Back in October last year when Maureen and Jerry were home on holiday William and I took them and Jean over to visit Andy and Sylvia.
Andy and Sylvia live in the beautiful High Peak district of Derbyshire where they have a nice chunk or two of land and keep horses, chickens, ducks and dogs.
These are just a few of their chickens. Sylvia keeps telling me though that they've gone on strike recently and are not laying as well as they should and if they don't sort themselves out they might well end up as the Sunday roast. I think she was having me on. Or was she??
We took a walk up the country lane to look at the horses, Ickenham and Jethro. Both gorgeous animals.
Jean was in her element. She loves horses and used to ride back in her heyday. She was the only one of us who was interested in horses. The horse loving genes must've been passed on somehow though as Caroline had riding lessons for a few years when she was at school and loved it.
The men having a chat.
Then a walk along one of the leafy country lanes which surround Sylvia's home.
Where Andy educated us all on matters of sheep rearing.
A rustic scene along the way. I love this kind of thing. In this fast paced hi-tech digital world it's good to see something olde worlde and solid, and a bit run-down perhaps, still exists.
We had had a refreshing gentle walk and at this point we had turned back toward Sylvia's home.
And the final image of the day. Sylvia and Andy's "Well rotted horse manure. Please help yourself" pile. The people who live in this area don't always have to help themselves to this pile. Andy has a quad bike complete with trailer and being the gentleman that he is he very kindly delivers the stuff to a couple of local allotments. Now, that's what I call neighbourly.
Until next time,
