Never A Dull Moment at Fallowfield!

So much for giving up doing B and B, so I could have a quieter life!  Mike and I seem to have had the week of all weeks.  It has been great fun but we are feeling ever so slightly cream-crackered tonight and even my little Norfolk terrier, Scrumpy, has hardly had the energy to get out of her bed all day.

The week started at a fairly leisurely pace of shopping in Newcastle with my daughter in law, Iona and grandson Archie.  We even stopped to have a coffee which is quite unheard of for me as I usually dash in and out as quickly as I can. 

 Then I did a bit of babysitting for Archie on Tuesday - in between trying to make an impression on the ironing mountain that has developed in this house.

Wednesday was another paperwork and ironing day – so feeling pretty virtuous at this point in time – not to mention getting bedrooms ready for the non paying variety of guests ( i.e. our family!) who were due to arrive in force at the weekend.

Then on Thursday evening, we welcomed back Trevor and Julie who had recently attended one of our Alpaca Care Courses to let them select their three female alpacas.  After some deliberation, they selected Aurora, Aquilegia and Phyllida.  I'm sure that they must be pretty excited right now. I had thought of trying out some new recipes that night, but it ended up being an Indian takeaway which slipped down a treat.

Fridays are always pretty manic these days as it is changeover day at our holiday cottage and as I am such a perfectionist – some might say fusspot! – I mainly do the work required myself.  Thank goodness I had a lemon drizzle cake in the freezer as I certainly didn’t have time to bake one for the new guests arriving.

The week built up to a definite crescendo of noise and chaos as we were in sole charge of our three grandsons on Saturday through until Sunday.  Ages ranged from two and a half, eight months and four and a half months. So just think about the logistics for a minute - only one is walking, they all eat different things and sleep at different times.  In between giving bottles to the babies, I was trying to do a bit more on the Christening robe – I admit it I am bonkers!  The boys were pretty good on the whole but there is no way we could have managed without the help of my close friend Gill Robson.  I think bath time and supper time were probably the most challenging bits. I have to say that our well deserved glass of wine after they had all gone to bed tasted like sheer nectar.    Would we offer to have them all again – yes, but please not for a few weeks as we need to recover!!

 

Autumn is almost here!

The weather has been really lovely here at Fallowfield this weekend.  Such a treat after several days of cold, wet weather!  Isn’t it amazing how we have all got so used to the hot weather, that even if the temperature has been normal for the time of year, it has felt pretty chilly.   I am relieved that the gales have subsided as we had a big branch down from a tree near the house which just  - and only just! – missed a friend’s car that was parked nearby.

 

Mike had a good run up to Fife last week to deliver 6 alpacas to a farmer who is starting a new breeding herd of alpacas.  I’m always a bit sad to see our animals go to new homes – especially when some of them are my favourites – but it‘s great to know they have gone to such a good home.   Our other alpacas did seem to miss their mates for a couple of days, but it’s amazing how quickly they forget! What fickle beasties they are!

 

I really must crack on with making some chutney this week.  I think I might scrounge some apples from friends with more productive apple trees than ours.  Actually it’s been an amazing season for fruit and Mike is out right now picking more blackberries.  I’ve been thinking about trying to cook at least 4 new recipes a week – maybe I’m trying to justify my extensive cookery book collection or justifying getting more cookery books!  Anyway I’m quids in already on trying new recipes this week as I made some of Mary Berry’s lemon and lime possets yesterday – I wasn’t that keen but the others wolfed them down and I’m going to try out Fiona Cairns’ Hedgerow Crumble cake this evening.  All of this baking is fine – but it does make it hard to resist scoffing the stuff when you’re trying your hardest to keep your weight down!

We had a great day yesterday with a couple who are thinking about keeping alpacas and had booked on to one of our Alpaca Care Courses.  They were kind enough to say that it was worth coming just for the lunch – I think they liked the alpacas too!!!!!  I know that most people who run alpaca courses, tend to buy in food for the lunches, but I always cook the food myself.  Yes I know I'm probably a glutton for punishment, but the only time I did try getting stuff in and warming it up, I managed to burn it!   Our visitors certainly learned loads and had a full day of hands on time with the alpacas and took home alpaca gifts and detailed course notes.

For those of you wondering about Billy’s Christening robe – yes, it is underway, if a bit slowly.  I did get slightly alarmed this morning when I realised that the christening was only two weeks away and the smocking is a tad time-consuming.  However, I’ve always said that I work best under pressure – my VAT returns are a case in point!!  I promise I will take some photos when there is a bit more to photo!

Celebrations!

I’m back!

  Yes I know it’s been absolutely ages since I’ve done my blog but when a girl reaches the great age of 60 she has to take a bit of time off to celebrate and that’s what I’ve been doing.  In fact, the celebrations aren’t over yet, but more of that later.

 

All my friends and family have been really generous and I have been feeling thoroughly spoilt by it all.  The weekend after my birthday was spent at The Devonshire Arms Hotel in Bolton Abbey in the Yorkshire Dales.  It was absolutely fabulous.  If you haven’t been there, then do go sometime.  We had an amazing bedroom – probably the best we have ever had in a hotel in this country – and the food was superb.  Dinner in the brasserie the first night and then a fantastic dinner in their Michelin starred restaurant on the Saturday night.  A girl could get used to that sort of thing!  And actually, I hate to admit it, but the last part of my birthday celebrations is to have a night at Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons in Oxfordshire in October.  Mike and I are really looking forward to that one.

Whilst at the Devonshire Arms, we took the opportunity to visit Saltaire which isn’t far away.  Well we couldn’t have not gone to see where Sir Titus Salt processed the first alpaca fibre in this country, could we. 
We were hugely grateful to my sister Lucinda and husband Andrew for holding the fort here at Fallowfield in our absence – we owe them big time!

 

There was no rest for the wicked last week though.  Alpacas to be fed and watered etc., and vet checks to be done on the six going to Scotland tomorrow.  No problems with the vet checks – all were deemed to be in very good health.  So looking forward to our trip to Fife on Thursday.

 

 

Last Saturday was a very special day.  It was the wedding day of Paul Vaclik and Rachel Hill who are our good friends and agist their alpacas here at Fallowfield.  The day was made extra special by the inclusion of Pelagia and Hester at the reception at Guyzance Hall.  They were both immaculately behaved (Paul and Rachel too!) and they allowed all the guests to be photographed with them.  Well done girls!!  Paul and Rachel had worked so hard to make the day special.  The ladies had wedding favours of Rachel’s handmade soap inside hand knitted alpaca bags and Paul’s home brewed beer even had special alpaca labels.  And I cannot possibly forget to mention that Rachel looked absolutely stunning.

 

 

Then Sunday came along – a bit too early in the morning after a wedding the day before it has to be said – when we loaded up the vehicles and set off for Wolsingham Show.  It was a sunny but bitterly cold morning – a reminder that Autumn is not far away!  We had a brilliant time with so much interest in alpacas and we sold loads of our wool that I had been dying for the past few days.

 

 

 

A pig of a week!

Actually it’s been a pretty good week all in all.  On Wednesday we got some of our crias sheared.  There’s always a bit of a discussion about whether we should or we shouldn’t cria shear, but the fleece does seem to benefit if you do shear them.   They do look really cute if slightly bonkers after shearing.

Thursday saw the birth of what finally proved to be the last cria of 2013 with the arrival of Imogen’s cria.  Imogen is one of our agisted females and I have to say that I worry more about those girls than any of ours.  Ridiculous isn’t it!  All went very smoothly, but it did make us look a lot more closely at the two remaining girls yet to drop.  One of them was our special girl, Fallowfield Athena, and the other was another agisted female.  Athena did really look pregnant, the other one less so, but after doing spits at the weekend, we realised that neither had held on to their pregnancies. Looking on the bright side, at least it means that when Mike and I disappear on Friday for a couple of days – yes we are having time off! – We won’t be worrying about a possible birth in our absence.

 

Then on Friday, we celebrated our 38^th wedding anniversary (not 39^th as I had originally thought it was!)  There was no way that either Mike or I could have imagined when we were married all those years ago that we would be celebrating 38 years on by curing bacon and making sausages from our pig that we had just got back from the butchers.  Ten out of ten for Simpsons of Cockfield near Staindrop for their sensitive handling of the pigs and excellent butchery.  They also made us the best black pudding from the pig’s blood that I have ever tasted.  I exaggerate not!  So guys, if you are trying to find the perfect Christmas present for your better half, just follow Mike’s example and buy a couple of pigs!  No brainer actually!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Curing the bacon, pancetta and prosciutto was really easy and great fun – not tasted any of it yet of course but I would recommend you check out www.sausagemaking.org for all your supplies. One of the frequent criticisms about rare breed pork is that it is too fatty.  Our pigs completely bucked the trend as it was the leanest pork that I have ever seen.  We made quite a lot of sausage, but I suspect that we might get the butchers to do this for us next year.  I rather think that theirs might be superior to ours, although ours do look the part.  One of the best bits though was making chorizo last night.  If it tastes half as good as it looks then we are on to a winner.

 

Mike had a trip over the border on Sunday with Houghton King as he had a couple of hot dates with two of the alpacas belonging to John and Juliet Miller of the Border Mill.  It was good to have a catch up with them and to hear of all the exciting developments with their business.

Then just to round off the week, we had a visitor from Scotland yesterday who bought 6 of our females who will be the start of his new breeding herd.  It’s really good when you get someone who is so positive about alpacas and wants to start with a quality herd.  So yet more of our girls will be going north of the border in a short while.  Not quite like exporting to Sweden but exporting nonetheless!

 

 

 

Our weekend exploits - good and bad!

There were definitely some highs and lows about last weekend’s activities.  On the plus side, the pigs went off to the butchers on Sunday morning with the minimum of stress.  Mike was able to lead them straight into the trailer.  The journey only took about an hour at pretty slow speed and the boys were pretty relaxed as they were gently escorted into their pen for the night.  We were assured that the guys there always go to a lot of trouble to quietly lead the pigs out of their pen, with no raised voices to cause the minimum of stress.  We are very satisfied with these arrangements and are looking forward to getting the pork back on Friday, with a busy day of sausage making and ham and bacon curing in store.

 

Another plus, was the start of the Christening robe.  I had to trace off the pattern and that all went off without a hitch.  The glass of rose is optional when making a Christening robe, but the sun was over the yard arm and the colour did co-ordinate with my cutting mat!  The jury is still out regarding smocking or pin-tucks.  I would really like to smock the front, but as I have never tried this before and am struggling to find some basic instructions, I’m wondering if this is really the time for experimentation.

Talking of experimentation, my nectarine jam didn’t turn out particularly well – in fact it was a bit of a disaster, being quite honest.  I was talking to one of our Australian B and B guests on Sunday morning who said that she had once made nectarine jam but it was a bit tasteless.  So – I thought it might be a good idea to chuck in some raspberries plus a slosh of Framboise liqueur for good measure.    The only positive outcome was that I got a really good set!  Despite leaving the jam for some minutes before potting into jars, the fruit still rose to the top.  Although it didn’t look great, I thought it should taste ok – but it doesn’t.  I think it is probably the worst jam I’ve ever made.  The pieces of nectarine are chewy and it is far too sweet.  Maybe I should forget the experimentation where jam is concerned and stick to tried and tested recipes!!

In case you are wondering if those last three crias have arrived – they haven’t.  In fact the mums don’t look any more pregnant than they did a month ago.   This photograph is of one our agisted girls who definitely looks pregnant! So when oh when are these babies going to arrive? Perhaps I should run a sweepstake – or not!

So what are you doing this weekend?

 

Don’t you just hate that question apparently beloved of all hairdressers?   Mike had a certain amount of wicked amusement the other day when asked at the hairdressers what he was going to be doing at the weekend – his answer was “Taking my pigs to the abattoir!” Stony silence from hairdresser.  After a few minutes, she asked “So what do you do then?”  Mike replied “I’m an architect!”  Needless to say there was no more conversation whatsoever.  She was probably trying to get her head round what the hell an architect was doing taking pigs to an abattoir or more likely, thinking that she was cutting the hair of a madman!!!

But yes, Pigfest is looming fast.  It seems no time at all since the pigs arrived but they are now 25 weeks old and are off to be slaughtered this weekend.  Any regrets – none whatsoever!  Will we eat the meat – absolutely yes!  Despite lots of people telling us that we wouldn’t be able to eat the pigs, we don’t have a problem with this.  They have had a great life here and hopefully that will be reflected in the quality of the meat.  They are going a relatively short distance to be slaughtered by a butcher, so no big abattoir for them.

We still have three alpacas waiting to give birth.   Needless to say, these three alpacas are not the girls in waiting! We often get asked “How long is the gestation period of an alpaca?”  we usually say about eleven and a half months but I’m beginning to think – if this year is anything to go by – that it would be more accurate if I replied “How long is a piece of string?”

The nights are drawing in now and so I feel drawn to getting out my sewing machine once again.  I love sewing and seem to do more soft furnishings than anything else these days, but now that I’m an ancient grandmother of three gorgeous boys, I am finding myself tempted to try different projects.  The first on the list is a Christening robe for our youngest grandson Billy.  I have selected a very traditional / heritage style.  The only debate is do I smock the front or do pin tucks which might be a jolly sight quicker.

 

So what’s it to be Billy – smocking or pin tucks?

My other sewing project planned for the next few weeks, is to try my hand at making some fabric toys.  Not done this before but I have so many scraps of lovely fabrics and trimmings that I would like to give it a go.

Jam is also on the menu this weekend.  Eating it definitely!  Making some most probably!  Last Saturday I bought some great fresh apricots from the farmers market in Hexham and made some really nice apricot and vanilla jam. I love to pile it on to my toast – especially when Mike isn’t looking and likely to make sarcastic comments like “Would you like some toast on your jam?”  I’ve already done a batch of strawberry, so I think I will probably do some peach or nectarine tomorrow.  I’m not sure that it’s economically viable for me to make jam as I do eat rather a lot of my home-made stuff but then it is so good.

 

Happy Days!

By some people’s standards we have had a pretty busy few days, but actually it’s felt pretty chilled really.  Especially compared to last weekend’s Open Day!!!

Hermione’s cria – still unnamed – who was born in the pouring rain last Monday is doing well and is piling on the weight.  Don’t you just love an experienced alpaca Mum that has loads of milk!  The cria was born with one rather weak back leg, but it seems to be getting stronger now.  I’m just glad that I was out there when he was born as it might have been a very different situation if he had been lying there in the rain.

 After lots of false alarms, Pandora finally gave birth on Thursday to a really healthy male cria.  Paul and Rachel are thrilled – surprise, surprise! – especially as Pandora’s cria last year didn’t survive.  Though it has to be said that he is not yet using the more orthodox method of accessing the milk bar!

So we have had three female and three male crias born this year so far – another three to go!

 I've tried to catch up with a few photos of the little ones. 

 This is Hermione's little chap - looking fairly chilled!  Must try and name him soon.

 

This is Isadora's cria.  Pity I couldn't get close enough to get a really good shot.  He is pretty special - but you will just have to take my word for that tonight!

 

 

And last but not least is my gorgeous little Livia.  She is not only everyone's pet but she has a beautiful fleece.

 

 

All these attempts at photography were in between poo -picking.  We were out for supper last night and I know most people would take a bottle of wine and maybe some chocolates, but we settled for some home-made chocolate biscuits and 6 bags of alpaca poo!!  Well our hosts do have a lovely walled garden with some gorgeous roses and they were thrilled with their gifts -  well that’s what they said....!  I  even managed to find time to photograph the chief swineherd after he had done a stint of paddock topping.  At least he did what he was told and sat still long enough for me to get a good photograph.  Thanks Mr. D!! xx