By the way Wilf says hello. He has been feeling a bit crook (get it?) lately. His feet have been giving him gyp. He thinks I should be helping him out more!  
 

Hiya everybody. It's me again!

I seem to have forgotten that I was supposed to keep a blog of what I've been up to. Nothing really, except for eating and more eating. There isn't much else to do when all the volunteers go home! There is so much grass to eat, with all the rain, it is getting very long and delicious. I am keeping one eye on the trees as well as it won't be long before there's some fruit to fall (with a bit of help from me).

Thanks everyone for coming to see Wilf and me. We had a lovely weekend and saw lots of friends too. There wasn't much rain either which helped to bring out loads of people to the centre. The only problem was that we didn't have enough cake!!!

Hi there everybody!
Only 2 weeks to go until our green fair weekend.
I can't wait!!!
In case you have forgotten, it is on 17 and 18 of this month between 11am and 5pm.
You're lucky I found the time to write this, as I have been so busy hoovering up the fruit in the orchard. (Somebody has to do it - it might as well be me.)

Heathfield Green Fair

Hi everybody, Sam here

I have been asked to tell everybody that our Green Fair is going to be on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 September. Lots of lovely people who like rescuing animals and making sure that the world stays a nice place to live, plus selling really great, natural stuff will be here. The volunteers will be selling our apples and freshly pressed juice (I suppose I can't eat them all!), preserves, yummy lunches and teas. You can come and visit us in the orchard and have a guided walk round the beautiful garden. I will find out some more details soon and let you all know.

Please come! I can't wait to see you!

We've been shorn!

As you may or may not be able to imagine, having your coat taken away so that only your pale, untoned body is on show for all to see can be quite embaarrassing. So, out of respect for Wilf, I have been a little bit hesitant in putting these photos up. But there you have it. We had our fleecy coats all sheared off!

What a shame the post is in the way of Wilf's face in this picture.

I am glad about this actually, because I think I would have become lamb chops quite quickly in this weather we've been having. Liz was very keen - a bit too keen - to take some pictures of us. Most of them were wobbly, but I think I look particularly cute as usual.

There is so much to eat in the orchard at the moment. Everyone knows that eating is my favourite thing to do ever, and I'm not ashamed of that. But between you, me and the yew tree, I think I'm going to get a bit of a belly! Head-butting around with Wilf should keep me in shape. I want to audition for some film work given that Lorraine says I have a face that has to be seen by all.

Love,

Rambo aka Sam x

WOW! I am so happy. My special friends worked really hard and raised lots of money for Wilf and me - we can have our fleeces cut now!! I am getting really hot under all this fluff, though Liz says this is the best one I will ever have.
They say that they took about £800, but we have to share it with the wildlife. There are a lot of babies around now, and there are only so many carrots that a boy can eat!

I can't wait until tomorrow! I'm going to have lots of visitors and I'm sooo excited!!!!!!!!!!

Heathfield Ecology Centre
The Old Orchard, Heathfield, Coombe Lane, Croydon CR0 5RH
Tel: 020 8 657 0954 (evenings)

Plant, Seed & Seedling Sunday 8 May 2011

12:00 - 16:00

Make a date and come to Heathfield Ecology Centre if you are looking for something pretty to plant in your garden. You may want plants to attract wildlife to your garden or to try your hand at growing your own vegetables. We have experts on hand to help you to make your choice.

If you have some surplus seedlings, we will be very grateful to receive them as all profits go to our Wildlife Rescue & Animal Welfare Fund.

Our Heathfield Pantry Cafe will be open throughout and serving homemade soup and bread rolls at lunchtime and traditional cream teas during the afternoon. We will also have homemade preserves, cards and gifts for sale. We also have animal rescue associations and other stalls.

Springtime

I'm loving these warm, sunny days. Spring has sprung and the orchard is getting very tasty. People are coming to visit me and I love this, though apparently jumping up to say hello is baad, very baad. But I find it hard to resist because I'm such a sociable sheep.

I've had some requests for another ovine joke, so here goes:

What do you get if you put a sheep in an oven?*

A woolly sweater.

Haa haa haa haa baa baa baa!!

Well, it's time for me to go I suppose. I'll try to write again soon, if I'm not too busy stuffing my face. I would like to tell you now that I am not fat, I just have a huge fleece.

Yours fluffily,

Sam

 

*Please do not try this. It is just an ovine joke.

Hi everyone! I have been so busy exploring and eating that I forgot to tell you that there is a big meeting in the house on February 26th. All the members are getting together to hear the news from the last year, including talking about me!!! Afterwards they will listen to a talk about wildlife ponds from my friend Alan, before having some lovely food and drink. The only thing is- they haven't asked me to come - maybe because I always have dirty feet.

Happy Christmas everyone!

I can see some grass now, so life's not so boring! I am looking forward to my Christmas dinner. I wonder what Lorraine will send up to me and Wilf, with Keith. It's like having our own private Meals on Wheels and we don't pay a thing, just look cute!!!

Happy christbaas he he

It's so cold - brrrr not baaaa!!!!

I don't like this cold, white stuff. I can't get to the grass and other scrummy stuff in the orchard, and if I do my teeth get frozen. Luckily for us Keith keeps our bellies full with other tasty food, such as apples, carrots and hay. He walks up to see us every night! Our shelter is lovely and cosy, with lots more hay to keep us warm. I think that Wilf is OK, even though his fleece isn't as thick as mine! He still doesn't want to cuddle up to me. I keep offering, but he's the boss, as he keeps telling me! Brrrrrr...

I've been told that lots of people think that I am cute and cuddly. I do hope that they come and see me as I just love lots of company, though Wilf thinks that I should grow up and behave!???
By the way, the tree is untouched. I haven't managed to reach it yet. Give me time!

Heathfield Ecology Centre Bazaar!

Hi again. I have been told that we are having a Christmas bazaar on Sunday 5th December, 12.00 - 16.00. That means that there will be lots of people coming to see us and buying  jams which have been made from all our yummy fruit from the orchard. It is just as well that they took these away, as my tummy is getting a bit round, though Liz said that I have a lovely fluffy fleece.
They will also sell other things that I am not sure about, but they also cook delicious soups for lunch and cakes for tea. It is a shame that I can't eat THEM, but you can!

Lovely day

We had a lot of visitors in the orchard yesterday. They all came to see a nice lady, whose name is Brenda, plant a cherry tree. I was not allowed near this tree in case I nibbled it. It didn't have any leaves on it, though the bark might have been tasty! They all went off into the big house and left Wilf and me on our own. I did go back to look at the tree, but it had a fence round it!

Oh dear, the days are getting shorter, but I am nice and warm as I have a nice thick fleece which has suddenly grown round me! It must be all that good food that I've been eating. The apples are nearly finished so I shall have to eat more grass, or see what is in Nick's garden. Wilf's fleece is growing back now which is nice for him. I did offer to cuddle up to him, but he didn't like that idea.

A round of apples for me!

I love it here in the orchard. There is so much more to do than when I was stuck in the big, boring field at the farm. Wilf is feeling much better now and his coat is growing back. That's lucky as the air has been getting very cold and prickly lately. There are still lots of apples though - probably my favourite thing to do is eat apples. They are so delicious! Here is a short clip of me having fun eating them:

Not just a big ball of fluff...

This is me! Don't I look cute?

I've been trying to make Wilf feel better by making him laugh.

Here's an ovine in-joke for you (I made it up myself I did):

Me: "What's the difference between a sheep and a cloud?"

Wilf: "I don't know and I don't really care."

Me: "Clouds don't fart."

I am Sam

I was born near Bletchingley in the spring and spent all of the summer having fun with all the other lambs until the beginning of September, when the farmer, George, came and took my brother and me away from the field, put us in his trailer and drove us up to this orchard that they call Heathfield. I saw that there was another sheep in this place who was looking very sad and ill, though he looked like some of the sheep back at the farm. The people were making a fuss over him as he seemed to be sore and had a funny yellow colour on the back of his neck. I heard someone say that they thought I would be a good companion for this sheep, who I found out was called Wilf, but they also said that my brother would have to go back to the farm for a few months until Wilf was feeling better.