Baby Doves

In April like the rest of the country we had a lot of rain, but now May is here the weather has finally improved. All the birds are busy nesting and this year we have a good number of Swallows returning to build their nests, some are high up in the roof of the stables and in the barns. A pair of doves have made a nest on top of a pillar in the new stable block and I managed to stand up on several bales of hay to take a a photo while mum and dad were away.

Spring work begins

In the South West just like the rest of the country we are experiencing an exceptionally dry March. The weather has been more like June with temperatures at 19c and everyone in Minehead seem to be wearing T-shirts and shorts, madness. We have taken advantage of the dry ground and Derek has managed to harrow, roll and fertilize all our fields, which means we now need some rain to make the grass grow. This was exactly the same position we found ourselves in March 2011, so I hope our grass grows well and we can make some good hay in the summer.

Horsey Boarding School for Mim

On Sunday 18th March we took Mim in the trailer to Emma Massingale's home in Devon, just off the A39 not far from Bude. Emma is a trainer in Natural Horsemanship (www.emmamassingale.com) and is just amazing with her technique. Mim should be with Emma a couple of months and so far so good. Mim has been hacking out with Emma everyday for a week and only became excited when she saw some young cows in a field who were running around. This week she will be having a set of front shoes put on for the first time as she is wearing her hooves down on the tarmac roads. Emma will continue with hacking her out for another week to get her used to traffic and all the exciting things you find when out riding!

Mad March!

We are really busy this March trying to get lots of building works completed before out first guests arrive for the season. We've just had a new chimney stack built on the main house as the old one was letting in water and hopefully the scaffolding will be taken down shortly. The cottage has had some work done to the main bedroom window and that has now been completed and painted. Unfortunately the boiler in the cottage sprang a leak so that has just been replaced and we are now waiting for a new vinyl floor to be laid in the kitchen.

The builder has just finished plastering the main house lobby and downstairs cloakroom, so hopefully that can be fitted out soon and then I can get on with decorating and moving everything out of my lounge which looks a total mess!

New Pygmy Goats

Two Pygmy goats from Surrey have come to join our other three; Erin, Gay and Gordon. Sadly their owner died last year and Rosie and Bessie needed a new home. They travelled down in a horsebox and have settled in very well. They are both easy to lead on a headcollar rope and come when called. We did have a few problems when we introduced them to our other goats with some fighting, but they have now all calmed down and are grazing together each day. However I am keeping them in a separate stable at night.

The Old Stable Block

Our old stable block is looking a bit of a mess now that all the ivy has been taken off the walls. All the rendering is coming away from the cob walls, so it will have to be stripped off ready for new rendering in the spring. The climbing rose has had to be cut down to the base, but hopefully it will recover and grow back up the wall. We have also temporarily taken down the dovecote, but the doves weren't using it anyway, prefering the medieval barn! However they will be getting a shock this year when we fill in the gaps so they can't roost in the barn.

Medieval Barn

We have been working on restoring the medieval barn this autumn. At the east end of the barn a stone wall was repaired and all the ivy which was creeping over the wall and roof was taken down. Now we have started repairing the west end of the barn. The window that you can see has the original fifteenth century ornate wood work at the very top. The vertical slats have been replaced at sometime, but are still old and in very good condition. Once the paint is dry we intend to build a new shed half way up the barn wall spanning the two outer stone walls. One half of the area will be a log store and the other half is for all the recycling boxes that have been provided by West Somerset Council. We have so many boxes that we need somewhere to put them all which is accessible.