bits after only 4 small ones so how professional men do hundreds in a day is beyond me away. Took me several minutes to stand upright again.

But it's done for another year and they are wormed as well. Everybody looks several pounds lighter apart from Timothy who even without the wool still looks like he could lose a pound or two and not notice. In fact I am considering changing his name. I think we should call him Ty Bach as he is very much like the little brick building we have in the middle of our back garden. It's our icon, the outside toilet and Timothy is built like a brick....well perhaps I shall go no further.

Such is the life

2009-06-14T08:27:00.001-07:00

Big day yesterday.

Sometime ago we were asked to go to the Coleg Elydir Open Day, I am sure I mentioned it in passing.

Yesterday was the day. We had wondered if we were going to be able to take any ponies, obviously not from the farm as we have strangles but we took Maggy and Sapphire, 2 Trust ponies who are at a loan home up near Llyn y Fan and therefore not involved in our problem. All last week Tabby and I redid the info boards so that we could take them with us to Northern Ireland and also to this Open Day and I was still fiddling with them yesterday morning.

We were due there about 2 so we left the farm here at just gone 12.15, I had asked about where we should park the truck as the ponies are in a field well tucked away up a steep lane etc. Adrian has been up there on foot before so he had a rough idea of where he was supposed to be going and had we all thought about it we would have asked if the two girls could be in their other field which is definitely more accessible. But we didn't think about that did we?

So off we go and it is clear that we aren't going to get the truck too far up the lane, at one point there was a hairpin bend and a recent landslide. I was sweating. Adrian was as well and announced that he would go no further so had to back the truck round the hairpin and try not to drop the truck down the valley. I was definitely sweating by then let me tell you. There is something about a drop of 100 feet that makes you worry a bit.

We set off on foot. "How far is it?" says I.

"Miles." he replied.

About a mile and a half up hill actually. Lovely views, incredible views but it was nearly 1 by then so we pushed on all the way to probably somewhere near China (I am convinced) and eventually there were the ponies with their 3 people so we set off back down the mile and a half of lane to the truck, Adrian edged it round a bit and Sapphire loaded wonderfully. Not so Maggy who didn't think she was going anywhere, thank you very much. A total stranger who lives up there somewhere was driving up the lane and stopped to give us a hand, in the end it took all 6 of us half an hour to get Maggy in the truck and it was just coming up to 1.45 when we set off again, arriving only a half an hour late.

The Open Day was wonderful and we were very well received. The students were thrilled to see ponies and of course the ones that come to the Trust for their work experience were the most thrilled of all. As were their parents who said that they found the difference in thier children noticable and their confidence unbelievably increased. We did lots of networking and chatting and smiling and bloody hell is that hard work.

We were to have left at 5 but it was gone 6 when we loaded up again, Maggy was much better this time and we had plenty of help as well. Off we set and we got back, parked in a handy layby (thank goodness) and popped the two ponies in their alternative and more accessible field, jumped back into the truck thinking it was a job done, Adrian turned the key and....

Nothing...flat battery...flatter than a pancake actually. I looked at Adrian, he looked at me.

"Nice evening for a walk then."

So we got out of the truck, locked it, and walked the mile or so home down a hill and up another hill and across a field and into our back garden and then started on our own animals at about quarter to 8.

Shot to bits we were. Dinner was beans on toast with a glass (or 2 or 3) of wine and half a bar of Bournville chocolate.

This is not an easy life but such is the life we lead. Anything can happen and frequently does.

It's the way it is.

I'm back

2009-06-12T04:36:00.000-07:00

Bet you didn't even notice.

Been a packed week one way and another. Managed to clear out the spare room successfully for my visitor but it did mean that I had stuff piled into the bedroom as well as the hobbit house and that the cats were down 2 beds having to make do with sitting on the dining chairs or stealing a dog bed when they weren't looking.

Still, got lots of work done here as well, that has to go on and time before heading out to Northern Ireland is getting short.

Last Monday we had a really good day with the Coleg students. They have worked so very hard here and as we had a horse available that was quiet as well as rideable we gave them an oppportunity to have a ride. Well supervised of course. They were a bit wobbly and perhaps a bit apprehensive but to give them their due, both of them did extremely well. I took a couple of photographs.

We were all pleased with how that went. Gives you a real nice feeling inside when people enjoy life that much.

Tuesday was Adrian's day off so we took our visitor with us while Adrian did a trimming session on 2 horses that hadn't been handled very much and had virtually no manners at all despite being 4 and 5 years old. In the end it turned into more of a horse handling session particularly for the 4 year old, the owners have decided that he will come to us for some basic ground work and training after we get rid of strangles. He was a handfull but only because he hasn't learned how to be any different. I remembered why we keep up the private dental insurance though when the gelding started throwing his head around and nearly caught Adrian across the jaw.

The evening was somewhat marred by the fact that we had trouble between the greyhounds and Seven the newly returned cat. We were out for most of the day, the dogs were excited when we got home and treed Seven but not before Merlin managed to pull a few hairs out of his tail. Seven gave him a few good scrapes with his claws, Merlin still bears the scars but is unrepentant about his behaviour. Seven did a runner up the tree and we left him there when we went out for the evening but he seemed to have disappeared again. I called him in about 9.30 poor chap, he was bloodied but unbowed, had a stiff leg and was very, very angry. Being me I worried about him all night but he did recover. He is a bit tentative about coming in now and we are back in the same mode we had to assume when Jack first decided he would like to eat one of our other cats. I am sure it will sort itself out in the end, after all Sofie the cat is still here and there is no longer a problem but I fear this may take longer.

Since then it has been all go to recontruct information boards etc for the Open Day at Coleg Elidyr that we are attending tomorrow afternoon. We will be taking some horses after all, I suddenly remembered Maggy and Sapphire, 2 ponies we recently rehomed just over the hill and who would be unaffected by strangles. I rang the loan home the other day and they were more than pleased to assist. We will collect the 2 ponies on the way and will return them in the afternoon so that should work out. I am pleased we can make the best use of the Coleg Open Day, it would have been a shame not to have some animals there as it is the animals that figure so much in the students work experience. I have found it far more rewarding than I thought I would. Watching them even briefly from week to week has shown me how much they have been able to achieve. They can get on with a lot of the work unassisted, they know the routine and the work suits them. We are happy to continue having them and even better, the Coleg are happy to have us.

AWOL

2009-06-09T10:02:00.000-07:00

I thought I had better explain why I am not available just at the moment.

I have Adrian's father staying here for a week and as ever things get a bit muddled and changed so I am probably not going to be available till Friday this week.

No doubt I shall have lots to say.

Speak to you all soon.

2009-06-06T08:15:00.001-07:00

I am sitting up in the spare room, my "office", watching the rain fall and my beloved husband pottering about doing what is obviously a necessary job today, that of repairing a gate in a man/farmer way which means you hit what ever it is very hard with a hammer.

I have noticed this about most men. Why not use a sledge hammer to crack a nut if that is what it takes? I think it's an ancient guy -type thing going back to a less sophisticated era when drills, tape measures and electric screwdrivers hadn't been invented and the only way to deal with the problem was to whack it back into shape which is what he appears to be doing. Oh well, as long as it works and he is happy that is all that matters. I have also noticed how grey he is going. Poor man, probably my constant nagging has done it.

Across the gate that he is "repairing" the cloud is hanging so low in the valley that in places I can't quite see where the cloud starts and the hill finishes. And behind us I can't see the mountain at all today, not unusual. It looks as flat as East Anglia from here, no sign of anything more vertical that a bowling green all the way to the top lane.

Of course the wet and much cooler weather has meant that we have lots of animals in again. One or two of the very elderly ponies were shivering with the cold and Humphrey and Sadie have both come in, Humphrey now looks like he is wearing his dressing gown though it's really a red flannel blanket. Sadie is fine but once Hump comes in, he must have his woman with him or he worries she might be flirting with some of the other chaps on the farm. To be fair she is a bit of a tart. Always making eyes at Cquirt and Hamish who lodge on the other side of the fence to them. Even though Sadie is only a Shetland pony I doubt if Cquirt could hit the target anyway.

So Adrian will have twelve stables to clear out tomorrow while I get on with housework. His father is visiting for a few days as of Monday and I can't find the floor in this spare bedroom for STUFF everywhere.

But it isn't STUFF in the modern classification of"Items of no real use" type STUFF, this is more like I don't know- pseudo survival STUFF.

There's the dog toy box- fairly crucial if you value your few bits of decent furniture. Then there is all the beer and wine making kit including the 5 gallons of pinot grigio that I am supposedly making in five days but that has been sitting there since I started it in March. I decided that I would bottle it all up today and then spent so long looking for the sterilizing crystals that I lost my enthusiasm for the job. It will have to be done tomorrow which then raises the problem of where I store the bottled wine as this is a really small house, there is virtually no storage space and all those bottles will take up more space than the 5 gallons bucket it is all sitting in at the moment. Might have to drink it then. What a bummer.

There are also several bottles of unopened spring water that we bought when we had the big freeze and bottled water was all we had for cooking and drinking for eleven days. Twenty seven litres in all. Something inside me would be greatly offended if I was to just dump that lot down the drain and as it is unopened it should last for a very long time despite the sell/use by dates on the bottles. How can bottled water have sell by dates anyway? So I need to keep that somewhere and the spare room was a very handy place as you never know we could have another big freeze any day now, this being Wales. I am back into my flannel shirts and the house smells of wet dogs and waterproofs again by the way.

So I don't know where all this STUFF is going to end up. Maybe in the little shed attached to the side of the house that I think was a wash house and is so small and cramped that we call it The Hobbit House. It holds my washer and dryer at the moment with little room for anything else so if I do all the necessary laundry today and tomorrow morning, I reckon I can stand all the various bottles of liquid and the dog toys in there as long as I don't have to do an emergency load of laundry. What do you suppose constitutes an emergency load of laundry anyway? An invitation to the Palace I would imagine. Perhaps I won't worry too much then.

After one whole week of sunshine we revert to normal Welsh weather and so far we have had maybe 36 hours of rain. But even that has a certain charm as there is no wind today and you can hear the raindrops pattering on the leaves of the trees which I always think is a very nice sound to be able to hear, much nicer than the roar of traffic. When I took the dogs for their run they all ran like mad through the buttercups and I could hear a swishing noise as a greyhound shot past me hell for leather on the way to nowhere in particular. There was a look of real enjoyment on their greyhound faces as well as them being covered in wet buttercup petals. There is nothing like a real greyhound grin to cheer you up and mostly that happens when they have a good belt across a field unrestricted and just for the pure joy of it.

Worth standing around in the rain for.

Modern technology, there is no escape now

2009-06-04T08:08:00.000-07:00

Been a very busy couple of days up here. As some of you already know, the Groom and myself are away to Northern Ireland for a charity garden party in aid of Lluest Horse and Pony Trust. It is being organised by our very good friend and ex- volunteer who is suffering from cancer and in her own words......

"You are by now no doubt aware of the rather large black cloud that currently sits in the vicinity of my head ... however, as the saying goes, with every cloud there is a silver lining...."

"I am now on a mission in the coming months to raise as much money as possible for a charity that is very close to my heart, the Lluest Horse and Pony Trust ."

Incredible person. So positive in her outlook that she certainly puts me to shame.

Now for the modern technology bit so that you won't all be wondering.

Their committee had their first meeting last night in N.I. and I was asked if I would like to attend. Not in person of course, I won't go over till the weekend of the garden party but using Skype which is some sort of FREE (you read a'right I did type FREE) computer database thingee that allows you to plug a special headset into your machine and get on with it. I could hear all that was going on( sounded like a hell of a cocktail party) and I could speak to them. Dont forget they can hear all you say as well so don't have a disagreement with your husband like I did. But there you go, just proves we are human I guess.

It all felt a bit Eurovision to me. I had this real urge to say something like "Good evening Northern Ireland, this is Wales calling. Douze point." whilst wearing a posh frock and standing arm in arm with a handsome young man with very white teeth. Needless to say I couldn't do that as I don't have a posh frock any more. It was a good meeting with lots of things sorted and I was there virtually.

I just sometimes marvel at the way modern technology has progressed. A lot of it I am not keen on, mobile phones for one thing, can't bear them especially in the middle of the supermarket when the caller is trying to decide whether parsnips are good for dinner or not. But this Skype thing has my vote I think. It has allowed me to take part in something important, something worthwhile that I would have been in the dark about. So, thank you modern technology.

For the next two weeks or so I shall be rushing round getting stuff ready to go to the weekend; Tabby and I are manning the Lluest stall where folk will be able to find out more about the Trust and what goes on here. There is a lot to do but then perhaps it was time a lot of it was done, some of the information boards are to be updated with some of the more recent ponies that have come into the Trust. Chance and Cquirt will have a board to themselves; Abandoned Animals. Also one about our education animals, Zorro and Sonny. We take them to schools to show the children the basics of equine care, always helps to have a hoof there when you are trying to tell children how to clean them out and the two ponies are rock solid with people.
Several more boards to take about our work here and about the history of the place and it's founder that will show what we are all about.

Other than that, the strangles and the flu symptoms infection rumble on, looks like a couple of the animals have one or the other now though it is hard to tell which is which till the advanced stages.

We did have a bit of good luck yesterday. Adrian was contacted and asked if he would like some hay off the field at a good price and so we had 120 bales delivered which meant we have some cracking hay now in the barn. The smell of newly cut hay is intoxicating and is a real smell of summer time. I am glad I didn't have to help unload it though as it was definitely a hot afternoon. I let Adrian have the first shower. Very gracious of me but also very necessary for him.

Keeping my sprits up

2009-06-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

A bit tricky at the moment I have to say.

To add to our problem, yesterday we were told by the vet that Chance's infection is Strangles. The dreaded "S" word that we really didn't want to hear. It is an infection of the glands that run under a horse's chin and can be fatal though not usually. But when you have strangles, the yard closes down completely as it is highly contagious. We think that one or two of the others have it now but it is hard to tell the difference between the first infection and strangles so we just have to watch and wait to see what happens. We will be closed now for at least a month, maybe more and of course all equine movements are forbidden till it's all over.

Never mind, we will carry on as before.

To cheer myself up I went through the photographs I took yesterday at St David's and I have to say that one or two of them please me greatly. I took a course in digital photography a year of so ago and quite enjoy snapping away without worrying about taking any duff ones, the plus of a digital camera of course is to be able to delete the ones that don't work. So here are a couple of shots I took of inside the cathedral (if I can get this bit right.)

Not too bad as it was a bit dark.

It is a very peaceful place and absolutely oozing with history, the tomb is Edmund Tudor who would have been Henry VIII's grandfather as far as I can work out.

Outside the weather was perfect and I took a couple more shots, probably the same ones people have always taken but I don't care. I took these.

Ok, the guy in the shorts is Adrian but it was a warm day and anyway his legs aren't too bad for a man.

One or two more I think.

Just when you think it is safe.....

2009-06-01T10:22:00.000-07:00

We thought we were over the lurgy. No new cases for 2 weeks so we should be ok we thought.

But no, it is not to be. Adrian and I went out today for the day and lo and behold, we come back to find that Willow, up in the main herd apparently has the flu or whatever it is.

To say we are all fed up is putting it mildly I have to say.

That means that no horses can go out again, just when we were starting to plan which events we could attend.

No more horses in either as we are now full to bursting so we can't help any other people with their problems, Adrian is still turning away roughly 2 animals a day but as we can't move any, we can't help them.

Fund raising is beginning to be an issue now. With no animals allowed out, we won't have the impact we would have had. Outside fund raising is necessary and we will have to pull out all the stops to get as much in as we can.

We can't let this beat us, won't let this beat us but my goodness it would be nice to have some good news for a change.

Last night I spoke to our very good friend in Northern Ireland who used to be one of our volunteers and has returned to N.I. to undergo chemo therapy for cancer. Despite the treatment she is in good spirits and wants to help the Trust in absentia so to speak by holding a fund raising day and fete near where she lives. I am to go over there to "man" the Lluest stall and there is a great deal of work to be done before the event which is to be held on June 27th.

I am looking forward to seeing her and her husband and all of us at the Trust are touched by her ability to think of Lluest even at this difficult time. I can't say I would have as much courage as she does under the same circumstances.

Summertime

2009-05-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

And for the moment the living is easy. Two whole days of sunshine and the warmest temperatures so far have meant I have been able to ditch my flannel shirt, sweater, thick socks and fleece in favour of my lighter T-shirts and- oh my God I am also wearing shorts. Won't last though, never does for long so I don't put my thicker clothers "away" so much as move them to one side.

Adrian has actually been off on holiday for the last week or so and we have been out and about a bit. We had one whole day where we saw no horses at all, probably a record of some sort. On Bank Holiday Monday we ended up at the Botanical Gardens near Carmarthen which is where the above photographs were taken. It is a bit of a haunt of ours, a place we can go and have a wander and sort of get away from things here for a bit. They do a nice lunch menu as well. The photos show the glass house, a real must if you go there. The top photo is inside the glasshouse and the other shows it from the outside. The whole site is beautiful and there are plenty of places to walk and see no one at all which is also nice for us.

The good news here at the farm is that after two and a half years, Adrian has finally and at long last finished my poultry area. I feel I should hang out the flags and declare another Bank Holiday for the principality. I love poultry, they are busy creatures and take little looking after. The turkeys are bizarre birds, Stanley is nothing if not incredible. That's him below. He's something else isn't he? Trouble is they are so destructive that I had virtually no seedlings left. All my veg plots have to be netted off as well. Now although I shall miss having the birds wandering round the garden, at least I shall have some plants left. At least he and his woman Gidget won't end up as dinner.

Just a domestic type of day

2009-05-28T09:12:00.000-07:00

You need those sometimes don't you? What with horses jumping out of stables, cats with parasites in their eye and the general hurly-burly of life up here, it sometimes does the heart good to just be...well, normal I suppose you could call it.

Don't know where the sun got to, the rest of the world seems bathed in sunshine and high temperatures and we have greyness and the temperature didn't get much above 60 degrees. Such is life up here.

I begin to get concerned about my vegetables about now. Everything is much further behind than I was used to in East Anglia or indeed further behind than the garden that belongs to the couple who live at the bottom of the hill. I had to put the runner bean plants out and sow the rest of the bean seed. I am still wary of putting out my morning glories, they are so sensitive but they also are screaming to go into the ground so I may have to give in to their plea and put them in tomorrow. I always grow sweet peas, Alderman peas, runner beans and morning glories on two structures that I pray are wind proof. The peas are a late variety that grow up to 6 feet high. The seeds I put in the ground rotted so I put some in gutter pipe in the greenhouse and they didn't come up either so as a last resort I have put a load in pots in the warm in the downstairs loo, it's warm in there because of the water boiler so with a bit of luck they will soon be on their way.

I also did a lot of baking today, something I enjoy but don't always get time to do. So we have a nice fruit cake, a load of Welsh cakes and I made a custard tart with our own eggs. It is a much darker colour than the ones you buy in the shops as the eggs are more "free range"-or rather "large garden". You can't say "free range" unless your hens receive no supplementary feed apparently.

One thing I didn't say yesterday was that while we were out, Tabby rang to say she had been contacted by a man that had found a young foal that was abandoned by it's mother and was in a state of collapse. He had tried one of the larger charities and got nowhere, would we take it? Tabby explained our situation with regard to equine flu, suggested he try Animal Health at the local council but if he got nowhere, he was to ring us back. He said if needs be he would bring it over in the back of his car as it was only the size of a labrador. In the interim Tabby spoke to Adrian, who agreed we would do our best for the animal, after all it is what we are here for. She tried several times to get back to the informant but by the time she reached him, he had had a reply from the major charity to say they would send a man out to have a look. I wonder what happened? I hope the animal got the help it deserved. We certainly would have done our very best.

Animals. Who'd have them?

2009-05-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

I wonder sometimes.

Yesterday we ended up taking Seven to the vet. He had something in his eye that made him blink and made the eye weep. We had a look and saw a brown thing in his eye that seemed mobile but try as hard as we might we couldn't move it enough to let him shed it naturally so in the afternoon, we stuffed in a cat basket and away to the vet. We were a bit apprehensive because of course Seven is sort of semi feral but he was actually very cooperative.

The vet had a look, up close and personal like they do and then got a pair of tweezers, we held him down and she removed it. The only thing we can think it was was a fluke, or a parasite that normally gets into the skin but somehow got into his eye and partially under the third eye lid. Pardon me while I heave. The the vet removed a couple of sheep ticks, one of which was alive and wriggling (pardon me while I heave again) before we brought him home.

So all was well that ended well there.

The weather report for today should have been light rain but in Wales that means heavy rain to the point of deluge with winds set to tear your hair out and a temperature 5 degrees lower than the rest of the UK which added to the wind chill makes it 10 degrees lower. There you go, I could be a weather forecaster of the telly couldn't I?

Adrian disappeared outside and didn't return and the finance lady wanted a word so I went on a reccie in the pouring rain and high winds to find him and Tabby out in the front paddock trying to entice the foal close enough to get a head collar on so they could bring her mother inside to warm up. The foal was having none of it and was cavorting round the field kicking her heels up and generally making a nuisance of herself while the two humans had to try not to care.

Tabby had just got a hand near her neck when there was a noise from the main barn where Chance and Sasha had been put to warm up. Now we know that Chance has a bit of a claustrophobia problem but usually if she is in the barn with Sasha she will settle.

Not so today. We heard the noise and looked at Chance trying to get over the stable door and all credit to her she nearly made it as well but somehow she lost it and ended up hanging over the stable door, front feet in the corridor and rears in the stable. The mare and foal were released to deal with this more urgent problem and the foal went into the field shelter with mum which was what was needed in the first place. Gee thanks.

Away to deal with Chance then. She was starting to get edgy now and was shaking in fear. What we didn't want was for her to struggle and hurt herself. Adrian tried several different ways to sort the problem but she is too heavy for him to lift up from either end (good way to be kicked as well) and her weight on the door meant he couldn't open it at all to try and get her into a better position so she could extricate herself. If she hadn't been quite so large that all feet were in fact firmly on the concrete that would have worked.

What to do, what to do?

Bolt cutters. Cut the hinges on the door and it should fall forward and she will move. Bolt cutters didn't work, hinges too big. I suddenly remembered the crow bar I keep in my wood shed (every woman should have a shed) so I fetched that and Adrian had to lever the stable door off and then pull it forward so that the mare could at last move out of danger. But stap me vitals, she didn't want to move then and just stood there. Waiting for a bus I suppose. We checked her over, doesn't seem to be any damage apart from a cut on her leg but we were very lucky that she didn't tear her stomach open on the tin strips that are across the top of the doors, some of them are pretty ragged. Then of course it was what do we do with her now?

In the end we had to move Humphrey and Sadie out of the other barn into the main barn and put Sasha and Chance down there and leave the back door of that open just in case she gets a panic attack and needs to be outside without one of us being there to help her.

So we have one stable without a door now. Chance is as happy as a clam apparently down in the other barn with Sasha but they can't stay there as the paddock is too small for them and the grass will be gone in 48 hours. Then of course there is the problem of we have been trying to keep everybody in seperate places so that we don't have any cross infection of the flu thing the horses have so we will have to juggle that one as well.

Let no man tell us that we have the idyllic life up here till they come and spend a week or two.

Impetus

2009-05-26T03:38:00.000-07:00

One thing that I have found difficult about life here on the farm is maintaining the impetus. Adrian and I have a great deal of that of course, we live here and as I mentioned once before, if it fails we have nowhere to go.

However it is still a difficult thing to do, for us to maintain all our energies and to carry on motivating others to do the same.

At the moment whilst in the pseudo quarantine of the equine flu, it is very easy for Adrian, Tabby and me to take it easy, rest a bit and become reclusive up here. It is such a beautiful place and it is easy to forget about the rest of the world, letting it slip past us un-noticed, only surfacing for grocery shopping. I have to admit we did try to get a supermarket delivery only to find we are 2 numbers out on the post code and as such they don't deliver. That would make it even more attractive to stay right here and potter about with few interruptions. To stay in the garden and enjoy the summer weather (what little we get up here) is a huge attraction believe me.

But being a small and not very well funded charity we can't do that. I had a long talk to myself last night, like you do just before you drop off to sleep, and find that I am concerned that we aren't covering enough bases even without being able to take ponies to events. If we aren't careful, we will be forgotten and I don't want that to happen.

The ideas we had the other day need to be consolidated and "got on with" if we are not to falter at the next fence. We have come so far, so very far, we have raised the awareness of the local population and are moving in the right direction. We cannot allow equine flu to be our undoing because we have lost our motivation. Nearly a year after being told by two other major charities we should close, we are still here. Ok, it's a bit dodgy but we are still here and we can remain here if we push on and never let up. But it needs to be all of us that are involved with the Trust, not just a few, we all need to pull together.

So any of you who read my blog and have ideas please get on with them. Things aren't going to happen by themselves, I have learned that you make your own luck to a certain degree and at the moment we definitely could do with some good luck.

Return of the Magnificent Seven

2009-05-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

There, just when you thought it was going to be about a silly spaghetti western, I throw you a picture of a cat. Well, there you are, I guess you should never assume anything about me.

The cat in the picture is indeed named Seven and he has mysteriously reappeared again. When we moved here he was still semi feral, we had only just managed to entice him into the house. He sort of moved in on us at the other place, I already had 6 cats and didn't want another one, but this fluffy 6 month old silver tabby just wouldn't go away. We trapped him and tried to get one of the animal charities to take him but none would, their policy was to neuter and release in the area from which he was trapped. As we lived on a main road and I wasn't prepared to come home from work and find him dead on the road, we kept him and because we couldn't think of any suitable name, decided we would call him Seven as we already had the other 6. Ah well, I always have been a sucker.

When we moved here, Seven came along with us and the others but we quickly realised that he was a cat apart. When we finally let everybody out after a week or so he wandered off and we didn't see him for a month. I knew he was around because he whinges a lot, particularly if it is time to be fed but he wouldn't come in the house again for a while. That first winter he came in occasionally, we could tell the weather was going to be bad if Seven came in. The first summer we only saw him sporadically, a fleeting glimpse here and there. It became a bit of a "Where's Wally?" type of challenge for everybody that came, spot Seven if you can.

I think the longest he was ever AWOL was about 6 weeks one summer. It got to the point where I assumed that he had met with some accident and was no more. I was just beginning to get used to the idea when he appeared across the yard and then as quick as wink was gone again. When we did manage to get hold of him, we checked him over and he seemed to be well fed, sleek and despite the long coat, not a single matt on him. We came to the conclusion that he had found a little old lady's knee to sit on and that he only condescended to visit us on Bingo night. And so it stayed up until just recently.

Friday evening the cat flap went and there was the familiar whinging. Most strange as it is prime hunting time for cats up here, rats, mice and other small creatures abound and we didn't expect to see anything of him for several weeks yet. In fact, that very day I had wondered where he was so I must be a bit telepathic. But Seven was there, as large as life yet on close inspection, wasn't as fat as he has been, he has a few matts and his general condition wasn't as good as I have seen even in the worst of the winter. What is even more surprising is that he shows no inclination to disappear again. Most unlike him. I am beginning to wonder what his angle is or if the little old lady whose knee he has been cuddled up on has gone to a more permanent type of bingo game, if you get my drift. Something isn't right.

But never mind, I am the type of person who likes to know where my animals are, I never cared for his wandering off for weeks at a time though Adrian says that is what some cats do. Not my cats thank you. I would much rather have him drooling all over my knee than somebody else's so that I know he is alright.

So welcome home Seven.

2009-05-23T09:39:00.000-07:00

You will have to excuse my sporadic appearance on the blog, we are sort of off and I don't always get round to updating myself. Back to normal by the 4th June I think.

Yesterday for instance we never really finished till about 9.30 when I washed the dishes so I didn't switch on...I am afraid I am not one of those people who burn the midnight oil, I am in bed with my book just after 10 every night unless we are out or entertaining (both very rare events).

Good day though yesterday, lots to think about really. First off I finally managed to learn how to do bigger resolutions on photographs on my 'pooter. I am a bit of a techno phobe/nerd. If I don't have to do something specific I don't sit on the box for hours learning all the subtle nuances that make up a computer, simply not interested. But there are times when you have to buckle down and do something you haven't done before and sorting out the resolution was yesterday's challenge. It was easy in the end, don't know why I was so wary of it. So the photographs have now gone off to be edited into our slot on Good Morning.

Didn't I tell you all that Adrian and I are going to be on the telly? Very exciting. It is for a downsizing thing, an advertisement I answered way back in November last year. We were chosen because we have changed our lifestyle and cut all the strings of the old life, no second home tucked away somewhere just in case, this is it. If it all goes down the tubes, we have nowhere to go. A very sobering thought that really motivates you to make a "go" of things.

Which brings me to part 2 of yesterday, a brainstorming half hour between Adrian and myself, Tabby and one of our volunteers who has come back despite the flu as she has no contact with horses. We came up with some good ideas that involve local people that will raise awarness of the Trust and hopefully some much needed cash as well. We aim to have something going on at least once a month. Not always easy and of course coming up for Christmas we get very busy with donkey things as you can imagine. Millie had 5 engagements last year. Nearly couldn't get her head through the door in the end. Anyway the July event is a 6 day sponsored ride that I will tell you more about as I have the details and we have come up with a couple of things into the autumn up to November. We like to keep busy.

Yesterday afternoon was taken up with a course that Adrian and I went to that was all about using animals as land management and the benefits to the environment. Quite interesting, all about grasses and forage and flowers and what animals are best used in certain circumstances.

It was nice to hear that our fields, although over stocked at present due to the flu, contain a lot of healthy options for horses as opposed to just grass. In the leaflet I was able to tick off 85% of the plants listed. Things like stitchworts, vetches, scabious; wild flowers that you don't see in fields that are fertilised and resown ever few years in order to maximise the nutrients of the grass in order to fatten up the animals on it quicker. We aren't in that game anyway and our equines don't need "good" grass. They prefer some of the more delicate herbs to forage. In one area of the woods in a sunny but very damp glade, we have a plant that I had never seen before and has been identified as lousewort. Not a particularly inspiring name or indeed an inspiring plant being only about an inch in height and width but the glade has a fair covering of it. We are told by them wot knows that the glade is a very good habitat and I suppose the lousewort proves it.

We are very keen to hang on to things like that, coming from East Anglia made us very aware of just how barren the arable landscape can be. Huge fields of oil seed rape, peas or wheat and very few wildflowers or wildlife to break it up. Wales has an abundance of both and I love walking and seeing something different every time. Not all that keen on the pole cat that took one of my remaing chickens the other evening but you have to take the rough with the smooth I guess. After all how many polecats are there around at all?

New Residents

2009-05-21T09:28:00.001-07:00

Hopefully you will all pardon my absence yesterday, the day seemed to fly by and I moved from one thing to another. As I sit here now, I am trying to think what I actually achieved yesterday. Oh yes- I remember now.

Still lots of rain about though the clouds were a bit more spaced out today, a bit more blue sky. Interspersed with lots of the wet stuff of course. As we were on our own again I helped Adrian with some stables, we have had loads of damp and chilly ponies in and of course the donkeys aren't waterproof so they were in Tuesday night to be cleared out yesterday. The weather was supposed to be better last night so all were out, easier on us all though there were still a couple left over that we didn't do. Sorry Tabby.

I also took some photos of Star who came to the Trust on Tuesday, I told you about her. She is the lovely bay mare in the photo. As I said she has a home to go to hopefully but she is indeed a beautiful creature. What with photos, computers and a bit of necessary shopping at the end of the afternoon, that was yesterday shot to pieces.

Yesterday was also the day that the Trust became rightful owners of the abandoned Shetland you see in the other picture shown with Adrian and a rather unsure Merlin. Dropped over a farmer's fence about 2 weeks ago, the miniature Shetland is all of 2 ft 6 inches in height. Isn't he the biz though? Because all the nameless animals this year have to start with the letter "C" and because of his huge stature, Adrian has named him Cquirt. That's a soft "C" like in celandine or ceiling. We couldn't think of a better name for him. He does have small man syndrome and as he is still a stallion (a whole year to 18 months old!) he keeps trying to attract the ladies.

This afternoon he was giving the eye to some of the older mares as they were feeding in the horse walk. He gave it all he had, bit of a stamp and a paw, a flash of the bent neck and a fling of his very bad mane. We've all been there girls haven't we? The mares, all being twice his size (at least) were suitably unimpressed and the herd leader, a aging gelding named Barley just sort of told him to push off in a horse sort of way. Cquirt was unperturbed at being given the elbow but in truth he won't get anywhere with the mares, they have seen it all before thank you. The would much rather read a good book I suspect.

Today was the first day of our 12 days off so we got some things in the garden done in between the showers; more wood shifted and I now have a sort of cold frame made out of an old window frame and some concrete blocks I found. Adrian has suggested that I might want to make a list of all the jobs that need doing that he can get on with when he has the time.

I doubt there are enough trees in the forest to make paper for the list.

2009-05-19T09:17:00.000-07:00

As is common with most people, I often get bogged down in my own personal little troubles. Small worries quickly become big ones and you think that you are the only one in the world with a problem.

Working here at the Trust doesn't mean that we just deal with the animals that come into our care, we usually meet the people behind the animals. As you know equines come here for a variety of reasons, neglect, abuse, cruelty or an inability for the owner to cope due to chronic or terminal illness. That particular situation is close to the hearts of many here as the founder of the Trust died of cancer herself at the very young age of thirty eight, still with so much to do.

An animal came to us early last year, his owner unable to care for him any more because his partner was dying of cancer, the horse was several miles away and the owner openly admitted he was neglecting his beloved gelding as he just couldn't cope. It was a huge wrench for him, the gelding was 11 months old when bought and we took him at the age of 18. All I could do as the back of the truck went up was to wish him the very best of luck though we both knew what the outcome was going to be. I felt useless.

Late last year we took in three animals with the same situation, owner had cancer, her parents had cancer. The woman couldn't be there when we collected the animals as she was just too distraught at losing what she considered to be part of her family, a large part of her life. The people who were there knew the horses well and were just as upset I think as the owner was. There were many tears shed.

Today we took in the last we can take in for a while, at least until the flu is finished with and we can rehome some that are waiting to go out. We had hoped to put off the intake till after the flu but we couldn't, we already have a home for the animal but that will have to wait now.

The owner is suffering from ME, a debilitating illness that meant she could no longer care for her beloved horse. She was distraught when we left, knows it is the best thing for the animal but she just can't do it any more.

I have hugged more people in the last two and a half years I think than in the previous fifty four years of my life. I have seen more tears and shed some myself as well, it isn't always easy to be efficient and I am certainly not cold hearted. At least I am able to reassure the owners that their animals will be well cared for and often we are able to put ex-owners in contact with new owners so there can be some contact.

We can't always help them but we try to when we can. I feel so very sad for them, their lives are falling apart and then they lose just that little bit more often the one being that they have been able to share all their thoughts and fears with.

And that is when I suddenly realise I don't really have any worries at all.

One of our volunteers is starting chemo therapy today. All of us here wish her the very best.

Rain, flu and coleg students

2009-05-18T03:41:00.000-07:00

AWOL yesterday as the head of Trustees was here for most of the day. Lovely lady and always a pleasure to see her. We sorted a lot of different things appertaining to the website and a few other bits and pieces as well so we know who is doing what. Always a good thing to know.

Today the rain is sheeting down. We have lots of very wet horses and a few that are chilled. My goats are not happy in the rain, the dogs refused to go out, one of the stables is flooded and I had water seeping into my downstairs loo again.

We can't raise the house so we shall have to lower the ditch again I suppose. Why do they build Welsh houses right up against ditches? I can't fathom that one. The house is old and built into the side of a bank so that it looks like it looks as though it nestles snugly, warm and cozy against the prevailing southwesterly winds however because the ditch isn't wide enough or far enough from the house and is in fact higher than the house itself, after a heavy rain, the water seeps in; if it happens over night you can come down to and inch or so which of course you don't necessarily notice till you are seated on the throne and the ends of your pajama legs are dripping wet.

We thought we had cured it till the Big Freeze led to the Even Bigger Thaw and the cold obviously cracked something somewhere meaning water was running under the house and into the downstairs loo. Deepening the ditch was the only way to deal with the problem, Adrian went out with his mighty pick axe and an hour later had managed another 6 inches of depth. So now if we have water inside the house we know it has to be a very very heavy rain. Adrian has had a look so I suppose he will be searching for the pick axe very soon.

With over half the equine population now flu ridden and all the herds exposed to it, we have decided that the best way forward is for them all to just get on with it. Today it was Steel, the Arab x Connemara's turn. He has skipped the coughing stage and gone straight to the snotty nose stage. Adrian reckons all of them come down with it that way now. That's another one out of the way and still only Tumble the quarter horse who we can honestly say has made a full recovery.

The students from Coleg Elidyr have returned from their spring break to resume their work experience with us. The Coleg is a residential school for young adults with learning disabilities. It is based on the Camp Hill ideal of teaching life skills; they have marvelous facilities at the Coleg. At a visit we saw their forge, weaving room, gardens, woodworking, candle making areas and a fully working livestock farm with sheep, pigs and cattle all looked after by the students there . We were approached by one of the staff and asked if we would be prepared to take students on for work experience, an area they are lacking in and we agreed. I have to say it has worked really well for all concerned. Many of the students lack self confidence or are wary around certain animals. Working with the horses gives them that self confidence and we can see the strides they make in horse handling. There are two here at the moment, one was terrifed of dogs and cetainly not sure about how to behave around horses. After a week or two he walks my greyhounds, leads horses, mucks out stables, grooms "his horse" and has come a very long way forward.

The Trust seems to be moving more and more into this area of work. Animals and special needs people seem to "click" somehow. Maybe it is because the animal can sense there is no hidden agenda or perhaps they can sense a certain innocence in special needs people, I don't really know. I do know that more and more we see how the animal changes when approached by special needs people and how much that interaction helps the people involved. Sort of gives you a warm glow inside.

2009-05-16T09:00:00.000-07:00

To quote Pooh bear it has been a "rather blustery day."

Hasn't known whether to rain or shine so being Wales it chose to rain for most of it. I chose the housewife option today and did housework. God I really know how to live don't I? But even I have to bow before the great god hoover every once in a while. I try not to make a habit of it.

Our equine flu head count is now up to 16 either having, have had or awaiting to have due to exposure to the flu. That is near enough half the equine population here. The main herd are starting to come down with it now, a bit of a relief in a way as we have been on tenterhooks worrying and trying to keep them free of it and who knows, perhaps that has dragged the whole situation out more than it should. At least this way, there is now a chance that we will get through it more quickly and be able to return to normal life again. I am still wary of Zorro getting the illness after such a bad bout of pneumonia and I would worry sick if the foal gets it but other than that, it is a bit like sending your child round to Jimmy's house when he has the measles so that your child gets it over and done with.

The AGM scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled, too many trustees with horses who don't want to put their own animals at risk and indeed who can blame them. If we don't soon see the end of it, we are also at risk of being unable to continue with the August Open day and that would be bad news as it is one of our biggest fund raisers of the year. Leave the decision too late and we might not have enough time to put a decent Open Day together. Lot of stuff hanging on this equine flu.

Planning Permission

2009-05-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

Hey ho, I suppose we shall get there in the end.

When Adrian applied for the Manager's job back in the summer of 2006, we were told that the Trust was seeking planning permission for the barns that are attached either side of the house. One is an old cow barn and the plans are for an office, toilets, crew room, sort of domestic stuff.

At the moment, the main office for the farm is in what is in reality my front room. All the people who come here end up in this office; the rest of the house is very small and we have no living room, just a single room about 12ft by 17 ft for everything including dining table and four chairs, dog beds and cat baskets. We have nowhere to sit in the evening other than the dining chairs and a stick chair, have to say most evenings all the chairs are occupied by cats anyway (we have six ) so you have to fight to be comfortable here.

The only toilet facilities for visitors is the little house in the big woods so to speak, a ty bach in Welsh and it is in the centre of my back garden. Very rustic and not great. When we have open days we have to rent porta-loos and now that we have lots of people with special needs, they use my downstairs loo as we also have no other hand washing facilities.

The other barn (we call it the stone barn) is set to be an interpretation centre and a dining area for sandwiches and drinks, nothing heavy in the catering line but just somewhere for visitors to sit that isn't in the rain. Did I tell you it rains a lot here? Well it does. It is in the stone barn that the "problem" with our planning permission lies.

So all of that was in 2006 as I say and we are still waiting for planning permission for the work so that we can start fund raising. With so many people coming here with special needs, we are desperate for the cow barn to be converted so that they all have the correct facilities and I can have my loo back. And my kitchen as the loo is just off there and you have to go through one to get to the other and the whole thing is just not suitable.

The problem with getting planning permission seems to be bats. Bats, that's all. We had to have a survey done to see whether bats are roosting in the stone barn. Costs an awful lot of money, more than a small charity trying to make it in a big charity world wants to pay out more than once.

So the "bat man" came along a couple of evenings in the summer of 2007 and he went away and we were told verbally at one point that all was well and we awaited the go ahead and nothing happened. Letters and phone calls and nearly two years later and still no planning permission. We have had a communication that informed us that after two years, there is now dissention between the National Park bat people and another group of bat people who cannot agree that the findings submitted two years ago are correct and they insist that we need another bat survey to gather more evidence as to how the bats go in, whether they roost in there (we were told verbally two years ago they didn't) and how we would be required to lessen the impact of the renovation to the bat population living in there that we were told two years ago we didn't have.

Last week a man finally came to see us, the third planning man who had been given the file. A very nice guy trying to sort it all out. However he also says we will have to have another bat survey or go for an appeal and we could lose it and it could cost a whole lot more than another bat survey. And by the way as we have applied for planning permission for the whole lot, we can't just do the toilets etc and leave the other barn. We would have to reapply for just the cow barn to be converted.

The Trust doesn't mind how many bat surveys we have but we really don't think we should be paying for more than one. However, it is going to be "Catch 22" isn't it? No tickee, no washee.

We either bow down or get nowhere. Without proper toilet facilities we cannot progress any further than we are now and that could mean the end of us.

The final decision isn't up to me of course, that's why we have Trustees.

And finally

2009-05-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

This was all four of them in the garden on Tuesday when it was lovely and sunny if blowing a hooli.

It's heaving it down out there now. Such is Wales. I told you we never feel deprived of weather here.

This is Sky

2009-05-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

A lovely little creature really. We were told she had never been in a house. First day, straight up on our bed. She isn't silly.

This is Lucy

2009-05-14T09:25:00.000-07:00

A fine looking greyhound isn't she? She is now eight and a half, a very timid dog who has the worst dog breath of any creature I have met despite teeth cleaning

This is Jack

2009-05-14T09:24:00.000-07:00

Aged about three now i think. Always looks like he is worried about things

Grey day

2009-05-14T08:54:00.001-07:00

The equine flu is starting to make a difference up here now. A couple of people who had asked to rehome horses from the Trust have decided they will look elsewhere as we are unable to give them a date to release the horses to them. Bad news for us actually as we are very full and are having to take another animal in. It is a pastoral care case as opposed to neglect or abuse. A worthy case and within our criteria however we had hoped to wait until the flu had passed through. The owner can wait no longer now and the animal will have to come in. That will make thirty three on site, really three too many for us but there is no help for it at the moment. Hopefully we will be able to move some animals soon.

At the moment it is raining. A nice gentle pitter patter type rain that is good for the garden and the grass in the paddocks if a pain in the bum for me because it will also mean the grass in the back garden will grow another foot over night.

I took the dogs out for their run and of course they got soaked. Did I not tell you all that I have four dogs? I know i mentioned Merlin but he is but one of my quartet. Altogether I have three greyhounds, Merlin, Lucy and Jack; all rescued in some way or other. Merlin was found tied to the bumper of a car in Ipswich, Lucy was a non-chaser from the dog track at Great Yarmouth and Jack was auctioned off from the dog track at Swansea and found his way here through a local greyhound rescue. Being greyhounds they don't care too much for rain. Lucy isn't keen to be dried off, Jack likes a rough go over with a towel and I am afraid Merlin prefers the hair drier. I don't pamper my pets much.

Our latest addition was Sky, a sheepdog who has absolutely no idea that she is supposed to help round the sheep up and not sit in the centre of them wagging her tail at me. She came to us last year when Adrian took a pony to a new home and sort of brought her back with him. She is a real favourite with visitors, particularly people with learning difficulties who find that dogs aren't as bad as they have been led to believe and prefer to have their tummies tickled rather than bite off the hand that is doing the tickling. As she is a long coated sheepdog, Sky doesn't feel the rain through the three or so coats she is wearing and just has a good shake when she comes into the kitchen. Gee thanks Sky.

SMALL CHARITY VERSUS BIG CHARITY

2009-05-13T03:08:00.000-07:00

You'd best settle down as I could be having a bit of a rant here. The title says it all. Of course this in my personal opinion and should be treated as such. I suppose in that case this is a bit of an edtiorial. But then I did say this was a blog about the trials and tribulations of a small equine charity in a big charity world didn't I? So I think I had better get my personal feelings about it off my chest and done with so I can move on with you all.

If there is one thing that we have learned here in the last two and a half years it is that being the underdog in the charity world means that you can easily be forgotten by the public. Tucked away in the beautiful Welsh countryside as we are means we aren't on the tourist route so we get few passing visitors. You have to make an effort to come up here so visitors are always welcomed by us for having made that effort. We work tirelessly to raise awareness of the Trust in the hopes that we will be able to keep our funds above danger level; at the moment we have well less that one year's funds available to us.

The major charities have huge sums of money. I break no confidences with that statement, it is all on the world wide web to see, all charity accounts have to be available. One day when you are sitting at your machine with not a great deal to do, have a trawl and have a look at just how much money some of them have and indeed how much we have. Their advertising budgets alone are more money than we see up here in the space of several years. Their medical facilities are all superb, their stabling palatial, their staffing levels we can only dream of.

We carefully consider where every penny goes to and nothing is wasted. We have a duty of care to the animals we have as well as those who will come later. As a small independent charity, we are very much front line here and will often try to pick up the pieces when major charities won't act. We have a criteria and try to stick to it but it is a rigid criteria often flexibly applied. We will bend as much as we can afford to in order to help animals in need.

Now don't get me wrong, we work very closely with several of the major charities and the people on the ground are good people, hard workers and committed to their work. No problems with any of them actually. All very helpful and nice people. But still the smaller charities struggle on with little if any help from their larger brothers, many going under. We have been told twice in the last year that despite being a wonderful place and doing wonderful work under difficult circumstances (blah, blah, blah), we should close down, sell up, forget about it, we're too small, we will never make it in the twenty first century world.

Well I don't think so. We have a professional job here to do, it is an important one. It is one of ANIMAL WELFARE. We will survive in the twenty first century without the help of any of the major animals charities if we have to. It is hard work but we will survive.

So next time a major animal charity rattles a tin under your nose or advertises, just give a thought to one of the smaller ones that you may or may not know about. I would love you to support us and us alone (yes please!) but there are so many that need your help, I just ask you to think about it a bit, that's all.

Rant over and thank you for being there.

good views and good news

2009-05-12T09:54:00.001-07:00

Just thought you all might like to see one of the reasons that I like living here. This was taken this morning in a part of the farm that is in ancient woodland and goes down to the Sawdde River to form part of the boundary of our 40 acre farm. After last night's heavy winds, Adrian decided to check the boundaries for fallen trees etc and Tabby, Kathleen and I went along. The bluebells are all along the slope and virtually down to the river at this point, the smell is intoxicating and the whole affect so beautiful that words fail me sometimes (doesn't happen often).

From there we wound our way back. Our finance lady was there doing her thing and just before she left, she gave us the good news that we are now just short of breaking even financially. That is despite the big problem we had in January and early February when we froze solid up here for eleven days. We had no running water in the outbuildings or the house for eleven days. My God that was hard work. Anyway when the thaw came, the water main split as did the bore hole pump and it cost the Trust nearly a whole month's money to repair.

Looking at that picture you wouldn't believe it would you? All looks so innocent. But you never know what is round the corner here and though we are pleased that we are near to breaking even, we are definitely NOT (in big letters) complacent about it. Wales is a very hard mistress.

Our fund raising goes on. We haven't the back up of money that the big charities have so we have to keep trying to get funding in.

However every once in a while you have to take "time to stand and stare" as the poem says. That's why I went to take photos this morning. It helps to keep you going and to keep you firmly rooted.

2009-05-11T10:46:00.000-07:00

Despite our very best efforts, another animal has started showing symptoms of equine flu. we started nearly a month ago with Tumble our rescued quarter horse going down with the symptoms, nasty infection but at least not Strangles (don't even go there) and with vet care, Tumble has recovered. We went into immediate quarantine as soon as we knew we had "something" and all equine movements were cancelled. At least all movements out were cancelled, we did take in an abandonement or two, it's what we are here for after all. All the animals were kept in herds according to their exposure and we went started a rigid round of trying to keep things disinfected and all the germs away from all the other horses. It seemed to be working and we loosened up a bit but today we found an unconnected animal has contracted it. Sadie has it now, she was kept completely separately from the infected herd with her companion Humphrey.

It's a bummer isn't it?

Lately it hasn't been the best of times for us in the way of equine health. Just before Easter Zorro came down with choke followed by pneumonia. We nearly lost him, even the vet figured he wouldn't make it. Many vets visits and a shed load of drugs later and we were sure he would make it but it was close. Now equine flu. Double whammy of vets bills. Big time.

At least none of the horses that have it now are in need of vet care, it seems to have diluted a bit but we still need it gone. We have lots of committments that are best done with a pony or two, makes more impact when you go to a school or fete. We can only hope that it will work it's way through the herds more quickly than this so we can get on with things again.

A perfect Sunday

2009-05-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

Working outside makes you concious of the weather big time. When I worked in an office, the only weather I experienced was first thing (5.30am) when I went out to do our animal before going to work, the weather from the house to the car, the car to the office, what I could see through my office window, the office to the car, back into the house and and the little bit of time doing my animals again.

Not so now. We are outside in rain, wind, snow, sleet, hail, sunshine and showers. Most of that happens in one day in Wales so you never need feel deprived of weather.

However I must say that today was that which is even more scarce than an honest politician, a perfect Welsh spring day. End to end sunshine and hardly any breeze at all. So unlike yesterday that we could have been in a different place altogether but we weren't, we were here on top of the mountain, on a 40 acre farm on a perfect Sunday.

That's why I am a bit later doing my blog, you see. I have been playing out in my garden all day long. Potting up seedlings so they now have no excuse at all but to grow (except perhaps dying), taking the turf off the new flower bed I am designing to get rid of some more grass, doing the edges that I quickly learned to hate since starting the new flower bed, general domestic garden stuff, you know what I mean. It did strike me as I hurled off another lump of turf that I have removed more grass than most people have in their whole back garden. Very strange thought.

Adrian did all the residents today. Came in for a cup of tea about 10am moaning that the donkeys must have had some sort of cocktail party in the barn last night. All that was missing was the empties. Certainly they were noisy enough. I could hear al four of them braying sometime about dawn, it fair rattles round the barn believe me. I expect it was a bit of a "do" to welcome Eeyore, a young gelding jack donkey who came in on Friday. Lovely creature who clearly believes he is quite the young donkey about town. Unfortunately Millie, our Poitou donkey has never been one to have her head turned by a new face in the herd. Looking down her nose and then aiming a quick flick with a back hoof and Eeyore knew exactly where he stood. Rock bottom.

What's this all about then?

2009-05-09T05:23:00.000-07:00

I can hear you asking that even as I type.

This blog is all about the trials and tribulations of the Lluest Horse and Pony Trust, a small equine charity that is stuggling to stay alive in a big charity world. It is also about our lives here. That's me by the way in the photo; I am the tall one in the coat and hat, the short guy is my beloved greyhound Merlin and we were posing for a photo on whatI have found to be a typical Welsh summer's day. Actually for the benefit of any American readers, that photo was taken on the 4th of July. So much for the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer then.

My husband Adrian (manager) and I have been here just over two and a half years. We upped stakes, packed everything including all our animals into two artics and moved here from Suffolk in October 2006. More about all that in a later post i think. So we moved from the land of flat and drought to the land of song, mountains and what sometimes seems like never ending rain.

We love it here. We even love it when the rain comes down sideways, the mud is over the top of your wellies, the wind is taking your hair out by the roots and yet another pony stands squarely on your foot.

The last couple of years have been a big learning curve, neither of us had any charity experience but we have enthusiasm, committment, drive or perhaps we are just gluttons for punishment, who knows.

We have had many sad times here, many times when I have lain awake all night worrying about whether we will still be here in a year's time. But equally we have had many joyous times; the birth of a foal from a rescued mare, getting it just right when rehoming an animal, the way special needs people react when they have intereaction with a horse or pony or even just watching an aged mare canter up the field for the first time when you thought for sure she would never be capable of doing such a thing again. We have cried a bit but we have laughed a whole lot more.

I hope to entertain anybody who happens to pass through my blog, I shall do my best anyway. There will be some photographs as well. There is rarely a day goes by without something out of the norm going on.

I hope you all enjoy it.