Blog

Writing has not been my priority this year , however I do enjoy getting a diary upto date , Im a cancerian and apparently that means I like things neat away in their “cave” or box .. We have had a bonkers and busy year like most people I guess.....

Starting with November the big wet soggy kiss.. Rain didn’t stop the new branding or the final touches to the cottages our final mission for the last part of 2020 . Stronger colour logo artwork was needed to make our brand stand out a little more. Navy and stars for...

The last 3-4 months has been the busiest ever ! we felt like we were trotting everywhere with the slightest feeling of not quite panic hanging over our heads. Its seemed like the fog of busy has finally lifted and we can see the finish line.. at last July was...

June has been a bonkers month here at Grobdale, the build started up again after the lock down precautions, turning our tranquil quiet space back into a drilling and banging cacophony .. kinda missed our building gang actually, but had forgotten how much noise they can make. The man of...

May started off with a very tiny wee last lamb, quickly and aptly named ‘Toots’.. she was born on Star wars day or  May 4th (May the force be with you ) and we were worried that mum being very young herself ( cheeky last years lamb getting in with...

The last few months have been very full on, what with the spectacular apocalytic, pandemic that has hit the world .then a drought.. then a moorland bush fire !! sounds biblical doesn’t it . But not a mention here of the ‘C’ word I promise . This is my catch...

A cold but exciting month as far as our build is concerned .

December whizzed by us at a speed close to that, of a pig after apples ! And before we knew it we had the Christmas trees up ( 4 in total ) staircase , hallway and kitchen covered in pinery ( green finery) and baubles galore; Threatening to dangle and glitter...

December whizzed by us at a speed close to that, of a pig after apples ! And before we knew it we had the Christmas trees up ( 4 in total ) staircase , hallway and kitchen covered in pinery ( green finery) and baubles galore; Threatening to dangle and...

November  descended on us all like a sneaky ninja … ( well it was dark, and black a lot ) where has this year gone ? We  feel like we’ve fairly trotted from one job to another non stop since forever … But what a lot’s been achieved .

  October rocks up , fresh cold and clear blue skies.. (sometimes  🙂 The sheep were a high priority this month and the first thing to sort out as next month is Tupping time and we needed a new Ram . So I trotted off to the lakes, Cockermouth Tup sale to...

        Imagine this title, in the voice of Joey Tribiani .. Cos that’s how I heard it, when a very good friend ,said it should be our strap line.. Made me smile and made me think . We have a lot of very welcome visitors to our tiny piece of...

June is the best month as far as our favourite ginger   is concerned as it means all her favourite things .. Cake , friends , presents and chocolate . We always celebrate a birthday and it generally lasts more than a day, shame the cake didn’t last as long . A surprise visit...

Nora was looking fairly pregnant by the Beginning of May, she was (if it was a baby bump) in her final trimester and looking pretty “Nippleicious “ Andy loves his piggy ,so she gets quite pampered and well looked after.. if I’m  honest she’s actually a  bit spoiled … I didn’t get...

April turned out to be a very varied month, weather was very changeable and certainly lived up to the “April showers” title. At the beginning of the month Boaris went back to his farm after hopefully doing the deed with Nora ! We had seen  plenty of “pig porn action” whilst...

Nora has had an internet acquaintance over for a sleepover ! She held out for a week and then had to give in to his charms .. floozy , but hopefully we have piglets on the way , thus.. “Nipple cream for our pig “

        Apparently it’s the year of the pig ,and February it seems is definitely the month of the pig here at a Grobdale ! We had felt for a while that Nora needed some help on the fertility front, she wasn’t showing any signs of coming into season so...

      January it seems is supposed to be when you stop eating and drinking  .. kind of detoxing.. well pish to that ! In this house we are still guzzling the Christmas leftovers, the animals get the leftover leftovers and so, nobody is doing without really . kind...

Our second December here at Grobdale, and we feel settled , less fly by the seat of your pants, maybe even comfortable.. dont  get me wrong , every day has an out of your comfort zone moment or three but the majority of the time it’s jobs that we’ve done...

Farming in Dumfries and galloway in November .

October started off well with a new addition to the livestock .. a good friend Jean had a pony that needed a home, so I couldn’t say no and when we met Gemma pony a  section A (tiny hardy sturdy little unit ) she seemed just the thing to keep...

  How many September blogs,vlogs, diary posts or novels state this month to be when leaves change colour and temperatures drop ?…well Poo to that I hate to be a cliche, but I’m doing it too, there’s an avenue of Beech trees, on my route to most of everything that...

    July ended in a downpour and a brilliant lightening storm that we soooo needed , the ground steamed, soaking up all that lovely rain and visibly heaved a huge sigh of relief.. The husband on the other hand got home one Friday night to find we’d actually finally...

I can’t quite believe it but we are in July and it seems we’ve been here a year ! It’s been a very busy and eventful fun packed , proper “out of anyone’s comfort zone “ kind of year . In fact there’s no such thing as a comfort zone...

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...

May was beautifully warm and dry , the weather was amazing , perfect for getting out and about in Dumfries and Galloway… Lauren really got quite into the horse scene this month and we began riding lessons over at Barstobrick riding stables  about 20 minutes from the farm, here she is...

April 2018 is when the man of the house reaches a half century , so this month a lot of the energy is spent organising a shindig to celebrate ! Other than our gorgeous man, it’s been all about babies this month. We started the month with lambs popping out...

Spring arrives in  March thank goodness…. though someone should really tell the weather ! Cos it clearly thinks it’s still Winter .. The cold doesn’t stop lambing tho and on our daily check round the fields me and Lauren spotted our first Grobdale lamb for 2018 .. so cute ....

It was February , and so my blog catch up is nearly done , as usual it was a full month..we don’t mess around here sat around drinking tea is sooo not done! Early on in the month we had noticed some tiny eggs appearing with the other hen eggs...

January 2018 was a glorious  month , we had been here 6 months and it was feeling more like home. We were spending so much more time together as a family , even with Andy away working most of the week.. Doing our kind of stuff, building things , fixing...

December was a month of many colours , most of it glittery and shiny ! As far as me and Lauren are concerned, Christmas starts going up the first weekend in December so by Saturday 2nd we were pretty much done ! Even the pigs got decorated , they became...

November was a big month as far as the man of the house was concerned because it was this month that we became a farm in his eyes .. Tractor day had come !! BOOM After lots of trawling machinery and livestock online sites , discussing at great lengths with...

October was upon us and life here was looking good. Lauren was settling into college , she gets a college bus and manages a 60 mile round trip by herself ! quite an amazing achievement for a girl used to a 3 mile commute with mum ..We were very proud...

Nana Irene is the worlds best pie maker ! Official and fact, am telling you . Anyone within a whiffs distance of one of these  fresh pies coming out of the oven is going to get grabbed hook line and sinker. She has her pastry down to a fine art and whatever...

    When I get a cold , its rare, I’m pretty bomb proof usually, however when the snot strikes it usually affects my speech and this ,my hubster LOVES I’m sure you can guess why.. So to alleviate his pain I’ll carry on and type instead,  keeping my online diary...

  The whole process of finding our farm has stangely coincided with key dates , and so moving in had to be on Independance day of course . This is Lauren independently making toast for Ali ( rare in a teenager I know). The 4th of july dawned and I was walking...

  The welly wearing brave thing  I had a card sent to me once that had a picture of some comfy looking Wellington boots and a caption ” wellies make you brave” it’s true , and I hope the amount of boots we own must make us warriors.. it’s not...