Over in Corsica once again to snatch one week of heat and sunshine sorely missed in England this wet summer. However there the reverse has been true as there has hardly been any rain since April 2006. The reservoirs are almost empty and the vegetation is yellow and tinder-box dry. The wild animals have nothing to eat and difficulty in finding water as most of the natural springs have disappeared altogether and the domestic animals are surviving on imported hay. The olive crop is non existent, the figs are dry and unpleasant and it won’t be a good year for grapes and wine either. Back home because of the floods the price of straw and hay for the animals is high and likewise many of the farmers’ vegetable crops have been destroyed. So either way with extreme weather patterns it seems you can’t win.
As the last of the five shepherds and their flocks had sadly retired in April I was expecting to miss the sound of the clanking of the sheep bells so I was surprised one morning to be awoken by that familiar melodic sound. Sure enough, there the brebis were picking their way over the rocky terrain. What had happened? Bibi, the shepherd who had retired aged eighty had found himself so bored by his retirement that he couldn’t stand it and bought another flock! I just hope he keeps going for another 20 years because none of the younger generation wants to keep up that tradition and without it the ninth century village of Sant’Antonino is merely a tourist attraction.For some almost psychic reason I also found myself thinking about Hazel and Acorn, my pigs who are now about 15 and 17 respectively. I asked the Corsican farmers what age they could live to, but unfortunately with pigs being turned into French charcuterie at a relatively early age nobody was able to give me the answer.
When I returned to England all the animals were fine and had been well looked after. However I was somewhat concerned to find that my elderly pigs were spending an inordinate amount of time sleeping. Should I call the vet I asked myself, but there were no signs of anything untoward, although I couldn’t help remembering the two maxims about pigs one being that you cannot catch a pig (very difficult) and the other that they don’t get ill, they just die (which has been my experience with one young one in the past which the vet had not managed to save in spite of various injections and antibiotics). I decided to consult my farmer friend next door, Jim Green, who keeps pigs, sheep and cows. Amazingly he got it in one ” I once had pigs that got drunk on fermented apples and molasses in their feed. Have they been in the orchard?” Sure enough upon investigation their droppings were all over the orchard amongst the fallen apples. There was no doubt about it my two reeling pigs were drunk and sleeping off their hangovers. They are now confined to their enclosure grunting their displeasure until further notice and being fed their normal pig rations which hopefully may make them lose weight as well. An obese pig is an unhealthy pig as their faces get so paunchy they can hardly see out of their eyes so a sensible diet will not do them any harm. As a precaution I have also limited the sheep terrain and locked them out of the orchard so they don’t suffer the same fate.
Another side effect of this damp weather has been the number of the Shetlands and ponies suffering from sweet itch in spite of the garlic I put in their food. Most of them scent the smell of the sprays and creams at a considerable distance so catching them and treating them takes a lot of extra time. Gretel the newly rescued donkey who arrived in such a bad state is looking very good but I have now added glucosamine to her cocktail of vitamins for her stiff front leg. Starsky and Hutch continue to play at tug of war with the hose, their special ball with a handle and any other item they can lay their hoof on but do get a little fractious with each other when Chocolate, Phoebe or Dandy come on heat. Nutmeg the blind in one eye pony who was so sweet and self-effacing is beginning to get over confident and played up badly when the farrier came to do her feet. I am now having to pick out her hoofs daily with a combination of bribery (polo mints) and stern words so we don’t have a repeat performance when he comes again.
News of Marty, the young cob, and his friend Shabba who has joined him: they are with my horse expert friend Sally Cooper and her reports on their progress are excellent. Watching her is fascinating as with a combination of affection and sterness they were soon literally eating out of her hand. I realise I really need to treat them more like I treat my dobermans with that same combination of love and strength and to take less nonsense from them when they won’t behave. Seeing them respond beautifully just to verbal commands was such a treat and upon my return from Colchester next week where I shall be supporting my husband I look forward to them both coming home and intend to keep up the good work!
News on the cat front: Ollie the white Persian who weighed nothing and looked so appalling upon arrival after extensive anti-parasite treatment for both stools and blood has now blossomed and is quite transformed. He looks magnificent. Teddy, the Selkirk Rex, from another source- but with the same problems from contaminated meat- who ended up on a drip twice has had the same medications. From being this dainty, fragile creature he is now turning into quite a bruiser in stature and resembles Arthur, which is not surprising as they are related, though while Arthur loathes most of the other cats Teddy loves everybody and everything. The little white kitten with bad eyes has also been treated and is doing fine (he has also been extensively de-wormed). He and Ollie are now firm friends and are frequently to be found curled up together.
Dramatic news came when a wonderful home came up for the little grey and white cat called Poppet, Arthur’s friend, who had only recently come to us. She had been a nervous wreck having had an extremely nervous owner but was quite altered and very confident by the time she left. I had a phone call from a lady whose elderly Siamese had died. This had left the other one so bereft that it had yowled for four days and nobody could get any sleep. Poppet was very young-18 months- and got on with other cats- even Arthur which was a remarkable feat so I thought she might be the ideal cat to fill the vacuum. Young enough to adapt easily and young enough not to prove a threat to the remaining Siamese. It worked a treat, the terrible noise stopped and apart from an initial minor hiss peace has reigned.
However no sooner had she left than I had a call from Andy our vet to ask whether we could take on a beautiful young silver-point Chinchilla feline. The owner wanted it to be put down saying it was dirty about the house. As that can often be the result of bad feeding with additive and sugar-laden foods or cruel treatment I agreed to take her on. At seven thirty in the morning a lady arrived with a cat carrier handed her over and left abruptly saying “I do love her you know”. The gorgeous cat was matted from head to foot and is already purring away in Poppet’s cattery. How any one could possibly envisage putiing down a youngster like that or indeed any healthy cat I really don’t know.But more of her next time- I wasn’t even told her name. If you have any suggestions as to what to call a blue eyed silver point Chinchilla cat they will be welcome and we can be contacted through the animal website www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk .
SHOW-BIZ NEWS.
I am joining my husband Patrick Garland in Colchester for the week where he is directing Warren Mitchell in the play “Visiting Mr. Green”. I look forward to the return visit as we had a wonderful week there with Jeffrey Archer’s play”Beyond Reasonable Doubt” two years ago . As Patrick’s play is just about to open I shall let you know how it went next time.
All the best,
Alexandra Bastedo
P.S. My continued apologies for the absence of my theatrical web-site at the moment. It will be rectified but at the moment it is beyond my control so please bear with me and in the meantime I can be contacted through the animal site www.abcanimalsanctuary.co.uk
Copyright Alexandra Bastedo.
