Monday 21 March 2011

Little Bo Peep...

...has found her sheep!

A farmer from several miles away has just roared down the drive on his quad to ask if his visitors came from here! So they're being collected this afternoon and brought back to the substandard grass here. We have loads of hay and grass nuts, though, so they'll be spoilt for a while until the fields start growing properly.

So hopefully we can still go ahead with D-day for two of them tomorrow...feeling a bit guilty for bringing them back now, but if they'd stayed with the other flock their days would have been numbered anyway!

Looks like lamb's back on the menu for Easter!

Saturday 19 March 2011

March

The grounds of Luggs Barn are looking beautiful as the daffodils are now in full bloom, with primroses and bluebells already starting to show as well. We've had some glorious spring days recently with a real warmth to the air, so everything's starting to grow - the hedges and trees are now sporting that wonderful green haze!

This morning we spotted a stag in one of the neighbouring fields and are hoping that one of the many photos we took will show him clearly. We'll upload the pictures very soon; keep checking back! There are also more prosaic signs of spring, with birdsong getting earlier and louder by the day, and baby rabbits abounding in the garden. These are proving a great irritation to the hens, who guard their food jealously!

The garden will be treated to new turf this week; all the building work has taken its toll on the grass and despite the beautiful sunshine, we're still seeing frosty mornings so seeding may not have time to work before guests start arriving.

Furniture for every room is constantly arriving and in a couple of weeks time we'll have more photos as the various rooms become finished. We've also taken lots more bookings this month which is very exciting - there are still some summer holiday weeks left, though! Short breaks are also proving very popular; these are available October-Spring excluding school holidays and offer a cost-effective chance to experience all Luggs Barn has to offer for a short getaway from the working week.

As well as all this positive news, there's been an upsetting development too. This morning we noticed that there were no sheep in the field. Somehow they must have escaped and, we presume, gone in search of greener grass. However, having spent all morning driving round the lanes and shaking buckets of grass nuts, we've had no luck. We can't believe they can have gone far; they're all pretty tame and will do anything for food, so we're at a loss to know where they could be. There's no sign of any vehicle movement and we didn't hear anything so we're as certain as we can be that there's no foul play, but it's still a worry. We'll keep up the search and have told all the neighbouring farms, so fingers crossed they come home once they realise the grass isn't always greener!

We'll post a sheep update when there's any news but for now we'll continue with the fun part - furnishing and finishing off Luggs Barn ready for its very first guests! The countdown is on...