Thornton has decided for a few weeks that he wants to be a Sheep. It started over the Winter when he lived in the Farm House and decided that he would take control of his treats. He would head butt the kitchen cupboard door that his treats were behind. If whilst I was outside he fancied something he would head butt the door until it opened, pulling all of the cupboard contents out hoping he would find what he wanted. It happened so many times in the end Thornton had to be banished out into the Barn with the other Sheep. Not in the pen I should hasten to add, Thornton would have none of that, he had his freedom but would sleep next to the pen near the other Sheep. Come shearing time when the Sheep were let out into the Field Thornton followed and has stayed there ever since. He comes to the gate now and then but never wants to come out of the Field. How long that will last we will just have to wait and see.
The Sheep are in the Horse Field that we have now had fenced. They are now unable to free range and cause problems for neighbours, although Ewy and her followers have not been seen for a good while. We attempted to get them in to be sheared but Ewy has made them wild and they were not for catching.
The Cider Press arrived from France a few weeks ago. It would have been a duel purpose press for both apples and grapes for wine. It is an imposing piece of antique machinery, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was working through the French Revolution. I purchased it from Kevin an Englishman who live just outside Mayenne. He estimated it weight to be a quarter of a tonne. Did he get that wrong. A transit type vehicle collected the press and when it arrived at Denbury the wheel arches of the van were all but touching the wheels where it was so heavy. It had to be dismantled for transporting because of its size. The three main pieces weighed nearly a quarter of a tonne each. I reckon its weight to be over a tonne, and was it a struggle to get it unloaded from the van. On Monday it was reassembled and that was a major operation because of the weight of the press. It now stands in our Farm Yard. The intention is to put it into a Barn, but because of the construction of the press it wont go in without a wall being taken down and rebuilt. Not a major problem as the wall in question is in a scruffy state and needs desperately to be rebuilt and has been so before we moved into Denbury. I hope to be making Cider this year, but i will have to wait and see.