James & Clare, Coddiwomplers Inc: Farmer James and a Family Pack

We high tailed it the length of the country from Dover to Cumbria and back to the farm to spend some time with Stephen and Louise. It was a real treat to be back in an English speaking country after 12 months of Spanish with a peppering of Portuguese and French.

We quickly settled back in to the farm with James taking on the daily morning milking of Carrie. The fresh milk, cream and yoghurt produced is second to none. Yum!

It was lambing season when we arrived and Lou and Stephen had been taking in orphans from the neighbouring farm. On our first evening back this gorgeous little girl was dropped off. We named her Olive and took to bottle feeding her. Super cute!!!!

Since we were here 18months ago there had also been a new addition to the immediate family .... Reg, the Border Collie .... soon to be sheep dog ;-)

Poppy is delighted to have a new playmate ....

On duty, baby sitting this one

Man, being a working dog is soooo tiring .......

Clare even went horseriding for the first time in 20 years. Teagan is also a new addition to the farm since we were here last.

Although the temperatures were a little cooler than we were used to, the gorgeous clear days make this one of the best places in the world to be.

Next we were back down country to a repeat sit in Cambridgeshire to look after the lurchers we cared for two years ago. Since then, two had sadly passed away, one of old age and the other, on of the pups, rather tragically. Still, we had plenty of awesome canine company. Mum Hettie, Dad Max and their two sons .... Finn and Jake. Oh, and their cousin Glen, the Spanador also joined us for a couple of weeks.

Clockwise from top left: Finn, Hettie, Glen, Jake, Max

These guys are such great company who enjoy their twice daily walks in the surrounding fields VERY much.

How to keep some order to our walks and not lose anyone in the meanderings? Lots of scheduled treat stops certainly work a treat!

Then there's the utter joy to be had rolling around on the grass ... not sure if this is just a lurcher thing!?!?

There is always so much fun to be had ......

Hettie especially loves to goad her pups (although they are now 3yo) into a game of chase, after which she seeks out some shade to gather her breath.

Although June turned out to be much wetter than usual, it didn't dampen anyones spirits!

There was lots to be grateful for. Firstly, there was plenty of water around for cooling doggies down in their favourite water hole.

The warm wet weather also produced some wonderful mushroom gathering opportunities.

These oyster mushrooms found their way
into a batch of rabbit pasties

A wee crop of parasols

The volume of rain also caused a couple of trees to crash down in the garden. Not to worry. The cleanup crew cracked into gear. The doggies were conspicuous by their absence, seemingly not impressed by the sound of the chainsaw.

We had a couple of lovely visits from James's Mum and Dad who live nearby.

Christine with treats in hand

James worked hard every day in the walled garden, tending vegetables, ably assisted by his apprentice/s.

Jake making himself comfortable on some newly planted seedlings

We thoroughly enjoy the opportunites that present to gather our own food where ever we are in the world. This location never disappoints. First came the 'harvesting' of rabbits from the garden .... of which there were plenty! The doggies also enjoyed the meat yield. Couldn't be fresher or more organic. Not to mention the complementary benefits of pest control!