Shepherds should get free healthcare

I left the farm on Friday 19th October because I really wasn't doing much farming. I cleared a pile of bark in one of the fields that must have been left there for a year or so. There were hundreds of worms and slugs and spiders. One of the spiders carried a giant white sac under it's body. Still don't know what it was. I thanked my host family for their warmth and I left for my sister's via Reikorangi pottery, cafe and animal park.

A step back in time, there were collections of pottery from ancient China and who knows where else, stacked in glass cases like an old persons living room. Beside art and pottery, and woodenware from current artists, including the couple who own the place, Wilf and Jan. Both very chatty, friendly, and switched on for their age. Each of them telling me that they'd been living on the land and been together for over 50 years. A wee place with a lot of character. I could see peacocks strutting in the animal park next door and chickens and roosters running around underfeet, obviously with more freedom than allowed to the peacocks. I decided to save a visit to the animal farm until better weather and with company, and had a chilled tea and cheese scone instead. Delicious.

A strange thing happened the evening I came back to Paraparaumu. My lovely brother in law had roasted lamb for dinner, which was beautifully done. Normally, I'd be appreciating it, but for the first time, eating lamb was unpleasant, and you who know me well, know that I love eating lamb. Or rather, I used to. I couldn't help thinking about Baa baa.

The previous Thursday morning we were rotating the animals between paddocks, to let the grass recouperate. It was a miserable day, cold, wet and windy. Thankfully, it only took an hour to shift the horses, then the sheep; a good time, apparently. The rest of the day was spent cleaning.

Since then I've been resting and trying to clear a serious case of diarrhea which has got progressively worse. Now I'm in bed on antibiotics for the second time this year. I am shocked that healthcare is not free, then astounded at the price of of it. Healthcare should be a right, not a privilege. The NHS in the UK, is the best in the world. It might not be perfect, but it says that healthcare is priority, for everyone, no matter who you are.