A Brief Newsround - Week Ending 14/3/21
Bliss on Sunday morning came in the form of a delicious lie-in till 5 a.m. with blind cats Yanni and Kolio purring in my arms. My usual rising time is 4.30 a.m. but that's not difficult most mornings because my old body clock still seems geared to tropical island hours. In the South Seas people born there rise early to catch the cool hours for fishing or feasting. When I was there I used those hours for writing. Here, on the LIFE home site in rural Bulgaria, there's the caravan I share with nine rescued cats to clean, then 11 horses and 44 outdoor cats to feed before breakfast.
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Kolio |
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Yanni |
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Tsanke, with Terence and Benji |
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Ilia & Tsanke, two of LIFE's regular helpers, with Vincent |
Back home, I took advice about an outbreak of Equine Herpes Virus, which could hit local Roma workhorses hard. But our own much loved rescued and recovered horses also need protection. Vaccines are being ordered and we pray they come soon enough to prevent an epidemic. Little Kirichko, still in equine hospital, needs to be vaccinated too, but even the healthiest horses are at risk. .
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Daniel with Boshko & Bexlyin the Broad |
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Little Kirichko |
It's always a moving moment when dogs I've known for years, in some cases, are loaded one by one into a van which will take them thousands of miles to the kind adopters waiting for them. A mix of trust, hope and something akin to prayer hovers in my heart as we finally wave them off.
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Off to their Forever Homes |
Tiny Babichka left this week, too, a sweet old lady rescued after we found her nearly bald and suffering from a massive growth locally.
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Sonia with little Babichka |
For more on the dogs now arrived in the U.K., and how they’re settling in, see here.
Outreach work this week was enhanced by the presence of former show jumper Joanna Heeney, who gave valuable tips on treatment of injuries and endorsed LIFE's frequent advice to local owners to rest their horses while wounds heal. Joanna also helped rescued horses Boshko and Arap learn what s required of them on a lunge line and encouraged Daniel to learn how to guide them, too.
Last but not least for this week, Mr and Mrs Prince, both rescued when tiny, wish to share the happiness of their sixth chaste wedding anniversary with LIFE's friends and followers.
If you've enjoyed reading this blog and approve of the work we do, please consider making a small donation to LIFE.
Thank you, and I hope to be back with another catch-up next Sunday,
Lucy Irvine
!Stop Press!
As I wove my way through cats and horses back to my caravan, tired but happy, bad news came:
Our van load of beloved rescued dogs heading for adoption in the U.K. was stopped in France at the inspection check point. All but two of our dogs were to be held in Calais. No more detailed information was given.
To find out what happens next, follow the LIFE page as news comes in. At the time of writing we're waiting with baited breath for any indication of why our dogs can't cross the channel....
For daily updates on all aspects of life at LIFE, go to my page.
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