What the Flock!: Raising kids, rearing animals and other misadventures on our family farm

Description

From high heels to welly boots - one woman's misadventures in becoming a farmer, raising a family, and making a living from the land. Twenty-five years ago, Sally Urwin was living in a tiny flat in the city with a high-pressure job. She was utterly miserable, suffering from depression and longing for a different life. When she met and married farmer Steve, she imagined herself wafting around in floral dresses followed by a bevy of rosy-cheeked children. The reality is quite different... Sally is usually wearing a jumper covered in sheep poo and bellowing at Mavis the collie to stop chasing Gladys the grumpy pony, her kids are moaning about being dragged outside, while Sally is caring for a ewe who has ingested a poisonous plant after wandering into the neighbour's garden. But despite the chaos of juggling motherhood with running a farm, financial hardship and dealing with poorly animals, the exhilarating freedom of rural life has helped Sally to heal her own body and mind. Lambing season might be backbreaking but there's no greater joy than cradling a new-born lamb. With a mix of grit, humour and the love of family, Sally shows us that it's never too late to live the life you've always dreamed of. Fans of the Yorkshire Shepherdess will love this hilarious, heartfelt, and honest account that will have you howling with laughter and sobbing into your tissues in equal measure.

Sally grew up in Tynemouth in the North East of England and worked for many years at the coal face of financial marketing in London and Newcastle. Eventually she made a break for freedom, married a Northumbrian farmer and threw away all her high heels and handbags for welly boots and waterproofs. Sally now runs a 150 acre farm with pigs, sheep and ponies, alongside her husband and two children, whilst the farm buildings play host to a brewery, wedding venue and glamping site. Sally spends a lot of time mucking out sheep pens, chatting to farm visitors, chasing lambs and piglets and trying very hard to find the time to sit down and write.