October, 2002

Lorraine's Auntie Mary lives in Cheam. Her house is always tidy and she takes good care of her things in such a careful way that we sometimes thought odd when we were kids. Well, she and Uncle Alan had a greenhouse, no longer required, sitting in the middle of her neatly trimmed lawn and asked if we would like it. What a gift! We trooped down to dismantle and collect it one October Saturday between the rains and joined some friends along with gloves, screw drivers and lots of newspaper to keep the glass safe. Unlike most greenhouses of a ripe age, this one wasn't filled with spiders, and although some of the bolts needed a squirt of WD40, it was a spectacularly easy job to disassemble (especially so following the arrival of my cousin - major do-er and extremely tall person!). Most of it fitted in the trailer and shogun, and we were most appreciative that Lisa-jane brought the glass back in her car as that would have proved more than a bit tricky and we'd probably have lost a few panes. As it turned out, there was one breakage "in the garden" and one on the journey home... not bad. Mark has been out with his digger creating a space for it in our garden... and yes, we'll be able to put it up with ease, why? Because Auntie Mary gave us the instruction book which not only had she kept safe all these year, but could lay her hands on... of course!

Early in the month we lost our first turkey. You recall me writing elsewhere that they have a way of jumping and flapping for joy then finding themselves the wrong side of their safety fence. This is what must have happened because we found the feathers outside the turkey paddock and right now, there's no way a turkey will fit through or under that netting, so it must have already been over the top. S/he must have enjoyed it, even Brandy didn't find a scrap left... just a few feathers.

The farm took a hefty battering that night when the mighty gales blew across the fields. Sleep came hard to us ~ I wonder about the animals! In the murk of the morning after we looked out and saw all things pretty much as we'd left them the night before and just as we were breathing a sigh of relief, the chicken house took off and somersaulted across the paddock. The hens seemed unphased by this and started scratching and pecking for goodies in the remains of their nesting boxes!

The turkeys stayed close to the ground (thank goodness) and looked seriously bedraggled in the rain, but as the drier weather returned, they fluffed up and were out and about playing in the field again.

Funny thing electric netting. We've put it up around our turkey paddock. It's orange plastic mesh with thin wired running through the horizontal strands... this carried a pulsating current which gives anyone/thing touching it a bit of a jolt. The level of jolt you get depends on how much juice is going through it as opposed to shorting out on... well, pretty much anything. We've got electric fencing all over the farm and if one bit it touching a post, a thistle, a cow, a tree, the ground... it doesn't pack much of a punch.

So one night (presumably), the fox must have come back for seconds. Checking out the fencing situation and discovering it to be seriously lacking in the electrical department, s/he found a way in underneath and took another bird. We know this for sure 'cos it was a big'un and the fox couldn't eat it all in one go, neither could s/he drag it under the fence. S/he left what s/he couldn't eat in the middle of the field and scarpered. Brandy found it the next morning. We brought it inside (Brandy thought it was Christmas already!) and Lorraine took the opportunity to practice plucking and viscerating a turkey. She jointed it and put it in the freezer for Brandy to eat in portions (the tail didn't wag quite so hard when she found out this was the plan!). It's still going down well.

The frost has done it's job on the sloes. The wind has blown all the leaves off the hedgerows so these little fruits are looking rather forlorn on the thorny branches. At one of the Farmers Markets in Swindon, Lorraine was interviewed by a local radio station about Sloe gin and shared the recipe and a taster with the reporter... it went down VERY well! So in the interests of making the most of the abundant harvest that nature has provided once again this year, Jules and Lorraine raided the local gin store and gathered several pounds of sloes. The gin is currently sitting on the windowsill in the boot room turning a glorious magenta colour. It's quite a challenge to leave it the minimum 3 months to mature, let alone the optimum 1 year!

In terms of our business here, we visited a local farmer who also keeps British White cows in the hopes of securing some of his cattle to fill the gaps in our production next year. Our beef order book is filling up and we're looking to be taking credit cards soon too.

The Natural Horsemanship magazine is also on the up. We have been invited by Lucinda McAlpine, a national dressage competitor and supporter of the "natural" horsemanship world, to share a stand with her at the South West Equine Event at the Bath and West show ground at the end of November. Lorraine is busy getting fliers and posters done aswell as organising things so that the next issue is hopefully hot off the press in time to take there. Our vision is to take this increasingly popular publication to an A4 colour glossy that sits alongside the regular horsey mags in newsagents throughout the country. If you are inspired, or know someone who might like to participate in this venture with us, we're looking for a partner.

Well, I'm off to shake the sloe gin, feed the turkeys, count the cows, stroke the horses, watch the sunset and breathe some fresh air... I hope you will join us to share these things one day.