Monday 2 January 2017


Sunday 1st January 2017



Happy New Year dear reader!



Today, at Lower Shaw farm, it rained, and rained, and rained, despite which, for the first time in living memory, there is no water in the duck pond.



We are puzzled. By this time, midwinter, it is normally full. What’s going on?



And it’s a strange first day of the year, with so much rain, and us being out in it, walking and running (parkrun) but the animals all under cover, the hens locked up in the hen house because of Bird Flu (DEFRA’s orders) and the pigs in their neat beds of straw because their pen is a mud bath.  



We have a lovely group of winter walkers here, who celebrated the passing of the old year and arrival of the new one with walks in the day time and games, puzzles, and songs in the evening, plus saunas, and plenty of good food too.



This afternoon, we saw a buzzard, in the trees behind the sheep pen.