Paper Crafts for Children

Despite some vague comment years ago that having many animals is too much of a tie to the property – we now officially have lots!

When I was writing About Craftylocks, the section about the animals in our life was going to take up more words than anything about me, so it turned into it’s own special page. Perhaps we do have too many animals, no, not yet anyway!

Dog – We have a very much loved family dog, a golden Labrador. She was named by the children – Stardust, although I call her Dusty. She is floppy and cuddly and completely at the bottom of the pecking order of every animal on the property. She adores people and joins in with the children’s games, she likes to be in constant contact with us – great company!
Cats – The cats are such characters, we got them from the SPCA animal shelter at the same time, but they are so different. One is snuggly and also a bit nervous – Scotty (a girl, named by the children!), she thinks the dog is her kitten and sleeps in the kennel with it.
The other cat, Glitter, was named after the glitter on the Christmas tree that it liked playing with as a kitten. He is laid back and flops on the ground in the middle of a soccer game or tug of war with the dog. Both pop up around the garden as I work in it – so I tend to have a dog and two cats in my way as I weed!
Cattle – We have some little cattle with big voices. They are Dexters, an old Irish breed. They are much, much smaller than most cattle, so are less intimidating for the children and visitors and easier on the ground. We also have large cattle, steers that we buy when they are weaned and grow for a few years until they are big enough to be sent off to be turned into hamburgers. But our little cows are pets, they have become quite tame and tolerate me patting them in exchange for food.
The cattle are called Gloria, Emelia and Abigail. As I feed them most days, they make a big racket whenever they see me, letting me know that they would be quite happy to be fed again, even though they are very round and have lots of grass! Sometimes I sneak outside via the front door so they won’t see me and I can garden in peace (not counting the cats and dog playing hide and sneak around me)
Rabbits – The most recent addition to our menagerie. They have been wanted for a very long time, as although we have many animals the children really wanted a pet that was just their own – and even after two days the bunnies are already bouncing up to meet the children. It looks as though ‘Munch’ and ‘Twitch’ will fit into the extended family very well.
Lambs – We have also had lambs – I love sheep as I grew up on a sheep farm, and they are so cuddly when they are friendly. But these were turning into giant climbing things so once they were all grown up and weaned we sent them back to the farmer. He would have been thrilled as sheep are worth a bit at the moment.
Horse – We have lots of horses at the moment, but none of them are mine, a grazer pays to have them on our property. But I did always used to have a horse. When the children came along I stopped riding – just too many things to do. We kept my old horse as a pet and lawn-mower. I had owned for over 20 years, she used to be my stock horse when I was on my parents farm and was excellent working the cattle. She was very much a one person horse and did not like any other adults than me riding or handling her, but was fine with children.
Near the end when I knew I would have to have her put down soon, I was driving home from work one day and just started crying thinking about her. I got home and went to the paddock and she was dead, but still warm! I was glad that she went peacefully on her own terms but of course it was very sad. I couldn’t help it though when a dear horsey friend asked if there was anything she could do to help, I asked her if she had a shovel – hehe, I needed a big hole!! But we got a man with a digger around instead and had her buried in her paddock.

So it is never lonely around here and rarely quiet either. I love the animals – except when they are on the wrong side of the fence or destroying a treasured plant!! Fortunately that sort of problem is infrequent, so usually they are contributors to a healthy blood pressure. They derive such pleasure from simple things like a sunny spot, some food and someone to love them. They have the secret to happiness pretty well sorted – I am off for a snack in a sunny spot with the dog to cuddle – bliss.