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.