Today winter hit Norfolk, days behind the rest of the country. While much of the west has been covered in a blanket of snow for five days (in some places up to 17 inches deep), here in the east we have had little snow until today. I woke up, opened the curtains and was met… Continue reading Winter at last…
The cattle, who have spent the spring, summer and autumn out in the paddocks, are now inside for winter. Now, this movement is normally pretty challenging, but this year it went like a dream. In the past the difficulty has been the Highland cattle – they are temperamental, stroppy, strong willed and normally want to… Continue reading The cattle move inside for winter…
Today the sun shone, the birds sung and the sky has been bright and wonderful. Here in Norfolk it has been simply glorious – November please remain this way… The morning dog walk started with crispy leaves underfoot on what was the first proper frost of the winter here in south Norfolk. As I made my… Continue reading What Novembers were made for…
Today has been a strange one weather wise. Having spent most of it outside preparing the garden for winter and listening to news of approaching Storm Ophelia, the sky suddenly darkened… …the sun went red and a misty haze enveloped the landscape. Apparently this was Storm Ophelia blowing Sahara sands across the region. I’ve never… Continue reading An African sunset in Norfolk…
Wednesday is a good day in our house. Not only is it mid-week, it’s also Country Life day. Each Wednesday (Royal Mail depending) the weekly magazine lands on the doormat. Every week the magazine remains cocooned in its cellophane until the working day is over and I can justify opening it. And opening it always feels… Continue reading Why Wednesdays are good…
Without wanting to talk about the festive season too early, there is one festive thing I like to start in October and that is planting hyacinth bulbs for indoor blooms at Christmas. Now, Christmas in our house isn’t a very big affair, and what decorations we do have are mostly plant-based (apart from the pet-proof wooden… Continue reading Planting hyacinth bulbs for Christmas…
For years I lived in the same jacket – a beloved Barbour Beaufort that I first slipped on in 2007. I had always wanted one, ever since I saw my dad in one – it just looked so warm, comfy and reliable. Day in and day out it hung loyally in the boot room until… Continue reading A new trusty stalwart…
I’ve been growing vegetables for a few years now, but each year I seem to forgot what I need to do when. Often I find myself referring to seed packets, books or the internet. The crop that always catches me out is the onions. Although they are probably the most obvious crop, I tend to forget… Continue reading The annual rush to bring in the onions…
This week we welcomed our first Hereford calf onto the farm. The anticipation had been building for months as Fuchsia, a heifer, was a first-time mum-to-be. She had been showing the slow signs of change for a few weeks, however, at 3.45pm on Wednesday things really began to move. Having never seen a birth before I was… Continue reading A calf is born…
Last October we had lots of apples growing on the farm that were neither eaters or cookers. Traditionally we would give them away to a friend who made cider and in return we’d receive a few bottles the next year. But, due to a change of circumstances, we had no one to give them to last year.… Continue reading Bottling Norfolk cider…
