Oak Before Ash

Oak Before Ash, you're in for a splash

Ash before Oak, you're in for a Soak

Delighted to see that the Oak was amazingly early this year and the Ash is so late that we can still see the yurts from the house - though normally by now they are well hidden. We really are long overdue a long, hot summer - would be nice to see the felt linings insulating the heat out instead of holding the heat in.

The valley is a gorgeous mix of every green you can imagine - the animals are loving the sun and lush grass and the only glum faces in the place are Tilly and Spot who are now being penned in to stop them endlessly running down to the campsite for guest attention! They are convinced everyone loves them - muddy paws and stolen breakfasts included.

The new chickens are happy though - with Tilly (the chicken killer) safely behind bars they can have the full run of the place. We bought the latest as ex free range - I was very surprised at how tatty they looked - and also a bit puzzled about why they were being sold off at 49 weeks - until someone explained that they were going into their first moult which would make them stop laying - but so far 10 hens and 9 or 10 eggs every day. At first glance they all look the same but already personalities are emerging - we have Squeak ('cos she does) and Sleek - the only one with all her feathers intact. It will be interesting to see if they do go off lay as my previous Warrens laid virtually every day for many years.

We are almost full for the summer now - just a few breaks left for the main school holidays and sales are booming with more and more enquiries about our 'running a campsite course' - it seems that yurts are still all the rage. Peter glad too as this means he gets another trip to Mongolia very soon so can see how his little horse is getting on - he may even get to see it race in the Naadam Festival this year.

April Showers us with Guests

Wow - what a start. April was 80% full and with 32 changeovers and then our first residential 'How to Run a Campsite' Course we were slightly reeling by the end.

The first guests included 8 Woodcraft leaders for Bushcraft training. Having sat in on some of the sessions I'm completely hooked. The Bushcraft trainer Lucy was brilliant - so much knowledge....and so skilled at sharing it. I am now busy making fabric charcoal for lighting the stoves.

We loved running the course - we've done one to one training courses for several people before but this was the first residential group course and having 7 participants, all with enthusiasm and new ideas left us feeling really motivated.

April also saw our yurts (and us this time) back on the telly - BBC2's Escape the the Country featured one of our yurts as an alternative option for living in the country. All the links were filmed here - Peter was especially excited about his tractor being on the telly!

March Madness

It's a gallop towards the finish - well, the start really - our season opens on 3rd April - and we are nearly fully booked for the Easter Holidays already. The wet weather has been a pain as we have been trying to lay new stone paths without damaging the yurt field more than we can help. I know you can't make an omelet without breaking eggs but at one stage I wondered if we were going to have to offer mud wrestling instead of camp fires. Digger Mike worked his magic with the JCB though and leveled the area in time -and meantime Lewis has put up the lovely new pergola off the kitchen and shower building. We filled the planters with molehills - which sorted two jobs - and after much digging I managed to get a 35 year old vine dug out and hopefully it will take off and provide some welcome shade on the deck.

The new yurts have all been put up and furnished and the new steps and bridges should make getting to and from the carpark much easier. Can't wait for the first guests now.

In between preparations the ewes have lambed - Highlander, our Jacob ram has passed on his handsome looks (and his horns), to a lovely crop of lambs. Lambing was much more fun this year as we have reduced the flock to a third. The prettiest lamb award goes to the Maisy twins.

More February Fun

February may be the shortest month but it feels like a whole season has passed. We started with the heaviest snow fall for years – turning the whole area into an alpine resort – with hills in every direction the only difficulty was choosing which one to sledge down! The 4x4 buggy we use to transport the luggage came into its own big time – after the real work of taking feed to the animals, it went up the 1 in 4 hill loaded down with sledges and children – then back down, dropping the post and papers to the neighbours.

The whole village came out to play and the children were delighted to miss school for a week. Of course after the snow comes the melt…………. serious mud and slush and miserable animals all desperate for some sun – and on cue, a lovely mild last week of the month, made Spring seem just around the corner; the snowdrops are out in force, the daffodils are budding up (will one be out for St David’s Day?) .

Tilly the Spaniel is in complete disgrace having turned into a chicken murderer – with only 2 left (out of 6) we decided to pen them in for their own safety – Lewis spent 2 days fencing in a large run – we clipped a wing apiece – and watched them disappear over the chain link fence – they clearly haven’t read the rule book that says they can’t fly with one wing clipped. A ball and chain may be the only solution.

Less than 5 weeks until we open. The yurts arrived safely last week and are stacked up in the barn ready to go up – but before then we want to put some new stone paths in and we need to scrub and oil the decks – not one of the more glamorous jobs.

February Makes us Shiver

Looking out of my office window at Narnia like scenes - the North facing side keeps the snow for days as we still don't get any sun on that half of the valley and there is lots more snow due tonight so I need to rush into Monmouth and stock up the store cupboard for us and the animals. The alpacas are putting themselves to bed every night in the barn and eating their way through a sack of alfalfa a day. Roll on the spring grass.

The yurt shipment arrives next week - quite a few already sold and the usual February rush of enquiries. I set myself a target of wanting 25% bookings for the campsite by Easter and amazingly we have already passed it, which is very exciting. We have been working hard on the websites and Peter says the new sales website will be up by live by the end of the week. We have decided to offer 'bring your horse holidays' and in April, as well as the 'Running a Campsite course', Lucy Williams is running a feltmaking course on the 21st/22nd.

All in all it doesn't feel like the quiet season. We are still progressing with our path clearance and are over half way through now - the trouble is, the further we get, the longer the walk, lugging heavy tools, as it is too wet to get the tractor up. Still finding time to party though - the annual duck race took place on the 18th - so the facilities building came into it's own again. Some of the entries were decidedly dubious this year and included a giant duck, and an inflatable sheep - which was hotly pursued by an inflatable man! Strict rules will be imposed for 2009 and Spot and Tilly are being trained to deal with interlopers.

Forging into the Unknown

I love New Year – especially when it’s perfect winter weather – and it certainly is perfect. Deep frosts (-4 for days now), stunning pink skies at sunset and amazing stars and a bright yellow, lying on it’s back, crescent moon. We’ve had the longest break since we’ve been here and we’ve really enjoyed it. My Christmas present was having the Rayburn fitted in my office – actually Tilly thinks it was her Christmas present – Spot is toughing it out on the sheepskin rug under my desk but Tilly lies with her nose and feet resting against the Rayburn with an expression of pure bliss. It’s a wood burning model (of course) so has the added bonus of being free to run.

In 1995, 20 acres of Prysg wood were replanted with native broadleaf – 14 years of undergrowth had formed an impenetrable thicket so our only views were from the surrounding paths or from the other side of the valley. We knew the trees were desperately overdue for thinning and removing the spiral tree guards – but where to start? Looking at a 2000 aerial photograph we could clearly see the markings of the paths cut in to get the larch out but 14 years of growth had completely hidden them. Even the 2004 Google Earth photograph shows nothing but dense cover. But knowing they were there and with an easily identifiable start point, we set forth with chain saw and scythe. It proved more straightforward than we expected. Peter felled the trees which had self seeded and I moved logs (Rayburn food!), cleared the brash and pulled up the brambles – a wide path, banked on one side, was quickly revealed – it’s compulsive stuff – and highly satisfying - I can’t think of a better way to burn off those excess Christmas pounds.

Up, Down, Up, Down

And I'm not talking about my mood. We finally managed to get a dry enough spell to get the 5 yurts down and send them on their way – then a week later we had a call from the BBC asking if they could film in a yurt – unable to resist the lure of the limelight (not to mention the PR potential) Peter and I spent a freezing Saturday in a vicious North Easterly, putting up and furnishing the yurt. Thoroughly enjoyed the filming though, which included us giving the presenter a lesson in putting up the 12' - can’t say what the programme is just yet but watch this space.

Progress on the winter list of projects is cracking on – thanks to our intrepid workers; Rosi and Carey have completed the rain caps and roof covers for the next shipment and Lewis has been doing stalwart work on the outside projects –bridges and paths to improve the access to the yurt field and a lovely new field shelter for the alpacas. It’s very cheering ticking things off the list. The next yurt order is in production – should be on its way in a week or so –we have been hard hit by the weak pound because we buy in US dollars (does anyone understand why the pound is so weak against the dollar – it’s beyond me?).

We have already taken lots of bookings for next year - Easter is half booked up and amazingly we've already had to turn away August Bank Holiday enquiries. It's very encouraging and bodes well for all the people who have bought yurts from us for holiday lets. Peter is working on a new website to give everyone who has bought from us a page to advertise their campsites.

In the meantime we have been enjoying having time to join in with village events - and Llanishen village certainly knows how to do events - Saturday saw the village Christmas dinner - 114 Christmas dinners cooked by volunteers and served by the teenagers and smartly turned out in black and white - they were fantastic. Definately a lump in the throat moment for the mothers amongst us.