This page introduces all the gang….
First there is Benny the feral farm cat; she turned up on the doorstep a few days after we moved in. She was very scruffy and thin and was crying for food. Mum of course is a soft touch and she put food out for her. She ran away at first whenever anyone went near him but gradually she let Mum stroke her, Mum thought she was a boy that’s why she was named Benny then she started to get fatter and fatter and in May 2003 she gave birth to four kittens in a nest in the bales of straw in the barn. Unfortunately 2 kittens were born dead but two survived, Mum took them from the nest in the barn into a warm box in the conservatory and took them all to the vets to be checked, the vet said the kittens were a boy and a girl. Anyway Helen and Dan gave a home to the male kitten and called it Beckham but when he went to the vets he was a ‘she’ but was still called Beckham, unfortunately Beckham got run over by a car and killed which was very sad. The other kitten went to Uncle Nick and Auntie Kath and she’s called Buffy, she’s much bigger than Benny now. Benny now comes into the house and is quite tame although she still doesn’t like being picked up.
In November 2003 one of Dad’s friends asked if we would be interested in re-homing his two cats as he and his wife had split up and he had to move into a flat and couldn’t take the cats. Mum and Dad said yes (of course) and Socks and Kipper arrived hunched up together in their carry box. They soon settled in and got on well with Benny, me and Lucy. They aren’t frightened of me and Lucy, and Socks even lets Lucy lick her fur and she nuzzles him and mothers him. Kipper will take a swipe at us if we go too near so we keep our distance!
Finally in the summer of 2004 Mum pestered Dad to let her have some hens and we had 4, two red ones called Ginger and Clara and two black ones called Bunty and Henrietta. They were older hens given to us from a farm so after about 12months Bunty and Ginger died then we got some more red chickens called Abigail Hilda and Matilda. Finally Henrietta and Clara died so we just have the three left but they lay eggs every day with just a short break in winter in December and January. The hens have the run of the fields and they come home every night to roost in their special house. I sometimes have to go and round them up from the hedges in the field in the summer when they try and roost in the hedge; I follow them up the field and herd them through the hole in the fence to their pen, like Mum has taught me. I don’t chase them because they are part of the family and I’ve been trained not to but sometimes it’s fun to snuffle them and watch them run!!
When we moved here there was a small pond which had two medium sized goldfish in it. Mum called them Ant and Dec. Then one Summer Auntie Noni bought a small container down with some baby Koi carp in it and Mum put them in the pool to see if they would survive, they all have and now there are 14 small very pretty Koi carp in the pond as well as Ant and Dec. Mum and Dad feed them every day except when it’s very cold and they come to the surface to wait for their food. Benny and the chickens like the fish food pellets and Benny always runs down to the pond and meows until Mum gives her a few pellets to eat. Kipper tried to catch one of the fish once but Mum pushed him in the pond and so he hasn’t done it since!! He only got a bit wet but he realised he was being naughty and watches them from the bench where Mum sits.
Helen and her son Daniel who’s 9 come and look after us whenever Mum and Dad are away. I love it when they come, I’ve known them since I was a puppy and Dan was a toddler as we used to live next door to them. Dan is great he takes us into the field and throws the tennis ball for me, Helen always brings us toys and chews and she lets us into the house even though she’s not supposed to and we sleep on the settee. I sleep by her bedroom door and guard her and Dan during the night, we all love them very much.
There is a big old Ginger tom cat that pays a visit some nights but he makes a noise and won’t let Mum go near him. I think he may have been the father of Benny’s kittens. Socks sometimes fights with him to make him go away.
Last Spring Mum and dad bottle fed six orphaned lambs for farmer Mark we got on well with them and even Lucy didn’t chase them. They slept in a spare dog bed in the back conservatory with us and they were funny when they leapt around, when they were eating solids they went back to the farm to be fattened up for lamb chops I’m glad I’m not a lamb!! Perhaps there may be some more this year to bottle feed. Farmers Steve or Mark haven’t had any orphans so far, but Mum is hoping they do because she loves the cute lambs, although they are hard work and need lots of attention.
That’s about all of us now, we all live very happily together here, have a look at our photos. Mum will update them soon.
Update on the hens, most of the older ones have died and we now have Lulu and Cilla who are Sussex light Utility breed and are white and then we have Petula and Britney who are 'blues' We also have four new Rhode Island reds called Florrie, Mo, Gracie and Nikki but I can't tell the difference between them.
24.10.06 poor old Kipper Kat has been poorly for a while and had to be put to sleep today. Here's a little poem me and Lucy made up...
In loving memory of Kipper the Kat
Went to the vets
And didn't come back!!
Woof woof we'll miss you Kip
Britney had to go to rehab but died of a corn overdose! Not really but she got ill and died a few weeks ago.
Sadly Idris got poorly in November 2007 and had to be put to sleep, so Lucy is updating this page now!!...
19.2.2008
Bit of an update! We still have Benny and Socks but now have a kitten called Cleopatra who is tabby and white like Kipper cat was. She was born on 29th August 2007 and came from the RSPCA in Exeter. Mum has a kitten called Daisy who is ginger and white and was born around the same time so we have 4 cats in the Sunnyside Gang now! We only have four chickens at the moment, one white one called Lulu and three red ones Gracie Mo and Florrie. We are hoping to get some more at the end of February from a battery hen rescue.
There is a barn owl in the barn we call Barney but he only comes out a night but sometimes if you've very quiet we can see him sitting on the rafters in the late afternoon getting ready to fly out.
10.4.08
Sad news my kitty called Cleopatra got run over and had to be put to sleep on 19th March I'm very sad she was very sweet and I loved her a lot. Daisy is getting big now and we have 6 more chickens but haven't given them names as we can't tell the difference between them!