Time Flies – no Two days are the same on the farm… by Jo Ballin

I can hardly believe I have been involved with Wick Care Farm for nearly 8 years now. In that time the Care Farm has grown from a hopeful vision to a wonderful thriving community. Sometimes it feels like no time at all but then I take a step back and look at what we have achieved and it feels like a lifetime. We really must produce a photographic record to illustrate how things have developed and changed over the years.

If there’s one skill we all need at the care farm it’s the ability to adapt to change. We get used to the changing seasons and the different jobs that need doing at different times of year. We get used to saying goodbye to some of our animals and welcoming (and naming) new additions. We get used to making a plan for the day then quickly thinking on our feet and replanning when we realise the weather forecasters got it wrong.

We also have to get used to changes of faces on the farm. When people are no longer around, for whatever reason, we often spend time reminiscing about things they contributed to the group. We especially love talking about things that made us smile or laugh out loud. We have recently decided to turn an area of the care farm yard into a memory garden where people can sit and remember people we no longer see. There is also a very beneficial aspect to a change of faces because everyone who joins the group brings something new and positive with them.

At Christmas, I stepped back from my role as Occupational Therapist at the Care Farm and with this the door is open for someone new to join the team and bring a whole new set of knowledge and experience to the party. I don’t think it was specified in the job description that they may be expected to turn every conversation into a song (maybe they are hoping for a bit of peace and quiet when I take my love of a singsong elsewhere 😊). I am not planning to disappear and will still be a familiar sight (and sound) around the farm. I will definitely be popping in for a cuppa, especially when flapjacks are on offer, and will continue to manage our flock of Jacob sheep. I have been closely involved in all the fundraising bids and events and I will continue to drive these forwards. Our current aim is to raise enough money to create a more comfortable and attractive indoor space for our regular groups, and to offer to the wider community.

I know that some people are fearful of change but in the words of Wendy Mass “If nothing ever changed, there would be no such things as butterflies”.