Avebury’s Diary

 

Hello All,

 

Two lovely days and two lovely llama treks here in Herefordshire.

 

The boys have had a wonderful, busy weekend and the superb autumn weather and glorious sunshine have made the leaves on the tasty trees glow yellow, orange and red.  Wonderful!!

 

First, on Friday, Silbury, Brodgar and I stepped out with two female two-legs.  We hadn’t been out for a good long trek for a while so this was a real treat.  Lots of grooming was required to make us look our best, and when we set off through the orchard, the sun fairly glistened on Silbury’s auburn locks.  Lots of apple leaves were provided for us, and d’you know, I really think an apple leaf is the tastiest of all!

 

Off through the village where lots of people who hadn’t seen us for a while hailed us with enthusiasm – ‘Oo look, the llamas are out’.  We went over the bridge, past the fish and chip shop, skirted the pub and drifted round the corner by the school and headed up the slope to Ewyas Harold Common.  It’s gorgeous up on top of the village with views stretching over to Offa’s Dyke path and Wales beyond.  From here the village stretches out below us, and the church and castle mound don’t look so big after all.

 

There’s a farmer on the common who keeps geese, and these noisy birds were out in a field eyeing us carefully.  Because it is autumn the now dead and brown ferns have died to become bracken.  A clever person has rolled the bracken into great big rounds and apparently these will be taken off to provide bedding for cattle over the winter.  The bails dot the skyline of the common and add to the autumnal colours.

 

I think we’ve said it before, but the Golden Valley Llamas really must be the most photographed llamas around.  If it isn’t our own two-leg snapping away, it’s the guests, and these two each had cameras and took picture after picture.  This entertains us, because there always come a moment when they want a nice group shot and at the last moment, one of us, will stick his head (or backside) in the way.  I think it was me who turned broadside and obscured half the picture (tee hee).

 

And so from the heights of the common we made our circuitous way back to the village.  There is always the chance to call in at the shop and gather some provisions, or more likely stop off at the pub and let the two-legs re-gather their strength.

 

Back home, we rejoined the herd, and enjoyed the rest of the day’s delightful sunshine.

 

 

The next day we were out again!  A family of four this time and this meant all us boys went out, so Stenness and Ringsbury joined us.  We had a good groom, and set off again.  I thought that lots of pictures were being taken on the Friday, but on the Saturday, there were even more!  I’m hoping to see some of them.

 

Apparently , sometimes these picture are sent into competitions and there was a bit of ill-feeling the other week, when Silbury learned that Ringsbury had won a ‘most appealing llama’ photo competition.  Our herd leader won a prize card (‘so what!’, said Silbury), and a bag of tasty mix for us all (‘that’s more like it!’, said we all).  Well anyway, Silbury really couldn’t believe that a hopeless two-leg judge could find Ringsbury more handsome than he, Silbury, and was quite grumpy about it.  I must say, it was a bit of a surprise to us all.  The others of us discussed it, and we concluded that Ringsbury must have won the prize for his personality, geniality and presence.  It’s the only thing that makes sense.

 

So through the very busy village, full of Saturday shoppers, we took a different route over the common.  The gorse was in full flower, and the bark of the birch trees was shining silver in the bright sunlight.  Lots of rabbits caught our attention, and as they hopped off we watched where we put our feet; a llama foot in a rabbit scraping could result in a nasty twist.

 

Stenness, being the junior boy, always feels a little uncertain away from home and he hummed gently for much of the walk.  The two legs seemed to like it, so I made a duet of it with my younger half brother.  Other people were out with their dogs, but they were such well trained dogs, responding to their master’s dog whistle that everyone was happy.

 

There is a flattish area near the top of the common and we reached that.  Here was a good photo opportunity, and just at the crucial moment, Brodgar put his head in the way.  Excellent!  Everyone likes a slightly naughty llama.

 

And homeward.  Back over the undulating common and down the track to rejoin the road to the village.  We made it smartly up the hill to Old King Street Farm and home (but not before stopping off in the orchard for a quick apple leaf fix).

 

Apparently our guest two-legs had taken a llama trek with us as a treat for one of the family.  What a great idea!

 

One of us will be in touch soon

 

More llama talk soon.