With a little help from my friends.

Things had been going a little too smoothly recently.  Found a new job, sun was beaming frequently, children happy and doing well at school, animals well settled into a routine and a particularly lovely Easter weekend   spent with our family hunting for chocolate eggs in the garden and a long walk with the rest of our village round little country tracks, donkey and pony in tow.  Spring had well and truely sprung.  Of course all of this idyll meant that we were well and truely due for a shake-up.  First the pony went lame - and little sympathy from the vet who took one look at her and declared her obese.  My fault I know but she is a total drama queen when it comes to feeding.  Powders and injections to be given and exercise to boot

What did I do?

.  Great.  Two days later my parents returned to their boat in the uk too.  And then work phoned, 'could I possibly do two extra days work a week'? Having just received the vets bill I agreed, sigh, not part time work then.  I think that I really got miserable when, having reduced the size of the field and stopped the hay feed, Caramel the donkey decieded enough was enough and he was off.  He was brought back to me having been found lurking round the back of the recycling bins.

Then I found that I had lovely friends.  One came up every day to do Sophie's injections (the mere thought of doing them myself terrifies me) and despite earning the hatred of the pony she managed to get all her doses of jabs into her.  Another is coming to help me lunge her as she really hasn't got the hang of it - and four hands are certainly better than two.  Then, whilst trying to organise child care for when I need to get to the aeroport, friend three - misunderstanding what I needed her for, was going to do the four hour round trip to meet a flight for me! " No no, just get my kids from school!! Then finally having poured my woes out to a friend back in England I came home from my first day of work at the new school to a beautiful basket of spring flowers that she'd had delivered.

Honestly it was almost worth the stress of the last few days.