"Of course I had no idea of radio programs or anything so practical in mind when I first saw the little white farm nestling against the hill, flanked by its long perfection of a barn and guarded by the huge ash tree standing between them. I was in love.with the sheer magic of the valley."So begins this evocative account of rural life, an account so humorous and warmhearted that it is sure to be likened to James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small.Jeanine McMullen was a BBC producer in London when, some ten years ago, she went to Wales on assignment. There she fell in love--with Wales, its people, and most of all with the farm that, on an impulse, she decided to buy. In this delightful volume she recounts for us the joys and frustrations of living on her small holding. Here you will meet the people who helped her: among them "Mrs.

P," her eccentric Australian mother; "The Artist," her less-than-steadfast boyfriend; the vet, Bertie Ellis, with his macabre sense of humor, and her neighbors, Gwyneth Griffiths and Myrddin Party.But above all there are her animals: Doli, the draft horse, who is Jeanine's closest confidante; the wayward goat Whacky; her beloved whippet Merlin; Douglas and Daisy, a pair of "highflying" geese; and assorted other sheep, cattle, pigeons, and cats--even a unicorn--all of whom come vividly to life in these pages.