Merry Christmas!

"We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, 

we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year..."

Santa is flying around the world; his reindeer working as hard as they can and people wake up to presents and joy. In our stable everyone wakes up to Monty and his backup caller. From being a one-man show, Monty has inspired young Eric to join in on the morning calls. Eric has his father’s gusto and strength but unfortunately, so far, he seems to be tone deaf. He just yells a lot as his answer, to the older man in the lead. Not the nicest way to wake up on Christmas morning. Mindy, Mandy, Molly and My are giving then stern looks and all the hens step aside, thinking not so Christmassy thoughts about the two callers. My input is to provide corn, as that stops the noise.

There's something magical about animals at Christmas. They seem to sense the pace slowing down, the songs in your step and the fact that stockings are being filled with goodies, just for them. The four M's get an extra grooming, hens popping in to help out with clearing away any leftover wool and Monty takes a break from being, Monty. We think of friends no longer with us and Molly distributes extra hugs, as it’s a special morning. We don't have to do any big seasonal cleaning, just a normal tidy up and the day can start. The animals always live in clean condition. But with decorations up and some music on, even cleaning feels festive. And then the day begins...

Credit: Dasha Dimitrova

Mr. Chip likes his Christmas tree, his treats and the fact that everyone is at home. When all of his people stay in one place, that's his sort of celebration, right there. His dearest person is missing this year but as I keep telling him, he's here, in our hearts. Mr. Chip probably can't hear so much of the music playing in the background but he can certainly smell the food cooking. He helps out by tripping us up by standing on our feet, staring intensely at the food and by commenting loudly when it all gets too exiting. 

He also joins us at the graveyard where he greets everyone, in his shy, friendly way. The graveyard still provides a squirrel or two to chase and that is probably high quality seasonal entertainment for a terrier. "Candles lit and squirrels stressed, we can go home to a nice lunch ", he then tells us.

The birds, living in the forest get their Christmas treats early in the morning, as the amount of daylight is limited. They need to eat as much as they can in the short time available in order to survive the long, cold nights. Our own squirrel friends are not forgotten and will probably put on even more weight, over the holidays.

My dear husband is singing, cooking and generally being himself. Clearing snow and checking roads and doing what needs to be done, even at Christmas.

I feel, as long as the reindeers keep flying, my husband keeps singing and the animals are happy there is hope. Hope for happiness to all and everyone and that good things will happen to the world at large.

We want to wish all and everyone a Very, Merry Christmas!, from all of us at Stoneback farm.

Text by Nina

Next blog post on the 3rd January 2016!



We are also available on bloglovin.com now. Follow the link on the right.