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!

Some of my favourite things..

At the moment these are some of my favourite things:

A very sweet skirt, with lovely embroidered twittering birds! I found this scrunched up at the bottom of a plastic bag with other bits of linen in a thrift shop for 50p

A great find - an original piece of art - found in a thrift shop some years ago, it remains a favourite item, there's always something new to discover when you look again...

An ever changing little corner filled with treasures - including bowls from Anthropologie and a selection of bird skulls :o)

Pretty embroidered cushion

Vintage patchwork knitted blanket, and a Christmas present cushion from my good husband

My white roses from my lovely hubby

A really nice book about growing plants with edible flowers

My latest haul from my favourite charity shop, appropriately in spring colours!

Interestingly, few of my current 'special' things are new; they are mostly pre-loved or hand-made. I am not really a bling girl, nor do I particularly go for the boutique look!

Do you have some special peachy things at the moment?

Seedy Sunday

Seedy Sunday is the UK's biggest and longest-running community seed swap event, held in Brighton each February. In return for a donation or in exchange for seed they have saved, growers can choose seeds from dozens of traditional varieties of garden vegetables, to take home and grow. It is also a campaign to to protect biodiversity and protest against the increasing control of the seed supply by a handful of large companies.

We've been meaning to attend the event for a couple of years now, but for various reasons - mostly to do with a lack of organisation -  we have never managed to get there. Until this year, when FlowerScapes finally managed to have a stall, manned by me, your guest blogger for the evening, Kattegat's hubby.

The FlowerScapes stand, with our new jars of seeds

 At the heart of the event is, obviously, the seed exchange, where members of the public can bring their spare seeds to exchange for something new and different. But around three-quarters of the hall was taken up by other, related stalls - allotment societies, Friends of the Earth, a mushroom producer, the Brighton & Lewes Beekeepers, community composters, even a cooperative pub!

 

Being Brighton - home of the UK's first Green MP - the turnout was fantastic; over 3,000 people came through the doors, more than twice as many as in 2012. And the atmosphere was great, everybody very interested and friendly.

I was given an early slot to off-load my wares - 8.30 in the morning - and had the stall all set up by 9.00. That gave me an hour to wander around, drink thermos coffee and recover from the early start. But once the doors opened (there was a queue outside, apparently) at 10.00, I was on duty, on my feet and talking to the Great British Public for the next six hours solid. During that period I had maybe 2 or 3 minutes at the most without someone to chat to.

Before the hordes descended

By mid afternoon I had run out of 5g packets of seeds, had given out dozens of leaflets and was starting to flag. But the visitors kept coming, and right up to 4.00 people were still stopping to chat, even as I was packing away.

Everyone I spoke to had something positive to say about our work, and the new range of seeds in honey jars attracted lots of complements.

All in all, a very successful - if exhausting - day.

Is it time yet?

The weather today was milder and warmer than it has been in a while. The sun shone and the honey bees were out foraging on the Viburnum. The snowdrops are beginning to flower and the birds are practicing their spring songs.

The wind has been blowing rather a lot lately, so my mind has turned to getting the washing out on the line to dry. Because let's face it, wind dried washing is the best! That lovely scent of clean, freshly laundered sheets is unbeatable.

Berthe Morisot - Peasant hanging out the washing

And on this note, one of my many unfinished projects beckoned. Some years ago I bought a peg bag on a holiday trip to the coast from a RNLI shop. I like sea-related items, and as I was supporting a worthy cause, I was happy to buy it. But days, weeks, months and even a few years of flitting between the garden and kitchen cupboard meant it was now looking rather tired and holey. However, the wooden frame work is still in good order, and the style has a simple envelope shape so would be easy to replace.

So time for another raid of my fabric stash, and a quick cut using the old bag as a template. A few minutes on the sewing machine, and a new peg bag is ready for use. I added a few buttons for embellishment.

 

Another great thrifty make for just a few pennies! However, with the weather forecast promising rain and storm the next few days, my new peg bag may have to wait a few days yet to be put to good service.

Of boats, boys and bonfires

The good thing about living close to a showground is that you can, at short notice, decide to visit an event held there. And so today we found ourselves at the Boat Jumble. And very interesting it was too. It started out with a walk with Zaf and ended up with a nose around the varied stalls at the Boat fair.

We were a tad naughty and didn't come home empty handed. In fact it felt rather a long trip back carrying these heavy items that took our fancy!

These two corner lanterns on shelves caught our eyes. They were from a trawler, and are marked 'Port' and 'Starboard'. They need a little attention to make them glow again, but it shouldn't be a big job.

And everybody needs a bright red Fire bucket, don't they?

 Of course, a pair of oars always come in handy when one heads off for Henley!

A lovely wooden pulley, not sure what that's for yet, but Steve has plans I know!

We decided that it was a good afternoon to get out in the garden for a few hours to clear away, ready for spring growth.

Meanwhile BB joined us for some fresh air, and found a stick to whittle!

And at the end the afternoon a little bonfire which is an activity my boys (big and small) do love...

Hope you all have a lovely week