Belted Galloway Sale, Thirsk.

Today Ive been let out, on my own, with the Landrover and trailer and a blank cheque to buy cattle. Brilliant!! Its never happened before !
Well I say on my own, I did take my friend Denise with me.
We went to Thirsk Auction to the Belted Galloway Cattle sale. Chris and I had perused the catalogue and decided on a few that sounded ok on paper, mostly heifers which have never calved before.
There was a cow for sale with the most adorable little bull calf, only a month old, and I really wanted to buy her. However I decided to drop out of the bidding at £1150 and it made £1175, shame really.
However later in the sale there were a couple of heifers that I liked and these I did buy. You cant go all that way towing a trailer and come back with it empty!!
So the photos arent very good but here are todays purchases Crystal Clove from Cumbria and Maybeck Aimie from Whitby.
When we got back we put them in the field with some other youngstock, we cant put them with the cows as the bull is in there and we dont want them to become acquainted just yet! In the field already were 3 heifers and our one male calf, Arnold, who didnt seem in the least bit impressed that he has to share with even more girls!!! ( just in case you wonder why hes not interested, and Ill whisper....hes been castrated!!)
So for a first off buying trip it seems that my farmer is happy and I may even be let out on my own again!!

New Arrivals May 19th

Its been a busy old day today for additions to the Ryder family farm!!
Our first excitement was the birth of our first Belted Galloway calf. Chris went up the fields this morning and there it was safely arrived.
A little heifer calf which I have called May. Its sooo cute and tonight when we went up to take pics its so sprightly and she and her Mother wandered away up the hill, her little legs wobbling along but going at a fair pace all the same. Luckily Chris got it tagged this morning before it got to know how fast it could run!!
Our last Mule Hogg lambed at lunchtime so we have our last lamb of the season. It looked so so small compared to those born last month and even back up to the end of Feb, they seem so big now!
And the last arrivals were some Holstein heifers which are here for summer hols. I call them Club 18-30 holiday makers as they all end up going home pregnant from here, thanks to the AI Man. Say no more!!.
All in all a very lovely day of new creatures here at Scaife Hall Farm!

My Very Happy Birthday!!

I had a lovely day yesterday celebrating my birthday. The postie came with cards, and I had several visitors which was really nice. In the evening we ventured over to Burnsall, with our great friends Richard and Denise, for dinner in The Red Lion.
Its a fab place situated right on the side of the River Wharfe and its a perfect place for sitting out on a lovely summer evening. Sadly last night there was heavy drizzle but we sat very comfortably in the snug.
I started my dinner with a Bruschetta of courgette, buffalo mozzarella, Cumbrian ham & pesto which was divine and followed this with Red Lion fish pie and spring cabbage, absolutely scrummy. In fact I'm drooling just writing this !!!.
Chris had Pate and a steak which he said was the best in a long time, Richard had Home cured Gravalax of salmon, lemon & rocket followed by Venison loin, caramelized pear & celeriac mash which looked lovely. Denise also had the Bruschetta and Chicken, leek & mushroom pie with spring cabbage.
We were offered a dessert menu but felt this would be just a step too far so we settled on coffee.
All in all it was the perfect end to a lovely day . The Red Lion was very atmospheric, clean, comfortable, the staff were friendly and very efficient and the food gets a 10/10 from us all.
We will definately be going back !
Check out their website and if you are coming here to stay its worth a short car ride to go and enjoy great food. www.redlion.co.uk
(Thank you to Katy at The Red Lion for providing me with the photos, much appreciated. The food pic shows Duck Confit.)

Little Pigs !!!

On thursday I called to see a friend, Liz, who is just setting up a B&B at Embsay and whilst there she asked if I would like to see her new piglets. Of course there was no hesitation and here they are. 7 little Kune Kune piglets 4 days old. They are absolutely gorgeous. I could have just sat in the straw and cuddled them all. Its such a shame they have to grow up really!!!

An Evening at Duncombe Park

We had a wonderful evening at Duncombe Park this week. The event was organised by land agents Strutt and Parker for the benefit of ARC Addington and it gave Ian (of ARC) a chance to invite supporters of the fund and to be able to thank everyone for all their fundraising and support.
The beautiful house is one of Yorkshire’s foremost historic houses and estates. The house is closed to the public from 2011, but the spectacular gardens are open to visitors, as is the parkland. Its a beautiful and historic landscape on the edge of the market town of Helmsley, a gateway to the North Yorkshire Moors National Park.
We had champagne all evening, well some did but guess who was driving and didnt!! And the canapes were out of this world. And there were so many the waiters just kept going round and round, and then when you thought there couldnt possibly be anymore they came round with dessert canapes! Melt in the mouth delights!!. Slimming World here I come......

A weekend away!

Chris and I have been away! We went off this last weekend for two nights in the Yorkshire Dales with Chris's cousin Stephen and his wife Janet. Many years ago the Ryder family lived in Coverdale, with Chris's grandparents then moving down to live near Semerwater, Bainbridge for a few years before moving again down into this part of the world.
So we decided to stay nearby and do a bit of sightseeing and family history research. I think we should have done more research into accommodation before we went as the place we had booked turned out to be possibly the filthiest place there is!!!
So we had checked in and then just as quickly we checked out again as there was no way we were going to stay there!!!. We moved on and booked into a hotel in Askrigg called The White Rose Hotel, which was absolutely wonderful, and all in all we had a really great weekend away.
This is why we checked out.......

Party Week !!

Its seems to have been an incredibly busy week of parties this last week!! Coupled with being very busy with B&B I feel quite worn out now!!
We started with Debbies 50th last Monday and on friday we had a street party to celebrate the Royal Wedding (not actually in the street, at our friends house, but everyone at the party lives nearby so to call it a street party was near enough).
Then last night we celebrated our friend Jills 50th with a surprise party at The Hopper. It was a lovely evening with food and dancing and Jill surrounded by family and friends.
The cake was fabulous. I asked a friend (Lisa Preston of Pickersgill Manor Farm) if she could do me a novelty cake for Jill. Jill is a farmer and so animals had to be included and also a keen Domino player so animals playing dominoes seemed an obvious choice. Well Lisa certainly didnt disappoint! I was delighted when I saw it, the detail was tremendous. The spots of the doms all matched up and the dry stone wall round the edge was perfect! Thank you Lisa!