Nest boxes and lawn mowers

I am still coughing away here, brain still feels as though it is stuffed to the gunnels with dense cotton wool, not that l am totally spaced out mind you, just a tadge 'woolly'.

The weather is still improving, such a relief after the coldest winter for 30 years, the daffodils are a last emerging into flower, we might even have to get the lawn mower out to give the Caravan Club site a quick whiz over carefully avoiding the wet bits & boggy bottoms! The hard winter has taken its toil on many of the pot plants on the terrace, the standard lavenders and date palms seem to be well and truly dead, they are no more with no sign of greenness anywhere, shame about that but l will have to look out for some more 'exotic' plants once the fear of late frosts have gone, we are pretty fortunate as we have a garden center outlet, who are also one of our customers, that have a large selection of tropical looking but totally hardy plants. Strange but the olive tree has taken no harm at all.


The woodland planting has in its turn suffered too from the low temperatures & winter blizzards together with those prolonged rabbit attacks resulting in replacing the dead saplings with slightly large plants. Last year, we had to put extra long rabbit guards on all the trees as the rabbits were stripping the bark above the plastic. This year, we have rather a lot of bird boxes to put up around the farm, plus a couple of owl boxes, though the barn owl in the back cow shed seems to be managing OK in the eaves!

The ice cream parlour is now open 7 days a week; orders for ice cream are starting to come in rather nicely from our wholesale customers as the tourists start to emerge after the long winter; the caravan parks are once again open and the coastal resorts are becoming busier with day trippers, or as they say in Yorkshire they have 'comfur-day', together with the early holiday makers taking advantage of the spring weather with its blue skies and sunshine.

Mid March

Thank goodness for St David say l, December, January & February were just full of snow, frost and a decide lack of sunshine, then, pow, St David's Day - the sun comes out, ok it's not warm but the daylight hours are lengthening and the sun has emerged after being submerged in a smog of dismal greyness. What l suppose is even more remarkable is that the sun has continued to shine for most of this month. The birds are singing away, the thrush perched on the highest branch of a tree just outside our bedroom window, sparrows moving into nest boxes designed for blue tits and the ducks - The ducks come every spring, taking up residency in the CL field. Every morning they waddle across the car park to the bird feeders which hang from the sycamores next to mr moo's, they check the ground looking for any scraps missed by the chaffinches or blackbirds then after a quick snooze toddle back again to their own special corner which gives them a good vantage point to wag their tail feathers or quack for the attention of passing walkers.


The farm is slowly coming to life, with this winter's wet holes frequented by wildfowl, beginning to recede as the water table lowers. The winter wheat on the cliff top looks a little sick brown and stunted, thanks to those continual easterlies that blew in from the Arctic laced with salt Talking about easterlies, the cliff too has suffered from the harsh on-shore wave action, the pounding of the clay or Skipsea Till to give it its correct name, has turned it into a brown sludgy slurry before being washed away by the action of the sea. This year, as a rough guess, about 2 metres have gone whilst over the past years, since l have lived here we must have lost about half the Cliff Top field to coastal erosion?

So now it is a case of releasing the handbrake as we move forward towards Easter, the ice cream team are already filling the freezers with stock, the car park has been fitted with a new drain to prevent the large puddle that settles in for winter, the grass on the CL site is drying nicely so could be a goer for Easter, and the rabbits are already breeding, well like rabbits what more could you ask for?

Harry Foreman is fundraising for MedEquip4Kids - JustGiving

Harry Foreman is fundraising for MedEquip4Kids - JustGiving

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Brandesburton Young Farmers Club are taking part in the 2010 Mega Hike. This is a 50 mile hike which has to be completed in a time scale of 24 hours. Team Brandesburton consisits of 4 walkers and 2 support crew. The walk will be taking place inthe Penines on the weekend of 26th & 27th June 2010. The charity is Med Equip 4 Kids. You can follow the team's progress & training on Facebook.

Please accept my apolgies Mrs S

Oh l am sorry Mrs S, your email was sat in my 'inbox' waiting for me when l got home. No. no, no l haven't stopped in my attempts to fill the Internet with bad spelling, punctuation & grammar, it's just that we have been busy at this end.

Thanks to the panto season, ice cream orders for the little pots were amazing, Hull Truck Theatre doing particularly well, closely followed by both Bridlington & Scarborough Spas. Farm shops too were pretty busy with our total stock of Christmas pudding flavoured ice cream being sold out by mid-December with the Cointreau & orange coming in a close second! So you see, no time to hit the keyboard and then in January, time just flew, Harry was skiing with Young Farmers in Val Thorens and we were thinking, 'need a holiday' & 'must get away'.............

Get away we most certainly did. After a lot of trawling the Internet for 'late holiday deals' then reading reports on Trip Advisor we found ourselves sat in the GP's surgery at Leven waiting to have our bodies stuffed full of injections. Well, you don't need jabs to go to Bridlington but you do if you are heading down Africa way, south of the Equator, across Sudan & Ethiopia to Kenya.

After a 24hour delay, thanks to our flight being canceled due to a 'medivac' and spending the first night of our holiday in a Manchester Hotel, we finally hit Mombasa in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The streets of Mombasa were strangely deserted as we speed through, heading for the 'notorious' Likoni ferry and the road south that would take us to Galu Beach, just south of Diani & our Hotel.

Arriving in the dark at about 4.30am local time, we were greeted by ice cold towels and a fresh fruit punch by happy smiling staff who seemed to think nothing of us arriving so late or early depending on which way you look at it.

So this, l suppose, set the scene. The hotel, backing onto Galu beach, was amazing, the staff happy & chatty, the weather hot & sunny, the sea warm and azure blue, who could ask for more!

Before we left, l had done some research on the National Parks and safaris. Being keen followers of anything coming out of the BBC's Natural History unit and as we were actually in East Africa, a safari should feature somewhere on our itinerary. Before leaving home l had contacted several local safari companies, the choice being once again being based on reviews on Trip Advisor. No easy choice l can tell you as none have prices posted on their web sites, and you need to pick any over night accommodation that you require, OK, you have a list so a case of deciding tent or walls.

At the end of the day, we plumped for a two day safari encompassing Tsavo East & West, staying overnight at the Severin Safari Camp in Tsavo West. We booked the trip with our new best friend, Julius C.K. Nzumbi & his company, Julius Safaris. All l can say is AMAZING! The drive to the park was a safari in itself; so much to see along the way, houses, villages, the local inhabitants, then the parks.

The scenery in Tsavo East is flat, a bit like Holderness with out the drainage dykes, and animals, elephants and more elephants, giraffe, gazelle, zebra, our driver/guide making sure our cameras missed nothing that moved! Lunch was spent at Voi safari lodge, sited high up on a bluff overlooking the Savannah below, peppered with water holes around which families of elephants relaxed.

It is a long way, believe me, a lot of driving and if you are a poor traveler take a large packet of travel sickness pills with you for you haven't finished the day's game drives yet! From Tsavo East we drove across to Tsavo West via the Man-eaters bridge. A railway bridge built by the British in the late 19thC, plagued by 2 man eating lions who devoured a great many Indian workers before being shot by Col. Paterson who lay in wait with his guns. Sorry, Mrs S, l seem to absorb trivia.

The landscape, here in Tsavo West, is truly awesome. Loved it. Volcanic hills, rugged rocks, black lava flows, dramatic landscapes, few tourists. Loved it, loved it, loved it. We decided to give the Rhino sanctuary a miss as it was now 4pm & poor old Mr Moo was having a seriously bad reaction to Malerone [the anti malaria tablets] plus l had forgotten the Qwells, was in need of a cup of tea and a cold towel. As we drove to Severin, the landscape continued to enthrall, totally mind blowing! The camp, my god, we were met by a real Masai complete with pointy stick! Never had an iced Tusker tasted so good as we sat in comfy sofas watching the giraffe grazing the acacia trees just metres from the lodge! And it got better. As the sun set the frogs began singing in stereo, hippos emerged from their water holes with an amazing grace for such a bulky creature. Once the light had failed we had to press the 'escort button' to bring an armed guard to take us to super; no fences between us and the wildlife you see, the animals, in this case the hippos with wind were only yards away & very dangerous! Amazing, truly amazing. The food in the middle of the bush was mouthwatering delicious, the tent was, and l do NOT camp, was unlike any tent l have seen, fabulous. So there we were, in the bush sleeping in tents serenaded by hippos and frogs whilst in the morning we were woken by the songs from the finches and weaver birds. We staid till 8.30, leaving reluctantly to head back down the Mombasa highway, an exciting drive through Mombasa itself to the Likoni ferry, then back to base where once again we were welcomed by those oh so cool towels & fruit punch. I could see myself getting used to this life l can tell you!

So, we are back now, the flight was almost on time, the UK weather cold & snowy. I have replied to my emails, caught up with the accounts and Harry & Jenny, who incidentally are adorning the freezer cabinets in Tesco, attended the Meet the Buyer session at the Yorkshire Showground. So what are my thought of the holiday now? Amazing, the locals are happy, polite and friendly, the country is full of so much to see, will we go back? Yes, not the same hotel as all inclusives are not, if l am really honest, our cup of tea, but l have spotted on the Internet several small hotels in the Diani region that have now been 'bookmarked' for future reference and no l am not putting up a link for those!

So, l hope, Mrs S, you will forgive me for not having written for such a while and look forward to seeing you soon!

Only a few days left

I hadn't realised that it was over a month ago that l last hit the New Post button on Blogger. It's been busy. Usually, this time of year we have time to slow down, relax, put our feet up. This year, well no. The Shop has been steady away, which is normal, but the wholesale has been busy. Our theatre customers & farm shops have been very busy, in fact, we are all but sold out of the Christmas pudding flavour! That's good.

The schools break up this Friday for Christmas, so we will remain open this Monday & Tuesday, closing for the Christmas holidays on 23rd, reopening on the following Tuesday, closing again, just for the day on New Years Day. We have had notices up to let customers know for the past month, but l expect someone will try to get in on Boxing Day! Hey Ho!

The sheep:- well what about them? These lot of fluffy anarchist seem to do nothing but escape, they make Shaun the Sheep look like an amateur! Under electric fences, barging at gates, squeezing through tight spaces that no sheep should attempt to squeeze! The Great Escapees these little lot! It started with just one sheep, Hilda, she with the wall eye; she was out, all alone, walking the farm walk. Two days later, there was Hilda and friend walking along the path. By the end of the week she was calmly munching away with a dozen compatriots. Yes, we kept checking the electric fence; we caught her last week, walking under the galvanized gate, pushing it high on its hinges as she went! We have moved the soggy baggages into new pasture, and yes they have escaped, well only Hilda & Maud so far, who l have caught 3 times trimming the short grass in the caravan park!

So, this is it, Christmas. Time fly's by when your having fun. Have sort of got into the pre-Christmas thing following a 'moving into new house' visit to Sallyschateau in Carcassonne, ice rinks and ferris wheels, penguins and polar bears NOT forgetting the tres chic elderly lady who wore huge sunglasses at night whilst on top of her head, perched at a jaunty angle, a jet black fedora.

Happy Christmas!

Christmas food & Harry

It's strange isn't it how once Halloween is over and done with, the shops decided that its 'time for Christmas'. Our farm shop & garden centre customers have been transformed into Santa's Magical Wonderland, all twinkly lights, ho ho ho's & scrumptious looking hampers, overflowing with the epicurean delights that are Christmas.

I am one who feels Christmas is at Christmas not 6 weeks before, but, we have to prepare and make those festive flavours that plump out our order books at this time of the year. Yes, ice cream is an all year round delicacy, so this year we are making Christmas pudding, cranberry & redcurrant, marzipan and cointreau & orange flavoured ice cream. So far, the Christmas pud & the cranberry are the favourites with our customers. I have noticed that many of the food magazines are featuring Christmas pud ice cream in their festive menus. Good choice!

Returning my previous blog, Harry was amazed at all the responses, he doesn't feel as though he is any different to anyone else, such modesty. Someone asked how we had managed to get Harry motivated, how much push and shove had we given him. The truth is, in fact, we did very little, no not being cruel or neglectful, but explaining that a] this was the problem, b] this is how you can learn to cope and adapt to dyslexia & finally c] we can't make you do this but everything is in place ready for you to try. I know that computer games are slammed by so many 'experts' but we have found playing them in Harry's case, really jumped started his reading and comprehension, because he HAD to read & HAD to understand the on-screen instruction, oh and then there are the benefits to the hand eye co-ordination. He tried. He tried so hard, A's for effort, not so good for exams but you can't win all the time now can you? It's hard with exam results, your friends tell you how well their offspring are doing at school, 'little Freddy has got straight A's', it's normal, parents boast. You just have to let go, ignore little Freddy's results, and smile. Everything is a bonus, you know how much effort it takes to get a D grade, for Harry, he has been spared the pressure of getting good grades in readiness for university, he was able to enjoy his teens.


Well, there you are then, a quick little bit of extra concerning Harry, who has been busy making mango sorbet today. Just don't give up or let them give up, but what ever you do, don't take the fun out of learning by pushing, it's a bit like schooling a young horse, you don't want to present it to a fence beyond it's current ability and over face it, putting it off for ever.

dyslexic child

Today, as usual l am sat in the dining room cum office, catching up on the accounts. As is always the case, l am daydreaming, my excuse for wasting time. I am emailing, chatting on skype, listening to the wireless. I have in front of me, on the floor 6 large piles of A4, bills paid, bills to pay, bank downloads, remittance advices, VAT print outs, it looks very organized. it should be all filed away in the colorful collection of folders shoved onto the shelves. They are not and l am just getting ready to hole punch.................

The internet is wonderful. I can sit here, listening to the wireless and the current item on the Jeremy Vine show on radio 2 is continuing the theme on the best childrens bedtime stories, the choice is down to the final 8 titles.

As a child, in fact even now, l am what you could call a 'book gobbler'. I read, l read obsessively. I have favourite authors and pre-order their new titles. I have books everywhere. On book shelves, next to my bed, in the bathroom, in the spare bedrooms, any flat surface you will find books. Paperbacks, hardbacks staked precariously in large, wobbly piles. Farmer suggests that it might be an idea to open a used book stall in the garage. I don't think so.

I am side tracked, l was going to mention my favourite childhood reads but, well never mind my brain is off on a different tangent. When Harry was born, l would read all about hungry caterpillars and fierce bad mice and wondering hedgehogs. As he got older would buy stories for him to read and enjoy. He preferred story tapes and would be able to recite all the Roald Dahl stories word perfect. By the time he reach 6, his reading was pretty bad, a real struggle, a chore more akin to pulling teeth than something of pleasure. Needless to say, l was concerned. A visit to the village school and discussion with teachers did not exactly allay my worries. To me, and as there is dyslexia in the family, Harry was showing the classic signs.

We moved school, Harry traveling up to Scarborough everyday and within his 1st week at the new school he had been booked for assessment with the Dyslexic Institute. Dyslexic, Harry was dyslexic, high IQ but disorganized, dancing words & letters chasing each other across the pages, the world seen as a multi-layered 3D adventure. For the duration of his school years, he attended the Dyslexic Institute. He learned to touch type, to organise his time, to learn how to manage his pictorial world in the flat real world.

Harry, is now 21. He runs the ice cream production side of the business. His spelling is still truly unique and he still sorts out problems using the 'picture in the head technique'. He has found a balance, he still hates reams of text, but just gets on with it; he plans out his day so he knows where he is and doesn't get lost. Pretty amazing really, well done Harry, your hard work has paid off!

The picture is totally unrelated to this blog, but it is of the beach.