MEET CHARLIE MY ADORABLE RAM

A while back in England , Alex and I ran a holiday Caravan Park set in a beautifuL rolling Valley in North Devon, near Barnstaple. There were 12 luscious acres of parkland, and , at that time we had no animals , except a Pekingnese - a lot different from the Dobermans we were to have later- and a cat! Feeling broody one day with all our daughters growing up and moving away ( college, marriage ) I approached the local farmer with a view to adopting a baby lamb! He was very sweet and presented me with two, who I immediately called Charlie and Shambles.


Shambles is the lamb lying down, bless the poor little one, he had damage to his back legs and couldn't stand, but the farmer had said there might be a chance for him if we massaged his legs and tried to encourage him to stand and walk. This we did every day to no avail. He fed well each day from his bottle of milk, as did Charlie , but his legs didn't get any better and not long after , the vet informed me that he had brain damage from the birth which was his main problem. I took him back to the farmer, and cried all the way home.


Charlie, however, went from strngth to strength and grew into a beautiful ram.....

All the holidaymakers thought he was adorable, he would frolic around the chalets and caravans and they would feed him scraps--- then he became too cheeky, I remember hearing a rumpus one day, and went running to see what the fuss was. Charlie whizzed past me with someones' large chocolate cake in his smiling mouth, hotly persued by campers shaking their fists!! After that Alex insisted we had to fence him off an area of his own.

When it was our turn for us to go on holiday , Charlie went off to stay at the farm, and one year he fell in love with Lucie.....

I was unable to persuade te farmer to part with Lucie, so he made fleeting visits from time to time. AAH!

This was a long time ago and Charlie is now that big fluffy cloud which you see so often in the sky that looks just like him!! I shall always remember him.