Back To Normal.

We're back into typical British weather. Plenty of rain in the night means that I don't have to water my transplanted plants but also that the mowing I put off doing yesterday afternoon will now have to wait till the grass dries off. Grey skies and cloud sitting low on the hill and blowing along the valley. I hung out some sheets on the line hoping the wind would blow them dry but the air was too damp. I could have gone out and done some gardening but my back is a little stiff after yesterday's long drive.
Both foals and their mothers are now in the same field. They look quite similar but Doris is much quieter and stays close to her mother. Ben is full of beans and spends most of his time cantering around Belle. Doris looks bigger than Ben but still has a curly foal coat. Her teeth however are at the same stage as Ben's despite him being 2 1/2 weeks older than her. When he was first born his top teeth were only just visible and it was fun to let him suck your finger. Now he has a good cm of top teeth and has to be reminded not to nip. Doris' teeth are also a cm long and she was busy trying to chew my trousers today.

Yesterday there were half a dozen swallows flying around. They are probably the ones that were hatched out in the scree garden shed last year. I'm hoping that the missing house martins might be back this year.

Midnight Mystery.

HAPPY EASTER.

Peter and I went to our local church for the Easter Service. Very traditional and I do miss the much more lively worship at the Fellowship we used to worship with but have moved away from for various reasons.

Shirwell Church is a lovely old church and the barrel roofing shows the use of boat building techniques.The church was full but not overflowing with around 50 people. It is a sad reflection of our times that this is the total of worshippers from 3 parishes. One vicar serves all 3 parishes and though there were communion services being held at the other 2 churches later in the day, this was the main Family Easter Service. (And there are no other churches in the area.) There were about 6 children at this morning's service even though there are about 50 children at the village school. Britain claims to be a Christian country but for most people that simply means that they don't belong to any other religion, possibly believe in God and would like to get married in a church. Everyone of course celebrates Easter with lavish expenditure on chocolate Easter eggs. I do begrudge paying inflated prices for all that packaging. When the boys were little we would go to the shops after Easter and buy the eggs at half price but they soon worked out it was still cheaper to buy bars of chocolate. When the boys were very little our London hens managed to lay chocolate eggs, must have been the chocolate we fed them the night before.


Now for last night's midnight mystery.
Fact 1- Elwen, the smallest of our cats, always climbs up onto the conservatory roof and cries at our bedroom window on that side to be let in.
Fact 2- The feathers found on the conservatory roof look like owl feathers.
So what happened? Late last night we heard thumping out on the conservatory roof, a lot more than Elwen usually makes. I stuck my head out of the window to see something large and round scrabbling away and sliding down to the edge of the conservatory roof but I couldn't make out what it was. I rushed downstairs but there was nothing on the ground. Back upstairs, shone my torch out onto the roof to see a lot of feathers. Shortly afterwards Elwen was back on the windowsill. I let her in and there was not a scratch or mark on her.
Possibilities. Had Elwen climbed up on the roof or windowsill at the same time as an owl was sitting there to the surprise of both of them? Or had Elwen been the focus of an owl attack? She is really tiny, about the size of a 6 month old normal cat (her mother is tiny too but her brother is a big fatty.) She bullies Squeeky and has been known to kill full sized rats so I don't think an owl would have stood a chance against her. We will never know.


Had to include this picture of 3 day old Ben being admired by my 2 sons who were togged up to the eyeballs (literally) ready to go off and shoot each other with their air rifles. Such macho men. No signs of Coral's foal yet. Ben is happy to wear a tiny foal's halter as he follows his mum back down to the stables.

A New Baby.

Looked out of the window as I was getting ready to go and do some gardening to see a new foal out in the field. What a little cutie. (I did film him but the internet has taken nearly an hour to upload 3 photos so I'm not attempting to get that on yet.) He was racing round the field on slightly wobbly legs with his mum keeping close to him.Of course I was straight up there cooing and taking photos. I spoke to Sarah a bit later and found out that he was born yesterday afternoon. His mum is an Exmoor pony called Belle and he will be known as Ben though he does have a long registered name too.
Watching with great interest from the other field are Persy (born last year) and Gift. Persy's mum, Coral was also in the field and is due to foal any day now as well.

Constant showers and foal watching interrupted my gardening but at long last the scree garden is clear of autumn leaves. During the heavy rain I sit under the shelter at the end of the garden and enjoy the view. It was a bonus to see this rainbow and luckily my camera was close at hand.