Darkness looms!

It's dark and I don't like it. I hate it, hate it, hate it (it may help to picture me stamping my feet in a tantrummy way at this point), no seriously I don't like it. I get up and go to work IN THE DARK , finish work and then come home IN THE DARK! When am I supposed to interact with my girls! WHEN!?!?! Well? When?

Well today I bunked off work a trifle early and got home before darkness descended so that I could take the mad labs out and we could mingle amongst the fluffy ones. They all looked in fine fettle which they should do as we only checked them a few days ago but I do worry. I worry that I will miss something. I have missed things in the past and I still hoof myself every now and again about it. Ever tried to hoof yourself? It's not easy.

One thing caught my attention today and it was the lower jaw of my favourite alpaca in the whole wide world, my Lily. It didn't look right, the light was fading but it just didn't look right. Up they were rounded and I caught hold of her in the top paddock to have a looksee. She has had jaw abscess problems in the past resulting in a very expensive three day visit to the horse hospital in Salisbury. Anyway once I had her I felt her jaw fearing the worst. FLUFF! That's all it was, it was fluff, fleece, fibre, beard, fluff. Relief all round and I will sleep soundly tonight. I am determined that I will not miss anything again.


Not looking forward to this weekend, not one bit. On Thursday night Sue and I plus my father will get on the Brittany night Ferry leaving Portsmouth bound for Caen. Luckily the weather forecast looks great, Force 8 to 9 gale force winds in Dogger, Bight, Biscay, Fishnet, and all the other shipping forecast areas. Force 8 to 9! Will they sail in that? Should they sail in that? If they do will we be able to sleep?
I have to confess I don't like boats, not since The Herald of Free Enterprise flipped over after some berk left the front doors open. I'm sure there are plenty of safety measures in place but it still makes me nervous.
So why are you going to France Mark? I hear you cry.

Well let me tell you. Regular readers will know we have a house in the South of France which is where the Mighty Patou herd planned to finally travel to. The problem is the house that we bought before we even saw an alpaca is not really ideal. Not enough land and no option to purchase any more. As a result the Wooden House has been sold and we are going down in a large van to collect our belongings. It will be a sad weekend, not least because of the boat thing and the fact that it's a thousand mile round trip but also because we have had some great holidays in that house and we shall miss it.


Never mind we will bounce back with something bigger and more appropriate for staging world alpaca domination nearer the time.