Nicola in the Spring

Wandering through one of our paddocks today, I noticed all the alpaca's staring intently in one direction, like they do when there's a threat (usually a dog). I headed in the direction they were looking and begin to hear faint, plaintive goat bleats, although I could see no goats in the paddock.

It didn't take long to discover one of this year's kids had found a hole exposing one of our many underground spring flows.

This hole is big enough for me to get into and spring flow underneath is large enough for me to crawl in. It's worth noting that this paddock is almost 100% covered in blackberries. If you look closely, despite abundant blackberries, Nicola had leaned across this opening, managed to take two bites from the blackberry leaves before slipping into the hole.

After I stopped laughing and put the camera away, I pulled out one cold, wet and muddy kid who immediately bolted through the sunshine in search of her mum (who licked off all the mud).