A Visit To The Sanctuary

My day at the Sanctuary started around ten o’clock by then though Janet and Louise had already walked the fields to check that the sheep and cows were all well. 
The chickens and Stan the turkey were up and out in their large enclosed run having breakfast.  Paul the goose and his friends were promenading across the fields with some of the sheep and Muscy the duck had taken himself up to the barns to spend his day amongst the straw with the elderly sheep.

Having been fed and walked the older dogs; Pip, Cherry, Poppy, Garland and Gamble had taken themselves back to bed - contented snoring filled the kitchen.  Beatrice and Rosie were out supervising Louise and Puppa was with Janet who was making the first of the day’s phone calls to arrange deliveries of hay and straw, visits from the vet and answering enquiries.
Whilst Louise fed Olive and Blackberry the rabbits and the guinea pigs Elvis, Roy and The Girls Next Door, Janet and I had a cup of tea before setting off to feed the horses.
Bluebell the sow, having had her new injection for her arthritis, was snuffling her way through a bucket of treats – for pigs anyway - Hosanna the donkey was taking in the fresh morning air in her paddock watching Fergus the lamb and his equally young family, Fifi, Fleur and Florence who were investigating some autumn leaves in the next door paddock.
Louise and Beatrice were now mucking out the elderly sheep in their barns and giving them their morning feed.

Janet called in to the feed shed for some treats for the horses.  Maisie and Tom the cats had finished their breakfast, Maisie was out chasing dandelion heads blowing in the wind and Tom was perched on a sack of food chatting to one of the feral cats, no doubt comparing notes as to who had had the most successful chase after the rats over night.   Inside the open top of a bag of sheep feed one of the ex-battery hens was fast asleep.
Puppa, Janet and I set off on the short walk down the lane to see Zara and Camilla the mares in their field.  We took two buckets of feed down for them.  Camilla being a very old girl has a special mash with lots of garlic in it. She loves it.  She was not as keen to have a coat on but with the onset of much colder weather Janet decided that this was best for her and Camilla reluctantly gave in.
By the time we returned the dogs had woken up and it was time for our lunch.  The phone continued to ring and the postman had been.  Janet quickly scanned the mail for any welcome donations.
The second field walk of the day, around the Sanctuary’s one hundred acres, started off the afternoon.  We visited all the sheep and cattle, making sure that none of them had any problems and all was well.

For me this is a special time of the day at the Sanctuary.  The sheep instead of running away run to you especially if they scent a few treats on the wind.  Swiftly surrounded and slowly turned round in a circle by all the rummaging and jostling for biscuits; your hands and feet are nibbled, heads and horns rubbed on your legs and sometimes you get a friendly, familiar butt up the bottom.  You can see and touch all the individual, contented faces.  This is what the Sanctuary is about, this is what it is here for.  It is a truly magical experience when you remember that many of these sheep have had a brutal past.  They were not in the least perturbed by a stranger, and a human one at that, in their midst.
The sheep that are in need of some extra attention are brought up to the yard in the Shogun.  Normally they have the back of this vehicle to themselves but, after a quick perusal, they agreed to share it with me and a bucket of feed to keep them occupied on the short journey. 
Janet and Louise spent the rest of the afternoon attending to these sheep, trimming feet, trimming bottoms and putting the older ones in the open barn ready for the winter.
Louise’s day at the Sanctuary ended at teatime.

Janet and Maggie, who had now arrived back from work, started the before dark routine or more especially before Foxy routine.  Olive and Blackberry were coaxed into their over night accommodation.  Muscy the duck brought himself back from the barns and, along with the other ducks and the geese, was secured in his shed.  Maisie, Tom and the feral cats were fed a second time.
Most of the hens and Stan the turkey had already put themselves to roost inside their large house so their feed bowls were topped up and the doors firmly closed for the night.  The sheep were settling down in groups and  Dumpling, Lilly and Ginger the Shetland ponies were munching hay in their stable.  As Janet and Puppa arrived back from feeding Zara and Camilla we started our evening meal. 

Looking through the kitchen window I watched the sun set over the fields at the end of a peaceful day for these fortunate animals.