Finally, finally, getting there!

 It seems to have been a long haul from start to finish but Im finally getting there, which is perhaps a good thing as my first guests of 2013 are checking in tonight.
Ive still got room 3 to paint which is next on my list and hopefully will be done over the weekend.

Snow

Like most of the Uk right now we have snow! As I write this its still snowing and Blzzards are predicted across Yorkshire. This picture was taken a couple of days ago when the sun was shining. The scenery was beautiful.

It does make life a bit difficult though as all the sheep have to be fed extra food to keep them going, especially in the build up to lambing.
We start lambing around 1 February so not long to go. I need to get the house sorted before then as we start again with guests too.

My holiday seems like a long time ago........

B&B revamping!

 In my world today was very exciting. I seem to have been busy for ages doing decorating in the rooms. The plumbers finished late November, but then we went on holiday, then it was Christmas and the whole house seems to have been upside down all this time!!.
However the painting is done except for one room, which had all the furniture stacked up in it, and today the carpets finally arrived.
The snow was coming down thickly at lumchtime and I was beginning to think the carpets would have to be cancelled when I got a phone call to say they were at the end of the lane.
The chaps were concerned about bringing their van down so Chris trundled off in the Land Rover and gathered up men, carpet, tool boxes and underlay and here they are!!
Simon and James courtesy of Carpet Right in Harrogate, they've done a fabulous job, Im delighted and happy to recommend if you need a good carpet fitter in the area!!
Now I have to get Chris sorted to put back all the accessories in the bathrooms. He said today isnt exciting at all!!!

Barn Restorations

 Over the past year we have been having our barns renovated. Its been a long job , and we still arent done yet. The idea was to make them look as they would have done when they were built around 1780
We have opened up the archways but now to make it a more useable building we need to put some doors on. The difficulty is the building has a Grade 2 Listing so we cant just put anything on. Plans will have to be submitted for the necessary permissions  and at present we are waiting for the Architect to do this.
Over the year Ive taken quite a lot of photos, too many to post on here, but Ive put a selection on the Scaife Hall Farm Facebook page so you can have a look there
Hopefully it wont be too much longer now before we can say its finally done!!

Bathroom Renovations!

 Well a couple of hours ago I had a tidy home. Now it looks like a tornado just swept through!!



 
Its quite exciting actually as today Dales Heating Ltd arrived to start the renovations to my ensuites.
There been an awful lot of hammering, drilling and noise upstairs and bags of rubble coming down stairs, I hardly dare go and view progress.
As with all these things nothing is ever quite as straightforward as you think its going to be but so far everyone is still smiling. Including me!! Just..
 Im now having dilemmas over choices of wall coverings and theres far too many options to decide on. We are going to cover some of the shower walls with something called Mermaid board, thats where the fun starts, the choice I made, after much deliberation, now maybe out of stock. Back to the drawing board.
The wallpaper I bought yesterday Im now not sure I like so I think I shall be tracking back to the DIY store for an alternative.
Anyway ill keep you posted"!!

I remember having to learn this at school, many years ago !!!

November

by Thomas Hood

No sun--no moon!
No morn--no noon!
No dawn--no dusk--no proper time of day--
No sky--no earthly view--
No distance looking blue--

No road--no street--
No "t'other side the way"--
No end to any Row--
No indications where the Crescents go--

No top to any steeple--
No recognitions of familiar people--
No courtesies for showing 'em--
No knowing 'em!

No mail--no post--
No news from any foreign coast--
No park--no ring--no afternoon gentility--
No company--no nobility--

No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member--
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds,
November!

And yet more rain!!

 After Nidderdale show we headed home and drove round to check the land and stock at Fewston. We keep the Mule sheep there and some of our Beltie Heifers.
There is Spinksburn beck running through the land which is prone to flooding but I dont think we have ever seen it as bad as this.
 The animals luckily had the sense to get to the higher land and no one was lost in the water. The bottom picture is the road!!!

Nidderdale Show, Piglets & more rain!

  Ive got a bit behind with my blogging so today its a bit like waiting for a bus, nothing at all and then loads come along at once. These pics were taken at the Nidderdale Show on 24th September. Once more, like every event this summer, it was a wet day. A very wet day, in fact it never stopped raining at all, the following day the field was completely submerged.
These little piglets looked much more comfortable after their tour of the judging ring to be back inside in the warmth with Mum.

Belted Galloways at Castle Douglas

We are just  back from an interesting trip 'Up North' to Castle Douglas.
The reason for going was to attend the Belted Galloway Annual Society sale at Castle Douglas mart.
We went up on thursday with a couple of friends and in the evening we attended the Annual AGM which was followed by dinner. There were about 140 members there, their highest attendance to date. The dinner was held at Threave Gardens, a National Trust garden just outside the town, a beautiful place to visit if you ever find yourself in the area.
The sale was yesterday and kicked off at 9am with the judging. The top picture here shows one of the Bull classes being judged.
The picture below shows the overall Champion of the day, Mosston Muir Irish Primrose, who was being sold as part of a dispersal sale from Mr & Mrs Rennie from Mosston Muir, Forfar and realised a price of 5200 guineas. We didnt buy it!!
The top price of the day was a bull, Lullenden Hector, from Miss Hamilton, Innerleithen, Peebleshire, which made 9000 guineas, we didnt buy that either!!!
We did however buy a couple of heifers, one in calf for the spring  and another which will go to the bull next summer to calve spring 2014.
All in all a great couple of days, I think we will definately be going again next year!

Elton John comes to Harrogate

 There was great excitment in the Ryder household this week, well from one member anyway, as we had tickets to go and see Elton John. He was playing at the Great yorkshire showground, the first event of its kind to be held there.
On Monday night he was on TV at the Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace and to be honest, well he sounded dreadful!.
So despite excitement at going to the concert there was some apprehension as to how he would be.
However when he came on he was absolutely brilliant and played continually for 2 and a half hours, all his big hits and just a couple Ive not heard before, and judging by the amount of people that used that time to dash off to the loo, not many others had heard them either!!!
All in all a great night out and even though it started to rain about 30 mins from the end it didnt dampen anyones enthusiasm. Id go and listen to it all again tomorrow !

Will summer ever arrive??

 Ive just got back in from yet another walk which involved a kagoule, wellies and leggings, and its June!!!. Bess and I are getting abit fed up of wet walks and really wish the sun would come out.

The cattle that have come to stay for the summer are fascinted by anyone using the path through the field and usually accompany anyone whos walking by. As we were all trooping along we startled a small deer that took off and ran like the wind up the field and disappeared into the woodland.

We walked passed the Belties all grazing very contentedly and on into the woods, the sun did venture out for a short while but as you can see from the pic the weather was closing in again and we had to get a move on.

Maybeck Amy & daughter

If you have read far enough back in my blog you may have seen a post in May 2011 about Denise and I heading off to Thirsk Auction Mart, where we bought two Belted Galloway heifers. It was very exciting being let out with the Land Rover, Trailer and a signed blank cheque!!!
Anyway a few days ago the two heifers calved and this picture shows Maybeck Amy in the middle and her first daughter on the right, who hasnt been named yet.
So far there are 6 cows with calves, the calves play together and can run like the wind so i didnt try and get any nearer otherwise all you would have seen was them disappearing off into the distance!!

Deliciously Yorkshire Event

 Yesterday I took some time off to go to Harrogate and the Deliciously Yorkshire Meet the Producer Event. I like to go to these events from time to time, not just for the sampling (of which there is lots, mmmmmm yummy) but its great to see the wonderful produce thats available on our doorstep.

I wasnt looking for anything specific, but things that are maybe different for Breakfast are always good, and there were one or two Jam producers that Ive not seen before. Although having tried their produce I have to be honest and say I think I will be sticking with Bracken Hill for the time being. Not because it wasnt nice but BH is better

I bumped into some friends, Anna, from Carr House Farm at Ampleforth who is now an Advisory member of DYand master butcher David Lishman of Ilkley ( who I know from my Young Farmer Days!!), whos shop you really should visit if you are here for a holiday. Its fabulous.

I have to thank David for the group hug pic as it was taken on his Iphone. All in all a lovely afternoon.

Lambing Time already!

It seems to come round earlier and earlier. Chris decided we should have some early lambs and released the tup for a couple of weeks last August. It was thought not many would be ready to be mated but it seems it must have been like a Club 18 -30 holiday as we have 130 due to lamb over these next two weeks!!!.
This little chap is a few days old now and bombs around everywhere. His favourite place to sleep is in the hay rack!
The Blue Faced Leicester Triplets were born yesterday afternoon and are all doing well with their Mum.
Yesterday it started to snow quite heavily and it looks like being around for a few days so I think these little chaps will be inside for a quite a while longer

Bess in the wars ...

Poor Bess has been in the wars this week. On Monday we went on a very long walk, as always her enthusiasm for walking running and charging about took over and before I could stop her she jumped over a barbed wire fence!!
The upshot of this was a visit to the Vet who kept her in as she had to have a general anaesthetic so that they could sort out the wound.
When I picked her up the poor dog looked very sorry for herself and had a great big cone on her head. Bess has bumped and crashed her way round all week and yesterday the cone could last no more as it crumpled into a heap.
Chris took charge, when I wasnt in view, and mended it with a roll of Insulation tape. What a mess. This morning it broke again and its now bound in blue tape too.
Goodness knows what looks I will get when she goes back to the vet tomorrow!!!

Howgills, Alpacas & Lunch

Chris had ordered some pallet forks for the tractor from a firm just north of Sedbergh. As the sheep cake is all arriving on tuesday we thought today would be a good day to go and collect them.
The proposal to me was a drive in the country and a lovely lunch. Ill come back to that!
Anyway as we had a sharp frost last night the day was beautiful and bright and the scenery was amazing. The Howgills looked beautiful.
As we were driving back we saw quite a sight,after driving past fields of sheep, hundreds and hundreds of them in fact, we had a great surprise when we saw this wonderful field of Alpacas. They arent all on the pic but there must have been 30 or 40. Not something you see every day!
Back to lunch. Just before setting off the idea of a 'lovely lunch' had somehow become Fish and Chips in the LandRover. I wasnt really impressed but hey ho!!. We drove through Sedbergh but couldnt see one, we drove through Settle, saw the chippy but no where to park, so we trundled on. Hellifield, oh another F &C shop, but it was closed, Gargrave nothing but tea shops. Even the advertised 'food in next lay-by' failed to materialise.
By now I was starting to get a bit miffed at the thought of getting home and having to start making lunch when the promise has been a lovely one out somewhere. Chris was in his farming overalls so there was no way I was taking him into a pub or cafe!! Skipton was fast approaching, and after that the next stop would be Scaife Hall when Oh what joy to behold, a Burger King!!
Burger King it was then. A picnic in the Land Rover, certainly not fine dining but at least I didnt have to make it!!!

Strange Hotel Guests!!

Today I met up with a couple of friends/fellow B&Bers Sally, from Elslack Grange and Karen from Hellifield Peel.
We went to lunch at Coniston Hall Hotel near Skipton. We had a lovely lunch and caught up on all the gossip, outstaying all the other diners that were there, but then thats nothing new, we often manage to be the last to leave. We put the world to rights, and then some!!
When we came put we got quite a surprise to see these two stood at Reception. They didnt seem to have any luggage so I guess they werent checking in, and luckily they didnt leave any calling cards. At least not while we were there anyway!!!

December

Its been a while since I last updated my blog so I thought I would do a really quick resume of December. It turned out to be a very hectic month, busy with guests until the 11th and then on the 12th I jetted off to Germany to vist my friend for a few days. I forgot to take my camera so there arent any pics but all we did was lots of talking, shopping and generally catching up so there wasnt really anything to photograph.
I had a lovely time but all too soon back to reality and my annual Work Experience stint at Hearts and Flowers florists in the lead up to Christmas.
I had a wonderful surprise when Lisa and Darren called in to see me. Lisa first came to stay for B&B about 22 yrs ago with her family and although she now lives in Australia we have always stayed in touch. They were visiting some of Darrens relatives in South Yorkshire so decided to venture further and visit us. 18mths ago we saw all the family again at the wedding of Lisas sister Catherine in Surrey which was a wonderful occasion.
Christmas saw us entertaining all my family, dont think Bess knew what to make of it all but she joined in anyway!
On the 27th we went down to Cheshire to the wedding of Andy and Rebecca, son of our friends John and Rachael (who we also met many many years ago through B&B).
After this we came back and got ready for New Years Eve when 56 of our friends gathered in the Hopper Lane Hotel to bring in the New Year. Daphne Denise and I prepared the food and we charged everyone £10 to come along and all the surplus money is being donated to The Yorkshire Air Ambulance, £410 in total.
All in all a busy but very enjoyable month. Think I need abit of a rest before another one like that though!!!

Horse Racing in Fewston !!!

Saturday night saw the locals gathering in Fewston Hall for a night of Horse Racing.
Kevin Wilson was MC for the evening. 6 races were to be run each race with 6 horses. The horses were all auctioned off by local auctioneer Ian Smith from Wharfedale Farmers Auction Mart before the race and then you could place your bets. £1 a go !!!
Denise and I were asked to spin the wheels for one race, its a simple game, whatever colour the wheel stops at and whatever number, that horse on the table moves forward. There were a couple of 'move back 3 spaces' on the board and I think everyone landed on them at some point. Chris had a couple of winners, I had one winner and received the princely sum of £2.50 !! I'll spend it wisely!!
At the half way point a Pie and pea supper was served and at the end of the evening its fair to say it was a fun evening and a great way of raising funds for the village Hall.
All in all about £900 was raised towards the hall refurbishments. I think its a night which may be repeated next year!!

International Wool Textile Organisation Visit

Last week we had the pleasure of hosting a farm visit for a delegation of members of the International Wool Textile Organisation, the China Wool Textile Association and the Australian Wool Testing Authority.
They were all in the UK to attend a conference in London and had then travelled north to visit the Wool Warehouses in Bradford to learn more about what happens to wool once it leaves our farms. Then they came here to see where to raw product begins.
We talked about what we do on the farm ehre with the sheep, the different breeds and the 'farming year.
We got Jill to do a sheepdog demo and then we went up the land to meet the cows and then onto the moor to show where some of the sheep live.
When they left us I was presented with an absolutely beautiful chinese silk scarf, a prcelain memory stick decorated in chinese writing and a '100 mile rug'. The rug is made from wool which has grown and been processed in North Yorkshire which means it has traveled only 100 miles in its life. Its beautiful!!
The delegates (top picture R to L) are Ms.PENG Yanli- President China Wool Textile Association, John Lambert- Consultant to International Wool Textile Organisation, Mr. Robert Wang – China Project Manager- Australian Wool Testing Authority, Chris Ryder, Elisabath van Delden – Secretary General International Wool Textile Organisation, Priyanka Kapoor- Marketing- International Wool Textile Organisation, Ms.SHUQIN Zhang – Assistant to President China Wool Textile Association