Wednesday 29 June 2011

In which I become a Star For the Day!

It has been a manic few days here,  the work on the barn floor has begun and there have been trucks arriving daily with deliveries of building materials. It is looking good ; half the rubber matting is in place already thanks to volunters Jason and Harley and it will be so much easier to keep clean than the sand floor which unfortunately did not work out as well as I had hoped. I think  the horses will appreciate it when it is finished. Next weekend the concreting of the stable yard begins and when winter comes around I know how much of a difference that will make to horses and staff alike. It is a fantastic feeling when I am able to make improvements here, I have so many plans for the shelter but of course without funding they  can come to nothing. My next projects have to be with the cattery. There are plans for the total rebuilding of our less than ideal cat pens but the plans which have been lodged in the council planning department for two years now have to be redone.This is because the new animal welfare regulations require all rescue catteries to be of the same standard and size as Boarding facilities.I discovered this was going to happen shortly after I put in the planning application so the plans were witheld until I could have them altered by an architect. More expense!
Candy the labrador has evoked much interest but mainly from couples with young children and Im afraid she would knock them over in her eagerness to be friendly,her original quiet behaviour has vanished now she has her paws well under my table ! Paddy has felt compelled to put her in her place a few times , same as a mother dog would with a wayward pup.He is very patient with the 'foster children' !

Some time ago we received a donation from the Royal Bank of Scotland charity fund. I thought maybe a member of staff had put the name of Freshfields forward for this.Anyhow a few weeks ago I received a telephone call form the RBS asking if I would consider having a photo taken for them- thinking it would be for their inhouse magazine \I readily agreed  but was a little surprised when they sent out a representative to look us over! He chatted to the staff and took several photos and wanted to look round the fields. Bit odd I thought, usually for any sort of media publicity  a photographer comes, takes his photos and goes within a space of ten minutes. Then I received another call saying that they wanted ME in the photo(not what I was expecting having pushed the staff forward and melted into the background myself) I agreed with little grace(hate my photo taken) and  yesterday was the day of the photo shoot.
A team of FOUR arrived and were  here for at least three hours, there was an
advertising creative director, the photographer(what amazing equipment he had and by that I mean his CAMERA)the RBS man and would you believe  aMAKE UP artist to spruce me up!! I could not believe it but suddenly I found myself sitting in their van having my hair and make up done. Then we moved to the field where hundreds of photos were taken of me with Phoebe one of our ponies and every time the wind  blew the make up girl rushed forwards to fix my hair! I was thinking to myself that it was all a bit over the top and if this was what actors had to endure when  on set , I was glad that had not been my vocation.
When it was over I asked why there was so much fuss over a mere photo and was told that it was for a poster which was going to be in every Royal Bank of Scotland Branch in the Uk and Wales! 
I have no recollection of being told that, just as well I didnt know or I would have backed out! So there you have it.RBS customers look out for the Freshfields Poster Girl! I knew I would be famous one day.

Mion and Elspeth had  a very successful day with their Freshfields stall at the Criccieth fair - they raised an amazing £470. That has to be a record sum made at a Freshfields stall. Well done girls.
This sunday is Catherines Open garden in Criccieth.Last year was a lovely day spent looking round her lovely garden and people were enjoying their strawberry scones and cups of tea in  gorgeous surroundings. heres hoping the day will be as nice this year. I am looking forward to meeting old friends there.( I am sure they will say "less of the old")

Sorry there are no photos today.I will make up for it on the next one.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

That's great, will look out for you! :-)
Lesley I noticed that you mentioned previously about B12 injections, did you become anaemic?.
Are you still vegan?.
Hope you won't mind me asking, but I'm waiting for test results, looks like I'm also very anaemic though (and vegan).
Not dissing veganism, just interested...........