The Bog Woppets.

The newspaper article did the trick and 4 kittens were found homes today,I hope the momentum continues through the week.I thought there was a home for the two ducks but it turned out they thought they were females so cannot add males to their existing group.I cant for the life of me remember what a group of ducks is called, I know a gaggle of geese but what are ducks?
Some of the old resident cats are looking distinctly frail nowadays,I fear several will go in the next few months.This is the part I hate about taking in elderly animals though I would not have it any other way.These animals are the needy ones and they so enjoy their lives here,its wonderful seeing them all lazing about in the sun(when we have it!) and it never fails to amaze me how even the doddery ones find a new surge of energy when the food gets put down.If they can have an extra year living in this rural cat idyll then its worth it.What always surprises me is how they settle so quickly when I release them, its as though they realise immediately that this is Ok, that there will be a never ending supply of food, warmth and comfort.
The work has started preparing the ground for the new mobile stables which will be used for the little group of elderly black shetland ponies, Noddy,Maggie,Connie,leroy and Grandad or as the farrier calls them "The Bog Woppets".(no idea why, I presume it must be a lancashire or Yorkshire term!) The doors will be lower so they will be able to see over, at the moment their stable doors are too high though it is unlikely little Noddy will be able to see out even with the new doors, he is far too small.Noddy has been in our care since he was 8 years old, he came from Derbyshire, his owner had lost her home through bankruptcy and she was worried the Bailiffs would take her pony.He had lived in her garden and was entire (a stallion)so was a miniature hellraiser for the first year and terrorised many of the staff including me but now he is a little old man well into his thirties and as gentle as can be.His girlfriend Maggie came to us from Bangor after her companion died from people throwing food into their field,(such a dangerous thing to do), Connie came from a wildlife shelter in Gloucester who could no longer care for her,Leroy was a rescue from the horse sales in the shetland isles and Grandad came from Liverpool where he was rescued from a life of neglect. Our horses come from all over the Uk though I have taken in more from Merseyside than any other area.