Having had several discussion with Barbara's mother, on the phone, over the few days prior to our day out to finalise arrangements - decisions such as who buys the bus ticket. It made sense for me to do that as I had to catch a bus to meet them. And - picnic or meal on site? Meals on site tend to be a) expensive, b) junk food, and c) none of them are suitable for me, and as the weather was forecast to be fairly decent, we decided on a picnic. We agreed that I would pay for the tickets and they would provide the picnic.
Friday arrived and I duly bought my "family explorer" ticket and set off to meet them. I took my largest backpack with me, to put the picnic stuff in. Just as well it was the big one because there was loads of food. Barbara was even more chatty than usual and was practically bouncing along the road.
Two bus journeys later and we were there - I'll swear Barbara's shoes must have been magnetised - it's the only possible explanation for the fact that she was still walking on the path and not hovering in mid-air!!
I paid our entrance fee and we walked in, and promptly stopped by the map to decide where to go first. An "entertainment colleague" approached and informed us that there were some born-out-of-season orphan lambs shortly to be bottle-fed in the "small barn" which was to out left, beside the main paddock. And we could help if we wanted. It's hard to say who was more enthusiastic about this - me or Barbara. We headed to the barn. There were a number of different animals there. And that caused Barbara's mother to exclaim in surprise. Thereby giving me the title for this post. Yes there were lambs, and goats (kids really) and a llama.
Barbara and I were both disappointed to learn we were not permitted to feed the llama.
We fed the lambs. Barbara's mother took pictures. I remonstrated, "Hey, no photos!!" She shrugged and said, "You were both grinning so widely and looked so cute that I had to."
Cute?? Cute?? She called me the C word. CUTE?! I pointed out to her that I am not now, never have been, and never will be, "cute". She said, "Of course not. How could I have thought otherwise." I might have believed her if she hadn't been laughing as she said it.
We moved on from the lambs and over to the baby goats. I stuck a 50p piece into the machine and bought us some goat food. We went outside into the paddock and together we fed the goats. I heard the camera go again. I glared at the unrepentant photographer. She smiled sweetly. I gave it up as a lost cause.
Barbara grabbed my hand and dragged me over to the next enclosure to look at the bunnies... ahem... rabbits. Yes, rabbits. Not bunnies. No nope no way, never bunnies, rabbits. There were guinea pigs there too. We were allowed to hold the poor, long-suffering rabbits. They seemed to be resigned to the fact that dozens of children (and the occasional adult) would pet them over the course of the day. The "colleague" in charge of the pen informed us there were some young rabbits and guinea pigs for sale. It was touch-and-go but we managed to leave the pen
without buying a rabbit or a guinea pig. Barbara tried the "please, please, please, please" trick again but this time her mother wasn't caving.
Next was a pony ride. They had several rather bored looking Shetland ponies which, for an extortionate additional sum of money, children could ride (on a long rein) around the paddock. I bought her a ticket (the please, please, please worked this time - I wanted her to have a great day). She chose a dapple pony named Pippin. She asked if I wanted a go but I pointed out that I was about three-quarters of a metre too tall, and at least 20 kilos too heavy for it. The "riding colleague" helped her onto the pony and off they went. The pony ambled slowly round the perimeter of the field. When they got back Barbara was smiling so widely I wondered why her face didn't break. She rushed over, hugged me, and said it was absolutely the bestest thing ever.
The trauma of being hugged meant I needed to sit down and so we stopped for lunch. Barbara's mother, (I think I'll call her Mrs B in future it takes less time to type), had prepared a feast not just a picnic. There were little tubs of salad, and sandwiches, and humus with olives and mini ciabattas, and some bowls of fruit salad, and drinks. And all with proper cutlery not plastic.
Fed and watered we carried on. There were gerbils and chipmunks to pet (and resist buying). And some hamsters who weren't in the slightest bit interested in doing anything but sleeping.
And there was a walled enclosure that contained meercats. Which we could look at but not touch of course. I wasn't sure how I felt about that, the meercats being there. They're a fairly recent fad and must have been brought in specially. Barbara was enchanted by the though.
Then we moved on to the otter pen to watch them being fed. Guests don't get to help with that, which I was rather glad about. They get fed with bits of raw octopus and fish-guts in addition to sprats. And, surprisingly, monkey nuts.(Peanuts in the shell). Apparently they love them.
The day finished with a look at the gift shop (naturally). Barbara went home with a soft toy meercats, and otter, and a mug with pictures of rabbits on.
We all had a wonderful time.
See you next week. Goodnight and may your God/s go with you.
Ze
