In sickness and in health

• By Natalie Pitfield

There’s nothing harder than caring for animals when you’re sick.

I’d come down with a sinus infection and was feeling a little poorly. One of our neighbours’
baby goats had wandered over to our place and then taken off into our forest.

We spent almost an hour tramping through the steep slope to find him and finally managed to grab him. Then I jumped the fence and reunited him with his Mum who was less than pleased that he smelled like me. She finally let him feed and all was well. But I was exhausted and sniffly.

The next day I checked on Amado, the alpaca who’d suffered a burst abscess on his leg. It
wasn’t looking good, so I rang the vet.

It’s always a palaver to round up our alpacas and get them harnessed. Amado is quite docile, but his brother Ocito is feisty. And running around paddocks while at half-mast isn’t my idea of a good time. By the time our lovely vet had treated him and bandaged his wound, I was feeling very jaded.

Then it was time to take our dog Akira to the physiotherapist for treatment of an old injury
that had flared up.

I got home that afternoon and felt really poorly. By the time the morning came I was very
sick. I prayed that the animals would get the memo that Mum needed some time to rest and recover, and no-one else would fall sick or get injured.

I rested over the next two days and still wasn’t fully well but had to round up the alpacas yet again for more vet treatment. I also noticed that our chook was looking poorly so we
implemented a treatment regime for her too.

I love living on land. I love having animals. These things are a privilege and a joy. But it
definitely becomes slightly less rosy when there’s hard work to do, and you’re unwell. I’m
thankful that everyone survived and thrived. I’m sure I will too.

Recipe: Celebration Cake

Ingredients
500g sultanas 5 eggs
250g raisins ½ cup rum, brandy or sweet sherry
250g dates 1 ¾ cups plain flour
125g currants 1/3 cup self-raising flour
125g mixed peel 1 tsp mixed spice
125g glace cherries ½ tsp cinnamon
60g glace pineapple ¼ tsp nutmeg
60g glace apricots ¼ tsp salt
250g butter 2 tbsp rum, brandy or sweet sherry
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

Method

1. Chop raisins, dates, peel, cherries, pineapple and apricots; combine in large bowl with sultanas, currants and rum. Mix well. Cover, stand overnight.
2. Line a deep 20cm (8 in.) square or deep 23cl (9 in.) round cake tin with 3 thicknesses of greaseproof paper, bringing paper 8cm (3 in.) above edges of tin.
3. Beat butter until soft. Add sugar, beating only until combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add creamed mixture to fruit mixture. Mix well.
4. Stir in sifted dry ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Spread evenly into prepared tin and bake in slow oven (150 degrees) 3-3 ½ hours.
5. When cooked, remove from oven. Brush evenly with extra rum.
6. Cover with aluminium foil and leave until cold. Remove from tin, re-wrap in foil to keep airtight until required.