Claire has been finalised for the If we can you can Hexham Courant challenge 2010. 

Basically, this means she is poised on the brink of becoming  the next face of North East entrepreneurship. She will tell you all about it later on, and meanwhile,  we need you to vote for her by texting  ‘vote’ and her name(Claire Watson-Laney) to 07624803199  or e mail ‘vote’ and her name in the subject heading box to Stephen@entrepreneursforum.net Thanks so much and may the best person win! You can find out more at www.ifwecanyoucan.co.uk/challenge

The butchers shop is a bit of a challenge. We rush around buying meat, fruit and veg, booze, bread, cakes, biscuits, eggs, herbs etc. etc. Then we deliver to customers and try to keep a very low profile in the shop incase anyone asks us to do anything connected with the till or the meat cleaver! Then there is the paperwork!!! Hitting the retail sector is a challenge and we are very grateful to the staff Alan and Maureen, and the customers whose patience knows no bounds. On the bright side we are travelling with a different view and it feels exciting!

Work in the Lodge is complete apart from an extra cupboard to be fitted and a mystery leak near the front door! It looks great as you can see. Sadly in adding the pictures the website has taken a nose dive with errors! Apologies! Time to seek expert help again! It has been a real team effort and the guests are now flooding in. Well done Lewis, Will, Claire and me! I have never done so much shopping since we first set the two units up. Next project, already underway, is the 2nd bedroom in the cottage, as Claire and Will are fed up with a bed in the lounge.

Lewis has been poorly, resulting in extreme tiredness and a mini stroke. Fortunately no damage shown on the mri scan and fotified by a daily asprin, a statin tablet and a higher thyroxin dose he is firing on all cylinders once more. He gave us all a turn, but happily he has bounced back and is about to jet off to Zimbabwe to revisit his business side. He does an amazing ammount with the mobile, but they need him in the flesh! One positive outcome is that we all discovered skills we did not know we had. Claire on the tractor, me on paperwork and Will chopping apples!! Makes you think!

Another huge change in the Watson-Laney household is the acquisition of Wark Village Butchers. We have purchased the shop as an addition to our meat sale plans, hoping to use it as a base for our Internet sales and farmers market visits, in addition to keeping this wonderful shop open for the local community and visitors. our website www.warkvillagebutchers.co.uk is up and running and will develop soon.

The lambs will soon be arriving at the farm, the ewes are looking ready to pop and rather cross. The annual walk from Craigshields to Roses Bower caused little disturbance on the road but took some considerable effort for the heavily pregnant mothers to be! They are now happily installed in their new fields awaiting the white bundles of fun that will keep us occupied for the next 2 months, eating, sleeping and washing will be a luxury, we will keep you all updated on their progress!

Cx

Weather has been wet!!!! We have emerged into a drier period of late and all the lakes have gone back to normal size. Boats and waders can be shelved for a while we hope!

Marley (our little stallion) is growing well and will be weaned from Phoebe this month….. should be fun. The other horses are all well despite creaks and groans in Kerrie’s knee and Razzy’s leg. Moses appears to be in second childhood and Mia has recovered well from her operation and is shaping up nicely, in her groundwork. She has finally experienced the joy of jumping without having a heart attack! Mum and daughter shetland ponies have arrived at Craigshield just to add to the fun!

Tups have done the business and despite extremely wet weather expectant mums seem in good condition! Lambing expected in April this year and the extra hands will be welcome.

We are having a possible new arrival in early January as Fly, our ever faithful sheepdog, needs a hand, as she grows ever older. A new pup is expected, and we are all a little nervous about the ensuing chaos! Fly seems blissfully unaware of the impending event.

Hope all our customers past, present and future enjoy the festivities and please send some messages on the blog! Nobody has yet….. at least not one I can publish!

Elsewhere, the lambs are growing well and we are in the middle of shearing. We have also managed to build a significant proportion of our new kitchen which is a minor miracle! We are hoping for more sunshine in the coming weeks and for the wind to keep up the good job of keeping the midges away!

The accommodation season for 2009 is well under way with lots of guests enjoying amazing weather here. We have had some great feedback already, including a gift of some amazing solar mole deterrants to save our lawns from the little terrors. This will be the last season in the lodge as it will close in November and we hope to open the deluxe version in Spring 2010. Claire and Will should move in in December to help the aged with the work.

Phoebe due at the end of the month. Foaling bucket and stable/caravan all ready. Just our nerves to deal with. All the other horses are enjoying the grass and the freedom of the fields. Jess and I hacked Moses and Mia around Blackaburn this week. It was great and Mia was very grown up despite me.

Lewis is busy at Craigshield getting it ready for the new tenants who arrive this month. It is looking very smart with their new garden furniture. Hope they will be happy there.

Looking forward to seeing you all at the farm soon.

Susan and Lewis

Bookings have been brisk this year with many of our regulars returning and lots of new guests visiting for the first time. Thanks to you all for coming and supporting us despite these difficult times. We are having our star rating inspection at the end of the month. Wish us luck!

11 Texel/Mule cross lambs born in February very successfully and our main lambing due on March 27th. We are hoping for about 350 lambs. Nightly checks taking their toll.

Log stove/boiler now installed in our cottage. Quite an experience for all of us. Very warm all around the house and lots of hot water. Chopping logs is very labour intensive, but undoubtedly can relieve some stress, if done with an axe. The dog and cats think we have moved to Bermuda and never leave its side. Sadly Poppy died and missed all the fun and, as you can imagine, she is a miss.

Horses doing quite well, although Razzy has a sore leg and is having to take things easy. Mia is now backed and being ridden and is bravely fighting off a mud fever infection. Phoebe’s foal is due in July!!!

Outside the weather has been long and cold, although we seem to have had less snow than folks down South. We are hoping for a dry Spring, so we can enjoy lambing.

Aidan and Christopher, our stonewalling duo, have been hard at work, since the beginning of November, losing only a few days to the weather. They have completed the 220 metres on the East side of the farm and they have rebuilt the wobbly stone wall behind the farmhouse which finally collapsed with the weight of snow. They will be completing a further 80 metres in April.

Will and Claire have been visiting regularly to help with horses and sheep and to practice living here on a more regular basis. We brought the ewes home today from Craigshield and the outlying fields for dosing, injections and some tlc prior to lambing. They will stay here until their lambs are born.