Back in December, I mentioned giving up the sheep see Farm News 2019 and it has now happened.  They all went one day in January (except two badger-faced wethers and Perky) (and the ram for the moment) when I was really not expecting it.  I can no longer say that we farm sheep, which for us is sad, but at least with no ewes to lamb, I can grow some vegetables instead!

We will still be selling frozen mutton - it is delicious by the way!!

The wethers immediately got caught up in brambles!

Perky was one of those lambs which missed out on the crucial colostrum from her Mother, but in spite of that insisted on living… she is slightly deformed, but still lives on.  We feel we have to keep her!

February

Flooding has been a main topic of news recently and we have witnessed some very dramatic local flooding.  Fortunately, here on our little spur, we are well out of the water, but getting in and out can be a little tricky.  Also, fortunately, being quite high, the water leaves us quickly and the ground dries up fast.  

The hens are the worst off as they have a leak above their stable and a puddle in the middle of their floor!

This is a silted up pond in the course of our stream.  First the ash tree came down (News 2019), then it silted up even more!

   We were very fortunate that the weather in April, May and June was so benign; Peter’s first priority being the rebuilding of the waterfall in Xidong.  Thanks to a careless visitor or their dog, the fishpond water feature developed a leak.  It had to be rebuilt three times before the leak was conquered.  

It was a hard and demanding job, needing a well earned mug of tea at regular intervals.

The end result has been well worth the effort.

We sampled this little paradise for ourselves, one weekend in May and found out just how delightful it is to stay here!  The atmosphere is so peaceful and light, spacious and interesting.  From the fishpond and waterfall and the back wall, the stones and even the pollarded chestnuts in the garden to the beams and stonework inside, it has all you need to practice your mindfulness and experience inner peace.

Of course, this may have been helped by the beautiful weather we experienced!

The cottages may have been closed to visitors, but in the interim, we have been busy (Peter has been busy) renovating, rejuvenating, repairing, rebuilding and resuscitating.

June

The stairs in Squire Cottage have been sanded and sealed.

Some vital pointing has been done around the bottom of the walls - stops the livestock getting in.

Goldie hatched 11 chicks, though not all have survived and many of them are cockerels.

…and Perry, our Badger Faced ram has been sold and has gone to his new home over the hill and far away!

August

We opened our doors again in July and have been and still are fully booked until November.  Of course that is partially because we are leaving a three or four day buffer between bookings, which ensures that there will be very little chance of our guests passing nasty viruses on in our cottages.  It also safeguards whoever is doing the cleaning.  Our guests are loving the fishpond in Xidong garden.   

Below, the large and top-heavy ash tree outside Squire Cottage is being pollarded.  The fear was that it would drop a branch on a visiting car - or fall on the cottage in a storm.

It is one of the few ash trees not showing any sign of disease, so I hope it will continue to be healthy.

It doesn’t look very pretty now, but will be so much happier next spring.

We are planning to extend the Squire Cottage garden and fully enclose it so that you people with dogs and children can leave them safely behind fencing!!

Peter has built a new paved seating area with sleeper surround and an interesting path and steps through some new planting.

There is also an Easter Island head made by our tenant, Simon Jameson of 1066 Creations

September

Autumn walks in the woods and fields around Squire Farm is a perfect delight, especially when the weather goes your way and it is warm and sunny.  The leaves will start to change colour soon and the countryside will get even prettier!

Squire Cottage garden makeover

All the hard landscaping is now done and the garden is fenced in and secure with some solar powered LED lighting.  However, there is a lot of planting to be done including some turf for the extended lawn and shifting a shrub or two.  There will be heathers and heucheras, herbs and h…… whatever - other herbaceous plants!

Laying turf bought in after a failed attempt at cutting our own!

October

Sheep want cake!

This is a woodland track you can follow after a climb straight up Stowe Hill from the farm.

On the left is the sunken lane part of the track on the farm.  The rock slab on the right has been literally uprooted by a fallen hawthorn or holly (can’t remember which)

We’ve had some beautiful weather recently, which have produced just the right conditions for pictures to show off our countryside!