Saturday morning started with breakfast serving. 12 Italians who barely speak English (although we did manage quite well in French with one of them, Jill and I were really impressed with ourselves dredging up schoolgirl French) and drink a lot of coffee. We had four kettles constantly on the boil. Then I showed a local …
Author Archives: Nic
Home from home
A quick post because it is late o’clock AND I have a real bed to sleep in tonight so I really should be making the most of it not hanging out on the internet! We left Evergreen this morning, with the usual round of well wishes, offers to come back any time, huge thanks for …
Today we were to Pete’s parents as they had some ‘jobs’ for us to do. They are really nice folk, slightly bewildered at what has happened to their farm after they split it three ways between the three sons and ‘retired’ from it and slightly saddened that none of the family closeness they grew up …
Make silage while the sun shines
First thing this morning we were lamb catching. Three of the lambs we had brought over last night were not with the right ewes so we rounded them up, put them in the boot and drove them back to the field to be reunited with their mothers. Our next task was catching the three hens …
Dynamic Duos
This week we have decided to split Davies and Scarlett up to spend time with one or other of us. Partially because we feel they have not got the most out of this hosting (not their faults) so want them to learn as much as they can in the final week and think the best …
Weekendiness
Another lie in this morning, until the sun shining in between the tiny gap of the bottom of the curtain and the start of the window finally did the job of rousing me that Ady being up boiling kettles and two children sitting on me had started but been unable to finish :). We did …
A proper day off
This morning we all slept in til 9am – lovely 🙂 and very tricky when you live in a van as once one person is awake you pretty much all are. Ady had been sick last night (can’t decide if there is an issue with food here or just bad luck as I’d had an …
Ade the Fish
One of the other market traders that Emma and Pete regularly have a pitch next to at several of their markets is Dan the Fishman a rather colourful personality, well known at such events. He has gotten so busy and to coin a rather crazy phrase become a victim of his own success and is …
Flippin’ burgers
I didn’t blog yesterday because I had a bad day 🙁 Nothing major or serious, just one of those walls all four of us hit every so often, coupled with some PMT and a day of crappy jobs. Ady was off to market, where he had a good day selling meat and pasties. When the …
market, with no fat pigs
This morning we went to Holdsworthy Cattle market to sell some ewes and lambs. This meant getting them in the trailer, tagging the lambs ears – theoretically they should be tagged, one in each ear, shortly after birth but as sheep are notoriously bad for losing their ear tags most farmers only actually tag them …
Shovelling shit
This morning first thing we were herding sheep. Off to the field we took them to last week to drive them down the lane, select 3 to take to slaughter and then drive them back up the lane into the field again. I did running 🙂 In the evening I had a bath which was …
Catch up
Friday Market Day for me 🙂 Up super early and then a fair bit of hanging around waiting for Amanda to be ready. I hate that. I loathe hanging around waiting for people, particularly if I have gotten up earlier than I want to or have rushed myself. We brought her younger daughter Z with …
Sausage Queen
Ady was off to market early this morning and had a really good day there with Amanda. They didn’t sell loads but Ady really enjoyed playing Market Trader and bantering with other stall holders and customers and loved the whole bartering and swapping of produce that goes on there. They came back having sold a …
More running, more animal poo
This morning our first job was to work with Pete to move sheep. About 50 in the barn (that we had moved from a field into the barn yesterday) needed to go to another field 4 miles away as they have all now lambed. Pete did say ideally they would be walked to the field …
Well thank you Crazy Karen
because this seems to be a rather perfect place for us! Up this morning and in the house for breakfast at 8am. A bit of background on the people here: Emma and Pete, married couple, together for 11 years. This is Pete’s in-the-family-for-four-generations farm land, but the original farmhouse went to his older brother who …
keeping us on our feet
what a day today has been! This morning we got up, breakfasted, packed the van up and headed over for a cup of tea and a goodbye with Denise & Glyn. Davies and Scarlett had drawn pictures and written thank you notes for them – featuring Kim the dog and Billy the bull to take …
playing host in a field
This morning we went down to the big farmhouse as Ady had offered to have a look at a bit of leaky outside pipe from the kitchen sink to the drain. Denise gave us a lift down in the pick up and she went off for a walk round with the dog and the kids …
I can hear moosic
Ady went down to the farmhouse this morning to finish the garden, while I went across to get the mower. Denise asked me to do some clearing out in the cow shed first though as the grass was still quite wet with dew, so I spent half an hour or so sweeping, wiping and mopping …
Arp
A *much* better day today 🙂 This morning we were back to the big house for gardening but the kids and I had a wander along to the village to the post office as Ady had managed to bring a key from Jill’s along with us in his jeans pocket so we posted that back. …
More gardening…
But made my peace with it – I can tolerate almost anything for four days 😉 This morning we walked down to the farmhouse and spent the whole day in the garden there. The kids had a great day, playing with the dog, drawing and just adventuring around the place. Ady and I did weeding …