Today was a very different Christmas Day due to the strict rules preventing the usual Christmas celebrations within families. We normally meet up with our families in Salisbury and sometimes they come down to Devon.
We did the usual farm chores of course - the alpacas, hens, dogs and cat did not know it was a special day.
The hens love their new shelter even though they have to stay indoors all day at the moment because of bird flu restrictions. We managed to source some straw from farmer friends in the village and the girls had a whale of a time running through it, spreading it arround and rummaging for seeds. The noise of the excitement of 31 hens romping and scratching around in the straw was deafening.
It will be a lot easier to keep their residence clean now.
Mike and I decided to have our own Christmas Dinner despite being just the two of us. We are both getting on a bit and Mike has had some health problems in the past which makes him a bit more vulnerable. I cooked a free range chicken with the usual roasties and fresh vegetables from the farm shop next door (almost). Mince Pies and Ice Cream for pud. (no such thing as an ice cream-free desert for me!)
At 4 p.m. we took part in a pre-arranged Zoom get together with son, David, daughter-in-law,Jane and grandchildren Zach and Tara - both young adults now. It was nearly as good as having them in the room and we all found plenty to say.
We had some lovely thoughtful presents and plenty of "goodies" too.
