Pennybridge Farm

Pennybridge Alpaca Farm – Mei-An’s 12th Birthday Present! (11.5.2024)

Although we initially arranged to walk three Alpacas between the four of us – it soon became apparent that two was more than enough to handle – as Kai-in was too young to handle one of these animals by herself. Mei-An, as a 12 year old – handled her Alpaca (Caesar) very well – before I took over at the half-way point. Gee and Kai-Lin walked “Percy”. Alpacas are herd animals and do not like being separated or individually man-handled. They often spit and will stand still if they do not like what is going on – so steady as you go – like sailing a ship on unpredictable waters! We think Kai-Lin’s brightly coloured dress might have alarmed the Alpacas as they seem slightly agitated when Kai-Lin came to close. Still, she did quite well regardless, and none of the Alpacas “kicked” – as these backward kicks to human groins and chins have been known to be quite deadly in the past!

London: Souvenir “Grenadier Guard” Lead Soldier! (26.9.2023)

In this sense the ancient ritual of ‘guarding’ is a charade – or a piece of very interesting ‘theatre’ that constitutes a living history. These guards are professional soldiers trained to fight on the modern battlefield – but also ‘volunteer’ to learn all the required skills to ‘march’, ‘stand’ and ‘patrol’ just like a British Infantry Soldier did during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Once upon a time – soldiers in the British Army used march into battle dressed in these uniforms and behaving in this manner – whilst advancing on the enemy standing in straight ranks and moving slowly but precisely forward with fixed bayonet! As the dead and wounded in the front-line fell to the ground – soldiers in the supporting ranks would move up and take their place without effecting the momentum of the attack!