The Journey: Escape

The view through the caravan window. I was sat inside, nice
and dry and Mari, Chanel and their boys are all sat outside in
the rain. Don't blame me though, they were free to go inside
their alpaca house like Aggie and Lady V.

Well I'm still home alone and coping reasonably well despite the return of the rain. The sun was so nice while it lasted. Now we are back to squelchy mud everywhere and I've even had to get some of the wood chippings that Ian chipped earlier in the year so I can get in and out of the greenhouse without ending up ankle deep in mud. The ponds are also overflowing again and it still startles me to hear the sound of running water as one pond overflows into the other.

This is a picture from a couple of weeks ago of an eagle on
the boys paddock fence post. I've seen it around a few times
this week too.

The boys are not happy with me this week as they have had
to stay in their paddock and they only have hay not grass to
eat. It has meant that I have had to carry up bales of hay to
them though as of course they are getting through it much
faster. The problem is that in the process of escaping three
wooden posts got broken, two plastic electric posts were
snapped and two bent. Ian will have to sort it all out when
he gets back.

The alpacas haven't been quite so good this week for me and the boys gave me quite a scare. I was in the caravan doing some work when I looked up and there was Mr. P out for a stroll towards the girls. I hurriedly put down the computer and made my way out of the caravan. My heart sank, there was Mr. B. and Turbjōrn all heading in the same direction. I looked over towards the fence to see where they had escaped from and saw Herkules busy munching grass in a world of his own also on the wrong side of the fence. Only Tellus was in the paddock where he was supposed to be. I knew the girls would be safe since we had put up the wire fence before Ian went away, so I left the boys to wander while I looked to see how I could get them back in behind the fence.

One snapped wooden post

This wasn't the worst part of the fence. I forgot
to take a photo of the tangled mess

A little repair to my jeans

I wondered if I had left the electric off, but no it was still on and the fence was in a complete tangled mess. I switched if off and lay the wires down on the floor. I went to get some food and wandered over to the boys shaking the trays. No chance! They were too interested in the girls on the other side of the fence. Plan B! I got behind them and started to slowly drive them towards their paddock, collecting Herkules along the way. I managed to get all except Mr. P in, as he decided to stop for a poo. I went in and put the trays down in their alpaca house. All of them except Mr. P, who was still on the other side of the fence went in. I shut the doors while I went to encourage Mr. P. back as I didn't want the others escaping again in the process. Mr. P. was not happy about the orange wires on the ground so I wonder if he was the one responsible for making a mess of the fence or whether he and Mr. B were fighting. Anyway after a little hesitation and looking like he might bolt in the other direction he went in. I was so relieved and very surprised that they actually went where I wanted them to, a minor miracle in itself.

If you look very carefully you can see a strange phenomenon
called "blue sky"

You wouldn't see this kind of apple in a supermarket very
often, with such red veined flesh.

I hadn't seen a soul for a week and a half. Even when I went back to the apartment it was eerily quiet. It was like one of those apocalyptic films where everything looks fine but all the people have disappeared. On one visit to the apartment the car was rather reluctant to get going - it is an intermittent problem we've had for over a year now. It only happens when it is cooling down in the autumn and warming up in the spring. Somehow air gets into the system at those times. I couldn't remember what I was supposed to do exactly, so I called a friend - after all it was about time I talked to someone and I asked if he would show me what to do. I spent the afternoon chatting with him and his missus, but since it was raining and not much else to do, it seemed like a good plan. I did find out how to fix the problem too and tried it again today - it worked.

An unexpected harvest from the greenhouse. The Jerusalem
artichokes have grown from those we gave to the chickens
over winter that they obviously missed. I have no idea
why we have suddenly got a proper mushroom growing in
the greenhouse though. I haven't seen this kind growing
anywhere else on our land. Still it was very tasty

Blueberries are slowly ripening, but each year we get more
and more on our bushes. The first few years were very
disappointing, so it is nice to finally see them get going

I haven't had to do much shopping since Ian went away, which is another reason for not seeing anyone. No bread to buy, no running out of cheese, oil or flour. I did run out of chocolate though. This week I did need a few things, so on the way home from my friends' I did some shopping and then stopped off at the bakery, where I saw some more friends were having a drink, so I chatted some more. At one point the guy said, sorry I didn't understand a word of what you just said, but I do like to hear you talk. Not sure what it is about my accent, I used to get that a lot in America when I used to help out at the church's coffee shop.

Still enjoying the space of their new paddock

Chanel and Frederiks her son

I mentioned a while ago we were planning on selling the apartment we live in (at least we live in it in the winter time). It didn't quite go according to plan and it all went quiet so we wondered if we would have to think again. Out of the blue just before Ian went away we got an email to say it was on and could we work on a timetable to make it happen. So we will still be in our regular apartment for the time being and we will work on getting the other apartment sorted to move into early next year. All change! At least we will be a bit more focussed over the winter with sorting out and a deadline to work to. So just bear in mind that if you want to come and visit, we will only have the one apartment and that will be free in the summer time or basically for six months of the year. In winter you will have to sleep in the living room, but still welcome.

Aggie and Lady V. I had to take these pictures quickly as the
sun was starting to disappear and the clouds looked quite
ominous, they didn't amount to much fortunately.

The girls don't just sit outside in the rain

It is getting to that time of the year when we think about switching from the caravan to the apartment, but there are still some gardening jobs to finish off before it finished for the winter. It seems though that we are racing into the colder months, as I saw several more flocks of geese this week and a flock of swans all heading off to warmer climes. I am at the apartment again this evening as I needed to bring back tomatoes, beans and raspberries before a possible frost overnight. As it is milk day tomorrow it was a chance to get them sorted. With the tomatoes now gone from the greenhouse, there will be room for the chickens to go back in. I think they will appreciate that as it has been so wet this week and with not being able to move the arks while Ian is away, they have had a mud bath. I had to put hay on the floor for them. Still it won't be long now before Ian is back, but then I'm away for a couple of days. Heh ho!