Inca is much better.

Just to let you know we are all much happier now the weather is a little warmer.  We’ve found some nice juicy grass in the front garden and the sun has been shining today.
Some of the flock decided that this might be a place where food would be found.  They got chased out.

All that is needed now is some rain and warmer weather to grow some grass. We overheard our owners suggesting dog collars and leads so we can be taken up the road to other grass.  I am sure we could be trusted to behave without leads….however there is the issue of the grumpy neighbour so we can’t try it out.

It’s been so long since I have blogged properly I should tell you there is now only one cat.  Jupiter had gone for a long walk last time I blogged, he didn’t ever come back.  Grebo and Jazz the 3 legged cat got on just fine, and Grebo enjoyed a few more months of being curled up with another cat just as he had at the start of his life.  Now there is just the 3 legged cat who is very spoilt.  She is the only animal in this household who is allowed to live indoors and lives a life of luxury!

That’s all for now.  You never know, there might be more from me this year.

Cou Cou c’est moi, Ida!

I know, long time no see…..I’ve been very busy and life has been so full.

Winter 2016/17

Incas interest in food is not how it is normally and he is spending more time apart from us and looking sad. Our little owner has been worried and got that man who comes to take our wool off to come and see what is wrong.

He thinks that we haven’t got enough to eat and have been eating the hedge which is too rich. So he brought over a trailer of hay…guess what, we’re not interested in that thank you!

Yesterday was a lovely day and the little owner went out and came back with some bread for us (they don’t eat bread much). We managed a whole pain between us and I heard her saying she was pleased to see Inca looking happier and pushing in (as he does normally) for food.

Today he is not happy again and the little owner is thinking that perhaps the very cold temperatures at night (-6C)  might not be helping so she has made ( and I mean made) the big owner rig up an infra red heating lamp in the pen he made several years ago which we refuse to use as a pen and there is fresh straw in there, the hay and some other things, oh and water (not sure what you’re meant to do with that!)

I heard the little owner say that she will keep us in over night and see if that improves things for Inca….she also said it will be interesting trying to get us in there….she’s right.
Will let you know how it goes tomorrow.

Hope you’ve all be okay and are looking forward to warmer weather and grass that grows.

Love,

Ida

Ida’s Diary entry #33

 

Haha!  Surprised you.  I haven’t blogged since May 2014.  There hasn’t been much to tell you.  We got sheared, we frolicked and we chewed the cud.  Life has been good, sometimes hot, sometimes wet and now look!  Lucky we’ve grown our coats back.  Our small owner reckons we look pregnant.

So, the first snow of this winter came, and we spent the night in our shelter (our owner could tell because we come out in the morning covered in straw).   When we came out we had a good play.  Jumping, bouncing and head butting. Inca made a couple of head butts towards our small owner and got told off 🙂

The snow began to melt reasonably quickly so it wasn’t long before we found edible bits.  As you can see, Inca is eating bark!  There are several trees with bark missing, which is not good.

We have new things living here now, these cats arrived in July.

They’re much bigger now of course.  The boy cat at the front is Jupiter (and he has been missing from here for 6 days!  Our owners are hoping he is on a great adventure somewhere).  His sister Jazz has only 3 legs and she is missing her brother.  We hope he comes back because we can head butt him.   The cats are lucky, they get to keep warm by the log burner!

 

The snow has gone now, and the sun is shining. It’s quite windy and cold.  So pleased I have my big woolly coat to keep me warm.

That man who came to shear us has been hedge cutting, and we managed to find the large amount of bramble left on the ground.  It chased each of us for a day or two and took our owners (and the man) some effort to catch us and remove it.

So that’s the news from me.  I hope you’ve not been holding your breathe waiting to hear from me.

Have a bon weekend.

Love,

IDA

❤

Ida’s diary entry #32

I am shivering today 😦

The hairdresser came yesterday, Hatchi l’Epagneul’s friend.
He took our wool off! Just like when it happened last year to mum and Inca, only this time mine has gone too!

 

Does my owners bum look big in this? 🙂

White medicine time.

 

 

Mum’s turn now.

Inca doing his goat impression.

 

Hi name is Ludo, he was very quick. It took about 5 minutes to do each of us. I think I struggled the most.

Inca and Mum’s fleeces

Blurry me. It was my first time after all!

Back out in the front garden. We kept calling to each other.

 

Me, bleating with my mouth full.

 

 

 

It’s been a nice warm day, I am hoping it won’t get too cold again tonight.

 

That’s all for now.

IDA

Ida’s diary entry #31

Yoo hoooooooooo,

It’s me 😀

I know, I know, it’s been a very long time since I last blogged. Almost 5 months!
There is only much I can tell you about eating grass (and new leaves and new hedging) and chewing the cud.

Our owner has been very busy, so she spends more time blogging about organic beauty products than about us.
In fact, she gets a bit passionate and a few weeks ago poor Inca found himself having his horns oiled with Neal’s Yard Organic Virgin Coconut Oil……he’s managed to avoid her since.

We’ve been eating quite a bit in the front garden, and there is a short barrier in front of the newer hedging as we started on it quite quickly. Our owners think we should just eat the grass, but we love leaves on trees and shrubs. Kiwi leaves are very nice.

We hoped we’d be invited in, it would appear not though.

We had our feet checked a few months ago and clipped, and had some white medicine. It wasn’t a nice experience, and I don’t want to write much about it as it brings back bad memories.

So, a man is coming to do our wool tomorrow. I think it’s a bit like the hairdresser. I have seen a lovely colour I’d like to try.

Meanwhile, here is me (and Inca he gets in all the photos) today. I’ll let you see me after my wool appointment tomorrow another time.

Yes, it is really me. It’s hard to tell me and mum apart now. My wool is slightly woollier than hers, she has more split ends. My face a tiny bit shorter. It’ll be easier once I have gone pink.

Hope to enjoy the brief update. My owner says I must tell you she has an online shop and you can find it here.

Click on the photo for a browse.

a bientot,

IDA

Ida’s Diary entry #30

Bonne année à tous!

I hope you’re all enjoying a new year. I was allowed to stay up and see the new year in 😀 My first new year.
I will be one year old next month, I feel quite a bit older than that though.

We had a pedicure a few days ago, I didn’t like leaning back against the man on my bottom, but I didn’t get away. My feet felt a bit odd at first but I quite like them now. We also had more of that medicine, Mum and Inca looked like they quite liked it, and they didn’t make much of a fuss when sitting on their bums.

We’ve been allowed into the front garden for a while, where the grass of course was greener and just right for us to eat since the back garden is looking less inviting. Of course we rushed over to the young hedging which was not on the plan apparently, so we got shooed out quite quickly. So now there is a short temporary fence in front of the hedging, so it’s grass or nothing for us.

The weather has been really mild and quite pleasant when it’s not been raining. We’ve been found sunbathing a couple of times this week.

The photo above was taken on the day our owners improved the fencing at the bottom of the garden to keep nextdoor’s dog out. It now looks like palette city down there, a good job my small owner isn’t bothered about perfection!

One of 12 being used in the garden

Our owner’s are very unhappy with the lack of control over the dog who comes in and chases the chickens. A few nights ago 1 Lavender pekin hen and a Lavender pekin chick were missing over night, they came back the next day. The same again yesterday, despite the improved fencing, the dog came in and we’re now missing one chick.

This is the dog, you’ve met her before.

Our neighbour’s have promised they’ll improve their barriers, our owners are not holding their breath.

So, hopefully the chick survived overnight and will come back to roost tonight. The weather forecast (so we’re led to believe) is set to be mild for the rest of January. I’ve been told it could snow during winter, and I think I vaguely remember some snow when I was very, very young.

Hope none of you are flooded, or have floated away or frozen your socks off in the storms across the sea.

a ++

IDA

Ida’s Diary entry #29

Bonsoir amies,

Today has been quite short and I am told that tomorrow will be a little less short but we won’t really notice it.
Winter has arrived officially, and the grass seems to have stopped growing.

Our owner got a little worried yesterday as we called her quite a bit when she came out to bother the chickens. It’s so difficult for us, as she doesn’t speak our language, so we’re not sure she knows what we were saying. She decided we might be hungry, as the grass is looking tired and there is no new growth. She and the big owner were going out for the day so she decided that to make sure we didn’t go looking for food somewhere else, she’d lock us in the shelter! Admittedly she gave us some food to eat, but that lasted about 10 mins and then we were stuck in there until it was dark. At lunch time today they both came down with a big orange thing, and a large brown disc and the big owner (making lots of noises and sighing heavily) carried it into the shelter. As you can imagine, we’re boycotting the shelter, one because we’re not going to get locked in again and two because of the big orange thing.

Our owners are off to visit a sheep farmer tomorrow for some advice and I think they may be bringing back some medicine, so there is another reason to stay out of the shelter. They can’t catch us around the garden 😀

So, this will be my first Christmas, so I thought I’d Google and see what sheep do at Christmas. First of all I was pleased to discover that being a sheep is good, and that being a turkey is not so good as this time of year.

Hmm, why is the sheep on the top of the tree? We have a tree which we sit under, but you wouldn’t catch us on top. I wonder whether it’s cos we’re black sheep and more intelligent.
Oh, that’s a bit worrying.

They’ve been making a drink using black sheep 😦

This sheep looks like it’s been drinking that drink!

I think I’ll stop looking, I am just seeing very worrying things here. Look what’s happened to that poor family!

So, as they say here en France, Bonne Fete or alternatively Joyeux Noel.

IDA

Ida’s Diary entry #28

Bonsoir, c’est moi

My smaller owner was out today and she took some photos of some of my relatives. I thought you’d like to meet them.

That’s Orphan Annie. She’s 3 weeks older than me and she was blacker than me when she was born. Her mum was quite young and didn’t call her to feed, so she didn’t get fed as much as me. She’s about half my size now.

Inca hasn’t got horns like this!

I’m not sure I remember them, I am sure mum and Inca would though. IT’s nice to see photos of them.

Salut

IDA

Ida’s Diary entry #27

Cou cou,

I know, I know it’s been too long and I have no excuses.

Whilst I haven’t been blogging I have been busy eating grass, growing fat and growing my coat ready for winter.
Inca’s coat has turned gingery/brown in the sun, Mum’s only a little and mine a little too.

As you can see from the photos, Autumn has arrived, and today is a little cool and breezy. A sure sign that winter is on the way is the annual migration of the Grue. We’ve been hearing them go over since the early hours, and my small owner has spotted skeins in the distance but none near enough to catch on camera. It’s a fantastic sight when they fly low overhead but at this time of year it’s not as welcome as it is in late Winter early Spring.

I wasn’t living here when they flew over in Feb. They make quite a bit of noise as they come over, probably calling out to each other, “Are we there yet” and stuff like that. The sky doesn’t look like this today, it’s grey and cloudy. My little owner is hoping to get a photo today. I prefer the sky that blue colour, don’t you 😀

The chickens are increasing in number, there are the 6 chicks you saw in an earlier blog. They’re now nearly 9 weeks old and looking a bit cold today.

This colourful coq is from the 6 chicks hatched about 4 months ago, all turned out to be coqs and this is the only one who will become part of the flock. I shan’t say what will become of the others

Dogs! Yes I mean dogs. The dog from next door has been over 2 or 3 times since I introduced her a month or so back. Luckily she doesn’t chase us and I hope she continues not to. Hatchi, the dog who comes regularly to be dogsat has just had a haircut.

We’ll have a good laugh at him when he comes over tomorrow.

So that’s it from here. What’s been happening you’re end?

a la prochaine,

IDA

Ida’s Diary, entry #26

Mum and Inca checking to see if the dog’s still there.

Salut, c’est moi Ida,

I’ve been a little unwell the last few days and my smaller owner has been making me take disgusting medicine. I am pleased to day though that I now feel well, have my appetite back and am enjoying my lambhood again.

It was a very scary afternoon and tonight when it was time for the chickens to be bothered, our smaller owner finally noticed that there was a dog in the garden!

Isis the first time she came an bothered us!

That’s her. Her name is Isis (she was born this year and if your remember we are all named with the letter “I” as that’s the letter for animals this year). She lives next door and this afternoon was in the garden practicing rounding us and the chickens up! It looks like all the chickens are accounted for, although there are a few feathers and a chicken missing many of her tail feathers, but our owner was more worried about the babies.

3 week old Lavender Pekin chicks.

We were not impressed and especially since the dog was eventually penned in our pen!

As a treat we’ve been allowed into the smaller garden tonight and we’re munching away on the lush grass. We’ve not been able to eat much this afternoon what with the dog an’ all.

I didn’t have time to check as I have eating grass to catch up on.

Me munching.

Oh and we had another treat, a little bit of bread at the back door. That doesn’t ever happen nowadays, so perhaps having the dog running round the garden is a good thing!

So, that’s what’s been happening. I’ve been chatting to my friends on Facebook who are mostly very caring.

Ida on Facebook.

Thanks for dropping in and sorry I am not blogging loads. Life is pretty much full on munching grass and greenery and putting weight on for the winter. I am rather round already, so I shall probably be fine.

a plus (French for See Ya!)

IDA

PS. Our owner has no idea why the photos decide to change the order in which they were posted. She knows that if she attempts to rectify the problem the mess will be far worse. So, she hopes you enjoy the photos and can make sense of their sense.