Wow! Where did the last three months go? I can hardly believe we have had the rescue foals at Fugaldom for a full five months and that they are now yearlings. The first ponies we rehomed - Frankie, Willow and Pippin - have now been with us for four years!
In between feeding ponies, grooming and clearing mountains of poop, I have spent some time preparing new planting space for growing this year's vegetables and herbs. Brian (volunteer gardener at Frugaldom) helped no end by putting together five raised planters I'd bought from an online sale. They were awful to put together; I had given up all hope of using them and was ready to return them until Brian offered his help. We now have all five built up and I have started filling them and sowing seeds. These have been set up on the decking to create a handy kitchen garden that the rabbits can't reach. I've already sown salad leaves, spring onions and I have transplanted the strawberries that were over-wintered at Frugaldom.
With no bookings being accepted and pre-booked ones cancelled, the Frugal Breaks caravan has become off limits to all visitors during COVID-19 shutdown. Should things improve before the 2020 season ends we will at least have some fresh produce on the doorstep for our holidaymakers.
These little strawberry plants were grown from seed last year and have now started to grow after wintering ourtside in pots. Seeds were kindly provided by our herbery sponsor, Moose Seeds.
With no holidaymakers, the pitch and putt golf course between Frugaldom and our Frugal Breaks caravan lies abandoned, apart from a small flock of Herdwick sheep that have been happily trimming the grass for the past couple of weeks. It's lovely to see them wandering about the place and observing their daily routine.
The foals were introduced to the clearfell strip and had a great time galloping around, chasing one another along the tracks and through the trees that are naturally regenerating out there. Baby Willowby was jumping logs that are still lying around the place: our volunteers should have been helping clearing this area but with no volunteers during lockdown, we'll need to fit in the time to do this ourselves as part of our daily exercise. Log rolling has become almost an Olympic sport here a Frugaldom, as has poop-picking, haynet stuffing and tyre rolling.
Feeding the wild birds here is done all year round and this is something I can highly recommend. Once you have set up your feeding station, even if it is a simple tray with a handful of seed, you will be able to entice the birds and other local wildlife, then sit and watch from the comfort of home. Ideal while self isolating.
I'll be back with another mini-blog soon. In the meantime, I'd like to share our new funding page with you in the hope that you, too, will share it with others. Many thanks to those who have helped us get it started and to our fellow frugalers who continue to support the project despite not being able to visit. This is the link to the newly created Frugaldom 2020 Animal Care Fund