We're Going On A Bear Hunt

After three weeks at Great Gutton we are sad to be saying goodbye to the cast and crew of We're Going on a Bear Hunt this week as their run at the Northcott comes to an end. We wish Pete and his team all the best and hope they come back soon. There are still tickets available for the last performances via the Northcott website.

The Red Lion in Shobrooke has new owners

The Red Lion is a half hour, cross field, walk away from Great Gutton and has historically proved popular with guests keen for a quick pint or a pub lunch. Our one trip so far bodes well with good beer, a smile and what looked like great food. We wish the new owners great success in their new venture.

Gang break in!

No not as bad as it sounds.  Ten of the neighbours store lambs were spotted on the deck by the pool this morning. It looks like they broke through the hedge as the grass must have seemed greener than their own.  Richard (our neighbouring dairy farmer) called to say that a team has been dispatched to round them up.  No harm done.

That time of year again!

Weekend plans at Great Gutton focus on the Sheep and Cider.  First job on the list is a trip to a near neighbour to pick up a couple of ram lambs who will run with our Shetland ewes for a month or so.   Introducing the rams now means lambing in April when hopefully the grass growth and weather are improving. Peggy is already coming up with names for the lambs.  This weekend also looks to be the time to Rack off the cider. Having been fermenting for a month activity has slowed to an extent that time is right to syphon off the liquid from the sediment and to start the second fermentation.  The end result will we hope be drinkable cider for Polly and Matts wedding at Gutton in August.

Apple harvest all but complete

We are delighted to report that, with over 800 bottles of apple juice on the shelves as well as 300 pints of cider bubbling away in their vats,  the Great Gutton Apple Harvest is now complete.  A big thank you to all the guests and friends who helped out with the picking, pressing and bottling.  No doubt several will be back to 'test' the cider. 

Great Gutton cider is a new venture for us.  Having read various books and talked to those with experience a blend of apples from trees which were dropping their fruit was pressed with the resultant juice poured into  fermentation vessels.  While the natural yeasts on the apples themselves should be sufficient to get the fermentation going we took no chances and added additional white wine yeast to kick start the fermentation.  Within three days the bubbles started rising and bubbling through the air locks. The cider will be ready in the new year although most will be held over until next summer when our niece and her finance have asked for Gutton Cider to a feature of their Great Gutton wedding!

Wedding reminders

A recent visit by a young couple considering using Great Gutton as a wedding venue provided a great opportunity to dig out the photo's of George and Ali's wedding at Gutton last autumn.  I think the pictures say it all.  We hope they choose to come.

Great Gutton Apple Weekends

Plans are taking shape for the Great Gutton Apple Harvest.  We hope this year to involve as many guests in the fun as possible so will be hosting Apple Harvest breaks during the first two weeks of October where guests get to pick, press and bottle the GG apple harvest.  Those who take part also get to take home the fruits of their labour via a case of Great Gutton Apple Juice.  See you in the Orchard!

Please call Suzi 01363 776073 or drop her an email suzi@greatgutton.co.uk to book a cottage.

Weaning time

Monday last saw Suzi, John, Ed, Peggy and Dylan (not sure how much help he was!) weaning this year’s 14 ewe and 7 ram lambs.  After four months it is time that the lambs fended for themselves on grass alone.  While a little noisy at first (not easy to explain to them why they have been separated from mum) it is amazing how quickly they settle down and within a couple hours they seemed to have moved on! The lambs have been turned back into the big field but will be heading back to the orchards soon as the grass needs grazing down before apple harvest which this year looks likely to be good and early to boot. 

A load of old wool

With the recent increase in temperatures, the pressure was on to rid the ewes of their woolly coats. At a friends BBQ, there was talk of shearing and by last Sunday evening the sheep were shorn, tagged, counted and dosed up against the various pests and bugs that so often knock the ewes and lambs in the good weather. Here's John leading the sheep with the temptation of food and then Paul shearing them. All very hot and thirsty work although Paul was the one who did all the hard back breaking work. Afterwards we lunched in the garden as the ewes and lambs re grouped in the nearby field and everyone felt better for it!

Here comes summer.....

If I keep saying it, it may just happen. We seem to have had all 4 seasons in as many weeks nd I've decided the weather is never right for everyone at any one time. It's always fab when the sun shines for visitors, but there's enough going on at Great Gutton and surrounding area to offer wet weather alternatives. The Old Dairy is up and running and cleaning of the cottages is so much more organised, plus we can find supplies quick as a flash. The garden is now in need of TLC all over as opposed to just regular grass cutting and so we are trying to squeeze time in to tend to the weeds, think about new plantings and crack on with the greenhouse. Picked the first of our raspberries and gooseberries yesterday and they were delicious, especially sitting out in the sunshine with a pot of cream on hand! Our first Gutton Mutton went off in a big lorry and returned ready for the barbie - delicious!

The Old Dairy

Commonly known as the "Engine Room" this is where all the laundry is washed and sorted for the cottages, and it really is the busiest room in the house. Originally it was used as a dairy and is wonderfully cool, but it has never quite been kitted out to meet with current demands. So out came all the make do kitchen cuboards and in are going purpose built shelves and cuboards to store all the linen and the endless suplies for the cottages. It's all just cosmetic stuff, but as always with cob it means dust and mess everywhere. I cannot wait as we have decamped to an upstairs bedroom for storage and the washing machines are currently in the apple juice making shed. This has lead to an increase in miles covered which my legs remind me of at the end of each wash day!

And another thing......

The ducks were obviously fed up with all the attention they were witnessing the sheep and lambs getting and decided to make their own bid for stardom - 4 ducklings hatched and made their way to the pond in gorgeous sunshine. There is something very special about seeing them splash about - and another reason for keeping an eye on our dogs, who also like to splish and splash - it really does seem like Easter is almost upon us!

It's all over

12 Ewes have given birth to a total of 23 lambs, nearly a 200% lambing score which is pretty good. It's been great fun naming the lambs and everyone has an opinion as to each lamb so we have had to have a strict naming rota! We have Blackberry and Crumble, Max and Mango, Gordon and Gladys, Rosanne and Miss Moody and even a Napoleon. Every one of the sheep lambed without assistance and all are being perfect mothers........except one!
Lorna had twin ewe lambs but decided she only wanted one, "Safari", and so her sister "Forest Gump" came into our lives and is currently living in the garden/kitchen and receiving regular bottles from the many who are keen to feed her. The dogs  seem to have developed a crush, although they are a tad too jumpy for her at the moment. Also happy to take a stroll around with any passers by and guests are frequently found with Forest in tow. Fabulous sunshine means the grass is growing and every one is smiling. Long may it continue!

AaaaaaaaaaahBaaaaaaaaaah......

No sooner do they arrive at Great Gutton, have their feet trimmed and settle in to the glorious sunshine, when they throw caution to the wind and start lambing. Primrose was the first to give birth yesterday afternoon. 2 healthy black ram lambs named Peter and David are now to be found skipping in the orchard. Guests rushed over, followed by the sheeps previous owners Peter and Rosanne and all of us were to be heard making very gushy noises. So very very sweet and I don't want anyone to mention the mint sauce, thank you

Did I mention....

.....the other day I bumped into friends of ours Peter and Rosanne, and to cut a long story short we now have their sheep at Great Gutton. Some may say there's been Gutton Mutton here for a while, but we are delighted to now have our very own, small but perfectly formed mini flock of Shetland Sheep.
Lambing starts in 4 weeks and so yesterday we ran them through the footbath and gave the ewes vaccinations to prepare them for the weeks ahead. Looking forward to having lambs in the fields although they won't be in the orchard as they can strip an apple tree in minutes!

Where did January go?

Suddenly it's February and we were supposed to have Rook cottage renovations all finished by now. So how come Bunk and Simon are still plastering and making up limewash mixes and i'm on curtain duty? All taken much longer than we thought, but it's shaping up really well - and a good thing too as we have guests arriving on Sunday!

Going greener........

In the words of Big Cook Little Cook, "time to tidy up and put away" and so Ross has started work on laying some of the hedges. By leaving the hedges to grow, we are able to produce firewood for the cottages and so make a start on reducing our carbon footprint. Ross was telling me, there's not so much call for  laying of hedges and it is labour intensive, but it was good to see traditional skills working their magic. .

Up on the Roof...

Terry Stapleton, Master Thatcher and side-kick Ashley made the most of the sunshine and came to wire parts of the thatch that are being trashed by the Rooks and Crows - apparently it's looking like it may be "one of those years" for bird damage to thatches. So it's up with the bird feeders and out with the peanuts!

Let the dust fly..

New year and time to get started on renovations in Rook Cottage. Whilst folk have loved the "cookieness" of Rook, there's been one too many comments about the access to the double bed and Simon has now dismantled it. It's been great for keeping the fires going, but a real headache as to how we fill the gap. Discovered the reason for the original built in bed was because it sat over the stairs and so space was limited! Haven't quite sussed out how we are going to fit two singles in yet - but we are spending vast amounts of time pondering upon it. Any suggestions welcome!

Here's to 2011

Well we all wished for a white Christmas and boy did we get it! Lovely to see Great Gutton under snow but practically speaking, it's good to see it gone now. Fabulous Christmas with friends, family and guests but now it's time to take the tree down, put the tinsel in the box and start on changes to Rook Cottage.