Tuesday 4th May 2010 - Abbotsbury

Today we ventured into Abbotsbury to the Swannery first. We did the maze first. There were questions for a quiz on boards hidden in the maze. We never did work out the mystery word even though we answered all of the questions. The number of swans there was amazing. You just walk past swans sitting on their nests at the side of the paths and everywhere. They are all free to leave if they want to but, as the guy said, why would they want to. They are fed every day and the location is perfect, and they feel safe there. We got to see some eggs when one of the swans got off to turn them and have a stretch and prean. They are quite big. It was really interesting. The average life expectancy of a swan is about 12 years. They have recorded them living longer, the oldest being 23. Before leaving the Swannery, we had lunch in their cafe. We had to sit outside as all of the inside tables were taken. It was a bit cold but not too bad. I had chips which were very good. Emily had a play in the park with her daddy and we had ice creams.

We then went on to Abbotsbury “Animal Mauling Centre” aka the Children's Farm. I met a lovely friendly black goat with really thick fur. Emily made friends with a lamb. There were probably about 50 guinea pigs in an enclosure, and babies too. We couldn't catch any of the piggys but we were able to cuddle a rabbit. Emily was fascinated by the rabbit's eyes. Sorry bunny. My favourite animals were the goats though. The young ones were in a pen and they were really attentive and over friendly. Before we left we all got to bottle feed one. All armed with bottles, 1, 2, 3, go. Some take 3 minutes and some take 30 seconds so they have to be fed at the same time. The two pigs were cool too and the Alpacas, Red, Scotty and James. They also had horses, donkeys and ponies, and a budgie cage that you could walk into. Dave and I watched a video on smuggling while Emily was in the play area. Isaac Gulliver (acted by Robert Hardy who was Siegfried in the All Creatures Great and Small) told us his interesting tale.

On the way home we stopped at Morrisons. I stayed in the car with Emily as she was asleep. Tonight for dinner we had sausages, bubble and squeak and beans. After Emily had gone to bed, we watched A Beautiful Mind. Another film with Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany in. My cross stitch is progressing slowly.