Tuesday 15 June 2010

The Open Farm Sunday comedown!!




Phew, what a day! We absolutely loved every second and thank you so much to all of you for coming along and making it so special and to all our amazing helpers too, we couldn't have done it without you!

We woke up to rain and thought uh oh this wasn't forecast...but it soon cleared and we had the perfect weather with a bit of a breeze and then it tipped it down again at about 7pm, so we were so lucky!

There were so many highlights, in particular the sheep racing we found such fun to organise and everyone seemed to really enjoy it, they looked hilarious! Roly had bought t shirts and teddies as jockies from the charity shop and we were busy sewing them on Friday night wondering how many other farmers would be doing something similar! Henry, Amelia, Tiny and Daisy were all little stars in their own right, Amelia won every race and little Tiny and Daisy always bringing up the rear! Take a look at some of the photos above. Thank you to Sally and Helen and Victoria who did a great job taking the bets and Bethany and Melanie who were chief racers!

Roly did sheepdog demonstrations with Bel and Meg and ran the sheep through the handling system for the children to check their weight and see if they were fit for market. We wanted to have a clear farming message during the day that whilst we take the greatest care of our sheep we are a businesss and we had our lamb burgers for sale up next to the Poem Tree which everyone said were delicious! Charlotte and my amazing godmother Anthea worked so hard cooking them all, we are so grateful.

Linda from Little Wittenham was a star with her beautiful face paints, we had tigers, butterflies, sheep (of course) and bumblebees to name a few. Carol was in charge of wonderful children's activities and Christine and Bobbie chatting and handing out all the amazing resources we had been sent as part of the Open Farm Sunday resource pack from LEAF. And of course Billie, who was wonderful entertaining everyone on the trailer ride and Mikey driving the tractor around. Finally Derek and Marian for coming all the way from London to help, thank you! Derek and I then had to give a presentation the following day which was quite a challenge, switching back into work mode! Derek and I know each other through our work, me at LEAF and Derek works for the CLA, the Country Land and Business Association.

We are busy recovering as are the sheep! Henry, Amelia, Tiny and Daisy are now all happily out in the field by Paradise Wood munching on lots of clover. I'm just about to walk over and see them as it is such a lovely evening.

We've heard other farms around the country had great events too, have a look at the Farm Sunday website to see some photos. Although I know some were cancelled due to the weather so again we feel very blessed.

Other news on the farm is that this week is that we are busy making hay to feed the sheep during winter. The forecast is looking promising for a few dry days which is great. It is being cut today and then baled on Friday, fingers crossed, we will share some photos with you soon.

Thank you again

Camilla, Roly, Boris, Meg and Bel