The weather - we're confused and so are the swallows!!!

April and no it's not April showers but just a bit of everything including snow and frost. No snowmen here but yesterday morning on the moor I almost became a snowman.. then the afternoon was t-shirt weather (well almost a bit of a cold wind) but not what you might expect this time of year but then last April did bring on a bit of a heatwave... And yes not only are us humans confused but our loyal swallows must have followed last weeks warm thermals as on Sunday we spotted our first - well first three - but they are yet to make a summer whilst the frost remains!!

For those that have asked for more pictures...we will aim to capture the cattle for their up to date portrait some time soon !! And the chickens if they ever go much further than their hen house !

Reduce your food waste......

Something we try very hard to do at Tredarrup is to encourage our visitors to reduce, reuse and recycle, which includes composting. The fact that a third of the food we buy in the UK ends up being thrown away (and that's without the packing and carrier bags -more on that another time), when it could still be eaten or put to another use. With our attempts to encourage others the amount of rubbish we generate from the complex has reduced year on year and now I see that there is a new website to help us all even more www.lovefoodhatewaste.com . So have a look and see if there is anything more that you can do to help make a difference....

Meet the Animals - our cattle and chickens..

Our animals have changed since we last introduced them all to you.... Our Dexter herd has become smaller and we now have Nina, Nancy (both cows), Alice and Arabella (both heifers) and young bully. We have had a visit from the local bull so we hope all our ladies will have new calves in October - the first time for Alice & Arabella and we'll then be back up to nine...

On the chicken front we have four of our original bantams, which have recently been joined by two Cornish Ambers (white) and two Cornish speckleds. We kept them locked in when they first arrived so they got used to their new home for a day but they have been slow to get used to life outdoors roaming free...the ambers ventured out the first day then went back inside for a couple of days and the speckleds, after reluctance to leave the hen house, have started to potter about but they all stay close to home and have not yet gone on the daily adventure as our bantams do. But they are slowly getting used to a life of being outdoors...

Meet The Animals.....update... JET

There have been many additions and changes to our animals here at Tredarrup over the last 6 months - the main being our new dog, Jet (on left). Our October visitors saw him when he was a tiny puppy, could be picked up and slept in a cardboard box, but no longer as he gets bigger by the week and is now as tall as Molly our other Labrador. But he is very friendly and always welcoming to our visitors !
Next animal news... changes with our cattle and the new chickens that are taking some persuading to leave the shed !!!!

Spring weather and a new moon

Off to a slow start this year with our blog, our apologies and our posts will now become more regular with all our news.....
No damage from last weeks strong winds, just a bit tree battered with twigs down and the salt from the sea washed up the valley and onto the windows !!!!
Whatever the say about the weather, and this month has been a bit like that, today was a glorious day. Out walking on Trebarwith beach this morning the sea was bright turquoise and the sun was shinning and the air crisp. Here's hoping for the Easter weekend following Friday's full moon. Happy egg hunting!!
More posts soon....and pictures.

Earth Pilgrim: Dartmoor - an inspiration....

At the weekend we watched the BBC's Earth pilgrim: A year on Dartmoor.
Not only was it a beautiful vision of the landscape of the Dartmoor you pass on the way to Tredarrup but, as was intended, Satish Kumar took you on a spiritual journey into the landscape. A world-renowned ecologist, former Jain monk and pilgrim for peace, through changing seasons, Satish walks the moor and explores ancient woods and rivers, which are home to a wealth of wildlife including red deer, emperor moths, starling roosts, kestrels and foxes. His meditations on the natural world are lyrical, uplifting and timely. And he left us with this thought for our future:
"we must become the change we want to see, in the world" Mahatma Gandhi

If you missed it you can watch again via the BBC website's i>Player
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search/?q=earth+pilgrim&go=Find+Programmes

Happy New Year.....

My first entry for 2008...and one that purely shows the beauty of the mornings, at Tredarrup, at this time of year. Pink skies and the buzz of our visiting starlings. We have woken up many a morning to a sky that glows pink as the sun comes up across the valley to the sound of the flocks of starlings that chatter in our trees and then woosh away across the fields like a moving cloud ( if you ever saw the Bill Oddie clip you'll know what I mean!)...winter magic. Happy 2008.