Those of you that follow my Facebook or Instagram pages, will have probably noticed that we have a large number of animals at the Manor. Yes, we have lots, recently gaining another 4 legged friend, Max the GSD.
Max was going to be abandoned in a flat and so, without really considering the consequences I made the questionable decision to take him in. I Say I, because my poor long suffering husband just rolled his eyes at me and I took it as a green light... Anyway, Max has joined our rag tag bunch of waifs and strays and luckily has settled in remarkably well.
Most of our animals are rescues of some sort or another, heres the low down...
Cokin the Cocker spaniel, given away at 18mths because she didnt get along with the boyfriends dog, one eye, smelly, senile and very old 14.5yrs.
Ruger, He's a Dutch drent, left in kennels to be rehomed because his USA owners got bored of him. He's a bit loopy.
Flyn and Freya, Cocker cross twins from an accidental litter, loving and daft as brushes 4yrs
Max the Golden Gsd, soft as butter, but oh so playful, especially now he is learning to be a real dog. 9yrs
Kitcat the black cat, always hungry, very loving, likes to sit on my arm until I cant feel my fingers, 15+ yrs, was a feral kitten.
Smartie the tabby, he turned up at my shop one day and never left. Smartie has an attitude problem.
Twin barn cats, Batcat and Spidercat, another accidental litter that was left to us to deal with. They rarely come down from the barn roof.
George the pygmy goat, dumped by being thrown over a wall.
Fred the goat, Georges friend, the one animal we actually bought. He keeps George (mostly) out of trouble.
Love the miniature donkey, given to us because he killed a baby alpaca..
2 Ouessant ewes, they have no teeth, are too old to breed and just spend their days sucking grass and following the donkey.
Herdwick, the Ram, was going to be sacrificed on a Facebook livefeed (dont ask)
Faith, the miniature cow was abandoned by her mother and hand reared. She doesnt know shes a cow, so dont tell her...
17 ragamuffin, scruffy, hilarious chickens 9 of which hatched this year and we still dont know whether they are boys or girls
Blerio, Bo the Breton Draft horse, he's the size and shape of a large cider barrel, his original owner was too ill to look after him.
Callie, Bo's mum, also large and round she is currently at fat camp (a local riding school)
Whistle a semi feral Carmargue with laminitis, shes now not feral, almost normal really. Almost.
And finally theres
Angel my precious Thoroughbred mare, she was bought as a 2yr old in the year 2000. She is the most clumsy, expensive, but wonderful horse in the world. she is currently nursing a damaged leg. Again.
So there you have it, the whole list of current waifs and strays. There have been many more over the years, leaving their marks, names imortilized on our memory tree. Angel is the longest reigning, followed by Kitcat, then Cokin. We love them all, their quirks and stupidity. I reguarly extract Georges head from the fence, Bo loves to lick and nuzzle your back when you are poop picking in the field, the dogs spend 90 percent of their time under my feet. My kitchen is just an obstacle course of dogs and children! But then, would i have it any other way? Probably not. Do I need to sell lots of my products to pay for them? yes I do!
Is this a pretty rubbish blog post? Yes, it probably is, but then, im not really here to be a famous blogger. I just felt it would be fun to tell you about my furry family. They are a big part of the reason we do what we do and work as hard as we do.