Yes, I know, a childish title perhaps.....or perhaps not.
I have come to realise the joys in life recently, those which we forget as we get older yet are so hard-hitting when one is generally confined to bed or a single room.
Therefore I shall make no sincere apologies for this post all about baby animals.
Over the last four weeks I have been glued to a particular channel on YouTube. I started watching before most, and continued after most, yet am still awaiting my T-shirts.
At first the idea of being able to relax and watch some daytime TV may sound appealing, but imagine having little option but to do that every single day for months. Imagine how monotonous the listings would become, how frustrating it is to know the next programme before it begins.
This has been my life. Often I am not able to watch the screen as it is too bright and moves too quickly for me to process without it actually causing me pain in the side of my head, but I listen to it, keeping up with current affairs whilst also drowning out the tinnitus. Plus I quite enjoy the double-entendres and humour of Phil and Holly on This Morning, and the fact that many people on Jeremy Kyle seem to have even more ridiculous lives than me.
I sought advice from an online social media group I have found particularly supportive to eachother over the past months, and someone mentioned they watch live webcams on YouTube to pass the time and also make them able to view the world from their bed. I was sceptical at first and certainly didn't search for that exact phrase online, but found some of car parks in various locations, a lightbulb, bears fishing, tigers in a cage and then the one which I stuck with- Syman Says Farm (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPresk6FCncOSvqZIq3iLgA). Even though they are based four time zones away from me and I have never even visited their continent, I instantly loved their feed. They had a sign showing roughly how many days until their kids were due to be born, a live feed that showed the goats in their barn and it was on 24/7. Once it got closer to their due dates I watched Liz and Aaron (the farmers) set up kidding pens and move those who were likely to give birth sooner into those pens. Eventually the whole barn was separated into pens for goats and their offspring, plus one area of general population. I loved how they thought of their YouTube viewers as well as their flock and family. When the first birth was imminent I watched the camera being set up and then moved down for the best view possible (unless you're squeamish...but then this really wasn't the right feed for you anyway). It was such a privilege to be able to see the births, watch them grow with their mums and also hear from the farmers in the question and answer sessions they ran.
My children watched every birth (one in particular was quite difficult so I made sure they weren't there until Dannika was definately in the clear and they saw it back later). They were all in awe.
I don't think people like Liz and Aaron understand the impact these things have on people, like me, who cannot get out and about without help. Their channel literally kept me sane for those weeks (it is still there by the way, and they regularly update their social media feeds with gorgeous photos). The difference between them and many of the other streams I came across was that their picture was excellent, so clear it was like looking through a window, plus being moved and shown the close ups and having the interaction with them was amazing. They obviously worked incredibly hard throughout the kidding period (as do all farmers at this time) but were gracious enough to share it.
(above picture is not one of theirs)
With all these baby goats (kids) being born, it seemed only natural for us to take the children to a farm to see some lambs whenever we could. We had a lovely sunny and warm day last week and found ourselves with time and energy for me to leave the house in my chair and visit a farm we had never been to before.
I quickly searched online to check I would be able to get around and use a toilet, then off we went.
Our daughters were able to feed lambs milk from bottles (these lambs were separated from their mothers- there were some lambs still with mums out in the paddocks), cuddle said lambs, stroke their pony, feed and stroke the alpacas, stroke their pigs, play in the park, ride a bike (the first time A hasn't done this in years!), feed donkeys, sheep and pygmy goats. It was such a lovely day and a non-commercialised place- just what we love.
We have been to see lambs in previous years at other farms but always felt the farm was using them as a money maker rather than the focus being on the children or the animals. This felt different. The children were invited in by the farmer, over the fencing with parental help in small numbers so as to not scare the lambs. They were allowed plenty of time and the whole place was free. This meant we spent more on drinks and snacks than we would have done otherwise- we appreciate the costs of running a farm.
At one point a little girl there started asking me lots and lots of questions about my wheelchair and why I was in it. I would always rather this than people staring or not asking. I answered every one of her questions fully and appropriately. She was so inquisitive it brought home to me and my husband how accepting our own children are of everything. They wouldn't even think anything of any disability now, but I know they would ask if they did want to know something. If only we didn't lose this confidence and ability to approach people as we grow older.
As an accessible day out for the children with autism and myself in a wheelchair this was perfect. Nothing extraordinary, nothing to make me stand out (except for the wheelchair). We all love animals, so the smells and textures don't worry any of us luckily. The car park had a disabled parking area marked out at the front, the ground to the main courtyard was easy to manage with the only tricky part being crossing the road between animals.
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