A girl's best friends .... chocolate and gold - Somerset & Surrey Jul/Aug 2015

And so it came to pass, with heavy hearts, we left the farm and the German Shepherds behind.  It is amazing how attached we get to our charges!  However, as it was a few days until our next commitment, we excitedly set out to do some fishing on the south coast.  We arrived in Christchurch (UK not NZ) just after midday and headed for the wharf.  Not till we arrived did we remember it was summer holidays and the fishing spot had been overtaken by Dads, Mums and kids catching crabs.  Apparently it's something you do here??? Ah well, time to relax and wait for them to leave.  And they did as expected, around dinner time.  We settled in to do a spot of night fishing. James says that's when you are most likely to catch the elusive sea bass we were after.  I set out to prove yet again that I am a woman of many talents ...........

Extreme knitting



Then I thought I better help

Yes!  1.30 in the morning and the strike was on.  Nearly lost the rod as it took off and got caught on the railing.  But luck was in and James soon became a very happy boy indeed. A healthy 5lb beauty.

The real thing!

Mmmm, breakfast bass

 

We spent the next day and night around Portland (not Oregon) Bill.  Spectacular views but man, the weather was wild.  Chesil Beach is something of a phenomena.  Unfortunately it was way too windy to fish from this time. I am sure we will return in future.

 

UK summer! Yeah right - Portland

We arrived in Hinton St George to somewhat of a surprise.  We had not seen any pictures of the house.  We were just arriving for a short stint to look after Jura the golden lab. Turns out the property once belonged to the Poulett family http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Poulett and has been sold off as private lots since the 1960s as the surviving male heir had no-one to bequeath it to.  Our gorgeous corner of the estate (albeit a large one) is aptly name The Turret House and owned by Marguerite who, it turns out, knows someone in Whakatane and has been there to visit.  How many degrees of separation?!?!?!

 

The grand entrance to the property

 

Jura was very easy care and we enjoyed exploring the local neighbourhood with her.  Hinton St George is a small and very pretty village with the local store being owned by the villagers themselves and staffed by volunteers.  A great concept. The 'apartment' itself was so luxurious we rather felt like we were staying in some fancy accommodation we must have paid a fortune for! Talk about feeling like you're on constant holiday.  Before leaving for our next sit it was necessary to call in at the local for a plate of Faggots, peas and mash ...... delicious!

 

 

Straight onto Alfold  near Cranleigh in Surrey for another short sit.  Cranleigh is the largest village in Surrey and very well to do.  Look what we found there ....

 

It is actually St James's Place but thought it
prudent to leave that bit out ;-)

 

The house is just down the road from the airfield where they (used to) film Top Gear.  It is a beautiful 16th Century grade II listed cottage with extremely low studs.  By the time we left here, James had the scars on the top of his head to prove it.  We spent a lovely evening with Denise and partner sharing a yummy meal together ...... and a few drinks in the back garden.

 

 

 

 

Twiggy (not exactly the same shape as her namesake) the choc lab enjoyed walking us in the nearby woods.  There were a lot of really beautiful butterflies around.  We even stopped to talk to a guy whose brother is a lepidopterist (!) who said there were definitely more varieties around this year.  Oh, the things you learn whilst simply out walking with the dog.

 

 

Patience being a virtue

James the Conqueror

Lighthouse at Portland Bill

Giant meat pasty bought at the local co-op Hinton St George

Jura speaks Welsh .... Dog Food

Beautiful village house H St G

Cheeky monkey

Chilling in the garden

Doesn't always pay to be a tall bugger!

Ouch ouch and ouch again and again
Some people just don't learn

 

Surprises galore at the Small-holding in East Sussex July 2015

 We arrived at the farm in Dallington to be met at the door by our two main charges - German Shepherds Zonda (7) and Merlot (4) - woofing rather loudly.  This could have been quite intimidating had we not already Skyped with Helen and Neil and been assured they were friendly, albeit rather large companions.  We spent a couple of nights with the family before they left on holiday, learning the ropes of feeding the pigs and chickens and daily checking of the two ponies, three horses and 100+ sheep in two different farm locations.  It is always a good idea to arrive early to a sit if you can ..... in this case it was essential.  We ended up doing a bit of stock movement, dosing (and injecting) of the sheep and generally helping out on the farm for a couple of days which we hope helped to assure Neil and Helen we were comfortable in the environment.  We can only assume it may be quite unsettling to leave your property and precious animals - farm and pets - to people you have never met.  We were their first experience of using a house sitting site having always used family and friends in the past.

  As you can imagine we bonded almost immediately with the dogs! They had been well trained, which in our opinion is essential for ensuring your pets are easy for others to look after. Their daily exercise was out on the farm .... chasing rabbits and helping to herd the very naughty Houdini piglets ..... So it was kind of strange to not have to take them for a "walk" every day.

As already mentioned the four young pigs had taken to escaping from their pen.  The first time this happened we were sure we had a wild pig problem as the little fellas were safely back in the pen having knocked over the feed barrel, unscrewed the lid and helped themselves to half of it's contents.  This was all watched, rather frustratingly one can imagine, by the daddy boar in the next pen.  Anyway, after a few nights of this behaviour and our only somewhat successful attempts to contain them, we came up with a more permanent solution of redesigning the bottom of their pen.  Victory was ours ...... finally.  It was quite a bit of fun though, as they were no bother to get back into their pen and never ventured any further than the immediate paddock.

Meanwhile, the two sows that we had previously moved into the barn in case they farrowed during our sit (rather sadly they didn't), were a bundle of fun also.  We went down for feeding one day to discover they had unhinged the fence between them and were happily dancing around together in a communal pen.  This was easily fixed and they didn't try that trick again for us.  Although Helen sent photos of their next (successful) escape attempt after we had left.

Feeding the sows

The rest of our time was spent lounging by and swimming in the pool, unveiling the vegetable plot, hunting and gathering rabbits for the pot, cooking on the Aga with James using up some of the fresh eggs making cakes and meringues, and then soaking in the hot tub after a hard (?!?) day on the farm - the good life indeed! We were here for nearly three weeks and thoroughly enjoyed the tranquillity of the countryside along with the daily chores which gave structure to our otherwise seemingly unstructured lives!

Rabbit ready to bake in the Aga

Blackcurrant cake

Freshly harvested blackcurrants
and meringue

One of the more friendly sheep

Garden harvest

Pool

A spot of gardening anyone?