New Addition

During this week Alistair's sheep were scanned to see how many were in lamb. Several ewes are having triplets so he will have a very busy lambing time. Whilst the scanner was here we had Gladys the goat scanned also. She is 80-90 days pregnant so round about February March time we will have a kid born.

At long last we have a date to demolish the old house. The demolition squad will be arriving on the first working day in January and they tell us that we can give the builders a start date of February 1st. All the builders quotes are finally in and we have a meeting with one of them tomorrow.

The electricians have rewired the outbuildings so we have light and sockets now in most areas of the farm. The chickens are gradually increasing their egg production, probably because we have put a time switch on the lighting circuit to give them a longer day.

The recent cold weather has meant that we have had difficulty with water supply as all the main pipes and taps have been frozen. Another area to improve and modify.

Presently our time at Redlands is very limited as Geoff's dad is very poorly and we cannot leave him on his own for very long, the dark nights aren't helping either.

Billy Goats Gruff!!

Since our last blog things have been all go. Geoff's dad is very unwell and we have been through dialysis training as well as many trips backwards and forwards to the hospital in Northampton. He is home a the moment but requiring a great deal of nursing.

Mum and Dad Yeomans celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary last Thursday. Chris organised a family get together for them. They even had a card from the queen. Mum enjoyed the company but we couldn't get her to understand why she was having a party. Dad also enjoyed it and appreciated the effort we had made to ensure that the day was a little special.

We have fetched Millie home today, she hadn't forgotten us and went mad when she saw us. We haven't introduced her to Lassie yet as it was getting dark when we arrived home so will try re socialising them tomorrow. Lass will be going to be trained in a couple of weeks.

Things have finally progressed with the house. At long last we have planning permission, only eight weeks late, naturally there are a few conditions before we can start e.g. the council want a landscaping plan and reassurance that we will be protecting the conker tree in accordance with their regulations. The architect says this is a formality and not a problem. The new build has gone out for tender and some local builders have been asked to give us a quote. We are waiting a date for demolition of the existing one but have to have an asbestos survey carried out first.

The electrician will soon be starting the second phase of the electrical installation around the farm buildings. More trenches to be dug as we don't want overhead cables, can just imagine what would happen if the tractor loader caught one of the leads!!

The big barn which is being converted into workshops is having new windows fitted and they are being installed tomorrow. So all of a sudden things are beginning to happen.

We are continuing to add to the stock. We have had a Saddleback boar with the pigs and one of them will be having piglets early January. Just have to hope the weather won't be too cold.

For a long time Geoff has fancied having some goats and we have now purchased a male and a female. The Billy is white and the Nanny is brown and white. They love company and follow us everywhere. They have been named Bill and Gladys. We think Gladys is pregnant but no idea when the kids will arrive. Alistair's friend Emma took the photos and has kindly allowed me to use them. Love the one of Gladys looking through the wall.

Still waiting

We are becoming more and more frustrated with the planners as we are still waiting for permission. They do not seem at all concerned that they are nearly eight weeks over time. Geoff tried to chase it up last week and was told that there were some alterations to be done to the planners report, then it has to go back to the senior officer so we could be looking at the end of next week. We won't hold our breath. We have carried on with arrangements so that we can forge ahead once we have the piece of paper.

Even though we are at a standstill with the house we have been doing other jobs and now have the chicken house completed. We have installed 23 lovely chickens which are just coming into lay. They are a mixture of black, brown and grey birds.

Geoff has been busy repairing doors and along with Alistair discussing the next phase of rewiring in the out buildings. The electrician has been and done a site survey and preparing a quote for us.

The next couple of weeks will be devoted to getting the bees prepared for the winter. The most important job is to treat them for the verroae mite. If the mite is left it can destroy colonies of bees therefore it is really important to treat them. We also put a mouse guard on the entrance and give them some candy to ensure they have enough food to get through the winter. We had one colony which was rather small and had managed to lose its queen. When we looked in the hive today they were all dead, they were too small a colony to stand up to the wasps.

Now there has been some rain the grass is growing well and the sheep are beginning to look in much better condition. We are hoping to start lambing at the end of February.

Millie has settled well and still away being trained. She is quite a handful we believe as she keeps trying to chase pheasants. The other dogs went for their annual check up and inoculations last week and we took Lass to be weighed. The vet was thrilled with how good a condition she is in now. We have been taking her round the sheep to help her get used to them. It is amazing to see how much natural instincts she has.

Hopefully when I complete the next blog I will be able to say that we have planning permission.

The Waiting Game

We had hoped that we would have heard about the planning permission by now, but still we wait. The planning officer visited the site this week to look at the view from the public footpath to see what visual impact the house would have for anyone using the path. Whatever will they think of next to deliberate over? Nevertheless the architect is confident it will be approved and trying to get on with building regulations as they are going to change at the beginning of November and this could cause more delay as the building officers will have to become familiar with the new regulations.

Meanwhile we have got the electricity moved from the house into the main barn and the telephone line has been disconnected, which means that there is nothing holding up demolition. As soon as the permission is through we are hoping to get straight onto the rebuild.

Geoff has been busy setting up a woodworking workshop and now made nest boxes to go into the chicken house. Just perches to go and we can get some chickens in residence.

Millie has gone away for her training and settling in well. Lass is missing her and becoming very affectionate. When Millie returns she will go to be trained.

Rain! Rain! Rain!

Last week we set off for Belguim to visit a factory called Danilith which is about an hours drive from Bruges. We had an appointment to go round the factory to see them building a house in sections. The company are trying to get into the English market. The advantage of this method of building a house is that within three weeks we would have a watertight shell. We decided we would have a short break and look round Bruges. The minute we came out of the channel tunnel the rain started and continued to pour down. The rain continued all through the next day but of course improved for the day we booked in to visit the factory.

Bruges was very quaint with lots of narrow cobbled streets which were full of chocolate and lace shops. We were rather amazed at some of the chocolate 'sculpture' which was on display in the shop windows. We found some lovely restaurants and sampled the local beers.

The factory was very interesting. We were allowed onto the shop floor right next to the machinery, health and safety was far from the Belgians minds and we couldn't help but comment on what it would be like if we were in this country. Our visit has certainly given us a lot to think about.

Whilst we were away the electrician was busy at Redlands. E-on are coming next week to disconnect the electricity from the house and supply the new meter boxes. We have also managed to organise BT coming and disconnecting the phone line, so at long last we are beginning to feel that we are making some progress.

Planners!!

The planning officer has realised that she cannot be delegated to make the decision on the planning for the house because it is in open countryside and therefore has to got to the committee. Yet another delay as it will be September before it can be brought up. The conservation officer came out earlier in the week to do a site survey. She has no objection apart from us preserving the Horse Chestnut tree which we were hoping to do anyway. The Highways have replied and state that they do not have any objections either. Hopefully the councillors will agree and we can get on with the project. Mum's memory gets worse and we need to be able to care for her 24/7.

Geoff has nearly finished laying the floor in the barn we are going to use as a workshop. Next step is for the electrician to come and prepare connections ready for e-on to remove the connection from the house.

Harvest is still continuing. It is rather stop and go this season. In between the stoppages the ground is being prepared for next years crop. It has been really hard owing to the dry conditions.

The sheepdogs are full of life. We are waiting for Millie to go to be trained, it is hard to believe she was so poorly as a puppy as she is so lively now. Lassie (see picture) is the noisy one and tends to be more shy than Millie and will go once Millie has returned home.

We have made arrangements to go to Belgium and visit the factory where they build houses in sections. The company are trying to get into the British market and the advantage of a house being built in this way is that it is very eco friendly and we can have a watertight shell within three weeks of beginning construction. Most of the houses in Belguim are built this way. We felt it was worth going and having a look before we make a decision.

Work!

After a hectic week we are both wondering how we ever had time to work full time. Harvest has started but very frustrating as the humidity means that the rape, which needs harvesting before the wheat, is too damp. There has been so little rain that the fields which have been harvested are so dry that it is impossible to get the plough into the ground. Various attempts have been made but none very successful.

Geoff is continuing to prepare his workshop. He has got all the floor joists in place now and we have started to lay the flooring. We are still preparing the hen house and the new chickens are due round about the middle of the month.

We took the collies to be assessed by a sheepdog trainer earlier in the week. He was impressed with them both and thinks they will both become good dogs. Millie is going to be trained first as she tends to be a bit more willful than Lassie. She will be going in about a fortnight and probably be gone between 6 and 8 weeks. Once she returns then Lass will go. They have been little devils this week. They have managed to find a way out of the garden. Each time we block up a gap they seem to find an alternative route.

We are still waiting for the planning to come through. Why do these councils have to take so long. We need to get on as Mum and Dad need 24 hour care. Hopefully we will hear very soon.

Time

The planning officer has been and made a site visit. So far there have not been any objections but we are still waiting for the Highways to reply. If there are no objections then the application will not need to go to the planning committee. She did warn us that they may take longer than the original date.

Yesterday was a milestone for Chris as she retired from teaching. The messages, presents and cards are overwhelming. The school organised a great send off for her and one parent made a wonderful cake in the shape of a bee hive.

E-on have been and laid the cable for the electricity. The next stage is for them to come and install the meter boxes and then the electric can be connected. This has happened earlier than we expected as the original date they gave us was September.

Today we began to prepare one of the old stables to become a chicken house. Geoff is going to install some perches and make nest boxes for them.

The sheep dogs have passed their first training course. We are hoping that they can soon go and be trained for rounding the sheep up.

Planning

Planning has finally gone in. Now it is a waiting game for the council to make a decision. Notices have gone up on the gate and it is in the local council's newsletter.

E-on have finally been in touch and given us a date for September before they can disconnect the electricity from the house. Why does everything take so long!!

The sheepdogs have just finished their foundation obedience training and received a certificate and rosette. Next stage is to find out when they can go to be trained. They are taking an interest in the sheep and can round them up but they are too eager and run them too fast.

Honey Flow

The last two weeks have been quite busy. We have had several swarms of bees to catch and another load of honey to extract. The field of rape behind us has certainly paid dividends. So far we have extracted more honey than we collected for the whole of last year. The picture shows a swarm of bees congregating at the bottom of the garden. Once they are in a bundle we get the swarm catcher and cut off the branches and the bundle falls into the catcher. We empty them into a skep then turn it upside down, onto a white sheet, propping one edge off the ground and then empty the rest of the bees onto the sheet. Gradually they all go into the skep and later in the day transfer them into a nucleus box. We have run out of hives at the moment and waiting for new ones to arrive before we can transfer them into there new home.

We were involved in a farm open day last weekend and did a display about beekeeping. We had hoped to take an empty hive to display but when Geoff went to collect it he discovered another swarm had settled into it and made themselves at home. We have six hives at Redlands now. These are quite small colonies therefore will not produce much honey from them this year.

On a sadder note we are having a lot of misfortune with the chickens. They decided to become cannibals and pecked one to death and the dogs have now found a way into the coop and killed two more. Just one left, poor thing. Alistair sold some of his pigs last week so we are hoping to get the place cleared out and use it for the chickens. The house is more substantial than the coop in our garden so should be better and more dog proof.

The sheep have been sheared and look very strange without their woolly coats but much tidier.

Silage making has begun and Alistair and David have been very busy when the weather is suitable. Some of the grass will be made into hay as well.

We have had a revised quote from e-on which is much more acceptable. We have to wait 12 weeks before they can come and do the work. The electricity has to be disconnected from the house before we can demolish the house. This means no action until September but hopefully the planners will have an answer for us by then as the planning has gone to the council for the new house.

Let the Honey Flow!

It is all systems go with the honey. We have extracted 36 frames today. Having a field of rape behind us has certainly kept the bees busy. It took us all last years season to produce the amount we have taken out today. Next job is to put it into jars label and start selling.

Alistair has been busy at Redlands with sheep shearing and hopes to begin silage making later in the week if the weather improves.

The plans for the house are nearly ready for the planners and we are hoping by the end of the week they will have gone into the council. No doubt the planners will take their time giving us permission.

A swarm in May is worth a load of hay.

Work has continued with the water supply. Now we have water in the main tank we needed to pipe it around to different locations on the farm. Alistair and his friend have worked hard this week digging up and laying pipes to water troughs and pig sties. No more water carting from Home Farm.

We have the batman's report and he has informed us that we do not have any bats. That's a relief as this could have delayed the house demolition.

We have finally had a quote from e-on. As we expected it is somewhat hefty so we are in the process of seeing if we can find an alternative route for the mains. The architect is going to look at the drawings and see if he can position the house so that the existing pole can still be utilised.

We have now put 5 nucleus of bees into the orchard. The beekeeping has been very hectic this week as we have a colony which are trying to swarm. We have taken off our first lot of honey for the season. There is quite a lot still to come as several frames were nearly full but not capped off therefore not ready to take from the hive.

Batman & Robin!!

This week has been somewhat busy. The puppies have begun obedience training. All Lass wanted to do was bark at the other dogs. This was the first time we had heard her bark. The first session was learning to sit, down and walk to heel.

The architect came to see us with revised plans. We are getting ready to put in for full planning permission for the house. He informed us that we needed to have a bat survey done. Geoff made enquiries and received several quotes ranging from the cheapest at £200 to £1500. We could not believe the difference. Needless to say we went with the cheaper quote. The 'batman' has written several books about bats and quite an authority on them. He has been and carried out the survey and we are waiting for his report.

Ironically the person doing our water supply

s called Robin. He has been and installed the pump and we now have a full tank of water.

The pigsties have doors and nearly ready to move the pigs into. Geoff has made the doors fitted them and needs to finish painting them.

Our livestock is slowly increasing. We now have four point of lay chickens. There are two brown, one white and one black. Alistair and Mary organised them as a surprise. At the moment they are in a chicken coop in the garden but will be moved to the farm.

Wildlife in abundance

Although Redlands has suffered many years of neglect the fields are full of wildlife. It is great to see the skylark hovering and then swooping down into the grass. Their singing is beautiful and one could listen for hours. Along with the skylarks are pheasants partridge and down in the farm buildings the House Martins have returned. There are at least four pairs swooping around the yard.

The stands for the water tanks have been erected and ready for the tanks. Hopefully they will be in and ready for filling by the end of the week.

We have heard from the local council who are very non-committal. They haven't given much away at all except criticise the number of bathrooms the plan has. Hopefully when they have seen the full plans and our covering letter they will be more supportive.

We managed to hire a breaker this morning to break through the floor and wall of the barn and link up with the trench. The bricks were really hard and even with the breaker it was a struggle to get through. Quite reassuring to know that one building is structually strong.

Progress on the trench went well today and we have managed to cover the water pipe with sand, add the electric cable and fill the trench in.

Next job is to build brick pillars, add railway sleepers onto them ready for the water tanks. We will be having two tanks, one for the farm and one for the house. Finally new pumps will be fitted and we should have our water supply.

Trials and Tribulations

The last two days have been eventful to say the least. Yesterday began with a visit from the National Grid. The helicopter had flown over the gas main the previous night and noticed our trench was going over the top of the pipe. They informed us that they should have inspected the site before we began work. We explained that we had contacted them asking them to come out and that they had replied to say we could go ahead. He was very understanding and told us that he had not been given the message and appreciated the fault at their end. He inspected the trench and told us we had to let them know when we began to fill in again.

Alistair was getting on really well when the digger decided to break down. Our local mechanic soon went out and got him going again. There had been a blockage in the diesel filter.

Our next problem was trying to find the electric cable for the gate. We went very carefully and found a pipe. We thought this was the electric cable and were really pleased that we had found it without damaging it. Unfortunately this wasn't the case. Alistair began digging again this morning and came across the cable. Unfortunately it was damaged, we should have known things wouldn't be that easy. The electrician came out this afternoon and repaired it. The trench was finally completed, Alistair has done a really good job. Sand was put onto the bottom and the water pipe has been unravelled and laid. We are about 10 metres short of pipe and cannot get any more delivered before early next week. Alistair has managed to get a friend to help him and has begun to add the next layer of sand on top ready for the electric cable to be added.

We have managed to get a bonfire going in the orchard and start to burn all the dead wood and rubbish that was in there. We are trying to prepare it for setting up an apiary and hope to get five hives set up before the summer.

We contacted the architect this afternoon to find out if there was any news from the Council. He has been chasing them up and the reply he got was, 'We are still considering it'.

The vet has contacted us and the puppies have been put onto a particular anti-biotic as they have finally diagnosed that the pups have a bacterial infection called campylobacta. Hopefully this will kill off the infection and we will not have any more problems.

Let Digging Commence

Work began today on digging a trench for putting in the new water pipe and the electric cable to work the new pump. Once the trench is completed we have to line the bottom with sand. Next the water pipe is laid then another layer of sand on the top followed by the electric cable and finally more sand before filling the trench back in. We are having two tanks installed, one for the farm and one for the house. We have been reassured that the well has never run dry even when there was the drought in the 70's the water was still plentiful.



Lass had her second inoculation today. We are still waiting for results from the lab so been supplied with an emergency stock of anti biotics just in case the pups begin to show symptoms again. The vet was very pleased with how well Lass is looking and she is now at a more realistic weight and no longer undernourished.



We have finally managed to get hold of 'telecare'. For months we have been trying to get hold of someone to inform us of the aids that there are for people suffering with Alzheimer's or dementia. Our main concern is mother leaving the house to go for a walk and getting lost. We are hoping that they can help us with an alarm so my father can hear when she has crept out of the house. It has been a mammoth task trying to get hold of the relevant people and we have spent months of being pushed from 'pillar to post'. The numbers they kept giving us were either wrong or no longer available. Today was 'D' day, we intended to get somewhere before the day was out. After numerous phone calls and a telephonist saying "You appear to be getting somewhat agitated" (yes I was getting cross as I was getting nowhere and nobody could help wouldn't she get agitated?) Eventually I was put through to the supervisor who finally found me the right person to speak to. Naturally they can't help immediately as they are undergoing reorganisation, what a surprise. She has promised to contact us within a fortnight and make arrangements to come and visit.

Some progress at last

As we suspected e-on never got back to us and Geoff had to chase them up. They informed us that it would take 90 days to get a quote together. We have managed to persuade them that we need to get on with it and they have promised to put us down as urgent. No doubt we will be chasing them yet again.

Today has been glorious sunshine and we have managed to mark out where the trench needs to go for installing the new water supply. The trench will be dug next and we are hoping the weather holds so that we can get on with it next week.

The end wall of the pigsty is completed. We are waiting for the door posts before we can finish off as they have to be cemented in. At long last it feels as if we are beginning to get something done.

Good old E-on!!

Yesterday was a breath of fresh air, at long last a decent day, although it was windy the ground was drying out. The builder was able to get back to rebuilding the pigsty wall and made really good progress. A different story today as it has been raining on and off for most of the day.


Geoff decided that e-on's three weeks were up and tried to contact them. Naturally the phone call was far from easy. He was passed from one department to another all claiming that they knew nothing about it. He calmly kept telling them that we needed to change the supply as the electricity for the farm came via the house and we would probably be knocking the house down but obviously still required electricity in the farm buildings. Eventually the message got through that we did not require a new connection for the house after all and they gave us another number to contact. This time the lady was very helpful and directed us to the correct person, who told us that the manager was dealing with it and he would contact us later today or tomorrow. We won't hold our breath!!


We are still having our problems with the puppies and frequent visitors at the vets. They have done some tests and we are hoping to get some results by the weekend. They are becoming convinced that they have a bacteria infection of some kind in their stomach because as soon as they have anti-biotics they get a lot better. The anti-biotics obviously suppress the infection but not completely kill it off so we are hoping they can find out which anti-biotic would do the job. In spite of all their problems they are putting on weight. Millie is 8Kg and Lass is 7Kg which is good progress.

Rain! Rain! Rain!

So far this week very little has happened owing to the dreadful weather. When will it stop raining?

The weather has put a stop to the pigsty renovation and no progress has been made as everywhere is sodden.

We are still waiting to hear from the local council and get their opinion about building a new house. We have made progress with the water though, with the tanks, pumps and pipes being ordered. The electrician has been in touch but unfortunately we still wait for e'on.

It is lovely to see the hedges and trees beginning to bud, we will soon be able to see which trees in the orchard are still alive and hopefully find out what variety of fruit they are.

After this winter we decided that we ought to have a 4x4 vehicle in case we get snowed up. We have managed to get a second hand Land Rover Discovery. We will keep our main car as well for transporting the parents around and plan to sell my car. Geoff has just finished fitting the dog guard, I wonder how long it will take Patch and Poppy to work out a way through. Last weekend Geoff went round our current garden to make it 'dog proof', as they had been escaping into the field behind us, Patch was not amused and most put out as he had loved running down the garden through the fence to freedom. After a day he had managed to find another way out. 'Foiled Again', back to the drawing board!!

Pigs!

They say things have to get worse before they get better. At the moment the building which will be the pigsty has one end missing as the builder has been busy working on it. Once he got started and cleared all the rubbish from around it he discovered the end wall was falling down and needed re-building. Once the building is completed it will be ideal for the pigs.

The gas board have got back to us and we know where the high pressure gas main is. We are also making progress with the water situation and received the quote. The next problem will be digging a trench for the new pipework from the source whilst there are sheep in the field so some strategic planning ahead of us.

Action!!

Having thought we weren't getting anywhere today has been pretty busy. The architect has been in touch and informed us that he has made a preliminary enquiry to the Council, we should have some idea on their views by the middle of April.



The water consultant has been in touch requiring some measurements before he completes his quotation. Another job which Geoff sorted.



A maintenance contractor met Geoff and Alistair to look at one of the buildings which needs some restoration work. He will make a start tomorrow, so at long last progress.

The Waiting Game

Surprise surprise, the electric board have responded. They will quote within the next fourteen days. Not much else has happened over the last few days. Currently we are on a waiting game. The water expert should be sending us a quote, the gas board are going to come out and mark where the high pressure gas pipe is (we cannot start digging trenches for the water pipes until we know where the pipe is) and the architect is supposed to be sounding out the local planners to find out if they would be in favour of us demolishing the house and rebuilding a new one. We are also waiting for the weather to improve so that we can start doing some maintenance to the farm buildings. Geoff has a lot of doors and gates to repair.


Last Thursday the final sheep to lamb had twins. Lambing has been very drawn out as we began at the end of January and we were beginning to think we would never finish.


Millie has been and had her second inoculation today. She is growing fast and putting on weight.
The breeder has given us another puppy to replace Tess. We are very apprehensive but have brought her home and the vet has checked her over. She is much smaller than her sister and needs to put on some weight. Although they are sisters they are arguing a bit so need watching so that they can bond again.

The electrician has been and surveyed the electrics in the farm buildings and the house. As we suspected everything will have to be rewired as the wiring is in a poor way. The supply goes straight into the house and then through to the farm. If we can go ahead and build a new house then the electricity will have to be cut off before the old one is knocked down. Geoff has contacted e-on asking them to come and alter the connection. It will be interesting to see how long it takes them to respond.

Firefly is looking really well and putting on weight. She seems to appear every time Geoff walks into the yard. He is becoming very fond of her.

Seeing is Believing

We have posted some photos of the interior of the house as we feel one has to see it to believe it.
The most modern acquisition is the central heating and even that is poor. The radiator in the kitchen is halfway up the wall. The oil fired boiler is in the kitchen and when one opens the front door you are greeted with the smell of oil. It is highly unlikely that anything else was done since the house was built. When we first looked around the place there were rosettes all over the walls. The previous owners were very successful with their horses. There are spots of blutac on the walls where the rosettes have been taken down. Enjoy the rest of the photos. Look out for the pipe across a doorway, the damp wall and ceiling on the landing and finally admire the wonderful wallpaper!!!

Miracle dog!

Great news this afternoon. Millie has been back to the vets for a check up. They are amazed with her progress, she is putting on weight and growing. The vet was so delighted with her that they took her off to show all the other members of staff. We now have to go through the next dose of worming and she needs to go back in just over a week for her next inoculation and to be chipped.

Not much has been happening at Redlands the last couple of days. Alistair's sheep have learnt how to get across the cattle grid and into the main yard. He has put an electric fence up to stop them so hopefully they will stay in the right area.

The orchard was full of dead trees and there is about three which are still alive. Not sure whether they are apple, plum or pear trees. Alistair has worked really hard and cleared a lot of the dead wood out. The previous owner kept horses and we have discovered that when they died they buried them in the orchard and erected a little plaque with the name of the horse and dates on them.

Progress!

A much better day today. Millie is eating well now and gradually going back onto her proper diet. She is full of life and mischief. She has found a way to knock the bin over and pull the contents out. The Jack Russell's are becoming more tolerant to her and Patch is beginning to play with her on occasions.

This afternoon Geoff had a meeting with the water consultant and knows what we need to ensure the water is safe. All very positive for us as he says we can have a water purification plant and be self sufficient for water.

At long last we have got hold of the electrician who will be coming on Monday to have a look. Finally we feel as if some progress is being made.

Sad Day

Unfortunately Tess was very ill this morning and sadly we have lost her. The parvo-virus test was negative so the vets think it could have been corona virus which is a derivative of the SARS virus. We know the vets tried their best for her and they were upset that they couldn't make her better too.
At least Millie is doing well. She is eating now, putting on weight and full off mischief. Back to the vets on Friday to just check that she continues to progress well.

The architect arrived with the amended plans today. All the alterations we asked for have been done, the next hurdle will be if the council allow us to pull down the existing house and build a new one.

Geoff has finally got hold of the water consultant and will be having a meeting with him tomorrow to explore the options of using the existing well as there is no mains water supply available. We did make enquiries with the water board and were quoted £37,000 as the nearest mains was a little way off. Hopefully we can be self sufficient.

Alistair has had a frustrating day as his pick up truck went in for repair and the courtesy vehicle did not materialise. They maintained that he couldn't have one because he is under 21. After several heated phone calls he finally got some joy and a vehicle arrived this evening.

Good News and Bad News!

The good news is we have got Millie home. She is remarkable and it is so hard to believe that she has been so poorly. She is full of mischief and wants to play and getting terribly spoilt at the moment as we never thought she would pull through. As the day progresses her appetite is improving. The bad news is that Tess is two days behind where Millie was and very poorly and still at the Vet's. We are hoping that tomorrow will bring more positive news. Millie is really missing her, our two Jack Russell terriers are very unsure of her and keeping away from her.



This morning began with a sharp frost which was followed by a beautiful sunny day. This meant conditions were ideal for us to check the bees and see how well they have survived this winter. Last Autumn we had six colonies. Four of them very strong. Unfortunately the winter has taken its toll and we have lost two colonies. One other colony looks quite weak also. The rest are looking good. We put the queen excluders in and checked they had got food. They will be moved to Redlands later in the year and be housed in the Orchard. We don't want to move them yet as there is a field of rape planted in the field behind us so we are hoping for some good rape honey.



Alistair has taken some sheep to Redlands today. It is great to see animals in the fields again. So far we have pigs and sheep over there. Once the water is sorted out then he will take some cattle over. He has four lovely heifers which he is hoping to show. Yesterday he attempted to begin halter training them. This wasn't as easy as he thought it would be, trying to get close to their heads and put an halter on was quite challenging. Eventually he succeeded with one of them but no chance of getting it to walk alongside him. I suspect this will take several months of hard work and dedication.

What a week!

It is hard to believe that one can become so quickly attached to ones pets. The last two days have been full of anguish as both pups ended up being kept at the vets with a drip. The vet suspects they have canine parvo-virus which they must have been incubating before we brought them home. They are both beginning to improve and we are hoping to bring them home tomorrow if they do not relapse overnight. We know there will be a few weeks of TLC to get them in good condition yet and we are hoping they will make a full recovery.

Not been our week as a lorry reversed into Alistair's pick up truck whilst it was stationary. On the surface there doesn't look a lot of damage but the bonnet has been buckled, the bumper damaged and a light broken. The driver has admitted liability so Alistair will be able to make an insurance claim.

Geoff has been doing some measuring up to replace some of the gates and doors. We hope we can start to do more now that the nights are beginning to draw out and the weather is improving.

Poor Millie

Since the architect came we have had a good look at the plans, scribbled on them and decided which design is likely to be the most suitable for us. Naturally we have chosen the largest plan which means it will be the most expensive to build. Hopefully the architect can cut down some of the room sizes to cut the expense down a bit.


Geoff is trying to get the water consultant and the electrician so that we can check that the electric around the farm is safe to use. There are wires everywhere so we want to make sure it is safe to use electrical equipment. We have been told that the well at the front of the house is a holding tank from the main water supply at the edge of the field. More things to work round.


Since our last post one of the pupies, Millie, has become very unwell. We have had to leave her at the vets where they are keeping her to put a drip onto her as she is becoming very dehydrated. We are very worried about her and hoping she will recover. Tess is okay at the moment but missing her sister already so suspect we are in for a noisy night.

One Man and His Dog!!

The puppies are settling in well and becoming very inquisitive. They have found a way to lift the lid in the recycling bin and managed to pull an empty box out. They have had great fun playing and chewing it to bits. Eventually the puppies will be housed in a barn at the farm as they will be working dogs. We are hoping to get them trained to work with the sheep and probably begin to breed collie puppies ourselves. You never know One man and his dog here we come!!


The previous owner of Redlands had cats running around everywhere. They have been sent to new homes all except one which couldn't be caught. It is strange because it has taken a real liking to Geoff. Every time he enters the yard it appears. We were told that it would never go into the house but I suspect this will change when we eventually get there. No idea whether it is male or female but have just learnt that it is called Firefly.



The architect has been to see us this evening, leaving us with a lot to think about. The existing house is going to need so much doing to it that it may be more economical to rebuild. He has brought several plans for us to mull over and decide what we want to do. Decisions, decisions, decisions!!

Redlands farm is a small farm of 40 acres on the A45 between Stanwick and Higham Ferrers Roundabout with views over Stanwick lakes. It is hard to believe that we have finally completed the purchase and the reality of the work ahead is slowly sinking in. The buildings are stuck in a time warp particularly the house. The farm has been used as stables for the last 30/40 years and needs a lot of renovation.

Our son Alistair is farm potty and loves animals. It became apparent that we needed to expand the current farm at Ringstead which is mainly arable to enable him to become involved with the family business of W A Yeomans & Son and expand the stock side of the business, hence the decision to purchase Redlands.

The house was built c.1910 and in desperate need of renovation. Lots of decisions ahead of us and numerous meetings with builders and archtects. There is no mains water but a well at the edge of one of the fields has provided the water so far. The local council have tested the water quality and agreed it is fit for human consumption. Since purchasing the property we have discovered another well outside the front door. Our next step is to get the quality of this tested and determine if it would be suitable for use.

The property is full of surprises, we have found an old forge in one of the outbuildings complete with bellows. The old orchard has plaques to the horses which the previous owner used to have. One wonders what we will discover next.

Work has begun on the fields with the boundary being re-fenced and some of Alistair's sheep have taken up residence along with some of the Saddleback pigs he owns.

Our latest acquisition is two collie puppies, which will be trained to work with the sheep. We have called them Millie and Tess and they are 8 weeks old. They are still settling in but already full of fun.

Over the next few months we will be renovating the facilities and our ultimate aim is to have a home to move into with our parents and be in a position to care for them and help them to grow old with dignity. We hope you will enjoy sharing this post with us and feel free to add any comments you wish to make.

Chris and Geoff Twell