Love North Devon - Devon Self Catering UK

Blog, Diary or Whatever ......

In the old days (pre Adrian Mole) it used to be called a diary but in the 21st century I'm afraid we all have to conform and call it a blog. Well, whatever you call it, here are the latest ramblings from Adrian and Amanda at Love North Devon.............

Diary - Our 1st Year
July 12th 2011

It seems like we have been here for much longer than a year, not because the time has dragged, but because we have done so much and it's hard to believe we have packed it all into 12 months. It all started on the 1st of July 2010, our moving date from Lincolnshire to Devon. We used a removals company in Grimsby that was set up by Adrians friend from school, "Stevens Removals". The guys worked all evening to unpack the lorry when it finally arrived here in North Devon and when they'd finished we took them out for a meal at the Black Venus in Challacombe. In the morning the unpacking started. By far our most difficult task was trying to figure out how to get the children to two different schools, made even more worrying by the fact our eldest got on the wrong bus to come home and we ended up having to pick him up in the car that afternoon!

It was funny, but we hardly slept that first night. No cars, no shouting, no people to disturb us, just the huge list in our heads of "jobs to do now", "jobs to do tomorrow" and "jobs to do later". Today, those lists continue, though a little shorter. We have realised that we can't do it all ourselves and around half the jobs have been finished by others, some paid and some volunteers. Of the paid workers, we're grateful and thankful for all your help, of the volunteers, we're even more grateful and thankful.
Dave and Brenda, Audley, Jason, Aliaster, Paul, Kiwi Paul, Edwin, John, Ken and Veronica next door, Pete the pig man, Terry our bank manager and loads of others.

We would like to give a special mention to anyone who has stayed with us, without your support we couldn't live on this beautiful farm so thank you for choosing to stay with us (and thank you for your hard-earned cash - we hope you agree, we've invested it wisely!)

Diary - Foxgloves and Veg
June 18th 2011

	One fine June day I took our cat, Charlie out for a walk around the fields and along the old track. It does look like a typical June day in these photographs but this year hasn't been typical at all with plenty of June rain rather than sunshine. In all though, it is still fairly dry, our stream, just a babbling brook and the spring barely gurgling out of the hillside. The weather has certainly helped with the plants and crops and everything is growing so fast! One thing that doesn't seem to have grown are the sheep. Ken, our neighbour had them shorn a few weeks ago and now they have their summer coats on, they look half the size. The lambs though have grown so much, they're nearly as big as their mums which isn't surprising as they've consumed plenty of grass. The two lower fields the sheep are on are extremely well managed and looking very neat except for the odd thistle here are there. The top field, which hasn't been grazed is bursting with grass seeds standing proud and swaying in the breeze and is ripe for cutting for winter. Ken is leaving it for another couple of weeks, as part of the country stewardship agreement (for organic farms) we'll be leaving it to grow to increase the number of beneficial insects and provide food for birds and wildlife. Lewis, Frazer and I went up to the top field a few weeks ago and pegged out a 400 metre running track. The pegs are now lost in the sward! Tractor troubles have occurred again, this time an airlock in the hydraulic oil which kept it out of action for a couple of weeks till the engineer came up to sort it out. It is only when the tractor isn't working that I realise how much we use it and depend on it. FOX!! Biggest news on the farm all year has been the arrival of an unwanted visitor, well two unwanted visitors to be precise. I was working in the barn a few weeks ago on a sunny afternoon when I heard a terrible commotion and squawking from the chickens. I rushed out of the barn to see what was the matter and there in broad daylight was a small scrawny fox with one of our speckledy chickens in its mouth! I rushed after it and it released the chicken and a load of feathers and darted into the woods. The chicken, thankfully was unhurt, not a mark, except for a bald patch. Perhaps it was a one off loan fox, passing through? Sadly not, the next day, a little later on around tea time there was another fox attack. Similarly I was working in the barn when the same commotion occurred as the day before. Realising straight away Amanda and I ran to the orchard and there was a huge beautiful orange fox with a massive bushy tail with a ight Sussex chicken in its mouth. When it saw us it took fright, let go of its catch (with white feathers everywhere) and ran off into a dead end at the top of the orchard. Amanda and I cornered it and made a lot of noise to scare it and it eventually ran off. Again the chicken was unharmed except for a patch of feathers missing and thankfully after nearly a month we haven't seen either of the foxes again, so maybe they were passing through. Word from the locals is, they're probably town foxes either passing through or having been dumped here by some "well meaning townie" who doesn't want them in their backyard. The veg and orchard are all growing, some better than others. In the orchard, the old apple trees are now maturing very well, some of the apples clearly filling out. You may remember that last year was a bit of an apple disaster, many falling or failing to mature. Well since our autumn pruning, clearing of weeds, laying traps for the moths, greasing the trunks, adding predators to eat the pests and putting up sachets of biological mites we look to have a crop for this year. It has been difficult doing it all organically but it will be worth it when we and our guests can eat the apples straight from the trees without fear of any chemicals. Some of the soft fruit especially the raspberries hasn't been very successful and beating back the weeds to get them established is proving quite difficult, I think we'll be buying raspberries this autumn from the farm shop - maybe next year we'll have better luck. Vegetables are growing superbly, potatoes are already a couple of feet high and need earthing up, lettuce needs thinning out, onions and shallots and also garlic are growing very well. We've a few peas and beans that look good too. All the brassicas, the broccoli and cabbages and swedes are shooting up and we've not had any problem so far with caterpillars or rabbits. The new dry stone wall we've had built looks fantasic, especially now the irises have start to grow back and flower.

Diary - Bluebell Woods
May 1st 2011

What wonderful weather we have had these last few weeks. It has helped us so much - in fact the paperwork has suffered tremendously as we've concentrated our efforts around the farm the wood, the lake and the garden. I say "garden" in the loose sense of the word as it is very difficult to define were fields start and garden begins.

One area that is well defined is our veg plot which at 25metres x 8 metres is a fair size and has been created out of nothing in the last 2 weeks. Using strict organic methods and splitting the patch into three parts we've been able to fertilize, lime and compost each section and plan to adopt a 3 year rotation cycle. We've been a bit heavy with the lime as we are only a few hundred metres from the base of Exmoor so it stands to reason we'll have a little acid in the soil. The compost has been provided by "tea bags", egg shells, grass cuttings and leaves and kitchen waste from last years guests and we managed to pile up three large compost bins which is ample for our 1/3rd of a plot. I was a little doubtful as to whether we'd actually made any compost but was pleasantly surprised when we unscrewed the pallet sides and lifted the first fork full into the barrow - what a result! Many thanks to the guests for all your peelings and green waste - they've been put to good use and the guests due this summer should be in for a treat as I'm sure we'll have some salad stuff to add to the welcome packs when they arrive.

There's no getting around it but cultivating organically is tough - really tough. Weeds are the real killer as instead of a spray, each one needs to mechanically removed and they can swiftly take a hold - it's a constant battle. I, Adrian Budd feel I am at war with the bramble and every few weeks take out a section with brush cutter or mower. It is a constant battle but every month or so i can see I am winning - one day I will be victorious!

Anyway back to organic cultivation - I am sure the organic approach will produce yields lower than the pesticide sprayed stuff but it will be great to be able to pick fruit straight from the plant or veg from the earth and not be worried that it hasn't been washed. I used to watch a gardener when I was a boy called Geoffrey Smith (does anyone remember him?) who used to pull carrots from the ground, wipe them on his trousers and eat them straight away, tossing the leaves in the compost - what an inspiration he was, I can't wait to do that with my carrots.

The couple we have staying in Copper Kettle Cottage are from South Africa and it seemed fitting that the day they arrived we also had another couple from South Africa arrive. These were repeat visitors and promptly took up position on the telephone wire kissing quite openly for all to see! Yes you've guessed it, they were swallows (not the couple in the Cottage - they were an actual couple) and very welcome visitors they are too. From opposite ends of the earth the Canadian geese had arrived a couple of months ago and had set up a nest on the island in the centre of the lake. We've been waiting patiently for the the arrival of some goslings and just after the royal wedding they delivered a clutch of seven beautiful goslings.

They are so beautiful we've added a little slideshow of them .....

Gosling Slideshow

Equally impressive is the bluebell display which again makes a welcome return to the wood and signals the end of winter.

Bluebell Woods

Diary - A Duck from a Chicken and other Stories
March 19th 2011

I picked up a duck egg this afternoon and could feel movement - I don't know why, but I was so surprised I nearly dropped it. I had picked up the broody hen and carried her off the eggs for a few minutes break and placed here gently by the food and water. She eagerly pecked at the pellets of organic wheat while I checked out "her" offspring. Ok, I admit they aren't exactly "her" offspring as they are most cert
ainly a Muscovy ducks' offspring, but as far as she's concerned she is the mother.

We bought the eggs from ebay a couple of weeks ago - six fertilized Muscovy duck eggs and placed them under our broody hen . She's halfway to becoming a mum, another two weeks to go I think, as soon as they hatch we will let you know. The plan is to let the ducks roam free at the lake and build a little house for them on "Frazer Island" so they will be safe from the fox. Actually, Muscovy's are quite adept at tree roosting and perch in the wild on a branch up above harms way. This is one of their main features, that and their ability to eat away at pond weed and keep it managed without our intervention.

Last weekend we all went down to the lake at Love North Devon and dragged a section of the bottom to remove some of the weed. It was hard work but already looks much clearer and we tidied up the island in preparation for setting up the duck house. Let's hope we get some ducks from those eggs! Swimming in the new clearings between the weed were a number of brown trout and they looked fairly big, left in the lake from the previous owners. The carp we introduced last year are nowhere to be seen and the heron is a regular visitor to the lake - a worry perhaps, but what can you do? The pair of Canadian Geese are still swimming around and there are numerous wild ducks. There is plenty of frog spawn and we keep bumping into frogs. I noticed lots of fat tadpoles in the water trough opposite the barn. It was were the dry stone guys had put a bucket of spawn when they cleared out the stream. Well it looks like it was a good spot as they are doing very well, much better than the ones in the lake who are tiny. Perhaps they are different breeds?

This morning I fed the birds; they devour peanuts at such a rate and while they do so, prove an irresistible distraction for our cats, especially the two ginger kittens, Charlie and Chester. The two boys sit watching blue tits and finches swooping down across from the trees and past the guests who are watching from the cottage kitchen window. We even had a baby rabbit at the back door the other day and we picked him up and put him in the bushes. He was tiny and so soft, nestled in the palm , perfectly silent.

You may remember we had a couple of Gloucester Old Spot pigs to clear some land in preparation for turning it into a veg plot. Those pigs have now gone and we're planning to get some more for the summer. The pigs actually did too good a job of turfing up the land, they pulled all the roots out and we've now had to get in a dry stone waller in to rebuild the wall. It has been quite a job and we've had to bring in 10 tonnes of local stone from a nearby quarry and we've collected a few tonnes with the tractor from the river and the estate. The tractor hasn't been the same since, the weight of rocks in the trailer proving too much for the fragile rear tyres. One has split and I am now waiting for a tyre fitter to come and fit a new pair. Back to the wall, it looks fantastic and above, the level veg patch is taking shape. We're just waiting on a rotavator being delivered before we rake and get planting. We will lay turf on the edges and dig in our home made compost. The compost and the pig dung should make a decent growing medium for the veg, I can't wait to get planning it!

One plan which is nearing completion is the new orchard. I've put in a new fence and small gate and laid a row of 10 apple cordons and planted another 12 trees in the field. There is a plum and a pear tree in the mix but I wish I'd planted a few more really and I've planted 3 thronlesss blackberries ( to make some autumn blackberry and apple pies). We should do well for apples though, we've also got 6 or 7 older trees which I've hacked back so that's nearly 30 trees in total, enough apples for us and all the guests from September to Christmas all being well - all organic.

The daffodils we planted in the autumn look very nice and we're planning to add to the collection later in the autumn to really fill out on yellow for next spring. I am continuing replanting snowdrops around the estate but it is a tedious job. It would be ok if I were planting out a garden but with 53 acres, that's alot of banks, verges and glades. A couple of hours work isn't nearly enough, possibly a couple of days wouldn't make much difference either. The good news though is we don't look to be short of fox gloves or forget me nots and I've seen literally tens of thousands of bluebells throughout the woods. They should be a mass of blue when they flower. It will be a good time to try and capture a photograph of the stag. I saw him again the other day, with maybe 10 or more females, he was very nervous but if I had the camera with me I would have got a half decent picture. I have noticed that sneaking up on the deer at the moment is almost impossible. We have had a beautiful spring so far with hardly any rain but this has meant the leaves and twigs on the tracks are crisp and brittle and as soon as I walk on them the noise echoes in the valley and alerts the deer of our presence

Well I hope this hasn't been too long and I haven't been rambling. Our next big job is the veg patch and relocating the pig arc to the top field ready for the summer and of course, those ducklings! When are they going to hatch and should we leave the hen to raise them or use a brooder ? I just don't know what to do yet( a brooder is a wooden box with a heat lamp over). I am leaning towards rearing them ourselves rather than leaving it to the hen. I have read that when a chicken incubates duck eggs she firmly believes her hatchlings are chickens and freaks out when they get a little bigger go for a swim ! On second thoughts, that's something I've got to see!

Diary - Signs of Spring
February 20th 2011

Spring is upon us at last, at least there are signs of it. The daffodil bulbs we planted by the sack load in autumn showed themselves rather reluctantly at the end of January. Now they have shot up and everyday seem to grow taller and taller. I thought of writing this blog last week and had it at the back of mind not to mention daffodils as they were barely out of the ground, yet today the flowers are just starting to open. I went down to the the village of Brayford on Friday night and all along the bank was a wall of white flowers, magnificent. We have huge sections of snow drops in our garden but they are hidden away, our task for later will be to move them into clumps around the woods and the lake house. Whilst on the subject of moving, I saw some frog spawn in the pool of the stream along the bank, isn't it marvellous stuff? A large ball, about the size of a loaf of bread of pea sized jellies and inside each pea is a little black spot with a tail. It is a shame but we moved them last week as we have some guys repairing the bank wall so I hope they are ok in their new home, the spring pool at the back of the barn. This morning, I noticed from the kitchen window, the bird table was broken, such a shame but I'm sure it can be repaired. I'm wondering who the culprit was because we didn't have any severe weather or winds last night. The pheasant sits under the table everyday picking up any scraps the birds knock over the edge, as do the chickens. In fact here's a photo of one of the chickens last summer helping herself .....

but I know it wasn't the chickens as they are all tucked up at night roosting in their hen house so I am almost certain it was one of those fluffy kittens of ours. I fitted a cat flap the other week and the kittens are in and out all the time, out of all our cats, the kittens understand the concept of a cat flap the most. The other cats seem oblivious to the idea of letting themselves out (although they seem to be able to come in ok - especially if it is raining) and prefer waiting by a door until someone opens it for them. The bird table had become redundant to some extent since Amanda bought a new bird feeding station which has significantly improved the birds chances of avoiding the cats. It is at least 2 metres high and is visible from our kitchen window and the window from Copper Kettle Cottage. It regularly receives the usual visitors, blue tits, great tits, bullfinches and chaffinches and also has a few unusual birds including a pair of nut hatches and a very splendid woodpecker. The wood pecker, the Lesser spotted variety completely demolishes the fat balls and is fascinating to watch as he always attracts an array of birds under him as they pick at all the leftovers and chunks that fall off when he drills into the balls. Well it is getting on so I will pause now while I go and feed the animals and let the chickens out..

Back again, whilst out near the barn I noticed the chicken food dispenser had been knocked over. This was probably caused by the pheasant and leads me to think the bird house was broken by him and not the kittens after all, sorry kittens for blaming you! Although I haven't seen him this morning (the pheasant) he is a beautiful bird and his colours are wonderful, all autumnal with a band of pure white silk, like a scarf around his neck. We have quite a number on the estate but have one in particular that comes up to the house and eats with the chickens. During the snow, I noticed his tracks and he follows a trail broadly around the chicken houses and then up to the trees and the fringes of the wood near the treehouse. I also noticed very clear fox tracks following exactly the same path, although I have to say I have never seen the fox as he is very timid. I know, in towns, a fox sighting is a common occurrence but in the country, foxes generally keep a low profile and earn their "cunning" name tag. We are always wary of Mr Fox, as we know he does have a sniff of the henhouse from time to time and we have lost a couple of hens. But generally we tolerate him and in a way admire him, as he always encourages us to look after our birds and make sure they are tucked up every night.

On the lake, we have seen the heron and three ducks, the latter are most welcome, the former certainly isn't. Our carp have had a tough first winter as the lake froze over Christmas and didn't thaw fully until the end of January. I went to have a look at it the other week and found the rains had washed silt into the inlet pipe and the top up pipe was blocked. This had caused the level to fall and the oxygenating weeds had had their tips frozen in the frost which made them look a sorry sight. I cleared out the pipe and re-laid some of the stones in the stream to form a weir and this week it looks like a new lake. Yesterday it was quite warm and it felt like spring at the lake, with shoots starting to come from the water lilies, buds swelling on the branches of trees, frog spawn along the fringes and I even saw a fish jump out of the water, after a loan fly buzzing about an inch from the surface. Of particular note are the catkins which I think are from the hazel trees, we must have quite a few as they are everywhere.

The holidays are doing well and we have had a few bookings , mainly for summer. Audley, a good friend of ours, has been helping out and has done a nice job on putting a new kitchen in Copper Kettle Cottage, as soon as it's finished I'll post some updated pictures.

In the orchard, we have been hacking away at the brambles and even pulling them out, roots and all. I think we have reclaimed a couple of the older trees and I'm confident we should have a decent crop this year. I've pruned out the old damaged branches and painted a grease band along the trunk to capture any spring pests and have an organic plan to keep the pest at bay as the buds open, flowers bloom and the fruit forms. Amanda had cleaned out the chicken shed the other week and we've piled up the shavings and manure to rot down, it will give a good feed to the trees when we lay it around them later in the spring. We have taken delivery of 20 new apple trees, a pear and plum and a few thorn less blackberries.and I set about planting them a couple of weeks ago. So far I have planted ten apple trees, the plum and pear and are building a new fence surround. The orchard will be more than double its original size when I've finished but driving the posts in by hand has proved challenging ! In some areas the top soil is shallow and the posts hit a rock just below the surface, I think so far I must have driven in 30 posts and taken out 15 of them as they've bottomed out against the rock and twisted or bent.

I have been getting rather excited as the piles of Scottish seed potatoes have arrived at our local seed merchants and our plans are turning towards the veg patch. I am a firm believer in priorities and will be planning our veg growing in strict order - whatever we eat the most getting the most space. That will certainly include potatoes, carrots, broccoli, coquettes, onions and some salad stuff as well. We'll be sharing it with our guests so the welcome hamper could have all manner of locally grown organic veg with an exeptionally low carbon footprint (0 miles from field to table,There is one exception to the priority list and that is chicken food, I would like to organically grow some maize for them and store it, to supplement their diet in the autumn so expect to see a row or two of sweet corn growing this summer.

Diary - Pigs, Kittens and Carp
November 7th 2010

We've been especially busy these last few weeks, so much so that I haven't had chance to pen a blog so here is an update. The biggest news are the additions to the farm. The pigs, the carp and the kittens. I suppose out of the three it is the kittens that create the most havoc and drama so let's start with them. That's Charlie below - he is lovely and purrs all the time, his coat is super soft and he smells "kitteny" (if there is such a word)

The kittens are into everything and thankfully are not in the office disturbing me as I write this as they can be a troublesome (though adorable) distraction. They are growing so fast and already are starting to look less kitten and more cat every day. When we first got them we were quite nervous of letting them out and would sit on guard keeping an eye on them as they ventured around the back of the farmhouse. On one such occasion "Charlie" the largest of the two was stalking a hen near to our kitchen door. He'd positioned himself on the bottom step and was sneaking up very carefully so as not to be spotted by the chicken. His plan was working well as the chicken was concentrating on a pita bread we'd left for the birds on the top step and hadn't noticed Charlie. The hen was also trying to avoid "Binka" our giant black and white cat who was sleeping near the bread. It looked as if something was bound to go wrong and with that the kitten pounced on the chicken who in turn took flight scurrying across the step flapping her wings and landing on Binka! Poor old Binka, he was so shocked being woken up he darted across the lawn and disappeared out of sight - he must be the only cat who has been chased by a bird!

Carp

Our lake is rather large, at least it is to me, about 300ft x 50ft with a narrow island in the middle and about 5 feet deep (just over chest height) in the middle. It is beautiful and in a delightful spot just on the edge of the woods with a crystal clear stream running alongside . It is surrounded by wildlife and birds of all kinds and the deer, on occasion come to drink here. The lake is alive with life and as well as stunning waterlilies and yellow irises in the fringe it supports a variety of aquatic life and brown trout swim amongst the weeds. During summer and even just a couple of weeks ago the dragonfly fly around - they are amazing to watch. I saw one the other week hoping to get a photograph and took a few shots on zoom but the photos weren't that good. I was just sat on the grass bank soaking in the autumn midday sun when a Southern Hawker dragonfly landed almost on my hand, it was a great photo opportunity and I managed to capture "her" with the camera just inches away as she perched next to me.

This is the photograph I took - the camera was inches away and she remained motionless while I snapped away - so close I was on the macro setting.

Anyway I digress, the carp! We'd been toying with the idea of adding a a few fish to the pond, it came about because as an "expert" suggested we could manage the weed by stirring the pond up a bit with some more fish. Apparently crystal clear water is ok but if you want to keep the aquatic weeds down it's a bit of a disaster and carp are the thing to help with stirring. You see they are bottom feeders and although they don't eat the weed they uproot it and also stir the water up while looking for food on the bottom. This makes the water a little cloudier and this in turn reduces the photosynthesis and therefore slows the weed growth down. That's the theory anyway! Also it would be nice to see some big carp swimming around and they'd be an attraction for anyone who likes fishing.
Well we did plan on just adding a few but there is a minimum order and there are no fisheries nearby who deal in carp so in the end we bought 100 of them, actually it was 102.

When they arrived the tank was surprisingly small supported on the back of a pickup truck and delivered by the fisheries owner Phil. He was great and took time to explain how to look after them, he showed us the little fish and then pulled out the two! We had ordered 100 hand sized carp and two fish that were 3Ilb each. One 3 pounder was a mirror carp, the other a common carp - they were both magnificent, even Mandie loved them! We carefully lowered the fish into the lake and took a few photographs below and then Phil made his way by up the track.

I suggested we meet at the farmhouse and Mandie commented on his truck "it will go anywhere - a Nissan Navarra" said Phil. As Phil took off up the track Mandie and I made our way up the hill following behind, "we should get one of those" we both said but halfway along the track Phill and his Nissan Navarra where stuck! "Maybe not" we both laughed and I went to get the keys for the tractor to pull the Navarra out!

Pigs

You may remember we had a dilemma, should we get a pig or a rotavator, in the end we decided on a pig and eventually chose two Gloucester Old Spots. Now they have finally arrived and they are quite an attraction and constantly entertaining. We built an arc, a pig arc that we bought in kit form from ebay. I'd seen a few books on how to build one but when I costed the materials it was just as cheap to buy the kit and when I'd finished building it, it looked fantastic (you can see it in the back ground below. We then bought an electric fence which we used to split the field into 1/3 so they wouldn't have too much field to start with. We had an old cast iron trough for the food and water supply was already on tap nearby. We'd decided they would go on a south facing slope of about 1/2 acre with stunning views through the valley (we wanted them to enjoy the scenery while they munched away).

Pete, a friend of a friend had promised to deliver them in the afternoon but was running late and finally arrived just before dusk. We were due to go to the theatre and only had a few minutes to pick our weaners form a trailer full. We chose a girl and a boy, the girl with no spots and the boy with plenty of spots. As these pigs were to be fattened up for eating we decide not to name them and still several weeks on call them "boy pig" and "girl pig". In the morning - THEY HAD ESCAPED and escaped for lots more times until we sorted out the gaps on the electric fence. We'd read that you need boards and sticks to force your pigs to go places but we found we didn't need anything like that when we were trying to retrieve them. We just get a 1/2 bucket (small seaside sandcastle type of bucket) of food (pig nuts) and give it a shake. When they hear the noise they just come straight towards you and follow you back to the food trough. They grunt and oink and let you know what they need.

Sometimes when I'm working in the workshop opposite they see me and start oinking and squealing and try and get my attention, it's the girl pig who makes all the noise. They do like apples and we often put some in the trough for them to munch on, boy pig is a proper juggler and flips the apple in the air as he bites through it, he's quite a sight.

Hope you enjoy the blog, keep reading and if you would like a break or a holiday let us know as we'd be pleased to see you. best wishes Adrian

Photographs - Autumn Views
October 31st 2010

Diary - Making Hay and Fungii and stuff
October 1st 2010

September usually brings some sunshine and dry days and this year it has been a very typical September. Ironically, it is raining rather hard as I write this and it has come as a bit of a relief because the pile of "rainy" day paperwork is getting very large. Once I've finished my diary I will sort out the post, quite a few items relate to next years advertising of "Love North Devon" in printed publications with deadlines fast approaching.

The last few weeks have been taken up with having a clearout in the outbuildings and clearing brush at the back of our farmhouse and in the top woods ready for our yurts for next year. It was whilst clearing the brush I noticed all manner of fungii along the banks and on some of the dead wood and tree stumps. I took the photograph above, I'm really pleased with the image as it's not often I can get that close to an object and keep it in focus. The future looks bright for my close up photos however, as I've discovered the macro setting on the camera and I've also found the "super macro" setting which has enabled me to get some really close shots, like the fly on the bramble below.

One of my favourite sayings is "make hay while the sun shines" as it sums up the way I go about my day. It's obviously a farmers saying but I have used it on many occasions, even on board ship while I was in the navy.
The other week, we found we needed some bedding for the chickens (read on for news of our new hens) and having mown a track through some very long grass with the tractor and mower I went along to collect some of the hay. It was a beautiful day, blue sky, warm breeze and I was thrilled to actually be "making hay while the sun shines". It was even better that I was doing it all by hand using a rake and baling the hay into piles at the edge of the new track. Some jobs should be firmly categorized under "JOBS", like washing the dishes or ironing or anything to do with drains - but making hay? put that job under the heading of "Therapy".

So, onto the reason I was in need of some hay. Our 3 chickens, as you know have not been the best of layers and on occasion we have had the embarrassment of actually having to buy eggs, so the other week Amanda and I took a journey to Wellington to have a look at some new chickens. Armed with a big cardboard box and a couple of cat baskets we came home with ten new birds and are now up to 1/2 dozen eggs a day - ample for us and our guests.
The new birds are not hybrids but traditional breed birds, we have five light Sussex, three black hens and two speckledys. We had hoped that they would go into the hen house with out three hybrid girls but sadly not. When the new arrivals took a look at our old birds it was clear that they weren't going to get on so we've had to make an emergency henhouse in the old workshop for the old birds, whilst the new recruits get the hen house.

One day maybe, they will love each other but for now the old birds are particularly put out at being evicted from the henhouse and it's always fun in the mornings seeing the theatricals between the two tribes New vs Old (safe behind the "iron curtain" aka chicken wire)

Diary - Morning Summers Walk
Sunday 10.30hrs August 22nd 2010

On a morning such as today I couldn't help but think to myself, "this is what it's all about, this is why I chose to live here". The sun is bright and warm and the birds are singing, what a great day (and I hadn't even had breakfast yet). After an evening of heavy rain and the odd rumble of thunder, it wasn't surprising that the ground was a little mushy underfoot so I'd opted to wear my new wellingtons and give them a try. Just after joining the woodland track I noticed a few tell tale deer tracks, perhaps I would see one today?

Looks like the tracks and I were heading in the same direction towards the lake. Looking around I was amazed how vibrant the countryside looks. Every tree was glistening with dew and shimmering in the sunlight. I love the oak trees, aren't they beautiful?
looking through the trees

The waterfall down by the lake was quite a sight, normally just a picturesque splash, after the evening downpour it had burst into life. see below for the before and after shots. It's funny to think that the water disappearing down the valley and into the distance is also the same water we drink and have a shower in every day (filtered of course!). That is the joy of living on an organic farm, everything is untainted by chemicals - especially the water!

waterfall before the rain

Looking through the trees I could see towards Exmoor , during the spring when I first walked around these woods I could see Exmoor from any part of this track. Now, with the trees in full leaf it is almost impossible unless you are on the edge of the wood. Such a good hiding place for any animals, not surprising the deer like it in here.

"Hey what was that? A noise! A crack - something in the wood ...... it's a stag!!! Where's my camera? Oh no it's not switched on, .... it's on" (it is so noisy!) "did I get the shot? Oh no it's seen me and he's off".....

where's wally?

Did I get the shot? Well sorry not really - I only had a pocket camera but if you look really carefully he is here in the centre, but he's seen me and is making his way down the valley. I may not have got the shot but I certainly had the experience.... what a buzz, seeing England's largest animal in the wild - no cages no zoo - wild animals as nature intended in an organic , ancient wood.

Next time I'm sure I'll get a little closer - If you'd like to see how close you can get, see our website for short breaks and holidays at Love North Devon

Diary - Tractors and Work Outs
September 1st 2010

Hello, What a view!

"Tractor view" I call it, I hope you like the photograph, it's the view from behind the wheel of my tractor on the way to work looking down towards Exmoor. Isn't it beautiful? I say "work" when in actual fact I suppose perhaps it's not work. Mowing the grass verges, keeping the hens, felling trees, looking after guests, fixing and repairing things, maintaining the website, they are jobs but they don't feel like work. The reason I mention this is because we had a lovely couple from London stay last week with their daughter and the dad (Ben) asked me what it felt like to live here. "When you get up in the morning and you have all these things to do, does it feel like work?", "No not really - it feels like life!" was my answer.

The idea that living on a farm is more like living than work can have huge advantages, especially with regards to productivity. Amanda and I get lots of work done and the time just flies by, there are never enough hours in the day. We never notice the time has come to "clock off". It's this concept that appeals to Lisa and Dan, friends of ours from Plymouth who came over at the weekend to look at the possibility of running some fitness weekends at Love North Devon with their clients staying in Ladybird Barn and Copper kettle Cottage. They both run gymnasiums and individual training sessions, Dan likes the idea of a boot camp weekend, cutting logs, running through streams and up and down the hills to give his clients a proper workout away from the artificiality of the gym whilst Lisa would run Pilates, meditation and relaxation weekends. The back drop to either of these weekends will of course be the fabulous view of Exmoor pictured above (without the tractor of course).

It all sounds fantastic and could be a first for "Love North Devon" - as soon as Lisa and Dan have some news we'll let you know with more details or you can contact them yourselves through the link above.

Weather-wise this last week has been amazing and it looks as if the good weather is set to continue as the 5 day forecast says so and maybe we're in for an Indian summer. But as it is now September, can it really be the end of summer? I've seen so many dragonflies and damselflies this week and the sky is busy with butterflies and birdsong and the air smells of summer so perhaps autumn has been put on hold for a while. The two house martins are still in the log store, I wonder when they will leave us? They don't seem to be in a hurry to leave.

Yes September usually symbolises the start of autumn and if you look carefully enough you will notice just a hint of autumn as you look around the fields and woods. At Down farm, the horse chestnut (conker) is the first to start the change, it's green leaves already browning getting ready to fall and the beech leaves have just a hint of bronze about them. On the farm, we're filling the log store with fuel for the winter not just for ourselves but hopefully plenty of guests looking to snuggle up in front of their own log burner in the cottage or barn

But for now, the boys are enjoying the last remaining days of the holidays sliding down the slide into the lake and rowing around the island, whilst Amanda and I are making hay, (quite literally) while the sun shines.

Diary - Timber !!
August 17th 2010

Since my last email, another eventful week has passed. Every week seems to be eventful on the farm but this week has been our busiest ever. We've had a tree to fell, a chainsaw to repair, the tractor breaking down and a trailer in the stream but for every bit of bad news there's been an equal bit of good news to balance it out, We've had guests arriving and staying in the Barn, the neighbours sheep are now grazing around the fields, I've seen a deer in the woods and I've learnt how to fix a chainsaw, fix a tractor and get a trailer out of the stream. Actually I didn't get the trailer out of the stream, we had to call the neighbour, Ken who brought his massive John Deere tractor round and he lifted it out but I did learn a valuable lesson - I won't be taking the trailer anywhere near the stream again and no matter how independent we think we are we'll always be grateful we have dependable neighbours!

The tree we had fall was an ash tree and you can see me above getting ready to cut it into manageable chunks. I read that Ash is very common in England but it's the first time I've ever noticed one. It has been used in Saxon times to make shields and all manner of tool handles so as you'd expect it's very strong (and takes a fair amount of chain sawing). I'd imagine you've probably seen this tree many times and not given it a second thought but it is easy to spot as it has a specific feature - it has black terminal buds that stand out very clearly.

I will always remember what an Ash tree looks like - I've spent the whole week with one!

Diary - Chickens
Wednesday August 4th 2010

I awoke early yesterday morning (really early - 5 o'clock !) and put my boots on to go for a walk round the estate. It was a lovely morning with the mist just rising in the valley and surprisingly noisy - just about every bird was out singing and chirping about something or other. I popped into the chicken shed to see 5 birds I know well (the chicken shed is really a very smart country cottage) and to let the girls out and give them their morning feed. Just the one egg was left behind which isn't unusual for our birds as they are past their prime with regards to egg laying. While I was picking up the egg I was swooped upon by a house martin protecting her nest . She flew round and round in circles just above my head and was making a racket, obviously not pleased to see I was collecting eggs! I wasn't sure where her nest was but I'd imagine it was in the eaves of the hen house somewhere (see, I told you it was a big hen house!).

I took a photograph of the chickens eating their breakfast, you can see the girls in the photo above. We only have names for one of them as they all look the same apart from one, she is the closest in the photograph and is called Messy. She is rather elegant to have such a scruffy name but the boys named her. I think she is really called Messi after Lionel Messi the Argentinean footballer. Anyway my walk took me about 3 hours to get through the woods and down to the lake and then back up to the Christmas tree plantation. I noticed a few deer tracks along the way and wondered if they were just ahead of me and I would see them when I turned the next corner, on this occasion i didn't but you never know when they will show up - they always surprise and delight you when they do.

I couldn't help but look at the trees ( I have just received a new chainsaw and am eager to test it out) as I walked round - some need a trim here and there, others are magnificent in full leaf. The sweet chestnut has little tiny bristly balls maturing below catkins on almost every branch so it looks like we will have a bumper crop of "chestnuts roasting on an open fire" this Christmas. I'm not a big fan of eating them to be honest, but roasting my own chestnuts sounds fantastic so I'm sure I'll give then a go. We've a few apple trees in the old orchard and they will be ready in time when the blackberries are black (they are still green here) so that is something I really do like - apple and blackberry crumble is fantastic, we'll have to make a few pies as well when the time comes.

I did spot a big old tree that had fallen and now have my sights on it as a possible "new chainsaw testing ground" . It will soon be a part of the log store which we need to start thinking about filling over the next month or so ready for the winter. That is the big thing I have noticed about living in the countryside, in the town you live for the present season whereas in the country you're always planning for the season ahead.

Diary - getting organised
July 17th 2010

Hello, Here is the next episode from our country diary...

This week, I am pleased to tell you, I have successfully mastered the tractor and can do all the jobs it is capable of, which includes mowing, towing and providing hydraulics for the log splitter. Everyday brings a new challenge and yesterdays challenge was using the log splitter - once I had figured out how to arrange the levers on the tractor to move the splitter it was an absolute breeze. The previous owners have suggested that if we fill the log store up to 5 feet high that will give us 3 months of fuel - so that is my target for the winter, so far it is 6 inches high, so there is plenty of splitting to do!

The boys have been helping and Lewis is the chicken keeper - egg production is fairly low because all we have are five pensioned off ex-battery hens who are at the end of their egg laying. What's worse is this week one of them has decided she needs to have some babies and has taken to sitting on any eggs we do have. It would be a miracle if she was successful as we don't have a cockerel! There is a weekly farmers market at Hatherleigh on Saturdays and we plan to buy some additional hens soon, not sure how we will get them home, perhaps we'll just buy one and put her in the cat basket. I had seen all the equipment required for sheep down at the local farmers wholesalers last week and it got me thinking, I wonder if we could keep some sheep......? (one thing at a time !)

In the week we went up to the Poltimore Arms which is one of our local pubs (we have three, each around 3 miles away) , we had just pulled out of our track and onto the road when a stag rang along the grass verge then darted across the road and up a bank and away into next doors field. He was a magnificent site and so big, I had often wondered how they could be described as UKs largest mammal ( I was convinced that the wild ponies where bigger) but now we have seen them up close I can agree - they are huge. He was quite young too, just a couple of horns, not a full spread of antlers so I am sure he would get bigger as he matured. Anyway, the pub - The Poltimore Arms, fantastic food and what a find! Just a couple of miles down the lane from our nearby village of Brayford but it could have been in the middle of nowhere, the Poltimore doesn't have mains electricity but a generator (and plenty of candles on every table) and manages to turn out some excellent food and plenty of real ale and cider.

We also attended a "slave" auction run by the young farmers in aid of the North Devon Hospice which we attended on Wednesday. It was a brilliant night and we managed to bid for plenty of help and a plumber who are all coming round in the next day or so to help get the barn ready for our first guests who arrive in two weeks. One thing that did strike me about the youngsters their - they all looked incredibly fit and healthy and were all well mannered, it was nice to see . I also accidentally bid for a horse riding lesson , which should be interesting, I'll have to dust off my riding boots and helmet, ha ha.

We have boxes and boxes of new stuff for the cottage and barn to open up which Amanda has been enthusiastically ordering so that should keep us occupied and we're installing a log burner in the cottage (Ladybird barn already has one) next week in preparation for the autumn and winter lets.

Diary - Early Days
July 7th 2010

Amanda has been toying with the idea of writing a blog to keep you in touch with the goings on at "Love North Devon" and I think it's a great idea. So good in fact that I've grasped the nettle and started the first one while she's out.

We've been so busy getting everything ready for our first guests who arrive in 3 weeks time and what has struck me the most is how unfit we all are. I must have aches and pains in places I didn't know I could have them. We've decided to replace the kitchen in Copper Kettle Cottage and are going out to Barnstaple to collect the units later today - having installed four kitchens when we owned Haddington House Apartments (Plymouth) and five kitchens at All Seasons in Lincolnshire I now have it down to a fine art. I do enjoy lining the units up and seeing the kitchen take shape for real and comparing how it looks when it's finished compared with how we thought it would look.

The tractor has a puncture and I've been giving it a good looking at over the last few days but it hasn't fixed the tyre, I really will have to figure out how to fix it and fairly soon. I have found a puncture repair outfit for tractor tyres in the workshop but it looks quite complicated.

Lewis (our eldest age 11) has taken to the chickens and ensures they are locked up at night. On his first morning he came running back from the hen house with an egg in his hand. He was delighted with it "it's still warm - I watched it being laid" he said. This morning we had scrambled eggs and as the boys now know "who" lays the eggs they feel it rude to leave leftovers, clean plates at last! The cats have mixed feelings about the chickens, pasty our slender feline likes to chase them whilst Binka doesn't seem too bothered by them - The hens go crazy when they see Pasty and squawk and cluck at her but she doesn't take the hint.

The boys have settled in at school and on Friday we are all going down to the local village talent show "Brattons got talent" it's sure to be fun and then we'll probably sample the pub (I think it's called the White Hart - just shows how busy we've been as I haven't been their yet).

As you can tell by this update - we got broadband today - really fast as well 6MB which is even faster than we had at All Seasons, apparently the BT engineer lives in the next house along our exchange and has beefed up the signal (well that's according to village rumour anyway).

Our neighbour assures us we have badgers near the lake so I will be taking a look one evening soon and I've found two fly fishing rods and reels so will be having a cast on the lake as well.