Dear Readers, My profuse apologies for the closing down of my show business web site which over the next few weeks will have some major alterations so please bear with me. In the meantime I will continue to write my monthly blog around the middle of the month and you can still communicate with me through the new animal sanctuary web site on www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk
All the very best,
Alexandra Bastedo
It beggars belief that the latest outbreak of foot and mouth disease seems to have been caused by a lapse in security at the Pirbright Laboratories only thirty minutes drive from all my animals. It is extremely worrying and all cloven footed animals such as our pigs, sheep, my neighbour’s goats and Jim the farmer’s cows next door are at risk. Even closer to the laboratory is my friend Paddy Dancey who has wonderful rare breeds of sheep that she keeps at Loseley Farm, what a disaster it would be if anything happened to them. If anyone tried to cull Katie, my sheep, and her 2 black lambs I think I would become hysterical. They are now so tame that we can have long conversations with the 3 of them answering with various renditions of “Baa” ! And they come stampeding over whenever their names are called. That is not to say that I wouldn’t be upset if someone came to shoot Hazel and Acorn my two pigs who are also great characters and have been in the sanctuary for 15 years-or Keats and Kipling, the Wiltshire Longhorns, I would be desolate. So as a result I listen out for the latest news bulletins and have laid 6 foot of carpet in the entrance. 6 feet being the distance covered by one rotation of the wheel of a four wheel drive. Each morning I disinfect it with a serious disinfectant called Virkon in a large watering can. Sunshine dries it out and rain washes it away so either way it is hard work!
For a change everything seems to be relatively alright in the animal world with the exception of the new arrivals who always bring their own problems. I have tried a new technique in the ongoing saga of the war on fleas and- cross-fingers -it seems to be working. On the advice of Francis Hunter, my friend who is the retired homeopathic vet, I have given the cats with skin problems sulphur 30 twice a day for 10 days and to little Teddy, the little Selkirk Rex with the chronic flea allergy and a bad reaction to chemicals I have also been administering a Brewer’s yeast tablet a day (it contains the vitamin Bs that deter fleas ). Fortunately Teddy likes the taste and regards it as a treat so giving it to him is easy.So far the results are promising and my flea comb has not succeeded in finding anything for at least a week. As far as the flies are concerned Gretel, the little grey donkey, has to be sprayed at least twice a day and all the donkeys, ponies and horses have fly fringes put on every morning. I have to hide the spray behind my back as most of them scarper whenever they spot it!
When I last toured with the Jeffrey Archer play “Beyond Reasonable Doubt” my friend Maggie Stables (who played the housekeeper) commented that whenever there was a change of cast the dynamic of the group changed and friendships altered. So it is with animals. I usually try to have animals in pairs because it is nicer for them but of course if you have an animal or bird on its own it often responds better to you. This is particularly true of male turkeys who adore you if they are on their own and loathe you if they have a wife. Mine is particularly irksome at the moment and attacks at every opportunity and for such a stupid bird the way he creeps up on you and pounces when you aren’t looking is quite clever! As for his idiotic wife she has been sitting on imaginary eggs for over a month. The females are so stupid that unless you can convince them otherwise they just go on sitting and sitting and sitting until they die. . As a result I have had to make the hutch she chose for her nest very uncomfortable with bowls of water and bricks and have picked her up and ejected her a couple of times a day. She has finally decided that sitting on her nest is a bad idea but instead has periods of madness when she flies out of the 12 foot high enclosure in to the fox territory outside. This means that I am constantly checking her whereabouts and launch myself at her with a rugger tackle whenever I see her! However I have experienced this potentially fatal folly once before and know that eventually she will return to normal.
With the arrival of Jack and Jill, the 2 tiny new Shetlands in his field the change in Eddy the little Shetland -whom we had to separate from the others when he was castrated -has been quite remarkable. We have wonderful footage of him playing with Marty, the big young cob, and grooming Freckles the grey Welsh pony but since the arrival of the 2 new mini Shetlands all that has changed and he will have hardly anything to do with the bigger ponies or indeed us any more. He is spending all his time with his own kind and is now proving very difficult to catch where before he was easy. The reverse is true of Shabba the horse. Marty his cob friend is large and young and was beginning to get a little overwhelming. He has therefore been sent away for some basic training by my friend Sally Cooper which should improve his manners considerably. Heart-rendingly this has left Shabba calling for him at the gate where he disappeared but he has become much more affectionate to human beings in the meantime. However it won’t be long before his pal Marty is back and I expect the status quo will return to normal.
In the cat world a remarkable thing has happened. We had a call about a pretty grey and white cat called Poppet whose owners had gone abroad and left her with friends. The friends then decided that they didn’t want her so she has come to us. The only place available was in the pen next to Arthur who hates all the other cats but strangely he has taken to Poppet , the partition between them has been taken down and they are living in perfect harmony together. So now I am looking to re-home Arthur and Poppet together! We also took in a very poorly blue-eyed white Persian called Ollie. When I picked up his cat carrier it was so light at first I thought there was nothing in it. At first we put him in the pen next to Arthur but with the arrival of Poppet he has been moved to my bathroom which is serving as a hospital unit. Finally after a course of Flagyl he has put on weight and has been going out of the bathroom window and exploring the flat roof. Two days ago a little white kitten with a bad eye arrived and the only place I could think of putting him as we are so full up was with Ollie who is now well. This has proved to be a huge success, Ollie is washing him and the two are now curled up together. They too will now have to be found a home together.
On the fund-raising side the evening at the Mill Theatre at Sonning was quite remarkable and I shall be forever grateful to Sally Hughes, the artistic director, for her generosity. You can read more about the evening in the news section of our website www.abcAnimalSanctuary.co.uk Sparks Yard at Arundel have also announced they will have a fund-raising day for us and for Paws Animal Sanctuary on a day to be decided on in either November or December.
August is always the month of fetes. Last weekend Cat and Rabbit Rescue , Sidlesham, had an excellent fund-raising day and as usual were able to home a number of the cats the following day which the public had fallen in love with. Yesterday I went to their appeal at the Chichester District Council’s Offices about extending their catteries. They take in neuter and re-home 700 cats a year but have to turn away just as many. We have a lot of their more problematical, unhomeable cats here. We await their decision, but I shall be very upset on their behalf if permission is refused as they are desperately needed . This Saturday Brent Lodge, the wild bird hospital at Sidlesham , another very worthwhile animal centre, has its open day and on Sunday Paws Animal Sanctuary at Findon with all their rabbits, guinea pigs, and cats has theirs.
More details of these fetes are also available on www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk
Apart from that I am having to invest in some more fire extinguishers as I came across a tractor with its hay load that had caught fire. I dashed home, collected some slightly antiquated extinguishers and rushed them over to the tractor driver. Amazingly they still worked and helped a lot but the blaze was only totally put out when a local fire engine arrived and finished off the job. However it did make me realise how quickly hay can catch fire so an investment in new fire extinguishers is imperative.
SHOW-BIZ:
My husband Patrick Garland starts rehearsals with Warren Mitchell in London on Monday with the play “Visiting Mr. Green”. The good news is that the theatre bookings round the country are doing very well.
At Chichester we saw Patrick Stewart in “Twelfth Night” and he was superb as Malvolio- quite the best I have seen and Peter Bowles in “Waltz of the Toreadors” at the Minerva Theatre opposite is mesmeric in a very demanding role.By popular demand they are also putting on the 2 plays of Nicholas Nickleby again this autumn. An absolute must if you live anywhere within the cachement area.
Late as usual-
Signing off,
All the best, Alexandra Bastedo
Copyright Alexandra Bastedo.
