As one Marathon starts another ends!
This morning as we watched the runners gathering for the London Marathon our own marathon calf watch ended. GrannieAnne our "old girl" that had kept us guessing for the last 5 weeks finally calved.
We have been on intensive calf watch for the last 5 days. This means that I have been checking on her at midnight 3am and then first thing in the morning. Last night the clinical signs indicated an immenant birth and I settled to armchair watch. Thats armchair by the Aga and an hourly walk up to the barn. At 3 am I gave up. Local lore is that if it has happened by 3am it won't happen before 6am. This proved true as Jacquie, who got up at 6am to bake fresh bread for our guests' breakfast reported that GrannieAnne was munching away contentedly.
By 8:30 it was all over. A text book calving without any outside assistance or interferance. A lovely heifer calf that we have christened Trenderway Fancy 1 to celebrate the renewal of a good old bloodline.
Sunday, 25 April 2010
Saving our Farming Industry
Yesterday Trenderway played host to Jim Paice the Conservative Spokesman on Farming and Rural Affairs and Sheryll Murray our local SE Cornwall Conservative candidate and we hope our future MP at Westminster.
It was a delight talking to a politician who actually GETS farming. The fresh attitude and perhaps even naivitie that Jacquie and I bring to farming probably plays a large role in shaping our perspectives. We find that a large part of our enthusiasm is dampened by the low quality and high quantity of both compliance and regulation. While we were talking Jim pulls out the a small booklet published by the Conservatives called "A New Age of Agriculture, Our Agenda for British Farming". It more or less addressed most of our concerns. The biggest of which is the observation that its all very well , bringing in regulatory controls to manage Environment, Welfare, Food Safety etc, BUT. Farming has to be the only industry where the cost of inputs appears to have no bearing on the cost of outputs.
Sheryl's passion for the issues that affect our local economy in Sout East Cornwall is undoubted. We have no doubt that she will be as effective in Westminster as she has been over the years that she has been campaigning for local issues.
After a good cup of tea by the Aga, we all went for a farm walk amongst our South Devon herd. Jim complimented us on the cows and was especially impressed by Flete Anne one of our new cows. What a revelation an MP (although as Parliament has been dissolved there are no MPs at the moment) and, we hope, our new AGRICULTURE Minister that actually recognises and appreciates a good cow.
It was a delight talking to a politician who actually GETS farming. The fresh attitude and perhaps even naivitie that Jacquie and I bring to farming probably plays a large role in shaping our perspectives. We find that a large part of our enthusiasm is dampened by the low quality and high quantity of both compliance and regulation. While we were talking Jim pulls out the a small booklet published by the Conservatives called "A New Age of Agriculture, Our Agenda for British Farming". It more or less addressed most of our concerns. The biggest of which is the observation that its all very well , bringing in regulatory controls to manage Environment, Welfare, Food Safety etc, BUT. Farming has to be the only industry where the cost of inputs appears to have no bearing on the cost of outputs.
Sheryl's passion for the issues that affect our local economy in Sout East Cornwall is undoubted. We have no doubt that she will be as effective in Westminster as she has been over the years that she has been campaigning for local issues.
After a good cup of tea by the Aga, we all went for a farm walk amongst our South Devon herd. Jim complimented us on the cows and was especially impressed by Flete Anne one of our new cows. What a revelation an MP (although as Parliament has been dissolved there are no MPs at the moment) and, we hope, our new AGRICULTURE Minister that actually recognises and appreciates a good cow.
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Latest addition to Jacquie's hen menagerie. This little fellow was rescued from a broodie Buff Orpingten hen, that having sat on a clutch of eggs for the whole 21 days promptly starting squashing them!We were amazed that it survived, as it was prematurely hatched by its clumsy mother. Jacquie put the partially hatched egg in an incubator and the whfarm watched as for 24 hours it went through the motions of hatching, albeit outside the shell of the egg. Yesterday morning it "hatched" and we were still doubtful it would make it.Amazingly, as you can see, its doing really well. Chirping extremely loudly and sharing the nursery with 3 threesome that hatched just before easter.
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Spring Evening from Meadow Barn Deck
The Meadow looked lovely in the evening sun yesterday. We have a large group of geese nesting this year and they are not as noisey as in previous years.
Saturday, 3 April 2010
Full Blast Heat at Trenderway
While it may be somewhat wet this Easter Weekend - our guests are warm and cosy.
The new boiler has been installed and is pumping heat into all parts of the farmhouse. The change was felt instantly and its obvious that the 30 year old plus boiler, which had been gallantly attempting to cope, was due to to be retired.
We have also completed the refurbishment of the shower in Granary. The old shower had been leaking and the damage to the plasterboard and floor was such that we had to rip it out. This gave us a great opportunity to let our imagination run free. We have used old cornish Roof Slates that were half buried in our field to tile the shower and it looks stunning. Guests staying in the Granary will enjoy a Hansgrohe EcoSmart Raindance Air shower. This is one of the best showering experiences available and the EcoSmart makes it guilt free as it's so water efficient.
The new boiler has been installed and is pumping heat into all parts of the farmhouse. The change was felt instantly and its obvious that the 30 year old plus boiler, which had been gallantly attempting to cope, was due to to be retired.
We have also completed the refurbishment of the shower in Granary. The old shower had been leaking and the damage to the plasterboard and floor was such that we had to rip it out. This gave us a great opportunity to let our imagination run free. We have used old cornish Roof Slates that were half buried in our field to tile the shower and it looks stunning. Guests staying in the Granary will enjoy a Hansgrohe EcoSmart Raindance Air shower. This is one of the best showering experiences available and the EcoSmart makes it guilt free as it's so water efficient.
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