I seem to have spent a good part of my life - probably too much – in just standing and staring.

That quotation about not having time to stand and stare has never applied to me. I seem to have spent a good part of my life - probably too much - in just standing and staring and I was at it again this morning.

A farmer once told me one of the greatest luxuries of his life was to wake up early only to go back to sleep again.

If having a soul means being able to feel love and loyalty and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans.

I seem to have spent a good part of my life - probably too much – in just standing and staring.

There was no last animal I treated. When young farm lads started to help me over the gate into a field or a pigpen, to make sure the old fellow wouldn't fall, I started to consider retiring.

I love writing about my job because I loved it, and it was a particularly interesting one when I was a young man. It was like holidays with pay to me.