Very conscious of having neglected the website lately so finally snatching some time (at 4.30am!) from a manically busy few months to remedy.
Our 1 st shipment from Mongolia arrived on 14 th July – bang on time at 7.00am in the morning. With only 3 hours to unload, 5 of us were ready, muscles flexed. Peter and I had cleared the lane of branches to maximise the lane width – we knew the driver could get down with inches – well, actually, an inch – to spare. We knew a bolshy driver would blow the whole deal – fate was kind and we got a brilliant driver – completely unfazed by the 1 in 4 hill, the bend that meant he couldn’t reverse in, and finally the dew on the hay that we had cut the night before – he not only got the container down the drive, he drove it across the field and pulled up right alongside the barn, thereby saving us double handling. What a star – Oh, and then he rolled up his sleeves and helped us unload. We record here a massive thank you to him, Andi, Curtis, Henry, (and also son’s Sam and Harry who not only helped but then got themselves organised for school without being asked).
A flurry of sales means that we have only two left – but our next shipment is scheduled to arrive in 9 days bringing us some desperately needed 5m yurts and a new size – 3.5m diameter – we are really excited to see these as demand for the smaller yurts is high.
So what else this summer:
We’ve put up two of the new demonstration yurts.
We are delighted with them – the canvas fits perfectly, the felt is fantastic and the cotton trim on the decorative cover is a huge improvement on the nylon of the old ones. A steady stream of guests are booking the ‘try before you buy’ deal. We are also gaining valuable experience ready for the launch of …………..
Hidden Valley Yurts - We’ve finally got our planning permission. to rent out yurts for holidays and accommodation for courses. It’s taken a long time as the local planning department has a 6 month backlog but having successfully negotiated planning, we are happy to share the knowledge we’ve gained with anyone interested in yurt ‘buy to lets’. Our architect came yesterday to finalise the plans for the facilities block – we can’t wait to start – but while we are waiting for Mike, ‘born to dig’ and his JCB I’m going to start propagating the sedum for the living roof. The facilities block is being built out of our own timber, which brings me to………….
Tree Felling: Dai Edwards of Gnosis has felled the first 50 ‘sticks’ as he calls the 95’ larch trees. This has transformed Prysg Wood – suddenly we have a sun filled glade in the middle of a gloomy ex forestry commission plantation. Dai has carefully preserved any native saplings and we are looking forward to seeing them mature now they have light. This type of felling is known as Halo thinning and is the recommended management to help regenerate the woodland. Two weeks later, the timber was planked by mobile mill – an exhausting 3 days for 5 of us – two to feed Martin the logs, one removing the planks and me stacking (not to mention Peter frantically building the storage supports just in time for the next load. Most of this will be used for decking and flooring – and all within two fields of where they grew – that has to be about as sustainable as you can get.
Alpacas: Just Juno left to birth – we (or rather my farm-sitting parents) are willing her to get going this weekend – or it will be another nerve wracking holiday for us waiting to be re-called. Alpacas are lovely animals but a variable gestation of anything from 10.5 – 14 months makes for a long period tied to the farm – makes 3 weeks lambing seem like cinch.
Sheep: Our latest additions – 4 gorgeous Balwen sheep – they are like little black and white toys – so small we had to give them a separate low level water trough. But big on personality – their favourite sport is terrorising our border collie Laddie – like vigilantes they spy him sneaking in and gallop full pelt at him ……poor Laddie, rescued at 16 months from a town centre, I think he is beginning to wish he was back shepherding the cars.
As seen on TV….. well, next May to be precise. Having cleared 2 acres of Himalayan Balsam without chemicals, I got asked to help out with clearing it at a local farm – it was only at the end of the phone call I realised it was BBC Wales and they wanted to film it. Great fun day out with presenter, Iolo Williams - though I fear my interview at the end of a 2 hour stint of scything on the hottest day of the year, may have me looking a tad dishevelled. Ah well, don’t think an elegant life was ever the one for me.
And, in the words of the famous rabbit…….That’s all folks
Amanda
Our 1 st shipment from Mongolia arrived on 14 th July – bang on time at 7.00am in the morning. With only 3 hours to unload, 5 of us were ready, muscles flexed. Peter and I had cleared the lane of branches to maximise the lane width – we knew the driver could get down with inches – well, actually, an inch – to spare. We knew a bolshy driver would blow the whole deal – fate was kind and we got a brilliant driver – completely unfazed by the 1 in 4 hill, the bend that meant he couldn’t reverse in, and finally the dew on the hay that we had cut the night before – he not only got the container down the drive, he drove it across the field and pulled up right alongside the barn, thereby saving us double handling. What a star – Oh, and then he rolled up his sleeves and helped us unload. We record here a massive thank you to him, Andi, Curtis, Henry, (and also son’s Sam and Harry who not only helped but then got themselves organised for school without being asked).
A flurry of sales means that we have only two left – but our next shipment is scheduled to arrive in 9 days bringing us some desperately needed 5m yurts and a new size – 3.5m diameter – we are really excited to see these as demand for the smaller yurts is high.
So what else this summer:
We’ve put up two of the new demonstration yurts.
We are delighted with them – the canvas fits perfectly, the felt is fantastic and the cotton trim on the decorative cover is a huge improvement on the nylon of the old ones. A steady stream of guests are booking the ‘try before you buy’ deal. We are also gaining valuable experience ready for the launch of …………..
Hidden Valley Yurts - We’ve finally got our planning permission. to rent out yurts for holidays and accommodation for courses. It’s taken a long time as the local planning department has a 6 month backlog but having successfully negotiated planning, we are happy to share the knowledge we’ve gained with anyone interested in yurt ‘buy to lets’. Our architect came yesterday to finalise the plans for the facilities block – we can’t wait to start – but while we are waiting for Mike, ‘born to dig’ and his JCB I’m going to start propagating the sedum for the living roof. The facilities block is being built out of our own timber, which brings me to………….
Tree Felling: Dai Edwards of Gnosis has felled the first 50 ‘sticks’ as he calls the 95’ larch trees. This has transformed Prysg Wood – suddenly we have a sun filled glade in the middle of a gloomy ex forestry commission plantation. Dai has carefully preserved any native saplings and we are looking forward to seeing them mature now they have light. This type of felling is known as Halo thinning and is the recommended management to help regenerate the woodland. Two weeks later, the timber was planked by mobile mill – an exhausting 3 days for 5 of us – two to feed Martin the logs, one removing the planks and me stacking (not to mention Peter frantically building the storage supports just in time for the next load. Most of this will be used for decking and flooring – and all within two fields of where they grew – that has to be about as sustainable as you can get.
Alpacas: Just Juno left to birth – we (or rather my farm-sitting parents) are willing her to get going this weekend – or it will be another nerve wracking holiday for us waiting to be re-called. Alpacas are lovely animals but a variable gestation of anything from 10.5 – 14 months makes for a long period tied to the farm – makes 3 weeks lambing seem like cinch.
Sheep: Our latest additions – 4 gorgeous Balwen sheep – they are like little black and white toys – so small we had to give them a separate low level water trough. But big on personality – their favourite sport is terrorising our border collie Laddie – like vigilantes they spy him sneaking in and gallop full pelt at him ……poor Laddie, rescued at 16 months from a town centre, I think he is beginning to wish he was back shepherding the cars.
As seen on TV….. well, next May to be precise. Having cleared 2 acres of Himalayan Balsam without chemicals, I got asked to help out with clearing it at a local farm – it was only at the end of the phone call I realised it was BBC Wales and they wanted to film it. Great fun day out with presenter, Iolo Williams - though I fear my interview at the end of a 2 hour stint of scything on the hottest day of the year, may have me looking a tad dishevelled. Ah well, don’t think an elegant life was ever the one for me.
And, in the words of the famous rabbit…….That’s all folks
Amanda
