Another trip that I have done since I arrived in Belfast is go to a farm. No, not Open Ark Farm, but Streamvale farm. This is another farm that is about 15 minutes from the flat that we’re staying in. one of the things that I was most excited to do there is puppy play time. They have puppies there, and a few times during the day, the puppies are let out in one of the paddocks to stretch their legs. I saw pictures, and they looked unbelievably cute.

 
The drive may have been short, but it was going uphill, then downhill, then back uphill again. Plus, it was a country road, so it was a bumpy ride. When we arrived, I was hungry, so we went to the café before entering the farm itself. I had tomato soup with two rolls for lunch. Then, I took a look at the playground next to the café and tried it out of course.

 
After lunch, I wanted to see the puppies as soon as possible. I found where they were and went inside the paddock. The puppies were in metal spaces with straw on the ground and heating lamps. A lot of the puppies were napping together in the basket. Puppies look unbelievably cute when they sleep together, and these dogs were no exception. Some people, including me, got to have a puppy on their lap. Then all the puppies were released, it was mayhem. Kids screamed and grabbed the puppies; the puppies went on a war path and stole tissue and attacked people. One female, scrawny, black puppy was wrestling her siblings every chance she got. I left the puppies after a bit more than five minutes and headed to the rabbits and sheep.

 

It was time for the lambs to be fed, and I was already at the sheep pen.  There were a lot of bunnies in the rabbit pen, and a very big rabbit that looked like a hare. I went to the benches in the front of the room and sat down, there were already a lot of people there waiting to feed the lambs. After a minute, the staff picked up the lambs one by one out of the pen and got the bottles out. The bottles with the milk were made from old plastic coke bottles. The way the lambs ate, you would have thought they were starving. I got to feed a lamb for a bit, its eyes were wide and fixed on the bottle.

 

After the lambs, I went back through the animals pens again. I gave the rabbits lettuce, which they practically fought over. Some of the rabbits let me pet them, a few hopped up on the metal border and looked at me curiously. One black bunny shoved his adorable face right in the camera. Near the rabbits there were calves, who eyed everyone as if they had food for them. There were a bunch of guinea pigs, they had fun structures to climb on and under. If you put your finger in, they would each take turns coming up and sniffing it. Some of them didn’t mind being pet, and they were pretty cute. Next to the guinea pigs were baby lambs and goats, one of which was ignoring everyone and everything. They hopped on the gate and made noise and looked cute to get peoples attention.

 

 

 

I got to hold a rabbit in basket in the building next door. It was moving around and very cute and had big brown eyes. One rabbit in the pen was jumping over the borders to get to the other side and say hello to the rabbits there. Outside there were more goats and older lambs, who were all eager to eat the grass I was holding. There were two hairy coos that reminded me of the hairy coos from Scotland that I saw on my tour. The coos were with one normal cow, who had to wait fir them to finish eating before she could have her snack. At one point, a large group of cows on the other side of the field were being herded to get milked. The cow in the paddock was mooing back and forth with them. Later, when the cows were being brought back from being milked, the cow in the paddock was eating. So, one of the hairy coos had a chat with them in her place. There were goats, (including one that was in the middle strip of grass between the fence where the other goats are and where I was), and a few horses that were relaxing in the grass.

 

 

On my way out, I saw the dog agility show that they have at the farm. A border collie named Chase runs through the course a couple times a day. He looked like he wanted to nap instead of exercise, but went through the course well enough. After it was over, he went to watch the sheep and goats nearby.
I highly recommend going to Streamvale farm, it’s a lot of fun, and there is a lot to do and see. There is even a duck pond and nature trail that I did not have time to see. Until the next post!