Fast Forward

It is with some horror that I realise it is a year since I wrote a post for this blog. Where does the time go? Someone has put me on fast-forward!

The main news then: our lovely Lana was married in the Summer to her long term partner Ramunas.

 

It was a fabulous day and we all spent a large amount of time enjoying champagne in the sunshine.

 

Max went off to Chester University last month to read Public Relations, Marketing and Advertising so we sadly parted with his horse Jammy who now belongs to some good friends of ours and has a wonderful new home. It is strangely quiet without Max and without his friends popping round. However, we have rented out the stables now and the influx of horses, people and children means there is never a dull moment at Bridge Farm.

I am more sorry that I can say to have to report the death of my beloved rottveiller, The Mort a few weeks ago. He was my best friend and I miss him dreadfully. He was an old dog and had a good life but I would have loved to have had him for longer. He is buried here and I must go and choose a shrub or rose to plant on his grave.

The loss of the Mort has been a gain for another little dog. A 5 yearold lakeland terrier from a local rescue centre.

 

 

I have had this little cracking little dog for a week and she has stolen my heart . I have named her Brillo because of her rough coat. She is very affectionate, eager to please and adorable. How anyone could have abandoned her – expecting puppies which had died inside her emaciated little body – I do not know. She gets on well with everyone and has exciting walks with Monkey and Ritz.

Dare I say Christmas is coming ? We have already started to take orders for turkeys, geese , hams etc.  so start planning early and place your orders now.

I will try to be a better Blogger from now on!

 

In the Bleak Mid-Winter

Life on the farm is hard in this cold weather. The water pipes have all frozen in the fields so all the water troughs have to be cleared of ice each day and water transported up the field for the pigs.

This is Aga on Boxing Day filling the troughs. Today she is going to Poland to see her family and have a well earned rest.

The farm looks rather bleak.

Monkey has enjoyed his first Christmas and has been getting to know the piglets.

And the piglets are enjoying the snow.

Playing piggy-back!

However, I am not dreaming of a white Christmas for next year!

 

Trailer Trash

The snowy weather created a certain amount of havoc with our Christmas trade this year. Markets cancelled and customers unable to get to the farm made life difficult and then a fire engine – no less- crashed into the back of our van and trailer writing off the trailer and damaging the van. Fortunately no one was seriously hurt .

Poor Andy and Laura got caught in a blizzard when they went to Cobham Market last week  and had to leave early. They then spent quite some time in the M25 “car park” but arrived home safely.  However, despite all the problems and thanks to all our loyal and intrepid staff, everyone received their Christmas orders and I hope a good time was had by all.

 

Monkey Business

We have a new  member of the family – canine that is. He is a 7 month old Jack Russell x Spaniel. Here he is!

I had decided that I wanted to get a rescue dog.  Lauren and I visited Last Chance whose website displayed several dogs that I thought would be suitable and to whom we could give a good home. We had to fill in a form and one requirement was an area with 5ft fencing to let the dog out into. I explained that we had a farm with about one acre of that post and rail fenced with electric running through it. Oh no! not high enough and the dog might get a shock from the fence. I tried and failed to explain that this was the whole point and they only do it once thereafter treating it with some respect and staying within its boundary. No. They wouldn’t even consider letting us have one of their dogs.

The RSPCA was our next call and they had a lovely Jack Russell who apparently needed 6 ft fencing!

So it seemed that I am not good enough for a rescue dog but I could go and buy any puppy I wanted – something not quite right there!  Anyway, thanks to a small advertisement in the local pet shop, I bought Monkey (his name at the time was Booby Boo) from a woman who had several small children in a tiny house and garden (with 5ft fencing!) and couldn’t cope with him. He had already had another home before that but they had decided they couldn’t afford him. So I have effectively rescued a little dog and what a wonderful chap he is!

Making new friends

Monkey has settled down really well. He has long walks with Ritz,  rides on the ATV with Richard, has made friends with the cats and appears to listen to the wisdom of the The Mort (who is going very grey these days).

 

Goodbye to Tailor

Sadly Tailor died last week. He had been very unwell for some time thanks to old age and a  heart problem He will be hugely missed by the family and all the staff, particularly Richard. Tailor was at the gate to greet Richard every morning for the last ten years, come rain or shine, and spent his day “working ” with him.

This little dog had an enormous character. If you read his page in this blog you will realise just how much pleasure and entertainment he has given us all over the past 12 years. Thank you Tailor.

 

Sour Cream Breakfast

We have found that the chickens like to drink sour milk  along with all the other food scraps and leftovers they eat – real recycling! This morning Lana gave them some sour cream that was past its sell-by date and fairly solid. Expecting  milk the hens dived in.

The results were quite amusing

A sour-cream facial!

 

Bacchanalian Delight

Today The Market Square, a new food and wine shop in East Grinstead, had a grand opening day. The Mayor formally opened the shop at 12 oclock. There were so many people  that they spilled out onto the street into the sunshine.

The Market Square is promoting local producers,  Bridge Farm being one of them. Visitors today were treated to wine and the opportunity to taste our ham, salt beef and pies along with High Weald cheeses ( offered by Chris Eustace) and many other products.

Chris and Chris

The Launch was definitely a great success and I wish Chris and Bill good luck for the future.

 

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest

We have been inundated with Hornets in the house. They are enormouse and very scary, especially when I was lying peacefully in the bath and suddenly two of these helicopter-sized monsters appeared out of nowhere and started buzzing around my head! Something had to be done about it.

I managed to locate the nest at the top of the chimney. There was a wasps’ nest up there too . As I am no good at heights and am terrified of the hornets I called the nearest pest controller who was in Oxted ( excellent service and very reasonable  tel 01883715027) and he came round – on a Sunday too – with his ladders, protective clothing and extermination equipment.

Up the ladder he went  and within half an hour there wasn’t a hornet or a wasp in sight.  Amazing!

 

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

My little ginger cat formerly known as Scout has had an accident to her tail of which she was duly proud.

The Good

 

She arrived at supper time the other day with the end of her tail dangling and broken. I can only assume that she failed to run fast enough across the road in the path of an oncoming vehicle. I guess she is lucky to be alive. I will leave the struggle to get her into the cat carrier to your imagination. She howled in the car all the way to the vet and howled in the surgery. I had to explain that she had never been abroad before! To cut a long story – or tale – short, the vet had to remove most of he glorious tail. She arrived home wearing a collar.

The Bad

 

The final  indignity of a bare bottom!

The Ugly

 I’m sure the fur will grow back again quickly and she will be beautiful again soon. However, I think her new name will stick. She is now known as Stumpy!

 

Lingfield Church Fete

I have just been down to the church where they were setting up the fete. They are cooking Bridge Farm Sausages in the churchyard so I found the attractive medieval wench in charge and took a photo or two.

Many of the helpers were in costume

and amongst the many stalls they were setting up some bells so that people could try their hand at bell ringing.

I hope everybody has a good day, and that they make loads of money for the Church roof and eat lots of our sausages!