February 2004

We welcomed many visitors willing to brave the cold and the mud this month... Helping Hands joining us for hedge laying a job which continues with various parties of hedge layers. We've been focusing on the hedge round the paddock and are hopeful that this may be completed this season. It is especially delightful to see young visitors coming to see the animals, be with the horses, enjoy the hay barn and make friends. The sharing of the gift of our lives here continues to be an aspect of life on the farm that's important to us.

In the light of that, we spent a beautiful day with friends, being guided by Jules learning about Reiki, energy healing which encourages gentle focus and potential for so much through the "laying on of hands" (that's my definition by the way!). During the day, we braved the chill of the great outdoors and went to offer our newfound skill to the animals. It was most enjoyable for us and the four leggeds seemed to enjoy it too.

We have also made more inroads into the garden, which still looks more like a building site that we'd like. We're transforming the clay vegetable garden with the application of carefully selected compost from round the edges of the muck store, and some of our own bio-dynamic kitchen waste compost made over the winter. I'm continually inspired by the way "waste" is turned by the magic of time and nature into this life-enhancing substance. Sarah and I took a trip to the garden centre and got a bit carried away sourcing seed and small herb plants to go in our rockery which Jules has discovered in her recent digging!

Regular readers will know that in December, Mark and Alistair spent a hard working weekend, fitting our cold store sections together. Well, this month the man arrived to commission it and we are now the proud owners of a working walk in fridge in which we can store our beef and pork with the utmost efficiency. It is a most professional addition to our business here and we are continuing to create a clean and hygienic space around it. There's something very satisfying about these "improvements" like the cold store and our van, which feel like real "evidence" that our business is moving along in the right direction.