New arrival at Dannah Farm!! | Sun 04 May 2008 |
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Chase, a VERY cute English Setter puppy has joined Cracker and Jack at Dannah. Already causing quite a stir amidst family and guests alike, he will, no doubt, soon be taking our guests on long walks, along with his two friends!
www.dannah.co.uk/ | 
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The Deadline approaches | Mon 14 Apr 2008 |
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19th April is the day when Fin, the horse purchased by The Riding for Ross charity, is entered into his first competition. Riden by Jan, he will be competing in a British Eventing Event at Kelsall Hill in Cheshire, comprising dressage, show jumping and cross country.
Whilst it will be Fin's first event Jan has assured us that it will be her last! She has never done anything like this before either which goes to show that you can teach an old dog new tricks!
www.rushophall.com | 
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Spring Sunshine | Thu 10 Apr 2008 |
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It is always a delight when the milk cows are let out to enjoy the spring grass for the first time. They love to gamble and kick up their heels and are incredibly agile as they race around and explore the fields in the sunshine. Why not come and watch our herd of Friesians being milked as part of your holiday at Hoe Grange?
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Spring update from Shaw Farm | Tue 01 Apr 2008 |
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The cows were out for a short time in February with the sun on their backs and eating grass but the rains came and the cows came back in which is where they still are. Easter came with sun,gales and snow and the top picture was taken by a holiday maker in van 4 but hopefully if you visit you will see grass. The lighter evenings make a big difference to us especially when things go wrong and repairs need to be fixed before morning. One of our hens is sitting on some eggs and with having 2 cockerels we are hoping for some chicks. The 2 hens born on the farm last year are starting to lay. This is Wolfwitz enjoying some bread in the sunshine.
www.shawfarmholidays.co.uk | 
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THE TINIEST LAMB EVER ?? | Mon 24 Mar 2008 |
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Is the tiniest lamb ever to survive? One of our sheep had delivered good-sized twins and Vic could feel no more, so penned her up. On checking her 10 minutes later, he found in the pen another lamb, only this time a tiny scrap of a thing. Vic put it inside his jacket and brought it up to me - the lamb mother - to see what I could do with it. Vic could hold it in one hand, like a puppy. I wrapped it in a towel and placed it in the bottom oven of the Aga to warm up a tad. When I went to feed it with colostrum, it eagerly drank, although only a couple of teaspoons full. And so began the 2-hourly feeding vigil. Against all odds, this little one survived and thrived. I would clean its bottom by washing with soap and water and blowing with a hairdryer as its skin was just too tender to pull off the muck and it would have torn. The picture attached is when the lamb was around 3 weeks old. This story had a very happy ending as we eventually found someone who wanted to continue to rear her as a pet with their other pet lambs. It just goes to show that you should never give up just because something is small.
www.cottageguide.co.uk/theorchards | 
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New disabled facilities at Hoe Grange | Fri 21 Mar 2008 |
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In addition to our excellent disabled facilites we are now able to offer the hire of an Oxford Advance mobile lifting hoist. There is plenty of space for manoeuvre in both bedrooms and the wet-room shower in our Hipley cabin.
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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The BESST Time was had by ALL! | Thu 20 Mar 2008 |
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Last week saw the christening of the Haybarn at Beechenhill Farm. We hosted the final conference of BESST- Business and Environment linked through Small Scale Tourism, a trans-national project involving Sweden, Norway and the Peak District.
So, we had local fish and chip supper, clog dancing, Norwegain National costumes and parades, Swedish Viking story telling, a Slow Food Lunch, a make-a-dog-out-of-newspaper-competition, a beacon lighting and a historic fashion show! The Haybarn fitted the bill perfectly! No wonder we are tired but happy this week.
www.beechenhill.co.uk | 
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Has anyone seen my Mummy? | Thu 20 Mar 2008 |
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Just in case you are wondering what I am, the answer is a baby Alpaca. The official word for baby from where I originate in South America (Peru in my mummy's case) is Cria.
I was born last summer to Cricket (so called because she was born whilst we were giving the Aussies a good thrashing during the last home Ashes series) and my name is Fergus.
You can see me at Rushop Hall with all my friends and relatives - there is a herd of 60 of us altogether including my dad, Nevada. I don't see much of him as he is always working!
www.rushophall.com | 
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Pigs in muck! | Mon 17 Mar 2008 |
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Our rare breed pigs (Saddlebacks in the picture) continue to do well despite the terrible weather that we have had just lately. In the picture they are shown enjoying a brief moment of respite in the sunshine. We have several different breeds on the farm including Saddlebacks, Mid Whites and Gloucester Old Spots. When on the farm we encourage our guests to get involved with the animals by helping with the feeding each evening.
www.rushophall.com | 
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Life at Cote Bank Farm | Mon 17 Mar 2008 |
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We have entered the 21st Century at last and now keep an online diary (blog!) to help our visitors see what we get up to in the heart of the Peak District and how beautiful it is here all year round. So click on the link below or on our own web site www.cotebank.co.uk
www.cotebank.blogspot.com | |
Crier Expected | Sun 16 Mar 2008 |
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Yes , you ask ? What is a Crier
Well it is a young Llama and Emily is the expectant mother. Emily being our 2 year old llama
May is the expected month of delivery so I will keep you posted.
In the meantime Jemma, has delivered 8 collie pups, 6 dogs and 2 bitches
Bye for now
peter
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Lambing | Wed 12 Mar 2008 |
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Riding House Farm is a working Farm of 140 acres. If you bring your wellies you will be able to see the newborn lambs in the Spring and even feed them. There is an abundance of wildlife around especially in our own seluded bluebell wood.
www.riding-house-cottages.co.uk | 
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Film stars stabled at Hoe Grange | Thu 06 Mar 2008 |
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An exciting week as Hoe Grange was home for 16 film horses, their riders and grooms whilst they were filming Wolfman at Chatsworth. It all seemed extremely glamorous until they had to get up at 3.30 in the morning to groom and muck out before leaving to be on set for dawn! Pictured is the stunning Sevilla, who has such a wonderful temperament that he is chosen to be riden by all the famous actresses. We liked Jimmy and Hendricks, two driving horses who amicably shared a stable all week.
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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New for 2008 at Hoe Grange | Thu 21 Feb 2008 |
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Get back to nature and spend an evening under the tranquil starry skies in our traditional log-fired Swedish hot tub. Experience the elements as you relax and unwind in the steamy water in the peace and quiet of the beautiful Derbyshire countryside.
Imagine soaking away the stresses and strains of everyday life - the warmth of the water - the glow of candlelight - pure relaxation!
Seats up to 8 people - all you need is your swimsuit, a towel and some flip flops or casual shoes.
See our website for full details
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Working dogs take a break | Wed 09 Jan 2008 |
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Bob, Tess and Meg in the garden on a cold winters day at Park View Farm.
www.parkviewfarm.co.uk | 
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A look back over 2007 at Shaw Farm | Wed 12 Dec 2007 |
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Well what a hectic year it’s been! We have been busy putting on a brand new caravan over the summer which after we planted the hedge around the garden last week is now finally finished. We decided to get a wider model than our other caravans which involved some major building alterations to get it into position and an eventful evening spent digging in the mud when we got it stuck! However all the effort was worth it as we are really pleased with the end result, the central heating really makes a big difference during these frosty winter nights!
All the cows and youngstock have now been housed for the winter which I’m sure they’re happy about after enduring the cold wet summer outside. We can only hope for some more sunshine in 2008 and no repeats of the Foot and Mouth outbreak which has had a disastrous effect on so many farmers. Over the summer we had our first chickens hatched on the farm, these two are called wolfwitz and pecks although we are yet to see any eggs! The future is looking much better for our herd of dairy cows as milk prices have finally improved which will hopefully allow us to make some long needed improvements to the farm.
Hope everyone has a good Christmas and look forward to seeing you in 2008. George and Nicky Burgess
www.shawfarmholidays.co.uk | 
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Beautiful Dale Bottom Cottage finished | Sat 03 Nov 2007 |
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We have finally finished the renovations on our lovely Dale Bottom Cottage and it is now available for visitors to enjoy.
Autumn is upon us and how lovely it is with the wonderful reds, yellows and brown of the leaves as they fall.
We are busy cleaning out our sheds and doing the many repairs which includes a new roof for our main barn, before our animals can come in for the winter.
We have a new puppy which we have called Jilly who will eventually be trained to replace our old collie dog, Polly, who is now in a well deserved retirement and spends most of her days dozing next to the fire, best her.
The nights are closing in and so we have to work harder during the daylight to get it all done so that we can return to our cosy kitchen for supper.
www.dovedalecottages.co.uk | |
Silver Award for Hoe Grange Holidays | Wed 10 Oct 2007 |
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David and Felicity are delighted to announce that Hoe Grange Holidays won a Silver Award for the Best Self-catering Accomodation in the East Midlands region of the Enjoy England Excellence Awards. Quality is very important to us and it's a fantastic achievement, especially as we have only be open for business for 18 months. Steve Brown Chairman of East Midlands Tourism commented that "This year the standard of entrants was higher than ever, presenting the judges with some tough decisions! I congratulate all the winners who have demonstrated they excel in all they do to deliver a truly memorable visitor experience". Next year we shall be going for gold!!
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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October 2007 | Tue 02 Oct 2007 |
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With Summer behind us we have to think ahead to next year, we are reseeding 2 fields to ensure good grazing for the cows next spring when we turn out mid May.
The cows will be in mid Oct so not many days left to get the sheds ready for a cosy winter in doors.
We are still rebuilding 2 long lengths of dry stone walls and have to complete this month while the weather is OK.
All in all a very busy month ahead.
The trees are starting to turn golden and shed their leaves to give a carpet of Autumn colour not to be missed.
Yesterday I watched a hawk tormenting some little birds who appeared to be chasing the hawk away very unusual site.
Just this week I have seen 4 hot air balloon go over so the weather must be gentle for them to fly, what a great way to see this area.
www.oldhousefarm.com | 
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BESST visit to Fyresdal in Norway | Wed 19 Sep 2007 |
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David and Felicity of Hoe Grange Holidays recently visited Fyresdal in Norway with the BESST group (Business and the Environment linked through Small Scale Tourism) on a business exchange. See www.besst.org. David was looking for inspirational ideas for our log cabins, little realising that his herdmanship skills would be so crucial. The Norwegians took us to the largest agricultural show in the area and organised a hand milking competition between the 3 countries, the Peak District, Hylte in Sweden and themselves. David was horrified to find that the cow had only been milked by hand once before on the morning of the competition! Undeterred David rose to the challenge and in a close fought contest managed to extract the most milk, aided by his team mates, Sarah Gayton of Taste of the Moorlands and Janine Mannion-Jones of JMJ Pottery. As winners of this national competition the Peak District team were presented with traditionally engraved silver spoons.It was fantastic fun and the event was used to promote the local breed of red and white Telemark cows.During the exchange we visited local businesses, had an adventurous climb to the top of a Fjord for the most spectacular view of a lifetime (I have never been so wet!), travelled back through time in an outdoor museum and experienced an open-air musical performance of the mythical Norwegian wood nymph, who entices men away to the forests! We were inspired by the outdoor saunas so watch this space!
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Me and Egor | Thu 16 Aug 2007 |
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Egor is a lone goose born without a Mum. He has adopted us as a family and is a great character.
www.parkviewfarm.co.uk | 
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Car park improvements at Hoe Grange | Mon 14 May 2007 |
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Fantastic news! The car park areas outside each cabin have been improved and laid with tarmac this week. This is particularly good news for those guests with pushchairs, wheelchairs and bikes, as the transfer from car to cabin is now much smoother and easier. We are sure you will agree - come and try it out for yourselves!
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Besst visit to Hylte Sweden | Wed 02 May 2007 |
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Felicity of Hoe Grange Holidays has recently visited Hylte in Sweden with the Besst group (Business and the Environment linked through Small Scale Tourism) on a business exchange. See www.besst.org. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit and it was a wonderful opportunity to compare and contrast holidays at Hoe Grange with those provided in Sweden. We experienced new activities and regional foods, such as moose, wild boar and pike fishcakes. We were lucky enough to see a mother moose and her calf in the surrounding forest - quite different from the Peak District - there are trees everywhere! The Swedish are very much an outdoor nation and I came home filled with inspirational ideas - one of which is to provide a fire pit so our guests can sit out late in the evening and enjoy the peace and tranqulitiy of our fabulous Peak District countryside. Watch this space!
www.hoegrangeholidays.co.uk | 
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Spring arrives at Hoe Grange | Tue 27 Mar 2007 |
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The georgeous weather has dried up the grazing pastures enough for the milk cows to be turned out for their first taste of spring sunshine today. A wonderful sight to see 120 cows gambling and running around the field after the long winter months inside.
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Spring at last | Sun 25 Mar 2007 |
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With Winter well and truely behind us we are planing the field work in preparation for the cows to go out to graze in May and lots of dry stone walls to repair - after we hosted sheep for someone they have left our walls with gaps where they took short cuts to the next field!!
The daffodils have survived the frost and snow of recent weeks and are now offering to be quite a show.
www.oldhousefarm.com | 
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Tree planting at Hoe Grange | Thu 01 Feb 2007 |
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As part of the ongoing improvements of our farmland we have just planted over 100 native trees in 2 small copses in the field above our log cabins, including Ash, Hawthorn, Holly, and Sycamore. Gippy our horse oversees the planting of the extra special horse chestnut tree grown from a conker by our daughter Caroline.
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spring is coming | Sun 07 Jan 2007 |
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Today is wonderful, warm and bright with views to die for, lovely walking weather. The spring snowdrops/cowslips are lifting their heads and peeking through the earth. The cows are well fed and content in the barns and Ethel has had her long awaited calf, which is her delight and all the other animals who are inspecting the new arrival with great interest. The year is young and life is good down on the farm.
The short days mean that we are in our cosy kitchen having supper early to settle down for the evening and then to bed with Hot Chocolate (l have a tot of spiced rum in mine and would recommend it).
Steve is busy working on our new cottage, Dale Bottom and this should be ready in May so watch this space.
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Late Harvest at Hoe Grange | Tue 24 Oct 2006 |
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Unusally late this year with our last cut of silage for our cows at Hoe Grange. The autumn weather has been exceptionally mild and the grass is still growing so we have managed to harvest a third cut from our pastures. We also have another horse arrived to stay for the winter, a beautiful 15 hand 2 inch Cleveland Bay mare called Jess, who is very well behaved and is settling in with her stable companion Gippy.
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Hoe Grange awarded Peak District Environmental Quality Mark | Sun 10 Sep 2006 |
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We are delighted that Hoe Grange Holidays has recently been awarded the prestigious Environmental Quality Mark (EQM) award from the Peak District National Park Authority in recognition of our high environmental standards. Conservation, use of local produce, energy-efficiency and promoting environmentally-friendly business practices are the key to gaining the award.
At Hoe Grange our environment is very precious, with beautiful unspoilt views, and no noise or light pollution. Ever mindful of preserving our own environment and the need to minimise pollution everywhere, we try to play our part by being eco friendly, and making it easy for visitors to recycle rubbish. It’s extremely encouraging that our guests take on the challenge of recycling. We also use environmentally friendly cleaning materials and detergents and save energy whenever practical by line drying bedlinen and towels outside and extensive use of low energy light bulbs.
Hoe Grange also works with other local EQM businesses to provide guests with fresh local produce hampers, home cooked ready meals and puddings. It’s as good as having a farmers market come to you to make your as holiday hassle free as possible.
www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/eqm | 
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August | Tue 15 Aug 2006 |
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All the cows are happy now the rain has come, the grass is growing and they are cool!
Second cut silage is in the barn but we will get a 3rd cut in early Sept as the hot weather stopped the grass from growing and we will not have enough to get through the winter.
www.oldhousefarm.com |
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August | Tue 01 Aug 2006 |
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August is a busy month with about 35 Cows and Heifers due to calve and 2nd cut silage crop to harvest next week.
All this dry weather has left us short of grass and this will reduce the quantity and quality of the silage, but we hope the rain this week will help.
August is Show time with Bakewell this week and Ashover on the 9th and Ashbourne on the 19th.
Saw a Sparrow Hawk after the Sky larks this morning, the Rooks chased it off.
www.oldhousefarm.com |
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Horses on holiday | Fri 14 July 2006 |
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Carina and Amy bought their own horses, Despina and Thyme on holiday to Hoe Grange and so enjoyed the fantastic off road riding that they are returning in September.
"We received a warm, friendly welcome from Felicity and David and our horses settled in as though they had lived there forever. The self-catering cabins were clean, wonderfully well appointed and furnished to a high standard. The whirlpool bath was big enough to get lost in, and a very welcome after a hard days riding.
And as for the riding?….Well if you enjoy full days in the saddle with miles of off road riding then this is the holiday for you. Directly from Hoe Grange is access to safe, countryside routes of between two and three hours with no roadwork involved. For the more ambitious rider there are longer circular routes of between six and seven hours, which do involve some short sections of road work but provide access to stunning countryside and yet more safe, off-road riding.
Well done Hoe Grange, and looking forward to our next visit in September".
Carina and Amy
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July | Sun 02 July 2006 |
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We had our first visit ever by a Humming Bird Moth this last week which got us all excited as we didnt know what it was so had to browse the web.
We have the first crop of silage in now, but we need rain and our prayers have been answered today.
Next week is the Royal Agricultural Show and Ed is representing Derbyshire Young Holstein Breeders in the Linear Stock Judging, so we will be going to support him, I hope it is not as Humid as today.
We have lots of calves at the moment and all the pens are full with more births due we are preparing another building to move some of the older calves into.
The garden is looking at its best now with the Boxes and Hanging baskets in full bloom.
Our daughter has arrived home from Uni today she has had a good year and has been accepted at University of British Columbia next year.
www.oldhousefarm.com | |
The Goat Escape! | Mon 19 June 2006 |
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Poppy the Goat is a veritable Houdini goat! She went off on one of her escapades recently. We searched high and low and eventually found her at the very far end of the farm. She was lured back to civilisation with a bucket of goat food and had to be pushed and pulled the last few yards home!
www.beechenhill.co.uk | 
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June | Tue 06 June 2006 |
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Busy, Busy The cows have gone out to grass at last! Some are still staying inside at night.
Cleaned out the silage barn ready for this years grass, we should get 1st crop of grass early next week-weather permitting.
We have been busy in the garden in the evenings catching up as the season is about 3 weeks late. The hanging baskets have gone up and the boxes are all planted and looking good but we need to tidy some of the borders and the mint needs taming.
We went to an Trade Auction last week to get shrubs and bedding plants, which was quite and experience,Tom is used to bidding so he soon got in the know how things run but I had to remind him we hadnt got a lorry!!
Tonight the birds are still in full song and its 10pm. We saw a damsel fly nr the pond this morning.
www.oldhousefarm.com |
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Snowy Cowslips | Tue 11 Apr 2006 |
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April is living up to its reputation for astonishing and surprising weather. On Saturday we had a dry windy day, on Sunday the cowslips were surronded by heavy snow, then on Monday we sunbathed in hot sunshine!
www.beechenhill.co.uk |
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Escape Committee | Fri 10 Mar 2006 |
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A cold and blustery February day saw a vist from the 'Escape Committee' a group of retired officers from the Peak District National Park Authority. They set off, well wrapped up, had a great walk up and down and round about Dovedale and then returned to Beechenhill Farm, red nosed and rosy cheeked. They enjoyed a feast of sausage, cabbage and mash followed by a HUGE bread and butter pudding and cream, and a good time was had by all.
www.beechenhill.co.uk | 
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autumn leaves are falling but our animals are still busy | Thu 29 Sep 2005 |
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The autumn leaves are falling and what lovely colours they are, golden, pink, red, rust, brown, yellows and soft greens.
Claire our belted galloway calf has had to be hand reared because her mother did not want her. She is now growing fast. This week we weaned her off her milk and so she is now eating the lovely grass which we still have plenty of despite the late time of year. At tea time we give her a treat of some mixed organic corn which she loves, and should we forget to do this or are a little late in giving her,her treat she calls out to us to remind us. Tea time is also a time to play and she loves Steve (hubby & farmer)to scatch her forehead and behind her ears.
Douglas & Joan two of our ducks have today arrived in the yard with 4 ducklings which was a surprise to us as we had not realised that Joan was sitting on some eggs. We have very quickly sorted out a little home for them in a hutch so that they are safe and secure from any fox or badger who is looking for lunch.
www.dovedalecottages.co.uk | 
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