Don't Mention Mint Sauce!

One of the best things about living on the Isle of Man is the diversity of the people you get to know and the towns and countryside all existing together in such a small space.



On Saturday night, I was lucky enough to be invited to the double retirement party of Graham & Marion Young and while I was there met a mutual friend, a recent acquaintance of mine who is a postman, star of the stage, racewalker, proud new parent and in his masses of spare time also happens to be a farmer.

Richard Creer, son of author, historian and also farmer, Hampton Creer(I'm sure like Richard, those are only a few of his talents) is pictured here behind Lucy and one of our woolly new chums.

As you can see, at the aforementioned 'Knees-up,' I managed to blag an invitation to visit the farm, so yesterday 27th March, we walked up from Douglas, probably about 3 miles from our house. The pictures are mostly of the 'Pet' lambs, that for various reasons have been separated from their mothers. The ewes struggle to cope with more than two offspring, sometimes reject little ones or perhaps do not produce enough milk to feed them.

Currently, on paternity leave from the day job, Richard has to visit his cattle and their calves every two hours and the sheep and their lambs every four hours. Whenever I start to feel a little self-pity on the occasions when the long and split shifts are thrust upon me at the Hotel, I think I would do well to remember that some vocations really do occupy 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Our Happy seemed to hit it off well with his new pals, though I'm not quite sure who was more interested in whom.

Ballabunt is about half way through their season for lambing and calving and Richard is pictured here leading a young calf down the field. In the area, in his youth, there were six families farming the area around the Cooil and now there are only two, other establishments having been built on for the housing and industrial estates with Ballapaddag now occupied by Robinsons, the Island's main catering supplier.