December 2006

This has been another month focused on the "bottom line". It's so frustrating that it must be so, but let's face it, whilst our friends and WWOOFers may love to exchange sausages and steaks for their offerings, the bank is really only interested in the folding stuff... so here we are.

It's a pity we can't find an exchange for mud at this time of year! Looks like we're set for another VERY wet winter... the farmyard is already a quagmire and the animals all look the same colour :-( If you are thinking of visiting, a 4 x 4 would give you a more comfortable ride down the track ("roadworks" due to commence as soon as it dries out!), and wellies are essential.

After a quest of mammoth proportions, we are now able to get the offal from our own pigs back from the abattoir. In real terms, this means we now offer pigs liver and home made faggots - both of which have gone down an absolute storm. I had such fun playing with recipes and Dougal (our most recent WWOOFer) has declared that "there'll be fighting in the streets over them". I hope not!

December always starts slowly, but the knowledge that we'll be extra-ordinarily busy the week before Christmas means relaxation is a bit tough... it feels like a tiger lurking in the corner or breathing down my neck all the time. Anyway, the tiger did indeed break loose at the end of the second week. We dispatched the turkeys - always a hard job - and the farm went quiet. The wheels started spinning and one day ran into another as we cut the beef, checked the gammons, planned the orders, took the pigs to the abattoir, made the sausagemeat, did the markets and served lots of customers. I live in fear at this time of year, that I'll have done something dreadful like forget Mrs. X's turkey or suchlike, but it all worked out OK. One person even drove out to the farm to let us know that "it was the tastiest bird they've ever had!" and it's a real honour to know that an increasing number of people want our produce to play a part in their festivities.

On Christmas Eve, at 1pm, I shut the doors on a fairly empty chiller and sat with my Baileys on the sofa in our living room... Phew! In fact, other than the generally day-to-day farm stuff - feeding animals and bedding them down - I sat down for almost 10 days... didn't know I could do it for that long!!!

I hope you too have had a lovely holiday time and wish you well for 2007.