Inflatable Stonehenge for a Wet Solstice, Huge Bracket Fungi, Silage In & More Rain

In keeping with tradition today being the Summer Solstice the Farmer & I paid a visit to Stonehenge...however this was Stonehenge as we had never seen it before. It was an inflatable bouncy castle full scale replica of the great stones complete with trilithons and sarsen stones and, quite the maddest, most bonkers thing I have seen a long time!
This extraordinary object was having its first & only appearance in Wales today at the National Botanic Gardens of Wales near Carmarthen at the start of its tour around Britain before reaching London for the Olympics.
When we arrived at the Botanic Gardens there were several coach loads of schoolchildren brought to see the amazing sight and to bounce merrily but the unfortunately the rain had also arrived and so the bouncing was brought to an end which must have very disappointing for the children. We viewed the very realistic rubber titans through a veil of heavy rain and it really was very surreal with the great glass dome of  the  Botanic Gardens in the background.

While the Famer was mowing grass for silage on some fields we rent about a mile away he spyed these amazing fungi growing on a tree. They are  huge fan shaped bracket fungi which were identified as Dryad's Saddle, a rather wonderful name. They are certainly some of the biggest and most impressive fungi that I have ever seen, they must have measured a good 12-14 " across at their widest point.
With the heavy & persisitent rain back with us we are congratulating ourselves on having been able to get our first cut silage crop in & sheeted up before the low pressure arrived yesterday evening. The Farmer & the Sons have worked long hours this week, with the Sons working away from home getting in other peoples silage as well as our own often not finishing until well after dark.
The three days of good weather were just lovely and now we are back to wind & rain & squelching across our shaven fields and rushing waters in our streams again.
I think solstice fires may well struggle tonight.

Tan ar y Comin, Dry Weather at Last, Welsh Game Fair

Last evening on S4C (the Welsh tv channel) the film 'Tan ar y Comin' was shown again . This was the film about a gypsy boy & his horses starring Edward Woodward & directed by David Hemmings, that was made here at Penyrallt nearly 20 years ago. Watching it again was great fun as it brought back lots of memories of a very hectic summer.
A daily invasion of about 60 people and all the film equipment plus wardrobe buses,  props vans, caterers & all and sundry needed to make a film would turn up usually about 7 o'clock to get everything ready to start shooting at 9-ish. We were involved too, not just as the owners of the location but as extras, props suppliers, animal handlers & general farm advisers. I have clear memories of David Hemmings turning up very early one morning ahead of the rest of the crew and sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee with me while waiting for his assistant directors to appear. For some reason the conversation was about breeding poodles!! Very odd as neither of us had poodles.
 It was fascinating watching DH direct his cast and how he prepared every shot and worked through exactly what he wanted with the actors and the camera-man.
 Both the Farmer & Elder Son had several opportunities to be in the film and can be seen briefly appearing in the scenes shot in Newcastle Emlyn at the fair. Elder Son is the naughty little boy who gets scolded for throwing mud at the gypsy boy, the hero of the story.
The farm has changed very little since the film was made, though the house is now yellow not white, thanks to another film project that took place some years later.
'Tan ar y Comin' was shown ahead of a new series being shown on S4C starting next week about the gypsies in Wales,
 'Y Sipswn' in one episode of which Carol Byrne-Jones the director of the Welsh version of the film, is interviewed here on the farm.

After days & days of torrential rain, we have had a day of sunshine which has meant that the men are flat out cutting silage for ourselves and others. It is going to be a very long night for them I suspect. The crop is very heavy  and thick which is good but makes for long hours of tractor driving.

Yesterday the Farmer & I went to the Welsh Game Fair which was held for the first time at the Three Counties Showground near Carmarthen. It opened on Saturday which was so very wet but yesterday the weather improved and we had only a couple of showers. We had a lovely time watching terrieres & lurchers & talking to various people we had not seen for a while. I dearly wanted to bring home some Muscovy ducks but this was not encouraged...the reason given being that they would just be expensive fox food! It is true of course but we had Muscovies years ago who survived many years and were such fun to see around the yard and flying up onto the roof ridges to survey activities. They are real characters & very good mothers unlike many other ducks. Maybe when the Farmer gets himself a new pea-hen I shall mention the Muscovy duck question again.

Roses, Swarm of Bees, Redecorating Holiday Cottage

At last we have some sunshine & rather more seasonal weather than we have seen recently. Because it has been such a cold, slow spring & early summer the roses are only now beginning to show some colour and this one Maigold outside the holiday cottage door is in full flower a month later than usual. The scent as one walks past is glorious.
Our local village shop has an amazing array of plants for sale and I indulged myself last week (to cheer myself up in the rain!) buying ten floribunda roses  to add to the garden. Many years ago we had a commercial rose grower renting a field from us in which he grew 20,000 roses and I was fortunate enough to be allowed to cut flowers whenever I wanted, so each summer I was able to fill the house with bowls of roses which was just wonderful. To walk down to the rose field on a summer's evening was a most wonderful experience with the swallows swooping through the perfumed air & the sea of colour at our feet.

Yesterday we had the good fortune to capture a swarm of bees. I was walking across our larger garden and was aware of a deep thrumming sound and realised that the swarm was gathering itself together, so I rushed off to find the Farmer who found the swarm collecting on a fence post (not the most convenient place for capture). He shook water over them to make them think it was raining which makes them settle in one place and then left them for a short while before persuading them into a collection box and delivering them into a hive that was made ready for them.
We have not had a swarm for several years and this one was not from our existing colony. There are a few bee-keepers locally so we cannot be sure where it came from. Lets hope they like being here & that they will stay and survive the winter.

I have no guests in the cottage (http://www.penyrallt.co.uk/) this week and so have taken the opportunity (my last chance before the autumn) to do spot of decorating, the small twin room was looking rather shabby so yesterday I set to with my brushes & pots of paint. It is small room but quite complicated to paint as the beds are fixed in with a 'proscenium arch'  which looks marvellous but does make painting the room awkward. Also the room being in an old former piggery is not square and one side is higher than the other whcih makes my reach on step ladder or on a board across the bed-base rather precarious...in fact I'm going to have to call the Famer in to do the very tops for me.
Having filled in time waiting for a cake to come out of the oven by writing this I shall now head off back to my painting & try get the room finished before lunch.

June & Jubilee

June has arrived & our wonderful rhododendrons are coming into flower as is much else in the garden. After last week's scorching weather and the rain of two days ago all growing things are romping away now. This is good news for the Farmer & Sons as our silage crop will bulk up well now

Last weekend the Farmer & I were down in the New Forest for a family gathering and the heat was intense. Driving down the motorway in our Daihatsu Fourtrak which does not have air-con was not a comfortable experience! But the countryside was looking superb in its shimmer of heat haze, with glorious chestnut trees in full candle-power, England at its best!

It is Diamond Jubilee Weekend of course & though we are not having any party or picnic here on the farm the local pub is all bedecked with bunting & a barbecue is planned, whilst elsewhere in the area there are 'fayres', frolics & fireworks. We may even go to see some of them! I shall certainly find a tv to sit in front of tomorrow for the River Pageant which will surely be the most fantastic spectacle.

Driving through England there was much more evidence of Jubilee enthusiasm than is visible here in Welsh Wales. Many of the little villages we passed through in Hampshire & Dorset had miles of bunting draped along school railings & village halls & many private houses had union jacks & pictures of the Queen on display. There were posters for tea-parties & picnics & open gardens. It all seems much more low key here, in fact in our local town on Thursday there was no sign of any Jubilee celebration at all; maybe they were saving themselves for the weekend.

                                                                

King Stropharia Mushrooms, The Countryside Alliance Goes to Cardiff,

Just lately we have been experimenting with our friend G. The Mushroom Grower (http://www.maesymush.co.uk/) the cultivation of King Stropharia mushrooms. G. supplied the spore  which was 'sown' into a heap of straw and we waited to see what happened. We were all pleasantly surprised when a superb crop emerged. The picking of them is critical as once the caps have begun to flatten out they atre well past their best so a close eye has to be kept on them as they can change from ready to passed it in just a few hours. The cropping seemed to coincide with the full moon and we harvested about 6-7 kilos of mushrooms over three days which is remarkable. We are now waiting to see if thre will another crop with the next full moon. King Stropharia's taste very good with a flavour rather like hazelnuts, delicious fried in butter until going brown around the edges.

Yesterday the Farmer & I travelled to Cardiff to take part in an exhibition put on by the Countryside Alliance (http://www.countrysidealliance.org/) at the Senedd, the Welsh Assembly in Cardiff Bay. We had been invited as representatives of the Countryside Alliance Foundation to showcase the importance of Outdoor Education through our work with schools coming to see the farm. We spoke to a number of interesting & interested people (no Assembly Members though !) & it is encouraging that even though the politicians do not seem particularly interested in getting children out of the classroom & into the countryside many other people are.
The Countryside Alliance Director Sir Barney White-Spunner was there & the various aspects of country life were well represented by hounds from the Glamorgan pack with their huntsman & kennelman, falconers, fishermen, game shooting & general country activities. The atmosphere during the day was very good and there were no anti-hunting noises heard and the general public & the people at the Assembly were taking a keen interest in the subjects & issues raised by our presence in the building.
The day had been organised by the wonderful Rachel Evans who is the Countryside Alliance Director for Wales. She worked incredibly hard to get the whole event up & running and it all went extremely well.
We had a very enjoyable day despite having to cope with city traffic which we are no used to at all...we are such country mice!!!!

Sunshine & Swallows At Last, Allen Raine Celebration Society, Green Weddings, School Visit

After a week of appalling weather we have had a day of sunshine & its so lovely to see blue skies and the sunlight gleaming on fresh oak leaves in the trees around the house. Spring is so late, the gardens are very slow in getting going though the fruit trees have blossomed, but it may have been too cold for the pollinating insects to have gone about thier work, certainly our bees have not been out very much lately.
After my worries few weeks ago that the swallows had not returned on time I was greatly relieved when about a week ago they were suddenly here in numbers and are now wheeeling and cavorting around the buildings. Did they know it was too cold here and that there would,be no insects for them to feed on so just bided their time?
The cows are now out properly and the Sons have been busy muck-spreading again despite the rain & fortuantely have not made too much mess in the fields.

The Farmer & I attended a 'literary lunch' today in Newcastle Emlyn. We had been invited by an old friend to go to an annual lunch given by the Allen Raine Celebration Society. Adeliza Evans was, or is again, a celebrated 19th century authoress who was born in Newcastle Emlyn in 1836 & wrote under the name of Allen Raine. She produced a number of 'romances' which were hugely popular and sold over 2 million copies in Great Britain & the Empire, to say nothing of the sales in the USA. They were so popular that three of them were made in into silent movies in 1915 & 1920. She wrote her tales in English but used many Welsh phrases & expressions and her upbringing in Newcastle Emlyn & the surrounding area forms the background to the stories.
As well the annual lunch (which was excellent) the Society runs a short story competition. See http://www.allenraine.com/ for details & more information.

Last weekend we visited a local  'green wedding' venue, Ceridwen Centre that is run by some friends of ours. They have erected a superb twin tipi as the wedding venue which is quite beautiful and surprisingly spacious...it can hold 120 guests and is a lovely setting for weddings with a difference. http://www.ceridwencentre.co.uk/

As I write this the Farmer is playing music with some friends who have come over. I have a violin, cello & piano playing Mozart in the background, my own private recital, how lucky am I!

During the week we had a visit by a local primary school. A group of 25 4-7 year olds came over on a damp day last week but fortunately the real rain held off until they left so they were able to be walked across the fields though lunch had to be eaten in one of the barns (in the company of the peacock who was a little alarmed at his place being invaded by chattering samll people). After lunch the rain stopped long enough for us  we to spread a tarpaulin out on the yard and get the children to sit and draw anything they had seen on their visit. Many of them drew the farmhouse and Molly the sheepdog who is always a great favourite on these occasions.

May Day, Cold Spring, Soil Association Inspection, Organic Food Sales

May Day and we are blustering into the month with tempest, wind & rain. It is proving to be a very slow cold spring though the birds are singing cheerfully & certain plants are flowering though the hedges are not fully green yet & trees are still skeletal in outline. The oak trees are beginning to show glimmers of greeny-gold leaves but the black ash buds are still tightly closed...'Oak before ash in for a splash...' are we going to have a dry summer?
 Our fruit trees are coming into blossom and so far the blossom has managed to stay on the boughs despite the battering winds that have been howling around us.

It is such a cold spring and for the first time for many years the dairy cows are still coming in at night at this time of year and we are struggling to make the silage last. Once the weather warms up after the rain of recent days the grass will romp away, though the forecast is not very optimistic about an improvement in the weather very soon.

In spite of the unseasonal weather our guests in the cottage &  the gypsy wagon continue to arrive and spend happy times discovering the area. To come back to a roaring log fire after bracing walks on the beaches is always good.

Tomorrow we have our annual Soil Association inspection so the Farmer is spending time sorting out the paperwork and getting everything ready. The paperchase as usual is hideous involving purchase receipts, lists of ingredients in any bought-in animal feeds, as well numbers of livestock of all kinds, how much farmyard manure is applied, how much muck our pit holds, how much silage we make or buy in & proof of its organic origin...the traceability of everything is paramount & rightly so
We attended a meeting last week with representatives from OMScO (http://www.omcso.co.uk/) for our bi-annual update on the state of the organic market. It was very shocking to learn that the UK is the only country world-wide where the sales of organic food are dropping. In Europe, the USA, Australia, New Zealand & elsewhere production is struggling to keep up with demand. Much of our milk is still being exported. Why do Britons not want organic food? The excuse given is price, but in actual fact organic food is no more expenbnsive than conventional & sometimes cheaper. The market is controlled by the four main supermarkets & unless they are prepared to be interested in organic food, which they are not, the consumer will not even think about buying organic.

Spring Blossom, The Swallows are Late!, Baby Robins, Cows Out on Spring Grass

A lovely, though chilly spring morning & the blossom is just beginning to come out on various ornamental cherry trees & the fruit trees around the farm. The blackthorn in the hedges has been in flower for a week or two now casting their veil of lace over the still quite stark hedgerows.

We are still waiting for our swallows to arrive...they are very late as they are normally here on the 10th or 11th of April but here we are on 15th & still no sign of them. They have turned up at the neighbours but for some reason they seem to be avoiding us. We miss them & do hope that they will eventually turn up.

 The holiday-maker season has started and we were very busy with families staying over the Easter period. With three changeovers in a week (which is very unusual, most bookings are for full weeks not two or three days) it was fairly time consuming keeping up with the laundering & ironing of bed-linen. Unfortunately the weather was truly horrible over the Easter weekend but it did not seem to deter our guests from going the beach & exploring the area & we had lots of children happily running around the place in water-proofs & wellies.
As well as guests in the cottage we have had people staying in our daughter-in-law's gypsy wagon (http://www.oldoakgypsywagon.co.uk/). It was great to see them sitting around the fire & cooking outside and having a thoroughly good time.
In the bank beside the wagon there is a robins nest & we were worried lest the activity should disturb the birds but two day ago I very carefully had a look at the nest and found two fledgling robins waiting for their next feed, so clearly the parent birds were not too bothered by having close neighbours. The babies were tiny grey bundles of fluff with the usual enormous yellow-rimmed beaks gaping wide ready for the next morsel of insect that would be brought to them by their ever busy parents.

The dairy cows are now out in the fields during the day and enjoying the sunshine, though they still spend the nights inside eating silage as there is not enough bulk in the grass at present for milk production. The Farmer always maintains that the grass does not really start to grow until the daffodils have finished flowering & as we have a huge number of daffs here of many different varieties making an extended flowering season it will be a couple of weeks yet before the grass get going & it is still cold, we had a light frost this morning.
 The cows frisk around when first going out after milking and then settle down in the sunshine lokking very placid & contented.
We have now finished lambing  and the couple of adopted lambs are alll doing well with their new mothers and again, like the cows are all out in sunshine.