Sue Woodcock: New kid on the block for my nanny goat

Meanwhile, the young, both avian and quadruped, are thriving. My lovely old English nanny goat gave birth to a charming nanny kid this week. The mother came from a milking farm and will be very content to keep her offspring. It will be a carbon copy of its mother and she is inordinately proud of it. I shall call the kid Freda.

I finally managed to catch the remaining sheep at my friend's field. Initially, very flighty, once caught she was amazingly docile and compliant and has provided a fantastic lamb's wool fleece. I am spinning it already to make a jumper for her owner.

But I was not so lucky when I tried to catch another four sheep belonging to another friend. I did manage to grab one of them, a very large and wily old mule and together we rolled down a hill and the sheep trotted off happily while I picked myself up and nursed the bruises. I decided to return with some help in the future.

I have been given six more ducks and another gander this week. With fear and trepidation I released the three eldest ducklings which were too large for their pen. It didn't take them long to find their way to food and water and they are doing fine. The new gander immediately got into a scrap with the resident gander but they now have a pecking order and things have calmed down. The six new ducks run in a group energetically around the field and delight in their freedom but I have noticed they all come into the barns at night with the Khaki Campbell that has joined forces with them.

I had more visitors call at the gate, I think they really wanted to see Brillo but I had left her inside to devour her daily meal. Then I went round and checked the fields. The sheep were resting in the shade of the walls and the goats decided to walk round with me on my tour of inspection. They were followed by the cats and then the dogs and a couple of turkeys. I must have looked like the Pied Piper. I managed to catch the billy goat Gavin and trimmed his feet, one of which was quite bad and now he is walking and running a lot better. Having sprayed him with Terramycin spray I ended up with bright blue fingers and a bright blue face.

I went to an evening service at St Mary's at Conistone on Sunday. This delightful little church is a gem of tranquillity and simplicity set on the edge of the village with a calm and quiet churchyard. Inside it has magnificent embroidered panels and the church is very old. Once the service was over, I dashed on to run the weekly quiz which was fun and for me a very busy evening.

A friend came to visit for a night and we meandered in the mire and across my fields. The evening was warm and balmy, the moon was rather shyly half-hidden behind a cloud and the light was fading fast but it gave an almost spiritual glow. The dogs love to romp in the mire but never go down there unless I am with them. I am not sure why.

My friend is a first class chef and I felt a little nervous producing at best a very basic meal but it turned out quite well. We sat chatting until late, something I seldom do. It was fun. Needless to say, the next day I was tired and possibly a little hungover from the excellent bottle of wine we shared.

My older dog Froyle has been a bit poorly but after a visit to the vet's and a course of antibiotics is regaining her energy, much to my relief. I know she is better because she tried to pinch a treat from Brillo.

The treat was a particularly smelly part of a small dead rabbit and it took me some time to wrest it from the dogs. Having disposed of it, the little dog promptly went out and brought the remaining half in. The fact they had perfectly good and delicious food in their bowls was of no interest to them.

CW 10/7/10