Who knew the car was orange?

A third letter home from Shackleton

Dear my-humans

Time has passed quickly here, and I am very excited that I will be coming home at the weekend.  I've had lots of fun, but miss you and Luna.

The big news is that I had a bit of an accident on the moor and managed to cut my pad on who-knows-what while rushing about. However, I don't think it was too much of a problem for the Beards as they said it was typical that accidents occur outside of normal veterinary hours ("bloody typical" in fact, but I assumed that was because of all of the blood). I was very brave, and we rushed over to Bideford for the out-of-hours service with Badgerbeard holding my wound closed in the back, while Gingerbeard drove carefully so as not to make us sick. The nurse and vet were very nice to me, and I had to have sedation, stitches and antibibliotecs, which is why I haven't been near a library all week (sorry, Badgerbeard made me put in that joke, and is currently laughing all on his own somewhere).  I've had to have my foot wrapped every day, and can only go out with a plastic boot - we now have a posh one, but here is a photo of me with the make-shift version at the start - as you can see, I'm still a very happy chappy.

We've been to the vets several times for check-ups, and the receptionist gave me a treat! She also said she was sorry that Badgerbeard was back in again after last year, but he was quite upbeat and told her that with four young collies in the house, over a two month period the law of averages meant we were bound to make some kind of visit, and that he was simply going to get his wages paid into their account directly. She laughed, but probably doesn't know he is currently not working so there are no wages. However, all will be fine apparently as I have something called insurance - otherwise I would have had to work down the mines for a month to cover the costs.

Life on the farm carries on, and the sheep have been brought down from the field next to the moor. Some have already been shut in ready for lambing, which seems to be a hot topic of conversation down here...although I find the sheep a bit boring.  They either walk around eating grass, or sit down chewing grass. They also have a complicated set of marks on their wool, which Gingerbeard seems to be able to translate.  Badgerbeard has not yet learnt that foreign language, and often grumbles about it. Personally, I think it might be more useful than Italian in the short-term, but I keep quiet.

Ned has been working hard while we play about, and I have yet to find a photograph where he is not perched on the love of his life, the quad.

So that's it for the moment. See you at the weekend.  I hope you have brought home a candied albatross for me - they do look rather tasty.

Much love
Your Shackie
xxxx