20/11/2025
Horrified to find that it's a year since I posted! And there is news.
A very sad event occurred last month when Fly, our beloved pony and friend to everyone, died just before we went on holiday. She was 36 years old and had enjoyed a long and happy life with us and all our friends and visitors over the years. She had a wonderful last summer season and the lush grass of autumn once it started raining. She went before the bitter wintry weather that is with us now.
The owner of the mother and daughter donkey team who were also loved by campers and played a key role in our rewilding experiment, decided to remove them last winter. So we are now without any grazing animals [other than rabbits and other wildlife] to keep control of the fields and will need to replace them.
We have considered a number of options, including horses, highland cattle, donkeys, sheep and alpacas. We currently favour getting a pair of pygmy goats to keep down the browse as they are hardier than donkeys, but will also need something to graze the grass. We are asking around locally but any ideas would be welcome.
The autumn leaves which have been beautiful for several months are nearly gone now and we look forward to rebirth next spring.
After the longest drought we have known in 30 years, the aquifers finally refilled and springs restarted just two weeks ago. The ducks were thrilled to have their pond back! On Friday several parts of town suffered flooding and significant damage following 24 hours of heavy rainfall. We recorded 117 mm, almost 5 inches at the farm.
We look forward to seeing many of our old camping and bunkhouse friends again next season but we are still open for the hardy folk who enjoy the wild in the harsher season.
