Monday the computer arrived so we spent plenty of time setting that up and having a play. I'm pleased to say that it works fine and is full of new gadgets which are great fun to use.
Tuesday we went on a Stock Checkers Course run by the Grazing Animals Project. The morning was spent in a classroom learning about legal aspects, the welfare needs and the checking needs of sheep, cows, goats and ponies. We then went out to some beautiful SSSI land at Hutchinsons Bank in Surrey to look more closely at sheep and goats. Then it was back to the classroom for an evaluation test for which we are still awaiting the results (I already know I have got at least one wrong) then hopefully we will get certificates. It was a very interesting day and nice to meet some other stock checkers but it is a long time since I have had to concentrate on something solidly for a whole day so by the time I had also been to the stables and ridden Molly, who was her usual awkward self, I was totally exhausted so to round off a good day we treated ourselves to fish and chips..yummy.
Wednesday we took my elderly mother out for a pub lunch which was very nice but when we returned there were messages on all our phones asking if we could check the ponies as it had been reported that Tavey(found out on the course that his name is not Tivy) had been showing signs of colic which can sometimes be fatal. We got over to him about 4 pm and he was looking very sorry for himself but he was no longer rolling and he wasn't kicking or biting at his abdomen so we reckoned he was recovering. The grazing officer for the Old Surrey Downs Project made lots of phone calls to various people including the vet and it was decided that if we could stay and watch him until night fall and providing he didn't get any worse the vet wouldn't come out. It was rather nice sitting in the field watching the sun go down and listening to the birds singing their goodnight songs and watching the rabbits venture out for their dinners. Tavey didn't get any worse so when we could hardly see him anymore we crept through the dark woods back home. Needless to say I found it difficult to sleep that night and at first light the next morning I dragged my husband out of bed and we went back to see if he had survived the night. Peter, the grazing officer, arrived just after us with a tarpaulin in the back of his land rover 'just in case' but thankfully we had judged it right and Tavey was fully recovered and back to the business of eating the contents of the field.
Thursday, after the early start, was a quiet, relaxing day where we did some shopping and checked on Tavey again.
So here we are at Friday. After checking the ponies this morning and eating a tasty hot cross bun with a cup of coffee when we got back, we have been busy planting seeds. The greenhouse was lovely and warm, the robin was singing outside and the lambs were calling on the hill so it was a real pleasure AND I have at last got my 150 lavender seeds sown:-)))
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