I have lots to chat about this evening but I'm pretty sure I wont fit it all in with how tired I am today. Todays' rabbiting on is mainly focusing on farms. If you dont like farm stuff, then you may as well press the back button now because I will probably bore you to death reminiscing? you know what i'm like, yawn yawn :)
I'm currently sat on my bed typing whilst semi watching Jimmy Doherty (from the Jimmys Farm Series). In this new series of his i'm watching, Jimmy takes on big superstores like Tesco , this new series of his is called 'Jimmy and the Giant Supermarkets', you can watch it on Catch up tv if you have that option available. The purpose of this series is to prove to the big fish, that Jimmy can provide free range sausages and produce, at affordable prices. Currently, customers have to opt out of the healthier free range products due to extortionate supermarket prices.
FOR JIMMYS FARM CLICK HERE
On that note; On the farm front, I supported our nations Open Farm Sunday and went along to one of our own local farms. The one the husband and I visited was called 'Holly Farm'. Holly Farm is in Garstang, Lancashire and is a lovely Dairy Farm. I was thinking about all our farms last sunday as the weather was perfect for it all to take place on a mass scale.
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| Me posing on the way to the farm, June 2013 |
Open farm Sunday is to help educate people and children, on where their food comes from-from start to finish and to see how the farm is ran . What a wonderful idea open farm sunday is! Of course, me, being the big kid I am, was desperate to get on the farm and join in.
I love farms passionately. Holly Farm is a super duper farm,it is so family and child friendly.It is so carefully, maticulousy set out to suit the public, with super safe guarding for their visitors and the safeguarding of their animals. I have never been to a farm so scrupulously clean. It was spotless. The farm also wanted to promote you as a visitor to keep spotless too, accomodating you with lots of hand washing points. They had great little signs everywhere which were a wonderful touch in educating you , giving you more of an interest in your environment.
For example, I, as a person nearing 41yrs old (oh god, am I really?! ha), I never knew hens laid their egg, then the shell hardened after it. WOW! Knowing this new fact, you don't feel as bad knowing the large egg one of your hens may have layed, proved they didn't need tears in their eyes after all. I must admit, I did use to say to some of my girls "oh you poor girl having to lay that whopper". I didn't know this little egg laying fact until I visited Holly Farm. See, open farm sunday did exactly what they intended the event to achieve...educate educate educate, never too old eh.
The farm had a super large cafe, a super little farm shop which also sold farm made jams, chutney, pickle biscuits etc, it also had a super seating area for families outside in a little courtyard setting, a petting farm and small trail around their farm. It also had a kids play barn so it is open to the public many days. It also has a mini toy John Deer kids plastic ride on tractors area, they have thought of everything!I was overwhelemed, I wasn't expecting that at all. I have many pix to add but below are a few selections of images for now. I will add the rest to my photobucket acount when I can prise my eyes open a bit longer.
I highly recommend Holly Farm to visit, especially if you have young children. Please visit their website, its a user friendly websit being easy to navigate, please see the link below;
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VISIT HOLLY FARM CLICK THIS LINK
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| Holly Farm, this little mite, kept licking me to death, it felt like a cat licking you awww |
As a young girl, I went around all the farms asking if they needed any help. I had the time of my life being able to be amongst the animals, the smells, the countryside. I went into the local turkey farm asking if they wanted help, this farm was one of the most memorable because the farmers let me into the turkey shed to see them all and I could not believe how many turkeys I was stood amongst, it felt, looked and sounded like thousands, you couldn't see any of the ground at all. I also, as a 10 year old girl, could not believe the noise in there.I couldn't believe how tall the turkeys were. I loved that experience. They let me see all the turkeys but I couldn't help on the farm because I was too young.
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| Holly Farm, sleepy heads |
This didn't stop me, oh no. I went on to visit lots more farms. I remember going to a lovely farm in Carleton Lancs as that naive young girl. As usual, the farmer allowed me to look at all the animals, his farm had pigs.... and oh my god, I could not believe the size of a real life pig sow! She had about ten piglets suckling on her. She was in an old fashioned stone fronted building, a bit like old stables, the building was white painted with that wet style bobbling cement on the walls, the ground inside her house was cobbled as was the lane up to it. How fabulous eh? Cobbled tracks/pathways, you just can't beat that proper farm stuff, I know these days you dont see it as much and cobbles aren't the easiest grounds to sweep and keep tidy but the look and feel of them can't be beaten in my opinion. Oooooooohhhhhh my opinion, that sounds formal. I loved this visit too! I have driven past it as an adult, it all looks the same and is all still there, I would love to pop there now, but as an adult, it's just not the same. You get away with more as a child. They would probably think I was a weirdo now. Mmmm? I wonder if I should visit and see if they remember me?
A GHOSTLY LINK TO FARMS IN CARLETON LANCS HERE
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| Holly Farm, gorgeous calf |
Another farm I visited as a child, pretty naughty wasn't I really? No wonder I was never home lol. The next farm I went to , was a pig farm. Ok, it ended up being the pig farm next to where I ended up buying my childhood pony from but before purchasing Jenny Wren, I visited her neighbours at the pig farm and asked them if they wanted help.
I remember the farmer being a short but friendly peculier character. Thinking back, you think, there is no way you would like your own child doing that. Oh well, I was always naughty and stubborn and got my own way haha, nothing has changed much. Anyway,where was I? Oh yes, the pig farm. You always know when you are near a pig farm, you can smell and hear it miles before you get there lol. I asked him if he wanted any help, he was a quirky type, short, rough looking but a farmer none the less and that was enough for me. He said come with me, are you sure you want to help out? He took me to a pretty dark large shed that was full to bursting with giant loud very vocal pigs, ok, as an adult, they are probably not as giant but as a child, like many things, they were gigantic. Again, you couldn't see an opening on the ground, it was like a noisy smelly moving pink carpet. As soon as you opened the big sliding wooden doors and let a bit of daylight through, they scuffled and fought their way to the concrete low wall the barrier between you and them, towards you. They bossed one another about, they were screaming at one another and grunting their way through to you. Near by,standing in tall blue round plastic bins, you still see today now and again, were bins containing wet barmcakes, as I sit here and remember. Eric the pig farmer was the local farmer that went around to all the hotels and schools collecting food waste to feed his pigs, I think that stopped in the 1990s sometime? Oh, I think his name was Eric? anyway, in my blog, he's called Eric as I try and turn back the time remembering it of nearly 31 years ago. I remember them all like it was yesterday but names on the otherhand are taking some extra brain power, anyone got any mackeral fillets to help, lol. You know, I nearly forgot to mention; I trekked acres and acres of fields to get to these farms in some areas, speaking to all the cows and horses along the way.
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| Me as a young girl in the late 70s, younger than ten years but it's so you can picture me around these farms,, this is a photo of me singing at school,that was used in our local gazette paper |
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| Holly Farm |
You know, as I type all this, I have a big smile on my face remembering it all. How nice. Right..... back again to the pig farm. Eric the farmer said to me ' here, get that little shovel and feed the pigs', so of course, I did so, it was so exciting you know! I got the shovel, dug it into the top of the blue bin and threw a load of barmcakes out towards the pigs.Wow, my gosh, you should have heard the noise then! Amazing. Eric then said to me, 'now young lady, if you were to fall in there now, they would take your arm off'. He said, I would need to go back when I was much older. I think kids need to see real farm animals and where food is made, there is nothing more real than the height of a cow, the characteristics of pigs, the chuckling of hens, geese and turkeys, you get the message ,i've got to stop myself going on about such gibberish sometimes. You can get and learn so much more from a real life experience. I didn't know a cow was the height they were of around a 13.2hh/14hh pony until I visted an animal rescue centre who had one, obviously called Daisy, but to be up close as a child next to a real cow was an eye opener. Obviously me, aged around nine years old, thought wow, I wonder if you could ride it, after all, it was big enough to ride lol. Right, I've wandered off again......
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| Holly Farm, how ace is this mini hen shelter for these free range hens, I love it, when I get more hens, I deffo want one of them! |
You know, looking back, these farmers were so lovely in letting me have this experience, seeing their animals, feeding them, stroking them, showing me around their farms, how proud they were, how passionate they were. They could have said 'hey, get off this farm' but no, every one I went to showed me around. I even went to a battery hen farm, that too, was in Carleton. I must admit, as a young naive child, that was the only place I felt sad for the animals, I had no idea that that was how they made eggs, all just on top of one another, eating grain from little gulley type things at the front of their cage pen, platform thingies which seemed never ending throughout the building. I did feel they were too close to one another and unhappy. I didn't like being there as much because most of them looked so poor, but as usual I was excited by the experience.
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| Holly Farm |
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| Holly Farm |
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| Holly Farm |
I'm sure i'm a reincarnation of a farmers wife or daughter? I don't actually believe in all that stuff, but no one in my whole family knows where I get it from? I'm actually the black sheep of the family. The one interested in animals, outdoors, farms, farm buildings, simple things like cobbles, smells, seeing hay bales, sounds, tractors. I just loveee tractors, I love June onwards,love it. If I didn't look like my parents and have a family resemblance, I'd be sure I was adopted. None of my family do animals, outdoors, poo anything lol.
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| Holly Farm, how stunning is this wall!? |
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| Holly Farm |
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| Holly Farm |
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| Holly Farm |
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| Holly Farm |
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| Holly Farm |
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| I thought this was ace, at Holly Farm, even a farm has makaton, it reminded me of school |
I have been lucky in life, amongst all the gloom too, that life throws at you. I bought my first plot of land and stables when I was just 19 years old, it was only an acre with two breezeblock stables but it was mine. I had three jobs and worked hard to get what I wanted, I was desperate for land. Saying this,I sold the land and stables on, a year later after doing it up for a good small profit. At least double the price what we paid for it. Then, shortly after,along came children and a mortgage so my three jobs then became one, nights. It's all about life.
Anyway, it weren't until Nov 2004 that we saw our other plot. A basic four acre field in an afluent area. It didnt even have a boundary fence on one side, or any gates to get on. But, it had the most stunning views across farmers fields and the pennines, just stunning in all seasons. The sale took a couple of months to complete due to a disagreement about mains water and having it fitted but my goodness, when the money was handed over and the deeds became ours Jan 2005, it was the happiest time ever. I have a little piece of heaven, ok, not a farm but it was my little farm. It took a year to fund and build what we wanted on it through the help of an architect, 5 stables, tack/feed room, hayshed, sand paddock and so on. It really shocked me on how much things costed, especially post and rail fencing and driveways wow.Shocked me how many truck loads of giant hardcore slabs were brought as a base for the driveways, hard standings and for the sand paddock being built. Worth every penny and all the waiting though. I later bought hens and goats, in fact, I would have had zillions of animals on there by now. But, if you follow my other blogs, you know it hasn't quite ended up the way I wanted. Ah well, we all know,life throws many hurdles at you. To not finish on a depressing tone here, we are hoping to buy another plot soon and start again. We are going to continue to rent out our current equestrian property (the one mentioned above and in 'our yard' photo albums) as a whole and keep it as a good investment. So, you never know, we may have the opportunity to have another yard to build! Anyone got a farm they want to donate? I am so lucky and greatful for everything we have. Life is precious.
Do you know what? I have never ridden in a tractor, I would love to be driven in a tractor all hours and at night like farmers do, for the feel of it, the sound of it, the freedom of the open countryside. You see, just the simple things would be satisfying.
Nope, i'm not one of these city to country type people wanting a bit of a good life that thinks everything country is idilic and rosy. I mean, come on, we all know, farming is a 24hr job, dont we? You just dont stop on a farm.
BELLA
I'm going to add a little update on Bella, my daughters' dog. Bella came out of the vets after being in for five days ,after being attacked by a Staffy dog. (Please see other page). However, the same day she went home, she had to return to the vets as she was in so much pain and her stitches had come loose.
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| At the vest, Bella woke up, a day after her ordeal |
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| Day five, she then went home and returned back to the vets the day this photo was taken |
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| How Bella used to look aww cute fluffy cloud |
She remained at the vets a couple more days this past week and has now gone back home,recovering well, with her little character starting to shine through her pain.
The dog warden eventually went around to the house where the staffy lived and found out in his investigation, that that dog had been on a caution before. We are led to believe it had attacked a cat and another dog, previously though can not quote the dog warden on this until further evidence is sought?
Our local gazette reporter has been round to the home to take a photo of my daughter with Bella.It will be going into the gazette shortly. It has gone to the newspapers due to lack of police support. Still, to date, no representative from the police force have been to these staffy owners. Members of the public that saw it all and helped my girls were fuming on their phones to the police, rspca and dog warden. The scene seeing my daugters and Bella in that state was shocking, still, no one from any authority would help them, just shocking!
NEXT TIME;
Next time on my blog; our horse trailer hunt, got one yeahhhhhh, our visit to the Thoroughbred Rehabilitation Centre with an influx of photos, what are you sure lol?! and looking at yards and plots of land.
