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!