Revolt In The Dinner Hall

I work as a dinner lady here in Spain, I do it because it enables me to learn Spanish, I get to know the children of the village and of course, you get into the real hub of the place if you are in the middle of it for a couple of hours a day, however, I may have caused a slight problem.

All the children are very interested in our animals. They like to see pictures, they have all been to visit and they are all waiting for the piglets to arrive so they can come and see them, and this has caused a slight problem.

Today pizza was served. My children, who are vegetarians, had a four cheese special the others had either salami or ham and cheese. All of them, except two of the older boys, refused to eat "Hamlet". "Who is Hamlet?" asked the owner of the restaurant. I had to explain that Hamlet was one of my pigs. The children folded their arms and refused to eat him! Whilst internally I was absolutely thrilled that they were beginning to see meat as an animal, the incredibly stern stare that I received from the owner was a little scary.

It had come to her attention that more and more children were refusing to eat pork, chicken, sausages in fact just about anything. She then went on to tell me that if children do not eat meat they will not grow. This coming from a lady who can only be 4ft as she looked up at me.

Still this moment was quickly broken by the new boy who managed to aim his pizza at the wall and as it slid down all hands were on deck to clear up, whilst he then began trying to get hold of everyone elses pizza to aim around the room.

Who would of thought that you could change the views of meat eaters just by a meet and greet afternoon. I have booked another at my house on Sunday!

Lynn
xxx

Before You Do Your Weekly Shop....

www.viva.org.uk

Please check out this web site and see for yourself the horrors that go on behind the scenes in order to bring you meat.

We often see adverts from large supermarket chains offering reduced price meat and meat meals but in order to save you a few pounds animals have to go through absolute hell, so ask yourself is it worth it.

Look at the meat on the supermarket shelves, look at the boxes showing happy animals on packets of prepared meals, look in a butchers window and consider for a moment the absolute hell that these animals have been through and then consider why on earth you would want to put this into your system.

Your body needs energy, you will not find it in dead meat, there is no energy in this at all, it is what it clearly is. Dead.

Read through the site, do not find excuses look at the evidence and make the right choice.

Even the word organic can be deceptive, check out what happens to a chick before it is moved to a world of organic upbringing.

www.viva.org.co.uk

Back To School!

Today the children have returned to school. It is strange how you cannot wait in the end for this day to get here, mainly because you need to get back into a routine of some sort, and yet, now they are away the whole farm feels really empty.


Hamlet and his piglets are looking for Megan who usually brings them a treat in the morning, all the geese and ducks are wandering around trying to work out what is missing, Nero the donkey keeps braying because no one is rubbing his ears, Maurice the horse could not care less but then that is no surprise! even the little guinea pigs want to know where the children are who by now are usually hand feeding them lettuce!

A family is an incredibly tight bond and when one piece is missing it feels completely out of balance, but sometimes we need to be apart in order to identify and appreciate all the things that make each one special.

I know that when they return home they will be full of news about new teachers, new people in the school, who had what in their school snack, can so and so come and stay and see the animals, how they have told everyone that they will bring in the donkey for show and tell, how the teacher was not too keen and even less keen about the idea of bringing in Hamlet the pig, how they saved a snail at break, how they needed a plaster (they never really need a plaster but it looks good!) how they have yet another list of things they need for school and after all this, without a single breath, they will then tell me they are starving and what is for lunch and so the routine is established again.

Lynn
xxx

New arrivals on the farm!

so, I have told you about Nero the donkey and there will be much more on him soon, but I thought that you would like to know about a few more arrivals at the farm.

Our guinea pigs have had babies, three tiny, perfectly formed little guinea pigs!

Nature is amazing, they are born with their fur, their eyes are open and they are ready to go, no need for mum they are straight into their food! The whole guinea pig village simply love them and everyone has gathered around them to welcome them and show them the ropes, even the tortoise have taken an interest, although more I think because they see a few more that will steal their lettuce! Nero wandered across, I do not think he really knew what he was looking at but he wanted to be a part of whatever was going on, but his arrival made the scene almost biblical, the birth of the guinea pigs surrounded by all the animals and us!

I will post some images soon, they are just so tiny it is amazing, and I have many more stories of Nero already, donkeys really are just full of character, they always make your smile, even when they have just broken into the feeding house to check out what EVERY pot contains.

Have a great day whatever you are doing, keep positive, keep focused and keep things real!

Lynn
xxx