The Fallowfield Gardening Squad!

I’m blaming my absence of blogs this week on a combination of being rather busy and a bad back.  Unfortunately, when you have a bit of a dodgy back, long hours spent in the car, combined with rocking a rather heavy grandson have a price to pay!

Anyway Happy Easter to all!  The constant wintry weather has obviously frozen my brain cells as I have found myself saying to friends two or three times over the past few days  “What are you doing for Christmas?”!!!!!!!! 

 

 

Holidays such as Easter and Christmas are meant to be a time to relax and recoup one’s energies and to spend time with family and friends.   Mike and I are both very keen gardeners, although you really wouldn’t think so if you were to walk round our large garden right now.  Ok, so the weather has been too bad to get much done so far this year, but then that was the case last year.  However, despite a snowy start to the day, we have had a lovely sunny afternoon here and Mike took the opportunity to get cracking with turning over the beds in our vegetable garden – with a little help from some friends!

 

 

 Mike does the initial digging and then the hens follow on – breaking down the soil to a fine tilth – after all they have to earn their keep in ways other than laying us the most delicious eggs!  My two Buff Orpingtons weren’t going to get involved as they are pretty broody at the moment and are quite reluctant to leave their nesting boxes.  Good Friday might be the day when you traditionally plant your first potatoes – or at least it is in this country - but there is no way that we are going to plant spuddies out in the garden right now.

 

 

 

 

We have been very lucky to have not only sister Lucinda and husband Andrew to stay this weekend, but also Peter, Iona and gorgeous grandson Archie.  Lucinda and Andrew actually came up to collect their 8 week old Sprocker puppy, named Hetty.  Little Hetty is chocolate brown with one white paw and a white flash down her neck.  Ok so in the alpaca world she would be classified as a Multi and would not make an appearance at the British Alpaca Futurity but Multis are often the cutest looking alpacas in the paddock.  We’ve never actually bred a Multi but it doesn’t mean to say that it might never happen.

 

Archie was able to meet his Great Grandmother this morning when she came up for a coffee.  It was a bit chaotic with an 11 week old baby and 8 week old puppy at large in the kitchen.  We were all on tiddle alert for the puppy but she didn’t blot her copy book.

Whatever else happens tomorrow, we simply must get back to some halter training as we are taking alpacas to the new NWAG show in Carlisle next weekend, where I am also stewarding.  I have to be honest that I can’t remember which alpacas we entered – best check tomorrow!  We have two white weanlings that we were getting confused with a few weeks ago and we actually entered the wrong one to the Futurity.  Or maybe he wasn’t the wrong one at all since he managed to win a 4^th place rosette in the highly competitive Junior White Male class!

Once again, I hope everyone has a lovely weekend and don’t forget to move your clocks forward an hour tonight if you live in the UK.  British Summer time officially starts tomorrow – whether it is snowing or not!!!!

PS  If anyone can tell me why it is that I can change the size of the first two photos that I publish on each blog but not the others, then I would be most grateful!