Our beautiful baby girl turned 18 in June and so it’d be impossible not to make a huge fuss of her .The birthday celebrations started with a bounce ! And then it all got very messy x

First came her birthday present , a new big trampoline , we’ve had a couple of these over the years and basically worn them out so it’s not going to be neglected .. oh and the sheep quite like it too !

 

 

 

Anyway , as is usual with us, birthdays sometimes overrun a bit and tend to evolve, so it turned into a 4 day event with a proper fun house full ..

So ….there was a girlie shopping day in Newcastle  with aunty Amy ,followed by a trampolining party and Toby carvery (yes they still exist!)..

We are proper grateful to lots of our lovely friends from Manchester who got on up the M6, and joined us for the whole ‘shebang’ making Lauren’s birthday weekend one to really remember THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU .of course the celebrations had to include an afternoon tea .The finale just had to be a chocolate workshop didn’t it ,at the very fabulous Coco bean factory    … phew

Lauren was properly spoiled and treated , a HUGE THANKYOU to everyone who sent presents , cards and messages , and especially to all of you that came up for the weekend you made it soooo special and one she’ll never forget xxx

So food and partying aside we got back outside ,enjoying the sunshine , it’s perfect weather for hacking out and the best views are from the back of a horse aka Big Red .

I got a chance to ride for a change ,

 

 

Oh how I hate it , can you tell .. I’ve got to get us a hoss and stop messing about on everyone else’s ..

 

I will find us a pony at some point but in the meantime ,my sheep were coming on beautifully and the next job was to get them all upto date with their jags(vaccinations) .

 

Sheep are renowned for trying their best to die , they have a whole flippin vet book as thick as your arm on what they can fester with.

Up until now my sheep had been vaccinated along with Toms but it was time to take over the job and I’d had enough coaching so…so after a whole lot of reading up and a long chat with my aforementioned sheep guru Tom , I had my list .

A trip to the vets to collect my meds and we were ready . One of the jobs was to collect poo samples .Yay I hear you cry .. not ! To check if they need worming, so in the trailer they go for a couple of hours ,so that I can pick up what they leave behind . It seemed a good a place as any to set up a vet surgery and actually it worked well for the meds ,so I think that ones a good idea to use again.sheep jagged, spot on’d and

Sprayed pretty colours marked up and ready to go , until next time hopefully they’ll forget the ordeal and be easier to catch ..maybe I need a sheepdog.

(Something less sweaty and smelly now)

In the garden the rhubarb was a bit easier to bag and also doing its best , going for Olympic gold I thought,so a pie or a something else yummy was needed , I also had had an offer earlier in the week to take anything in quantity we had going spare in the garden and do a nice swap ..

It was whilst Looking  for a nice lunch one day in Kircudbright with the lovely Nao, we were introduced to Nick at The station cafe and cookery school , Nick also mentioned that he was always looking for fresh local ingredients so if we had any gluts to bring them in for a swap or barter  .so I think I’ll be taking some of our crop in to swap.

..look out sourdough I have you in my sights .

As if we’d not had enough of birthdays and parties , one of Lauren’s closest and loveliest buddies Jake (oh and lovely twin adam) was celebrating too , so off we trotted down to Manchester for another food inspired party day .

 

We’re not greedy

honest , just lurve our food ..and our friends x