Two girls in a Mongolian Yurt

As a birthday treat my darling friend Gaby booked a weekend retreat away in a yurt at Forest Garden, Shovelstrode, just outside East Grinstead. The idea was to have a couple of days of chatting, crafting, reading and sussing out yurt living. Kushti is a Mongolian yurt with traditionally painted poles and a crown wheel with the stove in a central position, creating a warm and cozy atmosphere. Yurts are, however, fairly dark inside, and arriving on Friday evening in the dark with the rain thundering down, it certainly was cozy, but quite difficult to cook or see anything in candle light. Gaby had luckily prepared the fish dish at home, so we had a lovely meal, complete with champers and apple cake! Lots of chatting ensued over the following couple of days, interspersed with flower crocheting, reading craft books, a quick trip to Forest Row to stock up on torch bulbs and a light fitting, and lots of yummy eating.

Sunday morning breakfast with Gaby's porridge and home-made berry compote!

The first evening in the dark! Many, many candles did little to illuminate the yurt :o)

Gaby settled into yurt living very quickly, and we both dreamed of having our own!

The allotment in the Forest Garden, complete with three bee hives in the orchard

Inside the yurt, equipped with traditional furnishings

Yarn, crochet hooks and books galore!

We had the fire on a lot, which kept it warm during the chilly weekend. Lavender twigs gave it a lovely smell too!

The owners of the Forest Garden also run courses on traditional crafts, such as Art in the Woods, Green woodworking, Spoon carving, Foraging for fungi, and Jams, jellies and preserves.

Yarning twigs, I picked colours to complement the lichen

Crochet daisies, the making of a xmas pressie

After lunch on Sunday we sadly said goodbye to Kushti, and headed over to a vintage and craft fair near Ardingly. There were lots of stalls selling handmade items, different food stuffs, plants and a few stalls had vintage items too.

A huge thank you and much love goes to my special friend, Gaby, for a fun and inspirational weekend, which I thoroughly enjoyed, despite the rain, the night-time rave next door and our friend, Clive, the aging cockerel, who delighted in waking us up at 6am!

A big thanks also my wonderful husband, Steve, who bravely looked after home and boys whilst I was away

Love you both lots XXX

Down on the farm in the Cotswolds

Last week we had a few days away from Sussex and headed towards the very pretty Cotswolds. We stayed at a farm - a rather large farm!! That's it at the bottom of the hill on a rather frosty morning. We had lovely sunny weather for our stay, but, boy, it was cold.

The farm is run by the 3rd and 4th generation of farmers, and there was also a tiny 5th generation son about, so perhaps one day the farm will pass down to this little chap too.

There were five horses of various sizes. Zaf was a little worried, not being used to such huge creatures.

The main area of barns and outbuildings, with a view of the farmhouse at the rear.

The road prone to flooding was lined by trees festooned in mistletoe

Lots of evidence of recent flooding, many fields still under water

I've never seen so much mistletoe in one area!

Lots of pollarded crack willows

The neighbour farm. You don't see many farms this size in our part of Sussex, but there were plenty around Tirley

Walking Zaf along the narrow lanes lined with pollarded willows

Town Street Farm

BB really enjoyed jumping around the bales of hay in the huge barn! Think this was one of the highlights of our break.

The little piggies on the farm were very sociable

The farm produces beef and lamb, and although we didn't see any sheep on the farm there were plenty of cows

Think Dad enjoyed the bales too!

Sam's looking at the rows of cows munching on their lunch

Look! How sweet is she? Love the expression on her face!